Coventry single status dispute

The stakes are raised

COVENTRY COUNCIL workers are fighting a pay-cutting deal being imposed under a 'Single Status' agreement. Thousands of workers, UNISON and TGWU members, were on strike on 19 May and on 24 and 25 May.

Dave Nellist, Socialist Party councillor

GMB/Apex voted against strike action, but in support of action short of strike. A work-to-rule involving all three unions is therefore continuing on non-strike days.

Approximately 1,600 workers (according to the council's figures) are 'losers' - some up to £8,000 a year. A large number of workers such as refuse collectors and gravediggers on, say, £16,000 to £19,000, face cuts in pay of £3,000 or more.

Many more of those said to be neutral or 'gainers' are unhappy with restrictions on pay increments under the new system, or have lost shift and premium payments.

Coventry is apparently the first city to strike over Single Status. But there must be a nationally co-ordinated response as the pay cuts in Coventry could be repeated elsewhere unless a national fight-back is developed. Coventry UNISON branch are understood to be calling for an urgent special national conference of local authority unions to begin this.

l Please send messages of support to UNISON and TGWU: Coventry UNISON, Room 11, The Koco Building, The Arches, Spon End, Coventry CV1 3JQ. Telephone: 024 7667 9475, or email: office@unisoncoventry.co.uk . Further background at www.coventryunison.co.uk .

TGWU office, Broadgate House, Broadgate, Coventry CV1 1NH. Telephone: 024 7683 3235. TGWU-coventry@coventry.gov.uk

On the picket line

ONCE AGAIN a weekend picket was mounted at Whitley depot to stop scabs trying to break an overtime ban imposed by refuse and street cleansing workers.

Nick John, UNISON shop steward, personal capacity

The word had got round in Coventry and no local people were prepared to cross the picket line, so the management had advertised far and wide with a rate of £26/hour on Saturday and £35/hour on Sunday!

They came from as far afield as London and Norwich, packed four or five to each car, as well as a fleet of minibuses. Despite this they still took 11Ú2 hours from the normal departure time to get the wagons out, though they succeeded in getting 20 wagons out on each day - about two-thirds of the total. Their effectiveness was limited by not knowing the local streets and by having untrained loaders. The refuse workers' immediate response was to vow to go even slower when they resumed their rounds on Tuesday.

Clearly management are determined to beat our rolling programme of strike action and work to rule and the union leadership has to match our members' resolve with a fighting strategy.

Step one must be all-out strike action by the workers at Whitley depot, supported by a levy of all union members. Other key groups such as cashiers in the council tax section need to be discussed with and brought out for longer periods.

The TGWU have written to all the agencies supplying scab labour, pointing out they are breaking the law by involving themselves in an industrial dispute.

This is fine as far as it goes but we can't rely on the law to win this one for us. As management are mounting a national campaign to recruit scabs then we should be mobilising our national membership for a mass demonstration outside the depot.

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