Trade union issues

Today workers can move freely and easily across most of the European Union. The freedom is a boon, and makes it easier to build the working-class unity across borders which was an urgent necessity even from a trade-union point of view as long ago as the beginning of the First International, in the 1860s. But capital is agile. Capital will seek to turn our freedoms against us. In four judgements in 2007-8 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made it easier for bosses to undermine union agreements in one country by "shipping in" or "posting" entire temporary workforces from other countries. The...

THESE ARE THE CLASS WAR DEAD Stop in your tracks, you passer-by, Uncover your doubting head; The workingmen are on their way To bury their murdered dead. The men who sowed their strength in work And reaped a crop of lies Are marching by. Oppression's doom Is written in their eyes. Two coffins lead the grim parade That stops you in your tracks; Two workers lying stiff and dead With bullets in their backs. The blood they left upon the street Was workers' blood and red; They died to make a better world. These are the class war dead! Stand back, you greedy parasites, With banks and bellies filled...

The crisis in the auto industry is about many things: the possible collapse of General Motors, Detroit gas guzzlers, auto emission standards, the environment, and the need for mass transportation, among others. At the centre of it all, however, is the struggle between management and the workers, that is, between capital and labour.... New York Times columnist Joe Nocera argued that bankruptcy would be too long and slow a process to save the industry. He suggested that President-Elect Barack Obama create an auto Tsar... to negotiate a new deal in auto. What would that deal look like? “It needs...

The Builders Labourer, the journal of the Builders Labourers Federation of Queensland, carried this tribute to Bob Carnegie when he decided to step down as a full-time organiser with the BLF to return to work on the sites. Bob is a supporter of Workers’ Liberty Australia. Bob Carnegie was born to unionism. His father was a seaman who brooked no bullshit from anyone and was affectionately known by one and all as “Fuck-’em”, as this was his response to any demand or requirement that he thought was unfair or unreasonable. With that sort of heritage Bobby was always going to go somewhere but he...

Around 300 trade unionists and environmental activists attended the Campaign against Climate Change (CCC) trade union conference on 9 February. The turnout exceeded expectations and showed that there is a real interest in fighting climate change among union activists. The conference was organised by members of both sides of the Respect split (ISG and SWP) and the Green Party and backed by some union leaders. Frances O’Grady (TUC), as well as Matt Wrack (FBU), Chris Baugh (PCS), Christine Blower (NUT), Linda Newman (UCU) and Tony Kearns (CWU) spoke from the platform. There was wide agreement...

Last week a group of cleaners at Stansted airport were told not to come to work the next day as they were no longer required. Most are from Eastern Europe and Africa. All are agency workers. Temporary and agency workers are in a particularly precarious position. They can be hired and fired almost at will. They have no guaranteed hours or permanent contract of employment. They often work for lower wages and receive less favourable sick pay and other ‘perks’ than the directly-employed colleagues they work alongside. Added to this, scams and abuse such as categorising these workers as “self...

On Thursday the 21st of February, we will find out if some 450 members of the TGWU/Unite have voted in favour of national strike action, an event which would be a first in Shelter's 41-year history. They are faced with a package of cuts which will result in all 800+ staff working two and a half extra hours per week (unpaid) and without the current incremental pay scale which they are currently entitled to (worth £2k-£3k on top of starting salaries). On top of this, scores of frontline advice and support staff are to be made redundant and "redeployed" into lower-paid jobs in a "new operating...

In response to the impact of August 2007’s 12-hour strike, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced plans for a strike-ban for prison officers on January 8. Tabled as an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, the measure will be discussed in Parliament as Solidarity goes to press. The decision to reintroduce a strike-ban contradicts its repeal in 2005, when David Blunkett replaced an all-out “reserve power” banning striking with a “voluntary” no-strike agreement, due to expire in May 2008. The Prison Officers’ Association gave 12 months notice of withdrawal from this agreement...