It’s good we’re out at the same time. It’s about time – we need even more unions to strike together!”
These words of an RMT rail striker in Chingford, North London, summed up the feeling of thousands of workers on Saturday 1 October, which saw the biggest coordination of strike action so far this year: a national strike of members of the CWU in Royal Mail on 30 September and 1 October, and a national rail stoppage by members of RMT, Aslef, TSSA and Unite on 1 October.
Dockers in Unite the Union in Liverpool and Felixstowe, members of the University and College Union (UCU) in 26 further education colleges and of Unison in 16 universities are also involved in weeks of action.
Thousands also turned out in protests around the country, many under the banner of ‘Enough is Enough’, inspired by the strikes and looking for a way forward – not just to end the cost-of-living crisis but to end the Tory government too.
It couldn’t be clearer that workers organised in trade unions have tremendous potential power, and the trade union leaders have authority. They need to use this to build a movement that can win a real pay rise, boot out the Tories and build for a political alternative that acts in the interests of working-class people.
- The strike wave continues with an Aslef strike on Wednesday 5 October, CWU members in BT on Thursday 6 October, and an RMT strike on Saturday 8 October. A further three days of BT strikes are planned on 10, 20 and 24 October.
- The ratcheting up of attacks by Royal Mail bosses reported in last week’s Socialist (‘Royal Mail ups the ante’ at socialistparty.org.uk) has been met by CWU with a plan of 19 further days of strike action running into December, starting on 13 October.
- The National Shop Stewards Network pre-TUC congress Action Summit on Sunday 16 October in Brighton – a hybrid event – couldn’t be at a more important time. Socialist Party members will be there alongside other workers, strikers and young people, to keep the pressure up on the TUC to act. All strike together! If the Tories attempt to implement their new anti-trade union plans, they should be met with a 24-hour general strike.
We say:
- All strike together for a real pay rise! The Trades Union Congress (TUC) must step up and organise to coordinate action
- If the Tories try to implement their new anti-trade union plans, they must be met with a 24-hour general strike
- The TUC should launch an appeal to build a massive strike fund to assist those unions on the front line
- Kick out the Tories
- Starmer’s New Labour doesn’t speak for us: fight for a new working-class party
- Nationalise rail, mail, energy and utilities under democratic working-class control and management, with compensation only on the basis of proven need Take the wealth off the super-rich. For a socialist alternative to capitalism’s poverty and crisis
Solidarity and support
Adam Alarakhia, senior CWU representative in Leicester, spoke to Socialist Party members:
“The main reason for our dispute is the changes in our terms and conditions. We want to discuss and be part of the change, but in a way that doesn’t impact people’s jobs and terms and conditions.
“Agency workers, the majority of them with Manpower, are being sent in to try to break the strike. Manpower made a statement nationally saying that it did not intend to break the strike or expect anyone to cross the picket line. But when the agency staff come through, and we politely speak to them, they tell us that the agency specifically said that if they don’t go in there will be no future work for them.
“I’m quite humbled with the support we are getting from yourselves and various organisations. After days of strike action, we are still getting 50 to 60 people on the picket line.”
A Swansea postie said to Alec Thraves: “You can tell things are hotting up because of the number of ballot papers I’ve been delivering the past few months!”
Lee Hawksbee and Roy Wills report from the rail picket at Walthamstow Central station: “Great discussion, good mood, apparently good public support. The RMT rep doing a brilliant job running the whole thing!”
Andy Bentley reports that around 50 RMT members and others gathered near Stoke station and marched to join proud CWU workers and supporters, with the NSSN banner.
“It was great to see well over a hundred RMT, CWU and other workers applauding each other and joining together to fight for our future”.
Bosses’ attacks
CWU strikers at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire told Socialist Party members: “I could give you a list of six or seven things we’re angry about”.
Top of the list was new ‘Performance Management’. Staff who Royal Mail management says are ‘too slow’ on their rounds – often workers with disabilities – could be sacked.
RMT members at Broxbourne talked to Ian Pattison about the failure to provide decent pensions. One striking worker reckoned they will get more from their pension from working for NatWest bank for just a few years, than from the years and years of service they’d given on the railways.
Serious
Dave Reid reports that the CWU picket line in Cwmbran, Wales was in serious mood after meeting to discuss the union’s response to the bosses’ aggression: “We’ll be out all the way to Xmas”.
CWU pickets at Church Hill, Walthamstow, north east London, were thinking ahead to a long battle if necessary. They told Paula Mitchell: “We should go out for five solid days, so there’s more impact”. Strikers thought the Socialist Party’s call for the TUC to launch a massive strike fund to support workers on the front line was very important.
All strike together
At Birch Park, York, strikers told Roger Cleverly that they thought the TUC needs to step up and coordinate between unions.
At West Park Delivery Office in Plymouth, one CWU picket said to Duncan Moore: “Thompson [Royal Mail boss] has to go”. Another said: “This government has to go; we’ve got to bring them down.” Other pickets were talking about the Unite dockworkers’ action in Liverpool and Southampton: “We should all walk out at the same time”.
Tom Baldwin met a picket in Bristol who had always voted Tory in the past. But now on strike, she thought every worker should strike for two or three days and totally shut the country down!
Strikers at Quinton in Birmingham agreed. They told Nick Hart: “It’s time the whole country stood up. Bosses at Royal Mail and everywhere else are looking at what P&O did and wondering if they can get away with it.”
Nationalise
At Shirley, Southampton, a CWU picket told Nick Chaffey: “We should renationalise the mail. Making a loss? They’re after the cream. We’re solid here and standing firm.”
In Great Malvern, CWU pickets talked with Pete McNally about the abilities or otherwise of managers and supervisors who know about targets but not very much about how the organisation they work in really works. It’s the workers themselves who know.
Our own political voice
Sam Morden visited one of the CWU picket lines on the Team Valley Industrial Estate in Gateshead which had a 48-hour rolling picket, with a shift pattern of its own. No workers crossed. Discussions included the strikers’ lack of confidence in the Labour Party.
Elaine Brunskill reports that on all the CWU picket lines at Chester le Street, Gateshead Central and Blaydon the Socialist Party was thanked for the solidarity for their strike action. Our strike bulletin went down extremely well, and inspired a lot of discussion on what needs to be done.
One of the strikers mentioned ‘Enough is Enough’ and commented: “Surely Dave Ward, Mick Lynch and others are looking towards turning this into a political party”.
Aslef and RMT members stood side by side on the Chingford rail picket line, reports Lily Douglas. They also sent a delegation round the corner to the CWU picket line and arranged a joint photo. Strikers remembered Socialist Party members from previous visits and wanted to discuss with us what needs to happen next.
Strikers talked about Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MPs who supported him like Sam Tarry, who the right-wing in the party are trying to get deselected as MP candidates. When we said ‘They should stand anyway’ the strikers agreed
