"The most solid strike ever"


THE MAGNIFICENT one million-strong strike for pension rights took
place as we were going to press last week. The strike, of members of the
Local Government Pension Scheme, showed how workers are prepared to
fight for their hard-won rights. We received the following reports after
our deadline.

Scotland

THE STRIKE in Scotland was massively supported with an estimated 90%
of staff taking part. At least 200,000 workers were on strike – almost
10% of the entire working population of Scotland. It was also the
largest ever strike of women workers in Scotland.

Nearly all primary schools were closed, along with the vast majority
of nurseries.

Ronnie Stevenson UNISON social work convenor in Glasgow, who
covers 4,500 members, described 28 March as: "the most solid strike
ever in local government."

Many council buildings were completely shut. Social work, transport,
education, housing and environmental services ground to a halt. The
entire bus service in Edinburgh was shutdown, as was the Glasgow
underground.

For many, despite the wet weather, the demonstrations organised in
Aberdeen (2,000), Dundee (1,500), Edinburgh (2,000) and Glasgow (10,000)
were highlights of the day.

Brian Smith from Glasgow told us: "Glasgow council
services and operations came to a complete standstill on 28 March with
unprecedented participation in the action across the trade unions.

Members who had never been on strike before joined and in many
instances organised, picketing of council premises and offices.

"The march through the city was 10,000-strong despite the poor
weather and was upbeat with a family feel, due to the numbers of
children who had came along with their striking parents as the council
had been forced to close all primary and nursery schools.

The response from the public was supportive.

"The members’ confidence has been strengthened due to the
success of the action and can be built on. The local UNISON branch has
also recruited 800 new members in the last few weeks. "

At the Dundee march and rally the biggest response from the 1,500
workers packed into the city square was for those speeches that attacked
Blair and New Labour. Especially those that questioned why it was that
the unions were paying millions into the coffers of a party and a
government that was kicking them in the teeth.

UNISON steward and chair of Dundee City UNISON, Jim McFarlane
a member of the International Socialists (the Socialist Party’s
counterpart in Scotland), spoke alongside Scottish Socialist Party MSP
Rosie Kane at a well-attended meeting after the demo.

60 people, over half of whom were strikers, discussed the tremendous
impact of the action and enthusiastically supported the call for
increased action until the government and Scottish Executive back down.


Nottingham

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY staff showed great solidarity during the strike as
up to 50 UNISON members picketed the East Midlands headquarters in
Nottingham.

Greg Marshall, UNISON rep, Environment Agency

Fed up with constant attacks from a government that does not
represent their interests, workers demonstrated for almost 12 hours
against proposed cuts to their pension entitlements.

However, although it was made clear that any action was not directly
against the employer, the Environment Agency tried to sabotage picket
attendance.

They threatened that strikers might face disciplinary action if they
did not ring their respective manager on the morning of the strike.
Workers must provide a sick note if ill on strike day, irrespective of
the three-day national policy. The organisation also distributed
material stating that maintaining the 85-year rule would be very costly
to the Agency, despite previous responses contradicting this.

UNISON stewards were however, able to quickly rebuff this inaccurate
information and as a result members turned out to hold a solid line all
day. Great support was shown to the pickets from workers in the
communications industries who refused to cross the lines.

All those who attended the pickets said they would continue the fight
to defend their pension rights

Liverpool

HUNDREDS OF strikers attended a rally in Liverpool organised by
UNISON on 28 March. Throughout Merseyside, town halls and other local
authority buildings were closed, schools did not open, the Liverpool
John Moores University was shut, the Mersey Tunnels closed and the
famous Mersey Ferries did not sail, but were picketed by their own
officers!

A number of speakers addressed the rally, but the loudest cheers were
for UNISON national executive member Roger Bannister when he informed
the rally that UNISON had frozen financial contributions to the Labour
Party during the dispute and had cancelled pro-Labour electoral work for
the municipal elections in May.

"Why stop there?" asked Roger and the crowd roared its
approval. Roger went on to explain how the New Labour government had
provoked the dispute by singling out the Local Government Pension Scheme
for attack: "They started this dispute but we will finish it!"

Bristol

AS A magnificent 2,000-strong demonstration snaked through the
streets of Bristol, bus drivers hooted their horns in support and
passers by praised the marching local authority workers for sticking to
their guns.

Robin Clapp

One of the best-received speeches at the rally was from PCS national
executive member Mark Baker, who brought greetings and a message of
solidarity from his union. "I work for the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister. He may not be supporting you but PCS members sure as
hell are."

The most surreal moment came when the leader of Bristol’s Labour
group spoke and suggested all the faults lay with the Tory employers.
Disquiet could be seen in the faces of strikers who must have been
wondering whether they’d stumbled onto the set of an Alice in Wonderland
production.

Several approached Socialist Party members afterwards and were in no
doubt that the responsibility for this mess lay squarely at the
doorsteps of Brown and Blair. Our Campaign for a New Workers’ Party
leaflets were eagerly snatched up.

Ipswich

IN IPSWICH picketing was strong from early morning. About 300 people
marched through the streets, predominantly UNISON but also TGWU, Amicus,
CYWU, NUJ, NUT and Ipswich and District TUC for a rally outside the town
hall.

