When, on 26 March, over half a million took to the streets on a trade union demonstration against the cuts, Independent journalist Dominic Lawson sneered that more would be prepared to march in favour of the cuts. In the event at most a paltry 350 took to the streets to back the government's cuts.
As the unpopularity of the government's policies deepens and its supporters dwindle, the pressure is widening the splits in the Coalition. Tory MPs have even been describing their coalition partners as "yellow bastards" as they bicker over who will carry the odium of the hated Health and Social Care Bill. But despite the deepening tensions, the desire to cling to power is holding the Coalition together for now.
The government can be defeated but only if the anger shown on 26 March is harnessed around a clear fighting strategy. On 26 March the Socialist argued that, having marched together, now we need to strike together. We called for the next step to be a 24-hour public sector strike against the cuts and in defence of public sector pensions.
The first wave of coordinated strike action is now being prepared. It is an enormous step forward that the civil servants union, the PCS, voted almost unanimously, with only two votes against, to ballot for strike action on these issues (see below).
The NUT did the same at its conference at Easter. The UCU is also planning further action. The postal workers union, the CWU, has just voted unanimously to call on the TUC to coordinate a 24-hour general strike. CWU members in London have also voted overwhelmingly for strike action against management bullying and in defence of jobs.
On 30 June up to a million workers will take part in strike action against the government's attack on pensions. Across the country strikers will take part in demonstrations and rallies. Those demonstrations should be an immense show of strength.
Those workers whose unions are not taking strike action should do all they can to show their support by demonstrating. School and college students should demonstrate together with their teachers and lecturers.
Successful action on 30 June will be an important springboard for further action. As Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, put it: "Three quarters of a million on 30 June needs to be turned into four million in the autumn". Members of those public sector unions which are not yet planning strike action should organise a major campaign to demand their leaders act.
It is to be welcomed that Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, spoke at PCS conference. "We will build up to still broader action, if needs be, later in the year. To be absolutely clear, we will be balloting our members, coordinating our actions with yours and with other unions and building broad and effective community support to stop this government's agenda in its tracks." This now needs to be concretised.
The leadership of Unison is among the slowest to plan action to defend their members' interests. Socialists in Unison demand that their general secretary, Dave Prentis, immediately discusses with the general secretaries of those unions that are striking on 30 June to ensure Unison takes part in the second wave of coordinated strikes.
It is no coincidence that the unions building for strike action on 30 June are not affiliated to the Labour Party. On 26 March the unspoken strategy of many trade union leaders was to try and avoid further struggle, limiting themselves to 'march together today, vote Labour together tomorrow'.
Many of the demonstrators did go and vote Labour in the local elections on 5 May in order to punish the government, but understood doing so was not a strategy to stop the cuts.
In the aftermath of the elections council workers are being forced to initiate strike action to try to stop cuts - whether against Tory cuts in Southampton or Labour cuts in Lambeth. Unfortunately, the Unison leadership seem more willing to sanction ballots for branches in Tory local authorities than in Labour ones.
For those workers losing their jobs, however, the colour of the axe being wielded makes no difference at all. As Labour leader Ed Miliband made clear when he spoke to the demonstration on 26 March, New Labour also supports massive cuts in public services.
Miliband has now said he stands for "a better capitalism". But it is a crisis of capitalism which is responsible for families in Britain facing the biggest cut in their living conditions since 1977 and it is the markets - capitalism - which are demanding public services are destroyed.
Alongside an industrial battle to stop the cuts, the trade union movement also needs to build a socialist, political alternative to the three major parties of big business.
The mood to fight the cuts, which brought over half a million onto the streets on 26 March, has been boiling up. Thousands of trade unionists have voted to support strike action against the cuts.
Most recently the Communication Workers Union (CWU) conference has voted unanimously to work with other trade unions and campaigning organisations to stop the cuts. It calls on the TUC to coordinate a 24-hour general strike against the cuts and attacks on wages and pensions. The leadership at branch, regional and national level is instructed to seek to coordinate campaigns and strikes with other unions.
The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) conference 2011, that takes place on Saturday 11 June, is a must for all workers willing to play a part in getting our national trade unions to stand up decisively against this government of the rich - and even richer!
We invite shop stewards and workplace reps, in the public or private sector, who daily confront bosses over the driving down of conditions and pay, to come along.
We welcome students, who showed such courage and dynamism in their fees demonstrations last winter, and who now want to link up with workers in similar struggles.
We are also keen to win the participation of local anti-cuts campaigners who see the trade unions as key to their success. So waste no time! Register now. All union reps and stewards are automatically delegates. Everyone else is a welcome visitor.
The conference takes place just a few weeks before a momentous joint strike on 30 June against the Con-Dem pensions robbery. Around 750,000 teachers and civil servants in NUT, UCU, ATL and PCS are likely to take the lead and pour onto the streets in every area of the country.
The NSSN conference hopes to encourage delegates to act as organisers of support in their areas, to help get solidarity activities from workers, especially those in other unions whose leaderships are facing the same pensions attack, but who are, as yet, dragging their feet. It is crucial that this attack is fought off now by all unions.
Leading speakers and militant activists on the ground will spell out to the conference what is needed and encourage discussion and debate on the way forward.
There will also be a range of workers engaged in various battles like those 400 workers locked out at Saltend, like blacklisted construction workers, and sacked tube drivers.
There is no doubt the bosses are prepared to squash militancy by individuals or groups of workers. They know what's coming and will use everything at their disposal, especially the anti-trade union laws, to dampen and render ineffective, a serious fightback.
Two years ago the NSSN conference included the leaders of the inspiring battles at Visteon, Lindsey and Linamar. Last year we affirmed international solidarity by inviting leading trade unionists involved in mass demos and general strikes in Spain, Ireland and Greece.
This year British workers are about to embark on our own very real battle on pensions. Those who come to NSSN conference 2011 could play a vital part in helping ensure success. Make sure you are there!
Cuts in public services, a widening wealth gap and declining living standards for the majority of working and middle class people could lead to an explosion of anger in Britain.
Recently, even Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, warned that the rise in the cost of living could become so great that workers will fight for pay increases.
Meanwhile, supermarket giant Asda reckons an average family saw their disposable income drop by 7.1%, or £13 a week, during April compared with the same month in 2010. Asda says soaring petrol prices and higher train fares mean families are now spending around 10% more on transport compared with 2010, with petrol prices 12.7% higher than in April last year.
