Workers' Liberty

Unison local government branches have been holding an indicative ballot on pay over the last two weeks. Efforts to pull a large yes vote to take strike action by branch activists was helped by the action taken by NUT, UCU and PCS members on 24th April. These strikes gave a public profile and some urgency to the issue.

The leadership of Unison should take the initiative and use the momentum of the 24th build for a national ballot – but they are ‘less than enthusiastic’.There is a direct relationship between the mood of the leadership and the mood of the members. Without a clear, centralised and positive campaign Unison members will be less likely to vote yes and less likely to vote at all. Unison leaders will then say “the members don’t want to strike” - they create a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the absence of any desire from the leadership to fight for a yes vote, branch activists must gear themselves up for a battle.

Unison members know full well that one day of action here or there cannot win the struggle for fair pay. They know there has to be more concerted action if we are to win. Local activists must provide leadership on these questions and put the national union into a position it cannot back out of.

On the morning of the teachers’ strike, Teaching Assistants in one primary school in Tower Hamlets met to discuss their own pay. They calculated the overall loss of salary – the money taken out of their pay packets – that would result in a below-inflation pay offer, the scrapping of the 10p tax rate, increased pension contributions, the loss of lump-sum payments, higher rent, mortgage and service charges, inflated food and energy bills. It became clear that they were not just talking about making ends meet, but of getting the ends in sight of each other!

Couple this with the increased pressures of TA work, the more and more heavy-handed approach of management to sickness, disciplinary procedures and monitoring and TA’s have all the more reason to take action. As one Unison members put it: “we are not being treated like children, but like the family pet – kicked if we bark; patted on the head if we’re good.”
By the end of the meeting, there was little desire to be the “good pet” - these members were ready to strike.

‘A Unison Activist’