Oxford Socialist Party members
John Lewis workers have been threatened with mass redundancies, changes to working hours, not receiving bonuses, and being forced to work as ‘multi-skilled’ staff – effectively doing several jobs at once.
These job cuts and worsening of working conditions will take place in stores including Oxford, where a Socialist Party member is one of the workers threatened.
The trade union GMB represents John Lewis workers. However, it has faced difficulties opposing the cuts due to having very few union members at John Lewis, with estimates suggesting only around 250 workers are members of GMB, out of a total workforce of around 80,000.
In Oxford’s store, just two workers are GMB members, including one Socialist Party member.
They have spoken to other workers about joining GMB, although this has been difficult due to a fear of potential reprisals from management. This is a particular concern given that, as stated by the GMB in February, John Lewis discourages workers from joining a union.
Due to the urgent need for John Lewis workers to organise to protect their interests, Oxford Socialist Party members have started a campaign to get staff at our local store to join GMB. Our ultimate goal is to get enough staff to join and support the union to enable it to gain recognition in the store.
Socialist Party members have stood outside the John Lewis staff entrance as workers were going into work, giving out GMB leaflets with information on how to join. We also had conversations with workers about how joining the union could help them, both with the current situation and in future disputes with the company.
We will continue this campaign to help get workers unionised and plan to regularly be outside John Lewis, encouraging staff to join.
Trade union work is vital to encourage staff to organise so they can defend themselves against unscrupulous bosses who are only interested in profit, not people.
