Link the strikes – come to the NSSN conference

Workers strike back!

Sam Morecroft, Sheffield UCU anti-casualisation officer (personal capacity)

“This isn’t any strike – this is an M&S Strike!” That’s what the banners read on the picket lines at Pennine Foods strike, where pickets have been hundreds strong again at their second 48-hour strike on 5 and 6 June. Not a single lorry was able to enter the factory to collect the ready meals produced for Marks and Spencer, and strikers were in a jubilant mood, joined by activists from the National Shop Stewards Network and members of the public.

But it’s not just at Pennine Foods that workers are showing their power – in Sheffield we’ve seen a real strike wave in recent weeks. Both universities in the city have been on strike as part of higher education union UCU’s national industrial action for better pay in May, and at the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) office they’ve now taken six days of strike action in response to plans to move the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ department to London.

It’s no coincidence that here and elsewhere these waves of determined local and national strikes are developing – workers everywhere are refusing to accept austerity any longer and what’s more we understand that we cannot afford to wait until 2020 to get rid of the Tories.

But how do we bring together all of these workers’ struggles and co-ordinate action to build the strike wave we need to drive this weak, divided Tory government out of office?

On Saturday 2 July trade unionists from across the country will meet at the tenth annual National Shop Stewards Network conference to discuss exactly this. Come along, join the discussion and let’s unite to drive out the Tories!