March 2001

Strikes spread in Blair's Britain

London-There was chaos as 92% of train services on the London Underground were brought to a halt Feb. 5 by defiant mass strike action. It may well be the Rubicon our movement has waited nearly two decades to cross.

The action of rail unions ASLEF and RMT was formally over layoffs and the risk to safety arising from the New Labour government's plans to privatize sections of the system. In reality it was a strike against privatization itself and as a result it holds massive public support. Since outsourcing on the national state-owned railways, there has been a string of disasters and many deaths.

The RMT had a 90% yes vote, yet a court ruling declared the strike illegal. The tactic of splitting the unions failed when for the first time in 15 years mass action, openly backed by union leaders, defied the capitalist courts. ASLEF stuck to their guns, and 4,000 RMT members obeyed working-class law and respected the picket lines. The continuation of outsourcing by Blair has fueled further fights, notably in the Health Service, brought home by a string of scandalous deaths. At Dudley Hospitals in Birmingham 600 health workers have taken over 100 days of strike action against outsourcing. They have stood firm against attempts by the bosses, the government and local Labour MPs to bribe or scare them back to work.

Shortages and low pay have fueled ballots for industrial action amongst teaching unions in four cities and calls for national action. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) scored a number of victories by strike action on the same issues coinciding with the shock victory of independent socialist Mark Serwotka, a rank-and-file activist, for general secretary.

There has been a virtual "guerrilla war" of wildcats by postal workers. Underlying the disputes is a drive for productivity unleashed by an agreement made by the Communication Workers Union leaders and the Royal Mail, "The Way Forward." The government's lifting of the state monopoly to allow open competition whilst the Royal Mail expands globally has left the workforce caught between the pressures of state capitalism and global capital. Postal workers have responded with wildcats, scoring victories against Royal Mail in Bristol, Ipswich, and Stockport.

In Oxford 900 postal workers responded to bullying management with a wildcat, which spread even as union General Secretary Derek Hodgson issued a "special briefing" that "there should be no spread whatever of the unofficial action." A striker in Swindon responded, "Bugger what Hodgson says. We're not scabbing on Oxford and we're not going to let the management break our union." After a week it ended in victory.

The necessity of international solidarity to challenge capital has been brought home with redoubled force by the employers' offensive in the car industry. Just before Christmas GM announced the closure of its Luton plant with 2,000 job losses and the threat to many more. Spontaneously the morning and late shifts besieged the director's office until the riot police arrived. This was followed by a 24-hour protest, and GM workers at the Ellesmere Port on Merseyside walked out.

On Jan. 20 a demonstration in Luton of 10,000 was joined by delegations in solidarity from GM plants from across Europe, the USA and Canada. On Jan. 25, 40,000 GM workers took action across Europe in solidarity with their British brothers and sisters. At four Opel plants in Germany and in Portugal rallies were held at factory gates, Zaragossa Opel plant in Spain struck and marched on GM offices, 6,000 workers at Antwerp walked out. Peter Jaszczyk from the Opel works in Bochum spoke well that it is "a signal that the era of the European-wide strike has come."

New Labour has announced it will make "full employment in the U.K." the heart of its looming election manifesto. This rings hollow in a society where unemployment is indispensable. The fight to save jobs poses the fundamental conflict of interests between capital and labor.

The active rejection of the agenda of the bosses and partnership with capital opens the possibility of a more far-reaching solidarity for freedom from the entire system of global capital. No matter who wins the election, this system will remain and this winter of discontent points to this as the goal we must set.

-Christopher Ford, Secretary, PCWU