YouSaid · the spoken record

Frances O'Grady

lines on the record: 37
first: 2017-11-17
most recent: 2017-11-17
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I haven't been taken a pay rise, and you know, I mean, again, I'm a trade unionist. I believe that people should get paid the rate for the job. I think it's much harder for people to have a go at trade union leaders nowadays when you look at the footsy top 100 directors on pay packages of 5 million or more footy well let's let's let's get into equal pay Nick shall we what do you feel about equal pay was equal pay we eat last week yeah but you know there is a real sense of unfairness isn't there and I think my priority is that we should rein it in it at the top but I have to say I look around some of the boardrooms and you know that's where I'd like to start”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No. No is the truth. But you know, as I say, thankfully trade unionism is all about teamwork and we've all got strengths and weaknesses. You know, I am far from perfect. I've made huge mistakes. But the great thing is there's always somebody else to lift you up. I am extremely privileged. I love my job and I want everybody to have the kind of job that they love.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“For being honest, in fact, we have a canteen at work, and that is the best place if you're in the office. That is the best place. We get so much work done there and have a good laugh too, which, you know, in tough times, you need to be able to get together with your workmates. And humour plays a really important role”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Listen, we're drawn from all walks of life. Factory workers, shop workers, scientists, engineers, premiership, footballers, but the difference is we have values about equality and respect and we have to hold ourselves to those high standards. One of the things that worried me about this whole debate was when it was all focused on Westminster and Hollywood. It was like, well, what about all the millions of women out there in real workplaces who are experiencing this? Westminster, of course, is a workplace, but it's not the only place it's going on. And it also felt to me like it was adding insult to injury when in some cases women's horrible experiences were being used for political point scoring.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh we are now 50 50 men and women in terms of our membership. You look around the general council table four in 10 of our leaders around that table are women. We need more women, don't get me wrong, the job isn't done. And, you know, and I think that's important because I think we do have to reflect the real world out there. We need to reflect the workforce. So it is important not just in terms of gender, but on race and everything else. And I'm personally really keen and committed to getting more young people into leadership levels.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, one of the women we spoke to in our survey talked about her last day of work, the boss saying his only regret was that he hadn't taken her to the store cupboard and raped her. Now somebody might describe that as a joke. I suspect the look on her face was that she was upset and frightened. So I think most of us know the difference between right and wrong. But again, the beauty of trade unionism is let's have policies in place so we can work all that through. Let's have fair procedures so that everybody has confidence that natural justice will be done and let's have some action to stop it happening in the first place.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This is you. Of course half of women have experienced sexual harassment and that rises to two thirds of young women, and that may be about comments, it may be about touching up, it may be all sorts of behaviors that are designed to humiliate and degrade.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of course we did this massive survey last year that I hope helped kick off what we've seen now in terms of an avalanche of women and some men coming forward about their experiences.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think what's really interesting and I think we haven't seen the end of this story yet is what happened in that last election because I think many people felt for the first time there was a manifesto that was about sticking up for ordinary working people, was about our schools and hospitals and welfare system, a bit public ownership in there. Most people agree that the railways should be brought into public ownership. And of course this huge growth of the party, the biggest membership political party in Europe. So a lot of excitement amongst young people. The real challenge for Labour now is can they take that sense of inspiration into the blue-collar heartlands and that is the big challenge without doubt.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's still very much there in fact, and I think again Who voted which one Labor or Tory I think age was certainly more important and education was certainly important too. But I think, you know, again, all politicians ought to be thinking really hard about why it is that particularly in some parts of the country people feel they've got no stake in the future of the economy.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I suspect that we could introduce some real common sense into the proceedings because the first question that any government needs to be clear about is what are our priorities? Now, I think as a negotiator, one of the big mistakes of the Prime Minister was that...”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, the day after the referendum, I was very clear that we accepted the result. We're leaving the EU. But I called for a Team UK approach. I suggested that there should be a cross-party negotiating team that included representatives from business and trade unions because the country, it seems to me, is still pretty bitterly divided. And the priority for any government in power should be to bring the country back together again. And let's be clear, this wasn't a landslide result. You know, if I had that in an industrial action balot, I would be very, very careful how I took a 5248 result.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes. Yes. So, of course, Sunderland didn't. I think it is a measure of, you know, go around and talk to people and they felt they had nothing to lose, that nobody was looking out for them and why not rip it up and see what happens.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Common market Absolutely. So from the trade union movement's point of view, it was never a case of unconditional love. It was about the promise that the four freedoms would be balanced by real protections and rights for workers. In fact, we were promised worker participation on boards, we were promised lifelong learning, something that we're still kind of fighting for, but strong rights and collective bargaining.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We're part of the European trade union body and they open doors for us all over Europe. And, you know, I have noted sometimes it's easier to get indoors around Brussels than it can be in Westminster. So yes, I do meet ministers from across the EU. We worked very hard with our friends in the European trade union movement to make sure that in Monsieur Barnier's negotiating guidelines, a red line is that there should be a level playing field on workers' rights.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What I do know is because we tracked it in terms of trade unionists, we managed to shift opinion and we won six in ten trade unionists to vote for Remain by talking about what it meant for their holiday pay, what it meant for their maternity rights, what it meant for their jobs. And, you know, I wish that the bigger campaign had taken up those issues more sharply.