Solidarity 584, 3 March 2021

Why we wrote about Saklatvala

Our new pamphlet on 1920s revolutionary socialist MP Shapurji Saklatvala is out now and can be bought here (profits from the first print run go to the Sage care workers’ strike fund). Its author Sacha Ismail explains why he started reading about Saklatvala and we decided to produce the pamphlet. When I first joined Workers’ Liberty, twenty years ago, I read an article about the history of the Labour Party. Written in 1996 by Sean Matgamna, it cited Saklatvala as an important figure, quoting Communist and Trotskyist veteran Harry Wicks – active in the Battersea labour movement at the same time...

PCS "Left Unity" split is finalised

On 26 February members of the civil service union PCS in HMRC (Revenue and Customs) voted overwhelmingly on an 82% turnout to accept a deal which sold terms and conditions for an average 13% pay-rise over three years. This result is not surprising. It is however unfortunate, and illustrates the level of desperation and pessimism on behalf of the membership who don’t have the confidence to win on pay unless they sell their conditions to do so. Following years of top-down leadership, secret negotiations, constant refusal to fight over issues such as office closures and a consequent declining...

Care workers challenge anti-union harassment

United Voices of the World (UVW) members at the Sage care home in north London are pursuing two legal claims against their employer. The workers previously struck in January and February to win living wages and parity with NHS workers’ terms and conditions on sick pay and annual leave entitlements. A UVW statement said: “The first claim is a group claim concerning a letter sent by the home’s trustees during a ballot for industrial action in October 2020... A second individual claim for victimisation is also being brought by a former employee of the home.” Bella Ruiz, a former care assistant...

Bus workers strike again 3-6 March

Drivers at three London bus companies struck across 22-24 February, with further strikes planned across on 3, 5, and 6 March. The strikes, organised by the Unite union, involve drivers at London United, Quality Line, and London Sovereign. All three are owned by French parent company RATP. London Sovereign drivers will strike on 3 March, London United drivers on 5 and 6 March, and Quality Line drivers on 5 March. The dispute involves almost 2,000 drivers in total. At London United, RATP wants to impose new contracts, which would reduce wages by £2,500 for some drivers. The new contracts would...

Gas workers' vote due 4 March

British Gas engineers struck again from 26 February to 1 March, and their dispute against worsening terms and conditions imposed through “fire and rehire” reached 26 days of strikes. Further strikes are planned throughout March and into April, but could be suspended depending on the outcome of an electronic referendum on British Gas’s latest offer. The result is due to be announced on Thursday 4 March. The GMB union has been running online meetings where members have discussed the deal. It involves a significant additional financial outlay from the employer, and represents some concessions on...

Openreach workers strike

Engineers working for BT Openreach struck on 24-25 February, in a dispute over proposed changes to their terms and conditions. Further strikes are planned on 3-5 March. The workers, who perform specialist work moving and preserving BT cabling during major building works, are resisting the imposition of new contracts which would lead to pay cuts. Bosses claim the difference in pay would be topped up by bonuses, but workers say this would represent a “performance-related-pay” scheme where pay is tied to productivity rather than a guaranteed salary. The strikes, the first by any BT workers since...

Job cuts in schools

Financial cuts and local falling rolls in Lewisham, south-east London, are threatening school workers’ jobs. At Conisborough College, a secondary school, a proposed re-organisation is threatening to lose six teacher roles. It is thought that a second re-structure of support staff may follow. In Deptford Park, a primary school, over 20 jobs are threatened, in virtually all sections of the staff. In addition, the vast majority of support staff contracts are being altered to exactly school hours only, with a significant effect on income. NEU activists will be demanding that the schools open their...

Diary of a Tube worker: "Leave me alone, I'm staying the night"

“You can’t stay here”, W says. “Sit up, and, please, you’ll need to leave.” The man with the red face and tangled hair continues to relax on the floor, his bottle of rum by his side and the Sainsbury’s bag as his pillow. W walks back to his office, shaking his head. The guy has been here an hour, and by declaring he plans to stay the night he’s caused more trouble for himself then he might have wanted. “Excuse me”, someone says, doubling back to the barriers. I know what they are going to say. I pre-empt them. “Yep, we’ve seen him. Don’t worry he’s drunk, not collapsed.” “The humanitarian in...

Kino Eye: The 1970 Leeds clothing workers' strike

The 1971 postal workers’ strike ( Solidarity 583 ) was one of several key strikes in that stormy period. Leeds United! , directed by Roy Battersby, which was broadcast by the BBC in 1974 in their Play for Today series, concerns an unofficial strike by female clothing workers in Leeds and is based on real events in 1970. The militancy of the women, led by the indefatigable Mollie (Lynne Perrie), and their desire to improve their miserable wages, come into conflict with an entrenched, all-male, trade union bureaucracy who eventually negotiate a sell-out deal. A Communist Party member Harry...

New members for the union (John Moloney's column)

Our members in HMRC [Revenue and Customs] have voted overwhelmingly to accept a department-specific offer on pay and conditions. The National Executive Committee has decided that HMRC members therefore won’t be balloted as part of any national ballot for action to win better pay, against the Tories’ pay freeze, although they may be balloted as part of national disputes on other issues. Whilst I understand the logic of the NEC’s position, in my personal view I don’t believe that the HMRC deal fundamentally solves the real pay, terms and conditions problems that workers in that department face...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.