Higher rents and heating costs have slashed families' budgets while wages are growing at only around half the level of inflation.
And a new report from the Resolution Foundation predicts that millions of low to middle income families face years of declining living standards and are seeing their chances of owning their own home disappear.
The report also shows that most people's earnings were flatlining well before the banking and financial meltdown in 2008. It says that income levels are expected to fall next year, only returning to 2001 levels in 2015. Meanwhile the 1,000 richest individuals in the UK saw their combined wealth rise last year by £60.2 billion to an unbelievable £396 billion.
With capitalism in crisis, workers can expect an unrelenting assault on their living standards. Only a resolute fightback by working class people, involving coordinated strike action, can reverse this offensive.
"A common refrain at work these days is 'I've never worked this hard and yet felt so poor'. I've got responsibilities, I've got a child to clothe and feed. I've got to find the money for school trips, etc.
When I go to the bank machine and look at my statement after I've just been paid, it's shocking to see what little I've got to live on for the rest of the month. This is at a time when the housing association is increasing my rent by £50 a month.
Today, management asked us to accept a 2% pay cut. And cuts in my enhanced pay for weekend working, which the council is pushing for, could result in me losing £1,000 a year.
In the last two months there has been a shocking realisation of just what the government's austerity measures really mean for my standard of living.
As a result there is a feeling of generalised anger developing amongst the people I work with and in my local community about working class people's shrinking living standards.
I think the argument of the government that there is no alternative to cuts and pay freezes and that ordinary people should bear the brunt of the financial and economic crisis, is wearing thin. It hasn't escaped the attention of me and my fellow workers that we're getting poorer at a time when the rich are getting richer and that we're meant to passively accept this situation. Well no way!
The trade unions must tap into this mood of anger and organise strike action now to fight these seemingly never ending attacks on our living standards. It's entirely possible that the trade unions can build upon the mood that we saw on the massive 26 March TUC anti-cuts demo with united strike action over the rising cost of living."
Local government workers across Britain are facing attacks on their jobs, pay and terms and conditions as part of the Con-Demolition of public services. Labour-led councils have agreed to do the government's dirty work by implementing cuts. Instead, councillors should stand up against cuts by setting 'needs' budgets and demand the required money from central government. The money is there - £120 billion in tax goes unpaid by the rich every year, more than the £81 billion in total the government wants to cut.
But the opposition to these cuts is growing. A local government worker in Waltham Forest, north east London, shows how workers are fighting back.
On 3 May all local government workers in Waltham Forest were issued with a "Terms and Conditions Review". The document states that the council intends to cut £3 million from our wages and informed us of its intended 'options':
The council proposes to opt out of the National Agreement on Pay and Condition of Service, thereby potentially initiating local pay agreements.
The document is peppered with words such as "consultation" and "inclusion", yet it opens by telling the entire workforce that we have been put on notice of dismissal! We have from 6 September to 4 October to accept or on 7 October, like a scene from The Godfather film, we are going to be given 'an offer we can't refuse', ie dismissed and re-employed on a new 'ready to privatise' contract.
The document states that the cuts package was approved by the council on 8 March. We know because we were there lobbying councillors.
The council has put us through nine council phases of cuts in the last 18 months. Waltham Forest Unison's branch committee has initiated a campaign through the branch to get people to a general meeting on 1 June to discuss industrial action.
At the recent anti-cuts meeting in Waltham Forest everyone agreed to build support for our Unison meeting. This can help gain support from the local community for industrial action to defend our services.
We have agreed to do joint activity with civil servants in the PCS union, teachers in the NUT and UCU lecturers for their pensions strike on 30 June. Joint union strike action is the logical step after the 500,000-strong TUC anti-cuts demo on 26 March.
Workers everywhere should be encouraged to do something on 30 June, whether participating in centrally organised demos or lunch-time protests.
The mantra 'not going illegal' seems to be the catch-all excuse for implementing the most savage cuts in Liverpool's history. We [the Liverpool 47 group and the Socialist Party - Eds.] have argued for a needs budget not an illegal budget. This means using every legal device to defend jobs and services - using council reserves, taking privatised services back in-house.
Such action would need to be linked to a mass anti-cuts campaign involving trade unions, community organisations and council workers on a clear policy of compelling the Con-Dem government to abandon its punitive policies, with an appeal to other local authorities to do the same.
Jobs, wages and services are being cut while the income of CEOs increased hugely last year; the culprits for the crisis, the bankers, continue to gorge themselves on obscene bonuses; Cameron's advisers say the NHS should be up for grabs to the private health companies.
This outrageous situation cries out for courageous leadership committed to defending workers and those least able to defend themselves.
As for the argument that the conditions for mass struggle don't exist: history shows that, where leadership is given, support will be forthcoming as the Liverpool 47 showed in the 80s, as did Tom Mann in 1911.
Derek's stance may bring comfort to the Con-Dems and the Labour council, but it will do nothing to mitigate the attacks on the workers of Liverpool who, unless resistance is organised, will suffer further from the next round of cuts.
As for Joe's 'political suicide' if he made a stand, I don't believe that would necessarily follow. If it did, the defence of working families is of infinitely greater importance than Joe Anderson's political career.
Socialist Party members sold 25 copies of the Socialist and raised over £35 fighting fund on 21 May at our first stall in Poole, Dorset, for many years.
Following a successful branch launch meeting on 'what the Socialist Party stands for', members took to the streets. We wanted to discuss and offer an alternative to local people who are suffering from the effects of the capitalist crisis, cuts in services and eroding living standards in general.
We were approached by former Labour councillors, elected trade union officials, as well as many public sector workers angry over cutbacks and creeping privatisation in the NHS.
We were well informed by shoppers about the adverse effect these cutbacks are going to have on the poor and the vulnerable. One woman expressed her dismay at the way the government are targeting helpless, elderly people via cutbacks to meals on wheels programmes.
Clearly this was a positive start for Dorset Socialist Party, and we hope to build on these solid foundations in the coming months. Our next meeting will be on 18 June in Poole.
The Con-Dems know how to bury bad news. On the day when almost every spare TV camera and journalist was on royal wedding duty, NHS cuts of up to 37% were announced. This will drive hospitals to bankruptcy.
