12.02.15
Pressure on workers to vote for strikes
Source: Cedric
I think the LU stance is not so much that there is 'pressure' on members to vote a certain way, but is designed more to appeal to those RMT members who don't agree with strike action, to encourage them to vote, rather than abstain. The issue is always that those who vote in strike ballots are usually those that want the strike. Those who don't, tend not to vote, meaning the strike goes ahead with only a minority of those eligible actually having voted. [example figures quoted] The union then says that there was an overwhelming mandate for a strike as 85% of those who voted, voted yes.
LU always says 'but only 88 out of a possible 270 actually voted', so the strike didn't get a majority of members, just a majority of those who voted.
I think this is LU's attempt to persuade a bigger number of RMT members to actually vote in the hope that this would lead to a majority 'no vote'. Either way, the more people who take part in the vote, the better it is for democracy.
Re: Is LU saying the RMT pressures its members to vote for strikes?