Solidarity 542, 7 April 2020

Whether by local management showing common sense, or by frontline staff initiative for social distancing in Tube stations, we’ve seen: • The use of tensa barriers and tape to mark distancing zones around gatelines and POMs (ticket machines) • Staff rotation and redeployment around the station • Repurposing of rooms around the station so staff don’t have to crowd into small mess rooms In contrast is a station where the Area Manager has said, in writing, that they believe “business as usual” should prevail as much as possible. Union reps are on the case. An employee bulletin has recommended that...

In the Thursday 8pm “clapping for the NHS” on 2 April 2020, many people chanted “Test! Test! Test! PPE!” Health workers are pressing the government on its failure to meet its promises to expand testing hugely, to make PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] available to all, and to agree adequate PPE guidelines for health workers. So, even, are NHS bosses. NHS Providers, a confederation of NHS hospital, mental health, community, and ambulance trusts, said on 3 April: “There are still trusts that are unable to begin testing, and lack of swabs, reagents and test kits is a continuing concern”. They...

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash Pressure for the government to extend the Brexit transition period beyond 31 December is growing. With the deadline for requesting an extension now less than three months away (30 June), it is likely to grow further. The left should do everything we can to amplify that pressure. The European parliamentary group of the “centre-right” European People’s Party – too moderate for the Tories – has called for the UK to apply for an extension. The EPP is the largest bloc in the European parliament and linked to many EU governments. Its stance is a clear signal that an...

Cinzia Arruzza, co-author of Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto , spoke on 26 March about Covid-19 and workers’ struggles in Italy. It was an online meeting organised by the “Workforce Coronavirus Support Group”, Manchester Trades Council, and Reel News. For Arruzza's full speech, on YouTube, see here . Extracts below. To keep things short, the Italian government didn’t take measures to suppress the virus in the way that China and South Korea did. When they were finally forced to call for a lockdown, first of Lombardy and two days later the whole of Italy, it stopped shops, schools and public...

Nine people died in domestic killings in Britain’s first week of lockdown, following a global trend of increased domestic violence during coronavirus quarantine. The low level of reporting makes statistics on domestic violence unreliable, but domestic violence deaths and police reports are going up. The government has responded saying women can leave their homes to seek help at a refuge, which ignores that many refuges are already struggling to meet need and that many access domestic violence services through something like their child’s school, children’s centre, or library. Sandra Horley CBE...

Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) are objecting to the lack of adequate healthcare, the loss of social care support, the erosion of rights – and the ominous attitude that disabled people are somehow less worthy of life. At the onset of the pandemic, assurances abounded that people need not worry too much, as the virus posed a serious threat only to the old and those with underlying health conditions. These people were “someone else” in messages directed to the “normal” population. Even now that it has become clear that everyone is in danger, disabled people remain more vulnerable, not...

Schools were shut down and requisitioned for other purposes. 140,000 patients were sent home from hospitals to “clear the decks” for a dramatic new influx. Millions of people were taken out of their ordinary jobs and sustained meagrely at government expense while not contributing to production. Alongside them, large numbers were unemployed, about 9% of the workforce. For the first six months unemployment rose because of the closing-down of many small businesses and the disruption of trade patterns. Other industries and services were run at emergency speed. The usual criteria of market signals...

Postal workers on strike - maintaining social distancing on the picket line - in Alloa, Scotland, over workplace safety and having to deliver junk mail (March 2020) The atmosphere in the workplace is strange. You can feel how on edge people are. There are markedly fewer workers in. I think between 50-60 people are off work. Non-driving staff were told not to come in, and people with underlying health conditions were told not to come in. However, some managers were coming in on Sundays, and were trying to get workers to come in on Sundays too to deliver backlogs of mail that had built up...

This week I’ve felt like a thief going into work early on deserted streets. Workers are eager to chat (at a safe distance), getting in as much face-to-face human interaction as possible before we go home. One morning me and three operators spend an hour cracking jokes about the mysterious free pizza that came with the night shift’s takeaway curry. There have also been varying levels of anxiety, claustrophobia and fatigue. We’re on skeleton shifts – our teams reduced to one mechanic, one electrician and one apprentice, on 12-hour shifts, followed by three weeks off or on-call. The electrician...

We now have a civil-service wide agreement that all outsourced workers will be paid in full if their workplaces shut down, or they have to self isolate. We are awaiting confirmation they will receive full sick pay as well. The union has to be active in policing the agreement. There are agency staff in some government departments, doing processing and admin work, and the employer has agreed to furlough them on 80% pay if they have to self isolate etc. That’s better than nothing, as the risk was that their contracts would simply be terminated, but the union is pushing for those workers to be...