'Monitor', appointed to regulate NHS Foundation Trusts, wrote to Trusts with revised figures for "efficiency savings". These were previously 4% a year until 2014/15 - a figure cooked up by the Labour government. The savings demanded will now be 6.5% this financial year, 6.0% next year, rising to 7.1% by 2015/16 - equivalent to a 37% cut by then.
Higher inflation is one reason for this massive extra cut. NHS costs tend to rise faster than other prices, partly because of the profiteering of drug and medical supplies industries.
Another reason is new rules that mean Trusts will not be paid for patients re-admitted within 30 days of discharge. The Labour government figures assumed Trusts would reduce re-admissions within 30 days by 60%. In fact, they have grown by 4% a year over the past three years. That reflects another pressure on hospitals - to discharge patients quickly and get payment for the next patient. This is so-called payment by results, supposedly increasing productivity.
The previous figures also assumed emergency hospital admissions would not grow after 2012/13. Monitor now expects this figure will continue to grow by 2% a year, as it has done over the past three years.
Tens of thousands of health workers' jobs will disappear if these cuts go through. Staff are run off their feet now. Fewer nurses, porters, technicians, secretaries - these cuts will hurt patients.
At Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust in Nottinghamshire, for example, 420 whole-time posts are threatened this year to meet the original 4% 'efficiency saving'. (That means even more jobs, as many staff work part-time.) That's about one in nine whole-time equivalent posts.
Like many other Trusts, Sherwood Forest's situation is aggravated by the high costs of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital building. Skanska and Innisfree, the two companies owning the new Kings Mill hospital, have to be paid before a penny is spent on patient care. At 2005 prices, when the PFI scheme was set up, the new hospital has cost £299 million. It was to be an 840-bed hospital, but, completed in the past few months, it has 623 beds.
As well as building and owning the hospital, Skanska Innisfree, along with Medirest (part of Compass), supply 'hard facilities management' (estate maintenance) and 'soft facilities management' (hotel services like cleaning and catering). The combined annual cost is likely to be about £6 million at last year's prices. Over the 32-year contract that's nearly £200 million.
So the building cost £300 million and the facilities management another £200 million - £500 million in total. But the NHS will pay £1,091 million over 32 years (at 2005 prices). The financial books should be open to inspection by trade unions and local community representatives. Let's see if these estimates are accurate and where public money is going.
No wonder that Innisfree's profit margin was 53% last year. David Metter, its founder and chief executive, owns almost three-quarters of the company and collected pay and dividends of £8.6 million last year.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals is a Foundation Trust like many others. This Labour measure sent Trusts down the path that leads towards eventual privatisation. Foundation trusts can enter joint ventures with for-profit companies and distribute 'surpluses' to these companies. Freed from direct accountability to the Department of Health, let alone to the local community, they can raise commercial loans without restriction.
Their only accountability is to the regulator, Monitor. But who is Monitor? Set up by Labour, its new chief executive is David Bennett. He was a director with McKinsey and Co, international business consultants who have made a fortune from advising governments about cuts and privatisation. He then worked as Tony Blair's head of policy and strategy between 2005 and 2007. After that he was chair of 'The 10 Partnership' - a company providing "strategic and operational support to the public sector".
In March, Bennett told the BBC he expected to see many more private companies and charities treating NHS patients. He made clear that if NHS services cannot then attract patients they will be allowed to close.
There are about 85 NHS hospitals and mental health trusts that have yet to become foundation trusts. The government aims to have all of them reach that status by April 2014. Last year, when Monitor's 'efficiency' savings target was 4.5%, only seven organisations met its standards for approval.
Now it's demanding 6.5% savings, Monitor makes it more likely that struggling NHS organisations will be offered to private companies rather than merged with existing foundation trusts.
The government wants to see a level playing field between the NHS and anyone else bidding to treat patients. H5 is a new alliance, representing the biggest companies with 80% of private hospitals. It is lobbying Monitor to remove the 'disadvantages' they claim stop them competing equally. Ending national pay bargaining and the NHS pension scheme are two targets in their sights. (They are not lobbying for an end to NHS education and training, despite using skilled staff trained at tax-payers' expense.)
Matt James, the chief executive of H5, said the government plans to build on changes introduced under Labour but which languished during Gordon Brown's time as prime minister. They certainly were not reversed by Brown. How can Labour oppose the Con-Dem plans when it set so many of them in motion?
But a new mass party, made up predominantly of working class people and which fought in their interests, including to defend the NHS, would have a huge effect in giving confidence to those struggling against the attacks of big-business governments.
Last week I attended a Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) conference on 'Working with drug and alcohol users in primary care'. The conference took an unexpected turn with the introduction by the first platform speaker, the chair of the RCGP.
From the start she expressed concerns about the government's Health and Social Care Bill and its likely impact on services provided to this particular group of patients. In fact an impromptu vote was taken. Delegates were asked to show if they felt the Bill would improve patient care and reduce health inequalities. Of the 350+ audience, just three people raised their hands! All other delegates were clear in their condemnation of the plans.
Not content to leave it there, one desperate delegate, representing a private sector organisation, asked: "Can't we work together? Is it really a case of private sector bad, public good?" The chair did not mince words in questioning what the private sector had to add that the NHS couldn't already do. Especially as they don't do training or research and get to cherry pick and cream skim the services they provide. This is on the basis of an uneven playing field heavily weighted in the private sector's favour.
The chair described her fear that a 'national' health service will cease to exist, to be replaced by a postcode lottery of fragmented local provision leaving Cinderella services like drugs and alcohol and mental health, particularly vulnerable and exacerbating the inequalities that already exist.
She was clear that a universal health service would be abolished by the bill, leading to the creation of a system based on health insurance, with patients being asked to pay top up fees for anything over and above the basics the NHS will be able to offer.
The significance of this conference was that one platform speaker after another joined what became an anti-Health Bill rally and powerfully illustrated the huge opposition to the government's plans among the majority of health professionals. It even agreed to send a conference statement to the health secretary outlining the views expressed.
A taste of the opposition to come if the Con-Dems plough ahead with the Bill, ignoring the opinions of these workers?
2,000 people marched with London 'Keep Our NHS Public' on Tuesday 17 May. Several NHS trusts across London have announced big cuts.
For example, Barts hospital and the London hospital in the East End plan to cut 635 jobs.
