Anglais: corriger les fautes [résolu]

[Européen]

Bonsoir à tous,

J'ai un exposé à faire pour demain, en anglais. J'aimerais que vous me corrigiez les fautes! Merci beaucoup à ceux qui m'aideront!

The relationships between the British government and trade unions in the 1980s-1990s

As an introduction, I am going to speak about the importance of trade unions in Britain in the 1970s.
In the 1970s, the British economy went into serious decline and the welfare state became more and more difficult to maintain. It led to a series of social conflicts between the government and the trade unions. Most conflicts were due to the government's incapacity to satisfy a rise in workers' wages claimed by the unions, whereas the inflation was climbing. When Edward Heath became Prime Minister, he introduced the Industrial Relations Act in 1971 which limited the power of the trade unions, to make sure they would not interfere in his policy. It raised waves of protest all over the country. They reached their high point on 21st February, when the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called the greatest demonstration in its history. 300,000 people marched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, in London. But the conservative government did not repeal the Industrial Relations Act. New social conflicts occured in 1972 and 1974, when the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) launched two major strikes, as a result of the government's refusal to increase wages. Edward Heath was forced to call general election and was defeated. The newly-elected labour government tried to renew dialogue with the unions and succeeded. The 1971 Industrial Relations Act was repealed and unions were no more the subject of any legislation. As the years passed, the economic decline of Britain continued and the government was unable to increase wages as much as unions wanted. Between September 1978 and February 1979, the country was completely paralysed by strikes. This period was known as the "Winter of discontent". Prime Minister Callaghan called general election and was defeated. Labour’s failure to control the unions was heavily punished by the voters as Margaret Thatcher led the Conservatives back to power.

I. 1980-1997: The weakening of trade unions under the Conservatives

1) The reasons


One of her priorities was to weaken trade unions for 3 main reasons:

- First, trade unions had too much power and were a threat to the government authority. The huge miners' strike of 1974 launched by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) led to the downfall of the Heath government. Similarly, the "winter of discontent" in 1978-79 proved that unions were more powerful than the government. Actually, unions had immunity has their was no legislation to restrict their abuse power.

- Second, Thatcher held the unions responsible for the British economic decline. Over the last decade, the number of days lost because of strikes was around 13 million.

- Third, Thatcher considered unions as not democratic. She was convinced that many strikes were launched by a few people, whereas the majority of workers was hostile, but they did not find the courage to oppose. Moreover, many workers had been fired for refusing to take part in strikes.

2) The anti-union legislation

The Thatcher government introduced a series of laws that removed many of the rights and immunities possessed by unions.

- First, Thatcher tried to make strike launches more difficult with the introduction of the Trade Union Act 1984. Secret ballots were required before industrial action could take place. A strike could no more be launched without the consent of half workers. Also, employers were allowed to sue unions if a strike was called without a secret ballot. In 1984, the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) was forced to pay a £200,000 fine as it had not launched a secret ballot before the starting of the strike by Austin-Rover.

- Second, Thatcher wanted to decrease the number of strikes. The Employment Act 1982 made sympathy strikes illegal. It means that workers could no more strike in support of other workers who are on strike. Also, unions became responsible for unofficial actions caused by their members. For example, in 1988 the Civil and Public Services Association had to pay a £500,000 fine as it had called out a sympathy strike to support public health employees.

- Third, Thatcher wanted to limit picketing. The Employment Act 1980 banned secondary picketing which had been commonly used over the last decade. Strikers of a factory were no more allowed to picket a firm that had trading connections with the employer against whom industrial action was taken. Also, unions were further banned from firing workers who refused to take part in industrial action. Moreover, the Public Order Act 1986 was passed to prevent strikers from using violence. If three or more strikers cause a worker to fear for his personnal safety, then they were guilty of violent desorder and could be arrested.

- Fourth, Thatcher legislated against the closed shop. Before 1980, employees had to be members of the union if a closed shop agreement existed in the company where they worked in. Anyone refusing to join the union had no defence against dismissal for that reason. With the Employment Act 1980, workers who were fired for not joining the union could take legal action. Then, the Employment Act 1990 abolished closed shop. It was illegal to require workers a trade-union membership.

