Jim McFarlane, Dundee City Unison secretary, personal capacity
The historic three-day strike by over 22,000 Unison members in Scotland working in schools and early years was an expression of the pent-up class anger felt by council workers across the country.
The participation was enormous. Thousands took part in picket lines and local rallies. Up to 1,000 strikers engulfed the Scottish parliament on 27 September in one of the biggest protests Holyrood has seen in years.
Thousands have joined Unison and hundreds have stepped forward to become union reps. This strike was a lightning conductor, and not just on pay. Years of frustration at ever-increasing workload, the impact of cuts, and being undervalued in the workplace produced a militant class mobilisation. A dam has been breached by this group of workers, many of whom were striking for the first time.
