Solidarity 267, 5 December 2012

Teachers' rank-and-file conference

This Saturday December 8th the network of NUT branches (known as divisions or associations) which was established in response to the retreat in the pensions struggle earlier in the year will hold its second national conference in Leicester. Local Associations for National Action (LANAC) emerged in March last year after the NUT National Executive voted to call off a planned national strike due to take place on March 28th despite 73% of members voting for the strike in a union survey. As feared by the activists and branches that launched the network, that was the end of pensions action for the...

New York fast food workers join America's revolt of the low-paid

Fast food workers in New York have followed the example set by Walmart workers and struck against low-pay and for dignity at work. After last week’s “Black Friday” strikes, which saw workers at 1,000 Walmart stores across America take action, workers at McDonalds, Burger King, and other fast food outlets in New York struck and demonstrated, demanding union rights and a doubling of the minimum wage to $15 per hour. The average fast food worker in New York currently makes $11,000 per year, compared to $25,000 per day raked in by most fast food CEOs. Like Walmart, fast food chains are notoriously...

Rail cleaners' national strike

Cleaners in the Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers union (RMT) have struck on six contracts in the widest coordination of cleaners' strike action in recent labour movement history. ISS cleaners' picket line at King Cross station, London ISS cleaners on London Underground and East Coast mainline, Churchill cleaners on Tyne & Wear Metro, Initial cleaners on London Underground, and Carlisle cleaners on the Docklands Light Railways and First TransPennine Express have struck to win living wages and equal terms and conditions. ISS cleaners on London Midland had been due to strike, but suspended...

Ford: "It’ll come down to how hard we want to fight"

A union rep at the Ford Transit Van plant in Southampton spoke to Solidarity . Our position is to oppose the closure. There was never any kind of discussion around it – it was just announced. We want to fight to stop it. The mood in the plant is strange. Everyone’s very up and down, and there a lot of ongoing discussions and meetings so we don’t know the full details of what management is planning. Some of the workers employed by the contractors are talking about balloting for industrial action, but that’ll be around the demand for equal severance packages rather than against the closure. That...

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