The Royal Free hospital in West London plans 450 job cuts. It has just been announced that Whipps Cross hospital in East London plans to cut over 140.
The government may claim to have paused their plans in order to 'listen', but on the ground there is no pause. Whole community units have closed, such as services for eating disorders in south London.
The demonstration brought together nurses, porters, domestics, doctors, student nurses, medical students, therapists and mental health nurses. At the Socialist Party stalls, a constant stream of health workers and passers-by stopped to sign our petition calling for united action to defend the NHS, involving trade unions, anti-cuts campaigns and services users.
Demonstrations like this are important. But everyone on the demonstration knew that more serious action is needed to defend the NHS.
Whether or not the Health and Social Services Bill goes through, the cuts, closures and privatisation will continue.
But the Bill proposes worse: in effect, that the government will no longer have a legal duty to provide the health service in England. As David Cameron's senior health adviser, Mark Britnell, has blurted out, instead of being a provider of a universal health service, the state will be the provider of health insurance.
Therefore what is also important is a clear, determined strategy.
The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) leaflets, which were snapped up by marchers, laid out what is necessary. It was the pressure of the organised working class which led to the creation of the NHS in the first place, and it is the potential power of millions of trade unionists linked up with patients and communities that can defend the NHS now.
The NSSN leaflet said: "A real strategy of strike action, starting with health workers and reaching out for support to the wider union movement, would really put the Con-Dems in the corner".
It is important that trade unionists argue for this strategy, as there are risks with the approach of some health campaigns at the moment. Just as it was a mistake, made by some local anti-cuts alliances, to promote Labour councillors who were voting for cuts as 'leaders' of the anti-cuts movement, so it is also a mistake to foster illusions in Labour politicians who have supported the previous Labour government's policies on the NHS.
The fight to defend the NHS is a fight against marketisation, PFI and all such policies pursued with vigour by the Labour government.
As Len Hockey, Socialist Party member and Unison joint branch secretary at Whipps Cross hospital (speaking in a personal capacity) explained to the demonstration, there has been cross-party consensus (between the three main political parties) to dismantle and privatise the NHS.
We need the strength of organised workers in united national strike action to fight to reverse all cuts and privatisations and bring about a fully-funded, integrated and democratically planned NHS.
Len urged all the marchers to attend the National Shop Stewards Network conference on Saturday 11 June. The issue of the NHS will be an essential part of the conference and the event will be an opportunity for health activists to come together to discuss a serious strategy.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 2011-05-20 15:12:15 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Around 100 nursing stewards attended Unison's first nursing and midwifery professional seminar in York on 11-12 May. Unfortunately delegates' participation was restricted to questions to the main speakers and there was no room for any real debate.
Karen Jennings, one of Unison's newly appointed assistant general secretaries, was the first speaker and gave an overview of the threats to the NHS as a result of the government's proposals.
Although she was critical of Labour's record on the NHS she also repeated the old mantras of more nurses, shorter waiting lists and new hospitals built during Labour's last term in office.
According to Karen Jennings Labour remains the only show in town. We should also stop giving Clegg and the Lib Dems such a hard time as the Tories are the real enemy.
Whilst the Tories are our enemy it would be wrong to let the Lib Dems off the hook and ignore their role in the Con-Dem coalition. Yet it appears that some Unison leaders are looking to the Lib Dems as future partners for Labour.
This shows how they lack any idea of an alternative to the cuts. They also fear Labour being exposed as service and job cutters if they win a majority at the next general election.
The session on pensions highlighted the threat facing all public sector workers following the Hutton report. One delegate asked when Unison would be balloting for industrial action in defence of pensions following general secretary Dave Prentis' pledge.
Karen Jennings had earlier stated that Unison would be meeting with the cabinet to discuss the principals of negotiations for each sector and that consultation would then need to take place over a ballot, which is a 17 week process.
She also warned of needing to ensure a high turnout in any ballot. She did not consider the evidence of the huge demo on 26 March and the results of a recent Unison nursing survey.
There 72% said they would be in favour of taking industrial action in defence of their pensions. Also previous campaigns on pensions have seen a massive rise in recruitment of members to the union.
She also ruled out the idea of Unison taking action on 30 June.
The idea that there is no alternative to Labour was reinforced throughout the conference with one of the guest speakers commenting adversely on the RMT's Bob Crow and his "new workers' party".
This shows that Unison's leadership remains tied to the Labour Party despite the experience of the last government and is unwilling to lead a fightback against the Con-Dem coalition.
Workers cannot afford to wait five years for the election of another pro-big business Labour government and needs their own political voice now. The event was a welcome initiative and gave the opportunity for nurses and midwives to come together to share their experiences.
The most inspirational speaker was from the New South Wales Nurses Association. She gave an account of their campaign to improve patient/staff ratios with one nurse to four patients being the key demand.
This was a model of how to organise, with nurses taking control of the wards, closing beds apart from emergency use and engaging with the public for support.
They organised a rally of 6,000 nurses and won a ballot on industrial action.
Although not all of their demands were won they did get a backdated pay rise of 9.7% and a commitment to move towards their demands on staffing ratios.
If this sort of campaign can win in Australia there is no reason why Unison couldn't use the same methods of organisation to mobilise in defence of the NHS.
Hopefully this will be an annual event and delegates in future will be allowed to participate more fully, determine the agenda and develop a fighting programme for nurses and all NHS staff.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 2011-05-19 15:47:13 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
About 40 people gathered at a meeting, called by Defend the NHS, at the West Kirby Social Club, Wirral, on 20 May to quiz Tory MP, Esther McVey on the NHS white paper.
She gave a very assertive presentation on the NHS - it was full of waste, all the money went on managers and pen-pushers instead of doctors and nurses, the outcomes on cancer and heart disease were the worst in Europe, all the while claiming total support of the NHS whilst totally knocking it.
However, members of the audience picked apart her points. One retired NHS manager pointed out that the NHS, as a huge organisation, actually needs managing and organising. "Who are all these pen-pushers?" he asked. "You can't just lump all managers together, it's ridiculous."
Others, including a hospital consultant, pointed out that the outcomes on cancer had improved dramatically with a bit of investment.
Then came Esther McVey's biggest point: "Labour did the same. They used private enterprise to drive efficiency - they had the Independent Sector Treatment Centres, PFI."
