Revenge of the Workers
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The shortage of HGV drivers has been hitting the headlines, but other sectors are affected by a lack of staff too, from care homes to restaurants. This despite wages going up, and the end of the furlough scheme. What's going on? Could it be that power is shifting away from employers to workers, for perhaps the first time since the 1970s? Since the 2008 financial crisis public opinion has increasingly been unfavourable towards globalisation, immigration and big corporations. This has been reflected in a shift away from an assumed pro-business stance among the mainstream political parties too. Philip Coggan speaks to a range of experts to find out what's been happening, whether workers really will gain more power, and what that might mean for the economy.
Guests: Ben Clift, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick Dame DeAnne Julius, Distinguished Fellow for Global Economy and Finance, Chatham House Kate Bell, Head of Rights, International, Social and Economics at the Trades Union Congress Rob Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Policy at King’s College, London Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality Shereen Hussein, Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser and Senior Market Analyst at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Producer: Arlene Gregorius Sound: Gareth Jones
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, |
| 0:33.1 | find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.1 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:41.1 | When we meet in the local hall, I'll be voting. podcasts. There was a lot of talk about the return of the 1970s at the moment. What were the |
| 0:51.0 | recent fuel shortages and rising inflation? |
| 0:54.0 | Genesis are back on tour. Flared trousers and platform shoes have been seen on the high street, |
| 0:59.0 | though hopefully Avocardo Bathroom Suets won't be coming back. |
| 1:04.3 | And there's another echo of that decade. |
| 1:06.4 | Suddenly some workers are getting double digit percentage pay rises, |
| 1:10.0 | thanks to a shortful of labour across a range of sectors. |
| 1:13.0 | As a union man, I'm wise |
| 1:16.0 | to the lies of the company spies. |
| 1:19.0 | Back in the 1970s, |
| 1:21.0 | trade union leaders were household names and played a part in bringing down a |
| 1:24.8 | conservative government in 1974 and a Labour administration in 1979. |
| 1:30.3 | The NEC is instructed to call a national delegate conference with a view to industrial |
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