- Fifth, Thatcher tried to control the organisation of trade unions. Under the Trade Union Act 1984, union presidents, general secretaries and members of executive committees had to be elected every 5 years by secret ballot.

- When John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1990, he continued her policy and passed the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993 to weaken the unions. It attempted to harden the existing legislations. The main measure was the establishment of the Commission for Protection Against Unlawful Industrial Action to fight against illegal strikes.


3) The miners' strike 1984-85

Among the numerous social conflicts that occured between 1970 and 1990, the miners' strike 1984 was the most important one. It was a turning point in the adversarial relationships between the government and the unions.
On 6th March 1984 the Thatcher government announced its intention to close 20 pits putting 20,000 miners out of work. In retaliation, Arthur Scargill, President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called a national strike against the pit closures but he did not held a secret ballot of NUM members. The strike was ruled illegal and it led to the confiscation of NUM funds. The government mobilised all the police forces of the country to deal with strikers and sometimes illegal violence against the miners who wanted to go to work. During the action, over 11,000 people were arrested and over 8,000 were charged with offences. Finally, the strike ended on the 3rd March 1985. A special National Union of Mineworkers conference was held and the miners realised that they had to concede defeat. The great miners' strike of 1984-85 was the longest lasting industrial dispute of the second half of the 20th century in Britain. In the 12 months of the strike, the government spent £6 billion to defeat the miners and the National Union of Mineworkers. It is was a political victory which showed Thatcher's will to curb trade unions that her government was determined to lead its policy. After this strike, trade union resistance to reform was much reduced and a succession of changes were made.

II. New unionism since 1997 under the new labour government
1) Blair's union legislation
In 1997, most trade unions welcomed the election of the Labour government. But at the first TUC conference in September, Tony Blair told unions that he would not tolerate a return to the union's abusive power of the 1970s and he invited them to modernise their political structures "We will not go back to the days of industrial warfare, strikes without ballots, mass and flying pickets, secondary action and the rest. You don't want it and I won't let it happen. And I will watch very carefully to see how the culture of modern trade unionism develops" he said. Actually, Tony Blair tried to convince unions to help him build modern Britain.
Blair did not repeal the anti-union legislation passed by the Conservatives over the last decade but he introduced several measures that had been claimed by the unions for years.
For the first time a national minimum wage was set on 1st April 1999. It was of £3.60 an hour for workers aged 22 and over and £3.00 an hour for workers aged 18-21 years old. He also set up a governement body to make sure employers would comply with the new wage levels. Firms faced a fine of £5,000 for each worker who was paid below the statutory minimum. The change was expected to benefit about two million people. But some unions were unhappy with the rate and wanted to increase the rate to £5 an hour.
Also, the 1999 Employment Relations Act introduced the recognition of collective bargaining. In factories employing 21 or more workers, an independent trade union had to be recognised by employers if half workers agreed. Unions were in charge for bargaining about pay, hours and holidays. Moreover the Act prohibited employers from discriminating employees on the basis of their trade union membership, non-membership or activities. The 1999 Employment Relations Act was the major Act passed by the new labour government.
2) Unionism in Britain by the late 1990s
Union membership fell from 13 million in 1979 to 8 million in 1997. Also, if 2,125 strikes had been called in 1979, they were only 146 in 2002.
The decrease was not only due to the conservative anti-union legislation. Two other reasons could be addded:
- The former strongly unionised industries such as mines had declined rapidly. For example, the National Union of Mineworkers had 5,000 in 2000, whereas it had 253,000 members in 1979.
- The people were less interested in joining unions as they had they had lost most of their power. They were not involved in policy-making anymore.

As a conclusion, we can say that governments and unions have always had adversarial relationships in Britain. The period 1970-1990 can be divided in 3 stages. In the 1970s, unions had been very powerful as they succeeded in paralyzing the country and led to the downfall of the conservative and labour governments. Then, the 1980s and the earlier 1990s saw the introduction of a restrictive legislation to weaken unions and to make sure they would not keep the conservative government from leading its policy. Finally, by the end of the 1990, unions were given more rights with the new labour government even if Tony Blair refused to remove the anti-union legislation.