This caused something of an uproar as everyone tried to tell her how much PFI (private finance) projects cost. She then tried to turn the audience against Liverpool campaigner, Sam Semoff, for trying to block the PFI at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
"So you tried to stop the new hospital in Liverpool," she said. But no one liked the personal attack, which I think harmed her argument if anything.
Six copies of the Socialist were sold.
PCS conference was genuinely historic. Delegates voted overwhelmingly to support the national executive's emergency motion calling for an industrial action ballot to oppose the government's attacks on jobs, pay, pensions and conditions. Only two out of a thousand voted 'no'!
A 'yes' vote will set the scene for a major strike on 30 June involving up to three quarters of a million public sector workers. This will be the first major shot in an unfolding campaign that can lead in the autumn to industrial action involving millions.
Conference also voted by a substantial majority to ballot members before next year's conference on whether or not they agree with the recommendation that PCS should, in certain limited circumstances, stand or support candidates in national elections.
Finally, conference was addressed by the general secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey, prior to the signing of a major cooperation agreement between the two unions.
Significant in themselves, together these developments show PCS is developing the type of strategies based on industrial and political campaigning that can unite unions and our communities in defiance of the Tory-led coalition.
The Con-Dems are intent on destroying the welfare state and the public sector while crushing any opposition in a 'race to the bottom'. This onslaught represents the greatest transfer of wealth and power from the overwhelming majority to the tiny political and business elite who are already awash with money and privilege.
PCS national president Janice Godrich and general secretary Mark Serwotka opened conference with analytical, fighting speeches setting out the nature of the crisis, caused not by hard-working committed public sector workers, but by the greed of bankers and big business.
In the debate on the emergency motion delegates explained how the cuts were impacting in their own areas. It became apparent that absolutely nowhere was exempt from job cuts, privatisation and attacks on conditions. Speeches reflected the genuine anger that is building on a daily basis against the madness of the cuts programme.
Mark explained that the current 'talks' on pensions reveal a government intent on unleashing a truly shocking assault. They want us to work until we are 68 years old and will take an axe to the value of pensions by slashing accrual rates.
Pensions, reflecting the low pay of civil servants, are not 'gold-plated'. The average for full service, taking away the very tiny percentage of high earners, is only £4,200 a year - if the government succeeds in this attack then a working life of low pay will be followed by an impoverished old age.
Those union leaders, who believed it was possible to 'do a deal' with these Tory gangsters, are now in a real bind. Some even proposed a few concessions upfront to show willing. The scale of the attack is so brutal that they will have no option but to fight or accept complete, unconditional surrender.
Delegates knew the union couldn't hang on until the autumn because the cuts are already happening. There is now a real commitment to go back to workplaces and ensure the ballot is won. This vote is not just for a one-day strike, it represents the start of a campaign of industrial action capable of defeating the cuts.
PCS departmental groups are preparing for, or already have set out their own campaign strategies, including industrial action in their own areas to fight the cuts. The national union will coordinate such action wherever possible within the union itself or with other unions taking action.
Most of all PCS will be working tirelessly to build the widest possible unity in action throughout the movement and intends to make 30 June a day where all can participate, whether on strike or not. The attack is not just on our workplaces but on our communities. Delegates stressed how important the work to build the anti-cuts alliances was.
Len McCluskey addressed conference and criticised union leaders who made excuses for avoiding organising action to fight against the cuts. He commented that the sheer scale of the assault on workers was so extensive that we must at the very least try to respond. He paid tribute to the BA strikers and argued that there was no alternative but to stand up to attacks.
A major agreement on cooperation was signed between the two unions which can lead to unity in action, a point made in Len McCluskey's speech when he pledged cooperation between Ministry of Defence Unite members and those in PCS.
The yes vote to ballot members on whether or not to stand or support candidates in national elections in limited circumstances is genuinely ground breaking. The debate has been going on for the last four or more years in PCS and there have been two major consultations, a point reflected in the debate as there was no criticism of how the national union had carried out the process.
However, a number of issues that were answered during the second consultation were resurrected, ie would standing split the anti-BNP vote, or would it cost members more money to pursue this option, the answer being no in both cases.
Delegates know through hard experience that there is a consensus among the major parties that there is no alternative to the market, the basis of the cuts and privatisation programme.
Expressing opposition to the motion was in some respects difficult because their real argument, "we must stick with Labour" was the argument that dare not speak its name due to the unremitting contempt in which the overwhelming mass of delegates hold the Labour Party.
Debate must continue on this issue and a strong campaign run to win the argument amongst members, although experience shows that when the idea of adding this invaluable weapon to our campaign armoury is raised they show agreement and enthusiasm.
A major pamphlet Welfare: An Alternative Vision was launched at a packed fringe meeting which sets out the scale of the government attack on the most vulnerable in society and sets out a coherent policy to answer the barbarism of the market's solution - profiteering and privatisation.
The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) fringe meeting drew over 80 people. Among the speakers was Chris Baugh, PCS assistant general secretary. Rob Williams, NSSN national chair, explained how the organisation is at the centre of the fight to build the maximum unity amongst trade unionists and community activists against the cuts.
Over 50 people heard Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party analyse the nature of the crisis and the necessity for a socialist alternative at the party's fringe meeting.
This conference sets the scene for a real fightback based on the only strategy that can succeed - wide-spread coordinated industrial action involving millions of workers.
With its 2011 conference on 28-30 May, UCU - the trade union for lecturers, researchers and related staff - is being attacked from every angle by the government and the employers.
The UCU has national disputes and strike action on the agenda for: further education (FE) college pay; university pay; the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pensions that cover pre-1992 universities; the Teachers' Pensions Scheme that covers post-1992 universities, FE colleges and schools; and the refusal of university employers to negotiate a national redundancy agreement.
In addition, there are numerous local disputes springing up over cuts, redundancies and closures.
The UCU also needs to engage in common pension struggles with other public sector unions.
Local government workers are being savaged throughout the country through massive redundancies, pay cuts or freezes, and/or dramatic changes to terms and conditions. NHS unions face yet more cuts and de facto privatisation.
Those unions prepared to fight back must also pressure the Trade Union Congress to coordinate action.
Last autumn the UCU higher education (HE) leadership suffered from a basic division over strategy. The compromise was to run strike ballots simultaneously on pensions, redundancy and pay - a somewhat bizarre decision strategically.
