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A Citizen’s Income has attractions for trades unions

It is understandable that trades unions have concentrated their attention on active participants in the labour force and not on those who might wish to be in it but are not: hence longstanding interest in income tax rates and allowances (which benefit employees), contributory benefits (which benefit employees), occupational pensions (which benefit employees), and a National Minimum Wage (which benefits employees), and less so in universal benefits, or the earnings rules attached to means-tested benefits.

The same history might be the reason for lack of interest in a Citizen’s Income. An additional reason for this neglect might be trade union officers’ understanding that a Citizen’s Income would provide a secure income floor, and so might reduce trades unions’ control over their members’ subsistence incomes. A Citizen’s Income would also herald an even more flexible labour market, the consequences of which for trade union membership levels would be difficult to predict.

Trades Unions often call for ‘proper jobs’, by which they mean work that is paid, secure, and with good conditions; and in a situation in which only paid employment can provide self-worth and an adequate income, and in which benefits regulations stop people from climbing out of poverty, we need as much high wage work as possible. But it does not need to be like this, and a Citizen’s Income would help it to change. It could be in trades unions’ interests to advocate a Citizen’s Income if this gave people more choice to refuse lousy jobs.

A Citizen’s Income would turn the employment market into something closer to a true market in labour, in which people would be in a better position to decline unpleasant work: so in many occupations conditions and wages would improve; a Citizen’s Income would make part-time employment and self-employment more attractive, and would make it more worthwhile for people to accept low-paying jobs, and could therefore increase trade union membership; with increased memberships, trades unions would be better able to negotiate over wage rates; and in a flourishing economy, trades unions would be needed for coordinated action over safety at work and employment law.

As automation continues, trades unions will increasingly see the virtues of a Citizen’s Income; and if support among political parties were to turn into a real chance of a Citizen’s Income being implemented, then the trades unions could be among those organisations seeking such a reform. Trades unions need have no fundamental objections or significant anxieties in relation to a Citizen’s Income, and we might even find trades unions leading the campaign for implementation.

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About the Book

101 Reasons for a Citizen’s Income offers a short, accessible introduction to the debate on a Citizen’s Income, showing how a universal, unconditional income for every citizen would solve problems facing the UK’s benefits system, tackle poverty, and improve social cohesion and economic efficiency. For anyone new to the subject, or who wants to introduce friends, colleagues or relatives to the idea, 101 Reasons for a Citizen’s Income is the book to open up debate around the topic. Drawing on arguments detailed in Money for everyone (Policy Press, 2013), it offers a convincing case for a Citizen’s Income and a much needed resource for all interested in the future of welfare in the UK.