Solidarity 580, 3 February 2021

Myanmar's dictators break cover

Having governed since 2015 and won a landslide in November’s general election, Myanmar’s National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has been ousted by a military coup. Taking a leaf from the Trump playbook, the generals are claiming election fraud. The NLD won 58.6% for the lower chamber and 61.6% for the upper chamber, versus 5.9% and 3.1% for the military front party USDP. The military, who have run Myanmar for most of the time since its independence in 1948, never really gave up much power. The problem is not just the NLD’s timidity: Aung San Suu Kyi has denied that the regime...

Drive for Labour conference

Internationalists in Labour are beginning a drive to get internationalist, socialist policy put to Labour’s national conference this autumn (25-29 September). Momentum Internationalists (MI) will be supporting motions on solidarity with the Hong Kong democracy movement and the Uyghur Muslims targeted by Beijing’s ethnic cleansing drive. We will be backing a motion from the Free Our Unions campaign that raises the alarm about the government’s plans to impose anti-strike “minimum service requirements” in the UK transport sector, makes the case for trade union freedom in the UK, and stresses the...

Stansted 15 victory

The dropping of counter-terror charges against the fifteen activists from End Deportations who blocked the takeoff of a flight deporting people to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone in 2017 is a victory for determined campaigning and for solidarity. The judge said that “the appellants should not have been prosecuted for the extremely serious offence” contained in a section of the 1990 Aviation and Maritime Security Act – a law passed in response to the Lockerbie bombing, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Among the deportees on the 2017 flight were victims of human trafficking...

Don't look to Coyne to clear it up

Courtesy of The Times newspaper, Gerard Coyne is back in the limelight. Coyne stood for Unite General Secretary in the 2017 contest. Cheered on by the media, he ran a foul, racist-scapegoating, muckraking campaign, with large amounts of venom directed at the then Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Having stood on a platform of “cleaning up” Unite, Coyne was then sacked for misuse of data during his election campaign. His claim for unfair dismissal was thrown out by an Employment Tribunal. In recent weeks he has re-surfaced and been offered up by The Times as the authoritative voice of moral...

Time for solidarity

A number of disputes are ongoing or brewing involving the big union Unite, and should get solidarity. Scaffolders at British Steel plant in Scunthorpe employed by contractor Brand Energy struck over pay on 25 January, with six days announced. The workers are fighting to be paid in line with the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). Their current pay is £2 an hour below NAECI rates. Unite members at Eddie Stobart Logistics in Warrington have started an overtime ban over the employer reneging on the agreement reached following previous action, a 2020 pay freeze...

Seeking unity against pay freeze

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in November that pay would be frozen for the 2021-2 round for 1.3 million public sector workers. The freeze does not include NHS staff, who mobilised on the streets in July-September 2020 demanding a 15% rise, and will surely remobilise when their official Pay Review Board reports in May, or sooner. The freeze also will not apply fully to the 2.1 million public sector workers earning below £24,000 per year, who will get an increase “of at least £250”, according to Sunak. In local government, the majority union, Unison, accepted a settlement for 2020/2021 in...

Victory at BMA

Cleaners outsourced by the British Medical Association have prevented 30 redundancies there. The cleaners, employed by CWS, were furloughed since the first lockdown, with the BMA topping up the 20% of their salaries not covered by HMRC. In October 2020 the BMA suspended this, citing lost rental and event income. The cleaners’ union CAIWU appealed to CWS to continue the furlough arrangement — costing the company just £1,741. CWS instead dismissed the cleaners from 31 January. CAIWU’s campaign went public on 26 January, and by the end of next day the BMA had agreed to support continued...

Care workers out again 4-8 February

Care workers at the Sage care home in North London will strike again on 4-8 February. The workers are demanding pay increases to £12/hour, and parity with NHS workers on terms and conditions such as sick pay and annual leave. The workers are also demanding recognition of their union, United Voices of the World (UVW). A previous strike from 15-17 January saw hundreds attend a virtual strike rally on the first day of the strike, with safely-distanced picket lines being held on 16 and 17 January. UVW members at La Retraite Catholic school in south London are also balloting for strikes, demanding...

Diary of a Tube worker: A quiet shift

It’s cold and not a lot is happening on a Monday as I start my shift at 5 am, at a quieter station than I usually work at. There are passengers, but those travelling to work at that time know what they’re doing and don’t need help from staff. I sit and wait for someone else to come in and take me off the gateline so I can get a cup of tea. Everyone is tired, waiting to go home while others make their way to work. By the time the clock winds its way round to 12:30 pm and my shift ends, I have probably uttered two sentences at most. I walked round the station twice and wondered what I will have...

No excuses on isolation pay for cleaners

It seems ABM is attempting to weasel out of its commitment to pay all cleaners full pay for periods of sickness and self-isolation.

Managers are instructing workers to apply to their local councils for the £500 self-isolation grant, and saying ABM will top up any remainder, or that they’ll only pay...

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