Some sections of the national leadership quite rightly emphasised the importance of defending USS but showed utter timidity over calls for strike action.
Others pushed for strike action on pay and jobs, but failed to recognise the urgency of a strike ballot over USS before January 2011. The defence of USS is now much more difficult than it needed to be.
However, UCU can play an important role in defeating Hutton's pension proposals that affect the Teachers' Pensions Scheme. The campaign to coordinate strike action over pensions between NUT, ATL, PCS and other public sector unions on 30 June should be fully supported by all sections of UCU, including those in the pre-1992 universities' USS scheme.
Even though no teaching or exams are likely to take place in the pre-1992 universities on 30 June, this section of the union should either take strike action on that day or participate in the picket lines and show support to all other striking unions.
"No ifs, no buts, you can stick your Tory cuts", "Cut my pay, no way" were the angry chants of Southampton refuse workers out on strike against savage cuts to pay.
It is clear that there is overwhelming support for the strike action as council workers struggle after a three-year pay freeze to cope with a 5% cut in pay.
"We have members claiming tax credits as wages are so low. Some here are going to lose £900.
"How are we going to pay our bills?"
Southampton Tory council has hit the headlines with its vicious package of job cuts and imposed changes to pay. If council workers fail to sign new contracts they will be sacked in July.
Members of the unions Unison and Unite have voted in favour of strike action with selective strike action beginning today (23rd May) and a city-wide work-to-rule and overtime ban.
Refuse workers are out this week with other sections striking in future weeks.
Undoubtedly anger is fuelled by the chasm that separates the vast majority of council workers and the top council bosses on six figure salaries of over £200,000.
The mood on the picket line today was very determined. Unison and Unite members from Portsmouth joined the mass picket.
Workers know how much is at stake. "If they get away with this, they'll be back next year for more.
Their plan is to privatise these services and to have us on the cheap". We need to see everyone out at the council, all together, was the view of many, as well as support for national action.
It is clear that other councils are watching Southampton. If they get away with it here they will feel more confident to carry out attacks everywhere.
Elsewhere in Southampton Medirest workers are continuing their fight for unpaid wages. Recently university and college workers in UCU went out on strike over pensions.
Teachers in the NUT are reporting overwhelming support for their ballot.
Southampton Socialist Party has produced a leaflet in support of the strike which was well received on the picket line. This strike has strong support locally as people begin to realise what the cuts really mean and they are seeing their own jobs and pay under attack.
Our leaflet opposes all cuts in jobs, pay and services, highlights the £15 million reserves the council has, that could prevent immediate cuts, calls for a city-wide demo to build support for council-wide strike action and calls for a 24-hour national general strike.
The lie that there isn't any money to pay for public services is losing its grip as more and more workers realise these cuts are to make the rich richer.
What hypocrisy it is that bankers' contracts are honoured, who then get taxpayer funded billion pound bonuses while council workers see their contracts shredded and jobs and pay butchered.
1)The UNISON Southampton District branch office, Civic Centre, Southampton, SO14 7NB. Please enclose a note to say it's for the strike fund.
2) UNITE account:
c/o Ian Woodland, Unite House, 15/16 The Avenue, Southampton SO17 1XF.
TGWU 2/8 Strike Fund
Unity Trust Bank A/c ; 20185358
Sort code 08-60-01
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 2011-05-23 17:14:51 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
College lecturers in Sheffield, members of the University and College Union (UCU), have just taken three days of strike action against threatened compulsory redundancies.
Sheffield College management wanted to make 120 full-time staff redundant, including 60 lecturers. UCU members held a one-day strike in April and have now held a programme of rolling one-day strikes across the three college directorates: City, Hillsborough and Norton.
The director-general of Sheffield College (sounds very corporate - it is!), who gave herself a 14% pay rise last year (salary now over £140,000) says that the job losses are necessary because of funding cuts.
But a branch official at Hillsborough college told me that the College is also servicing £18 million in bank loans as a result of a nearly 100% overspend on the new City college building.
The Directorate have got a nice, new, showy building but lecturers are paying for it in job losses!
He also said that this is the eighth round of job losses since 1988 with the number of lecturers being halved in that time, with the consequent cut in courses and teaching time for students.
And the scrapping of EMA, which 51% of Sheffield College students have been getting, mostly at the full rate of £30 a week, will impact massively on student numbers attending next year and lead to a further fall in funding.
This is why the UCU members are so determined to stop these compulsory redundancies. 30-40 lecturers supported the Hillsborough college picket line on 19 May and around 20 at Norton college on the 20th.
Further planned strikes at the beginning of next week have been suspended while talks take place but if they fail then the UCU will be back out on strike on 26/27 May.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 2011-05-20 17:13:14 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Seventy delegates to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) conference attended the official fringe meeting about how to fight the cuts.
On the panel was Dave Nellist for the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN), speakers from Right to Work and Coalition of Resistance, FBU activist Steve Roberts who stood for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in Rugby, and Matt Wrack FBU general secretary.
Dave Nellist contrasted the fury of millions at the Con-Dems' cuts with the insipid opposition from the benches of New Labour.
In the 1980s, explained Dave, Labour councils at least initially opposed the Thatcher government before they all bowed the knee - except for Liverpool and Lambeth. But now the unions are faced with fighting cuts with no real parliamentary support.
"We can defeat the Con-Dems' plans through widespread, coordinated strike action, which should include a 24-hour public sector general strike," Dave said. "But the question of course is, what follows after we get rid of them? We need trade union policies, socialist policies, of opposition to all cuts and privatisation and we need a vehicle like TUSC which can address that issue too."
Steve Roberts explained how he and other TUSC supporters brought together "a strong spectrum of left candidates" on behalf of TUSC in Rugby.
Matt Wrack outlined the battles facing the FBU and all public sector unions. Matt explained the need for coordinated industrial action on a scale capable of defeating the Con-Dems' attacks.
The FBU still has socialism as an objective of the union's constitution, said Matt, and a socialist political solution is necessary.
A range of comments and questions from the floor reflected the frustration of many workers at the employers' offensive, including falling wages, not yet being matched by a mass national anti-cuts movement or a sufficiently powerful political alternative.
Dave, Steve and Matt in their replies indicated the urgent need to strengthen the industrial and political struggle against the neoliberal parties' agenda and for a socialist working class political alternative.
The NSSN and the TUSC can make a powerful contribution to these battles.