When I spoke at the rally and mentioned how pleased I was to see that
UNISON had decided not to give any money to the Labour Party for the
local elections, I got an amazing response – with much cheering.

UNISON have been receiving 50 membership applications a day since the
announcement of the industrial action.

Events took place all over the Eastern region with better than
expected attendances. On the strength of the action we are now
organising a march and rally prior to our May Day Festival on Sunday 30
April.

Teresa Mackay

Plymouth

IN PLYMOUTH 4,500 trade unionists from nine trade unions struck
together, for the first time since 1983.

No refuse was collected, no streets were swept, the Tamar ferries lay
idle and schools were closed. About 1,400 joined the mass rally and
demonstration in Plymouth city centre, bringing traffic to a halt along
the main street, Royal Parade. There was applause from passers by and
motorists sounded their horns in support.

The underlying anger of the city’s working-class population was there
for all to see. The lies of the Daily Mail and the Blair government held
no sway.

The most enthusiastic amongst the demonstrators were the young
workers determined to build on this success. The next strikes can’t come
soon enough.

Dean Rossington, UNISON steward, Plymouth city branch, personal
capacity.

Huddersfield

THE STRIKE In Kirklees (Huddersfield, Batley and Dewsbury) was solid.
In the week leading up to the strike, 505 new members applied to join
UNISON.

Mike Forster, Kirklees UNISON

There are 10,000 members in the branch who were balloted for the
strike. The message went out to mount large, noisy and effective picket
lines.

Socialist Party members toured picket lines from 7am onwards and
visited 14 in all through Huddersfield town centre. The mood was
determined and buoyant.

There were far fewer strike-breakers than in the pay dispute of 2002
and the town ground to a halt. The local press showed pictures of
deserted workplaces and car parks, including picket lines at the local
police station.

There was a 300-strong TUC demo, where myself and Dr Jackie Grunsell
spoke from the Socialist Party. The indoor rally was addressed by
AMICUS, NUT, UNISON members, including Vicky Perrin who is standing for
the Local Government Service Executive elections of UNISON. A 10
year-old girl also spoke from the floor offering her support to the
strike, one of the youngest ever speakers at a TUC Rally!

After the rally, 25 tired pickets crammed into the Campaign for a New
Workers’ Party rally in a local pub. This was a very uplifting meeting
as strikers reflected on the day’s activity but also looked forward to
the local elections where we get the chance to support three candidates
for the Save the NHS campaign which many see as the precursor for a
broader party campaigning for socialism.

To complete the day, we held a second public meeting to introduce
Jackie Grunsell as a candidate and launch the election campaign.


Celebrate May Dya

MANY WORKERS who went on strike to defend their pensions have been
able to read reports in the socialist from picket lines around the
country. Now’s the time to encourage those workers to show their support
for the socialist and place a May Day greeting in the paper.

Unlike the mainstream papers, the socialist is of course not owned
nor funded by big business. This is why every year, for the day that
celebrates the international workers’ movement, we appeal for May Day
Greetings from socialists, trade unionists, workers, community activists
and students. Get your message in now to help make sure that the
socialist can continue to give a socialist alternative to the capitalist
press that puts people before profit.

Extended deadline: April 12. Rates include: 30p per word, £10 small
box, 1/32 page £15, 1/16 page £25, and 1/8 page £40. Contact 020 8988
8796 or [email protected] for more details


Carlisle pensions strike rally

DUNCAN MONEY, a school student , reports on the pension strike in
Cumbria on 28 March and describes how he organised support for the
strike.

"WE MUST fight together and fight until we bring Blair and
Prescott to their knees". These words were met with a roar of
approval from the crowd at the sizeable rally of trade unionists in
Carlisle on 28 March.

The march and rally had been organised by the GMB and UNISON to show
the depth of local support for the strike and the anger at the way the
government were robbing workers of their pensions.

There was anger at the current Labour government which cares little
for the working class of Britain. Several speakers pointed out that
Labour-voting union members keep the government in power and the unions
help fill their coffers. Although there was not yet explicit talk of a
split with Labour several people signed the CNWP declaration in a
personal capacity.

In a pub after the rally was over I got talking to a few council
workers and it was clear there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the way
trade union leaders were conducting the strike. Several workers
expressed their frustration at the timidity of the union in organising
the pickets and protests that day.

This demonstration is a clear indication that at least the ordinary
rank and file of the unions are not prepared to accept the governments’
assault on pensions. This mood of frustration and agitation needs to be
transformed into the building of a new mass party.

Picketing in Cockermouth

ON ANY normal day I wouldn’t even think about getting up at 6.15am.
But a local secondary school had decided to stay open. There was an
official UNISON picket line and the school had ordered people to cross
it. So just before 7am, I and a few friends set off to support the
strike by joining the picket.

The impact of the strike could be felt in this semi-rural,
predominantly middle-class town. This shows the depth of workers’ anger
at the government’s actions.

We offered our support on the picket line but the union members
became nervous at our presence and asked us to leave. So we decided to
set up an impromptu second picket line on a road leading to the school.
We told people of their legal rights and obligation not to cross a
picket line. We managed to persuade around 40 people not to cross the
official picket.

But our biggest impact was in talking to the young people about
strikes, unions, picketing and workers’ struggles.

The next day we were summoned to the office of the head teacher of
our school but it was not before I was congratulated by every member of
staff I met that day for participating in the strike.