[Maïwenn]

Pour demain ? Tu veux dire pour aujourd'hui là maintenant ? N'oublie pas que la plupart des gens dorment la nuit... Et puis ton texte est vraiment long Moi en tout cas j'ai pas du tout le temps de le lire, désolée...

[Pixel]

Pour demain ? Tu veux dire pour aujourd'hui là maintenant ? N'oublie pas que la plupart des gens dorment la nuit...

Non, moi je ne dors pas la nuit

Cela dit... tu aurais dû choisir des passages, où mettre ton texte à l'avance, ou en plusieurs fois...
Là, ça donne à peine envie de le lire, surtout si c'est pour demain, désolé

(Mais tu le sauras pour la prochaine fois... et puis y a peut-être quand même des gens qui vont t'aider )

[ldngli]

A few spots don't sound acceptable English to me.
Here they are, with a suggested replacement showing underneath:

Between September 1978 and February 1979, the country was completely paralysed by strikes.
----Between ... and ..., the country was **virtually** [or **totally**, or **the country ground to a halt** ...] paralysed by strikes.
Labour’s failure to control the unions was heavily punished by the voters ...
---- ... was **stiffly** [or **harshly**, ...] punished
One of her priorities was to weaken trade unions for 3 main reasons:
--- Three main reasons made it mandatory for her to weaken the trade unions:
The huge miners' strike of 1974 launched by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
---- The huge miners' strike of 1974 **set in motion** [or **triggered**, **promoted** ...] by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Over the last decade, the number
---- Over the **previous** decade, the number
Third, Thatcher considered unions as not democratic
---- Third, **Ms** Thatcher **questioned the unions' democratic credentials, believing that**
... but they did not find the courage to oppose.
---- ... the courage to oppose **them** [or **resist them**].
the rights and immunities possessed by unions
---- the rights and immunities **enjoyed** by unions
First, Thatcher tried to make strike launches more difficult with ...
---- ... tried to make strikes more difficult to start with ...
A strike could no more be launched without the consent of half workers
---- A strike could no **longer** be **decided upon unless at least half of the workers were endorsing it**
... employers were allowed to sue unions
---- employers were **entitled to taking the unions to court**
secondary picketing which had been commonly used over the last decade
---- used over the **previous** decade
unions were further banned from firing workers who refused to take part in industrial action
---- unions **could no longer oust** workers who refused to take part in industrial action
If three or more strikers cause a worker to fear
---- ... strikers **caused** a worker to fear
they were guilty of violent desorder
---- **disorder** [but **offence** is maybe more appropriate]
a turning point in the adversarial relationships
---- int the **confrontation** [or in **the confrontational relationships**]
The government mobilised all the police forces of the country
---- mobilised **police forces on a massive scale**
mass and flying pickets
---- [Its sense is unclear to me / Sure that such a way of saying exists?]
secondary action and the rest
---- ... and the **like**
Blair tried to convince unions
---- ... strived to convince unions [you used "tried to" many times over already]
--------------
PS: Use your own judgment though, as I am an Italian.

[Européen]

Effectivement, j'ai posté mon texte bien trop tard! J'en suis désolé. Merci quand même d'y avoir jeté un coup d'oeil... furtif!

Idngli, thanks for the corrections. But you corrected many sentences that I had found on the web, written by English native speakers. But you seem to have a good level of English.
Regards,
Alexandre.

[Beaumont]

Eh bien la prochaine fois tu posteras uniquement les phrases dont tu n'es pas sûr...

[mwanasimba]

J'ai lu attentivement ton exposé.
C'est très bien, et même s'il y a quelques fautes ici et là, l'ensemble est très lisible.
La faute la plus récurente, c'est "unions" au lieu de "the unions".
Une autre faute, c'est l'emploi de as (et même une fois "has") au lieu de since.
J'avais préparé un "corrigé", mais j'ai vu que d'autres ont déjà proposé des corrections, et puis la date est dépassée, alors...

I wish you good luck. Keep it up !

[Européen]

Merci mwanasimba de t'être penché sur mon exposé!

Prochaine fois je le posterai plus tôt, c'est tant pis pour moi!