On 23 May Tory immigration minister Damian Green announced the closure of Newport Passport Office as a processing centre. But, in a big concession to the massive campaign led by the PCS union in Newport, 150 of the 300 jobs have been retained.
The job losses were hardly a surprise to workers at the Passport Office - 36 boxes of redundancy leaflets had been discovered in their foyer! It was clear that the Tories had made their mind up about the office closure months ago.
Nevertheless the campaign has forced the government to make concessions. Of the 150 jobs retained at Newport, 50 will work in a customer service centre, while 100 will run a central Identity and Passport Service (IPS) customer complaints and correspondence base. It will share telephone customer enquiries handling with the Durham office, while a counter-fraud team will operate in Newport.
The PCS is determined to fight for all jobs. Workers are pleased with this partial success but sceptical at the government's promises. It is still unclear where the promised jobs will come from and there have been no guarantees that the retained workers will keep their existing contracts. At least 150 jobs will be lost across the rest of the IPS.
A 'Yes' vote in the PCS ballot for strike action over cuts to pensions, jobs and pay later this month would give a green light to a strike across the IPS against all cuts.
London Underground (LU) train drivers in the RMT union plan to strike due to London Underground's refusal to reinstate tube driver Arwyn Thomas.
Eamonn Lynch, who was also sacked, has been reinstated following an employment tribunal. This tribunal showed that Eamonn was unfairly sacked for trade union activities. Arwyn's employment tribunal is taking place as the Socialist goes to press.
Arywn told the Socialist: "The action is back on. The union suspended the action on the grounds of re-engaging Eamonn, and having negotiations about my reinstatement. They've now reneged on negotiations, and are still victimising reps, which is intolerable for the union."
If the employer fails to reinstate Arwyn, action will escalate to include LU station and engineering staff.
After two years of harassment against blacklisted electrician Steve Acheson, Scottish & Southern Electricity (SSE) have backed down.
SSE threatened an injunction for trespass to stop Steve's peaceful picket outside Fiddlers Ferry power station near Widnes in Cheshire. This failed, as did their previous attempt using the Terrorism Act which was defeated in the Royal Court of Justice.
Unite activist Steve said: "It's not just for me, it's for shop stewards everywhere. If we stand our ground we can still defend our right to protest."
Steve's battle against blacklisting continues. For more information contact Steve on 07949 335390 or email [email protected]
Teachers at Selwyn primary school in Waltham Forest, north east London, took strike action on 24 May against bullying and harassment by the school's temporary head teacher
It is clear that there will be large-scale job cuts, yes, both academic and support staff. In addition to the expected large-scale cutting of teaching jobs, we've also just had a redundancy notice informing us they intend to cut 86 support staff and this is just the beginning. We anticipate many, many more in the pipeline.
We've had protests, lobbies and we've just launched a community-based, cross-union campaign, called 'We are London Met - education not privatisation'. You can pledge to support us by signing our petition called 'We are London Met not EasyMet': http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-london-metropolitan-university.html
The unions are in an official dispute, Unison has held an indicative ballot for industrial action, with a 64% yes vote to fight compulsory redundancies.
And we have now just announced a ballot for industrial action, in which we predict a high yes vote, coordinated by both Unison and lecturers' union UCU which will open from late May and close in early June.
We have very good relations with the other unions. We have regular coordinating meetings with the UCU, and with the student union. Also, support from the local community and other unions has been good - especially through our local anti-cuts committees.
We will do everything necessary to win. The vice-chancellor has shown he has no interest in the education of working class students in London.
It will probably take more than threatening one day's strike action to win this dispute, and whilst we are hoping of course that the management will back down before it reaches that stage, we are not going to give up without a fight. We'll need all the support we can get.
Disabled people are extremely angry with Steve Cram for accepting the post of 'ambassador' for big business privatisers Atos Origin in their capacity as IT partner for the London 2012 Olympics.
Steve Cram is a legend in the athletics world, being the first man to run 1,500 metres in less than three minutes 30 seconds. Atos Origin is also famous, or more correctly infamous, in disability circles as the company contracted by the DWP to deliver assessments for disability-related benefits such as Disability Living Allowance.
Atos secured the multi-million pound DWP contracts with huge financial incentives to reduce the numbers of disabled people claiming benefits. There have been demonstrations around the country outside Atos offices against the arbitrary way the company deals with benefits claims from severely disabled people.
There are very many criticisms. The process is impersonal, people felt their dignity was being taken away from them, no medical evidence is taken into account. But the biggest criticism is that the process does not recognise mental health issues at all.
Steve Cram reported in the Guardian (8/5/2007) that: "Paralympic athletes deserve as much respect as the able-bodied." Many disabled people wish he would show the same sentiments for disabled people, some of whom are the most vulnerable members of society and also some of the poorest.
Steve Cram MBE, also known as "The Jarrow Arrow" has had a career born from his success on track, becoming Chancellor of the University of Sunderland in 2008 and has a reputation as a motivational speaker at social events. He is also an athletics pundit and writes for the Guardian.
His living standards contrast starkly with the lifestyle of poverty, imprisonment at home and hopelessness that Cram's paymasters mete out to working class people with disabilities every day of the week.
It is sickening that Atos gets paid a bonus for getting disabled people, very many with life-threatening or even terminal illnesses off the benefits register, causing untold misery hardship and yes, even death.
There have been suicides from people who feel they are no longer valued by society, and that life imprisonment in their own home is too much to bear or feel that the choices of whether to eat or heat the house just aren't worth the hassle of making.
There is a campaign by disabled people's organisations to get Steve Cram to change his mind. But no one knows how lucrative this deal with the devil is to him so I would advise people not to hold their breath.
Les Woodward and a group of other Remploy workers are attending the National Shop Stewards Network anti-cuts conference in London on 11 June
On 24 January, a Toronto police officer told a campus safety information session at Osgoode Hall Law School that one way women can limit the chance of being raped is to "avoid dressing like sluts".
Immediately staff and students demanded a written apology. A 'Slutwalk' demonstration of a thousand people was then organised in Toronto against rape and against the false idea that victims bring it upon themselves.
Since then, a dozen other demonstrations have taken place across Canada and the US, and around a hundred have been organised across the world. One is planned for 11 June in London and feminist groups in Brighton are also talking about the idea.