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, listen, you know, I'm not old enough to know that you get people you're impressed by in all walks of life. You don't have to agree with people's politics to be able to deal respectfully with them, to get on with them. I understand that. One big problem, in fact, was that kind of blinkered approach to thinking that everything was about what's best for business and forgetting workers their votes needed to be won too”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it wasn't an easy decision for the trade union movement, I'll be honest, in terms of what position we took on that referendum. But for our part, we had to look really hard at what this would mean for working people today and in the future. And we set out our own tests.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that he had a very distinctive voice in the campaign and I think many people in our ranks felt that one of the problems with the official Remain campaign was that it was all about business and what was good for business and not enough about what it meant for jobs, livelihoods and people's rights.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Were they I think what I was struck by was a sense of entitlement and I've always had this very strong feeling as a result that you know brains aren't confined to one class in society and that's why I do feel personally really strongly you know working people have good ideas we have a right to get a fair hearing and you know we want to contribute and you know I wish more politicians understood how much working people have to give”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think I was the worst silver service waitress ever because too often I was trying to listen in to conversations rather than carry that tray. Anyway, I didn't listen. I did. I was taken off silver service.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. I mean, you don't have to look very far around the world to see countries who do it much better. The other thing that was interesting about”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there wasn't that same gap between those at the top and everybody else. And, you know, it does feel like there is this kind of top 1% who are very remote from our everyday lives and don't have that sense of responsibility.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, those are the official figures. So I think most of us, and we've seen this with the release of first the Panama Papers, now the Paradise Papers, there is a real sense of unfairness, and that makes us miserable. Actually, people want to live in a society where they know that if you get into trouble, if you get injured at work, if something bad happens to your family, you will be looked after.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“For people describe it as conflict, another way of describing it is people standing up for their rights and wanting a better deal, a new deal for working people.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And dad take you for tea if you're graduating. They were on strike. Yeah. Yeah. It was an exciting place to be as a young, you know, teenager. There was a lot going on classically your dad worked in the plant and your mum worked in shops or the NHS, but there was Ruskin, which was a bit of a powerhouse of ideas, working class intellectualism, and plenty else going on, you know, bookshops going on strike, never mind hotels. So it was an exciting place to be.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, the other version, I think, and I think there's a problem today about the quality of management in Britain, and actually I think many employers recognise that. We've got the best educated top management in Europe, but in terms of middle management, team leadership really undertrained, under-supported, and very often the jam in the sandwich.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think one thing you learn as you get older is that there's always more than one version of history more than one version of the truth, but sometimes the victors get to write it.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes. So imagine if people had listened to the workforce then, listened to those unions who had ideas about how, you know, nobody's got a bigger stake in an industry than the people whose livelihoods depend on it. And they had great ideas and they were ignored.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think that's a great example in many ways because my dad worked at Cowley. He was a transport and general shop steward on the line. Thank you Mini. Well, this was long before Minnie's. This was British Leyland. But there's often a kind of stereotype about the unions then being resistant to change, old-fashioned and so on. And in fact, back in the 70s, the unions across the car industry came up with a really important report about the need to start developing electric cars. They'd seen what was happening in Japan where prototypes were being developed, climate change science was just emerging, and the unions got together and said to the government and the employer, we need to invest in developing electric cars.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“This is a massive, massive challenge. You know, I'm not of the school that believes millions of jobs will be lost and that's the end of it. I think some jobs will go, some new jobs will be created. I think the big challenge for us is how it's going to transform everybody's job. I think we need to be arguing for massive training programs, upskilling, retraining, not just apprenticeships for young people, but what happens to everybody else because we're all facing these big changes. But I think it's also a big challenge for politicians. What's our top priority here? And I think our top priority should be how do we make sure there is enough decent work for everybody in the parts of the country that need them most.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Vans turn up, I think. So that hasn't changed, and the fact that we've got new technology being used to deploy those sorts of forms of exploitation is nothing new. But what I think it does mean is that unions have a big challenge. We've got our 150th anniversary as a TUC coming up next year. And I think that's a great opportunity for us not just to look back at the past, go down memory lane, but actually start developing new models of trade unionism that are fit for a digital age. And so we can reach those workers in a way that's tailored to their needs and get them represented in fair treatment.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Lining up lining up, and you still see that, by the way. You see very old fashioned forms of exploitation. You go outside any big DIY store in North London and you'll see workers queuing up to get a job as a handyman.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Nick, how new is this really? You know, the fact that it's an app or a platform doesn't change the fact that this is about how working people are treated and are they treated fairly and decently. But what I would say is...”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Listen, I'm a mother, I work part-time for years. I'm a big fan of flexibility, but I think as trade unionists, what we want to see is two-way flexibility. It shouldn't be all the cards in the bosses.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Its important news and its fantastic that unions are beginning to organise this so called gig economy. I mean, we've got people there who are being denied the national minimum wage, the right to be accompanied by their union, sick pay, holiday pay, because the employer deemed them to be self-employed when the law says they're workers and they should get those rights.”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, I think consumer boycotts are always the weakest form of protest. I'd much prefer to see the union recognised and sitting around the table with the employer and working out how do we make sure those drivers are treated fairly”
2017-11-17 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Frances O'Grady One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source