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From The Socialist newspaper, 22 January 2020
Belfast Hovis workers' all-out strike
Hovis workers are striking in Belfast, photo by Urban Wired/CC (Click to enlarge)
Hovis workers in the Bakers and Unite trade unions have voted for an all-out strike in Belfast, Northern Ireland for better pay.
Picket lines will start at one minute past midnight on 24 January after an 88% majority voted for strike action to win their 5.1% pay claim.
Unite says that after deducting shift premiums, overtime and bonuses, Hovis workers receive a basic wage 90p below the national minimum wage threshold.
Unite officer Sean McKeever says: "Unfortunately management has completely failed to address legitimate pay expectations in recent pay talks. Bosses refused to meet the pay claim and instead offered a meagre 23p an hour uplift (3.2%). In effect, bosses are forcing workers to the gate for less than 14p an hour in terms of a differential. This is both scandalous and an insult to the workforce.
"Workers are determined to secure themselves fair pay."
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 22 January 2020:
Socialist Party news and analysis
Council cuts continue... So must the fightback
End climate change, end inequality, end capitalism!
Capitalism fails NHS services in Liverpool: scrap PFI!
What we think
To win back working-class trust Labour must take the 'Liverpool road'
International socialist news and analysis
Eyewitness report: workers' struggle in France on the boil
France striker speaks: real, deep anger needs union strategy
Iraq - a brutal legacy of imperialist intervention
India: Huge general strike but a missed opportunity
Workplace news and analysis
Royal Mail workers to reballot for strike action
A win against academisation in east London
Belfast Hovis workers' all-out strike
Westex strikers read the Socialist
Ealing tax office strike continues
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Make a stand: set legal no-cuts council budgets
"If you think bus and rail services are crap, sign our petition to take them back"
Building Tamil Solidarity with youth and the unions
Readers' opinion
Robert Burns: of the people, for the people
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