The Guardian view on trade unions: good for capitalism | Editorial

Drop the cliches about union barons and militant strikers; organised workers are essential to a modern economy

Some journalists disparage summer as a dry, barren season, but this month has yielded a bumper crop of ancient cliches. Try union barons, militant strikers or Labour paymasters.

That’s right, Sir Keir Starmer’s pay rise for junior doctors, train drivers and others has prompted many rightwing politicians and pundits to riffle through their Roget’s stale-o-saurus. Rather than laugh them off, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has promised there will be “no blank cheques” (another old saw). But there will be more, so much more, of the anti‑worker language as the Trades Union Congress meets next month and Labour ministers enact their promised new deal, which will roll back some of the most egregious legislation against trade unions from David Cameron and Rishi Sunak.

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