![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/home-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/NL-News-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Back_issues-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/NL-comm-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Dialogues-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Raya_Dunayevskaya-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Literature-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Contact_us-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/Search_NL-1.gif)
![](../../../../newsandletters.org/images/buttons/donation.gif)
| |
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
|
|