Solidarity 448, 20 September 2017

Changing gender without defending boundaries

Pat Murphy says ( Solidarity 447) Claudia Raven did not give enough serious attention to the feminist concerns raised in relation to potential amendments to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA). This is an attempt to give our discussion some more substance, as well as a response. It is of course not definitive and the debate should continue. But this discussion has been made more urgent by the context of the recent stopping of a meeting on the GRA, and a subsequent protest involving physical confrontation at the rearranged meeting (see page 4 for a statement on this). The first problem with Pat’s...

Public support for bin strike grows

Birmingham refuse workers have renewed their strike action following the Labour council’s decision to renege on a settlement reached at ACAS and to issue redundancy notices. This extraordinary and shameful about-turn by the council led to an unprecedented public statement from ACAS (in effect accusing the council of lying about the deal) and the resignation of discredited council leader John Clancy. Paradoxically, the council’s treachery has boosted public sympathy for the workers, with a Birmingham Mail poll showing the majority of Brummies blame the council. Union branches and Labour parties...

Build solidarity with DOO strikes

The dispute over Driver Only Operation (DOO) in the rail industry continues, and is spreading. RMT guards struck on 1 and 4 of September on Southern, Northern and Merseyrail, and on 19 September announced a further two strike days for 3 and 5 of October. This time RMT members on a fourth franchise, Greater Anglia, will also strike after 90% of the members voted for action over the role of the guard and extension to DOO, on an 89% turnout. RMT has also triggered a formal dispute with new South Western Railway owners First MTR over the issue and will be balloting its members there. There has...

Tube drivers to strike

London Underground drivers in the Aslef union will strike on 5 October. The dispute is a hangover from LU’s 2015 pay settlement with unions, which included a commitment to explore alternative working arrangements aimed at improving work/life balance. As part of this, London Underground ran a voluntary trial of a “four-day week” model, which involved the compression of drivers’ existing hours into four days, on the Jubilee Line. That trial has now ended, and Aslef say they want the model rolled out to the rest of the network. Their ballot for strikes returned a 88% majority for strikes, and a...

Royal Mail workers to ballot for secure future

Workers in Royal Mail are being balloted by their union, the CWU, over pensions, pay, and job security. The dispute has four main demands: an end to the two-tier pension system, and for a decent pension for all; a shorter full-time working week of 35 hours with no loss of pay to mitigate the effects of automation on work; union agreements extended longer than 2018; no two-tiered workforce in order to achieve Royal Mail′s plan to have 9-5 delivery; a decent pay rise and no introduction of future pay awards linked to the company′s success and efficiency savings that year. Royal Mail made £712...

Picturehouse strike has first anniversary

Workers at five Picturehouse cinemas in London have again voted to continue strikes for the London Living Wage, sick pay, maternity/paternity pay, and union recognition. The workers at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse, Crouch End Picturehouse, East Dulwich Picturehouse, and Picturehouse central in Soho are planning a program of strikes for the busy new releases season coming up. Workers at the Ritzy cinema will strike on Saturday 23 September, on the first anniversary of their strike. Workers from the other cinemas will join them for a demonstration in Brixton. The BFI London...

Reinstate Danny Davis

Tube drivers on the Central Line have voted by 99.3%, on a 72% turnout, for strikes to demand the reinstatement of Danny Davis. Danny was summarily dismissed after a routine error ordinarily treated as a performance and coaching issue, rather than a disciplinary matter. The ballot easily surpassed all the threshold restrictions of the Tories’ anti-union laws. The RMT union will now consider when to organise industrial action to win Danny’s job back.

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