It was very revealing that the first public statements made by the new Tory Business Secretary Sajid Javid were not about plans to stabilise a fragile economic recovery or address underemployment or tackle the main problem facing the UK economy, its lamentable productivity performance - it was his plans for attacking unions.

An intervention as predictable as it was pathetic.

Yet hostility to organized labour isn't confined to ex-investment bankers. Labour's pummelling at the General election unleashed a tidal wave of commentary much of which, implicitly at least, questions the legitimacy of unions' industrial and political roles. Any trade union intervention in politics, no matter how reasonable and transparent, is guaranteed to provoke howls of outrage from the usual suspects. It is somewhat ironic that the angriest commentators are often those claiming trade unions are at once irrelevant and a real and immediate threat to the social order.

Given the febrile post-election environment, it's vital that the trade union movement grasps the nettle and clearly and patiently explains why its work is so important; why a strong trade union movement is an essential component of a resilient economy and a flourishing, cohesive society. What might this involve?

Start with explaining why unions' core purpose - collective bargaining - is about more than obtaining a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, protecting terms and conditions and safeguarding our members' health and safety.

It is about equality. It is about building and sustaining workplace democracy. It is about the development of a society which is fairer, more equal and democratic - and where economic power is more evenly distributed.

The sorry truth is that for far too long now, successive governments have refused to acknowledge any kind of positive role for collective bargaining. It has been considered an unwelcome rigidity which prevents the otherwise flexible labour market from adjusting to meet changes in demand for labour. The wider benefits of collective bargaining have been deliberately obscured and diminished. For flexible labour market read low wage, low regulation, and low valuation of a disposable workforce.

But if politicians do indeed want to tackle economic insecurity and income inequality and improve productivity then government at all levels must urgently reassess the benefits of collective bargaining. The most enduringly successful societies on earth have high levels of trade union membership and wide collective bargaining coverage and the political presence of trade unions helps counterbalance corporate power and ensure the sustainability of a workplace environment that allows workers to develop, participate and innovate.

Across all the developed nations, high union membership and collective bargaining is positively correlated with lower income inequality. More workers covered by a collective agreement leads to a fairer distribution of income ... end of story.

How they respond to trade unions and workplace organisation is becoming a litmus test for Government at all levels: seek to support an agenda for collective bargaining or cease with platitudes about inequality, low wages, decent work and improved productivity.

Thankfully, Scottish politicians do appear more enlightened than their UK counterparts. Only last month the First Minister told STUC Congress that the Scottish Government "will always champion and stand up for the positive role unions can play. We value highly the role of collective bargaining in ensuring decent pay and working conditions".

And earlier this week, Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser struck a markedly different tone from his colleagues in Westminster arguing that "whether it is improving employment standards, addressing health and safety issues, or fighting low pay, Conservatives should not be shy of standing side-by-side with trade unionists seeking fairness for working people".

The caricature of trade unions and union representatives - somewhere between 'I'm alright Jack' and Leon Trotsky - relentlessly presented by swathes of the media is an appalling insult to the thousands of men and women whose only motivation is the wellbeing of their work colleagues and communities. Unions cement good workplaces and the communities in which they're situated with a plethora of activities around traditional collective bargaining, equalities, lifelong learning and, increasingly, the environment. Celebration of these activists and the organisations which nurture and support them should come naturally to any politician or newspaper editor concerned with creating a better, fairer society.