Comments like those of the Toronto police officer are not unique. A 2005 Amnesty International survey found that 26% of people in the UK think a woman was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was wearing sexy or revealing clothing. One result of this has been that victims tend to feel ashamed and in the UK 2006 research suggests that between 75-95% of rapes are never reported to the police.
Almost one in five women will experience sexual assault at some point in their lives. There is no typical rape victim - people of all ages, sizes and races are raped. About 75% of rape is planned in advance.
Research has shown that much of rape is about power and control, not about sex. Whether someone is dressed 'provocatively' has nothing to do with why they may be attacked.
It is very good that thousands of people, mainly young women, have come out onto the streets to express their anger at the upside-down way that rape is seen by some people. It has been decades since there was a sizeable women's movement and this could be signs of its revival.
But an outpouring of anger alone won't be enough to change things. This anger must be channelled. It is positive that the Slutwalk Toronto website stresses that the march is open to anyone of any gender, any age and wearing any type of clothes. To be successful in challenging attitudes the movement will have to draw in the mass of the working class.
The Toronto website says: "Historically, the term 'slut' has carried a predominantly negative connotation... And whether dished out as a serious indictment of one's character or merely as a flippant insult, the intent behind the word is always to wound, so we're taking it back. 'Slut' is being re-appropriated."
However, using the word 'slut' in an attempt to 'reclaim' it is unlikely to appeal to the majority of women. The positive side of this is that it shows how far women have come in the last 50 years. Many young women now feel comfortable with their sexuality and are proud to say so.
It's important to show that this increased confidence has nothing to do with rape.
But 'slut' has always been a sexist, derogatory word for women and most will not feel comfortable with the idea that accepting it and saying we're 'proud' of it will somehow change the attitude behind it.
There has also been some debate between supporters of Slutwalk online about feminism, with some being explicitly against talking about the conditions facing women more generally.
But a campaign against rape in isolation from all other aspects of women's oppression will only ever have a limited impact. It is vital to address the increasing material problems facing women in all areas of their lives.
Large numbers of refuges for victims of domestic violence are under threat of closure because of government cuts. Some councils have even considered turning off street lights to save money. And job cuts and cuts in benefits, such as those for single parents, could mean that more women feel pushed towards work in strip clubs or even prostitution. All of these will increase the risk of sexual assault and rape and must be resisted.
Rape, like domestic violence and sexual harassment, is a symptom of a deeply unequal class-based society that leads some men to think that they can control women, including sexually.
This is reinforced by women's material inequality and lower status in society. We must challenge sexism and demand education about the myths and facts of rape and decent support for rape victims.
However, around 750,000 public sector workers are preparing for strike action on 30 June against attacks on their pensions. The majority of these are women. Through a mass movement of working class people, including general strike action, there is the opportunity to inflict defeats on the weak and divided Con-Dem coalition.
This process of struggle will see millions of people questioning the brutal, sexist and exploitative capitalist society in which we live and looking for a socialist alternative.
The supposed training opportunities the government is offering young people are nothing more than a back door way of moving people from the unemployment figures into unskilled work whilst not having to spend any money.
An example of this happened recently in Boots in Southampton, where the manager has agreed to take two people on for work experience. They will receive basic Jobseeker's Allowance of around £45 a week and work a 38 hour week for the next three months, which is equivalent to £1.20 an hour.
When challenged by a member of staff, who is a member of the Socialist Party and Youth Fight for Jobs, about the fact that this will take work away from the fully employed staff, the manager became abusive, accusing him of stirring up trouble.
The manager called him an extremist who has no idea about how the world works and said he was not to talk to other members of staff about his ideas as he was frightening them with his lies.
He also said the people doing the work experience should be grateful for the opportunity.
Over the next seven years between £3 billion and £5 billion of government money will be paid to various organisations to help tackle 'long term benefit dependency'.
This money is to come from the benefit 'savings' made from people getting back to work. The government trumpeted these organisations as belonging to the voluntary sector.
However of the 18 organisations only two are from the voluntary sector, the rest are private companies. But there is no public accountability within the voluntary or the private sector. This is nothing short of the wholesale privatisation of the unemployed.
Throughout May the Marx Memorial Library (MML) in Clerkenwell Green, London has been largely given over to the 'News International Dispute; 25 years on' exhibition. Print and media unions Unite/GPMU sector and the National Union of Journalists organised the event alongside the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF) and the MML.
25 years ago print boss Rupert Murdoch set out to destroy the Fleet Street print unions and in the process make himself the biggest media mogul on the planet. The CPBF's involvement shows that this dispute was not only about jobs and trade union rights but also about the monopolisation of the press and broadcasting in Britain and worldwide.
As the exhibition shows, in 1969 Murdoch persuaded the print unions to back his bid for the Sun from the owners of the Daily Mirror. Up to then the Sun had been a Labour-supporting paper. Under Murdoch, along with his recently acquired News of the World, it became a rabidly pro-Thatcher newspaper.
The exhibition displays a secret letter that Murdoch's lawyers, Farrer & Co wrote to Murdoch before the dispute in 1986. It says: "If the moment came when it was necessary to dispense with the present workforce...the cheapest way would be to dismiss employees while participating in a strike".
In 1983 Murdoch managers engaged the unions in talks about moving production of the papers from Fleet Street to Wapping, with the use of new production methods. But in 1985 Murdoch broke off the talks and served six months' notice on the unions to effectively end union presence in the papers.
Murdoch aimed to introduce legally binding 'no strike' agreements, to end the closed shop and to end in particular the influence of the chapels (the local union branches which were the real source of workers' control of Fleet Street.) After all it was the Daily Mail printers' refusal to print a vicious article against the miners in 1926 that was the signal for the general strike to begin.
The national press unions at the time, Sogat, NGA, AUEW and the NUJ called a strike ballot on 24 January 1986. Murdoch then implemented his plan to smash the unions and began the process of sacking what became over 5,500 men and women.
For a whole year the local print unions called for regular mass picketing/demonstrations outside the fortified Wapping plant in London and the Kinning Park plant in Glasgow. Every Wednesday and Saturday for 12 months thousands of workers descended on Wapping. There they met with vicious charges from mounted police in full riot gear, fresh from the state's war against the miners in 1984-85.
Workers in the wholesale distribution outlets for the Sun and News of the World refused to handle the papers. Pickets chased the "white mice" (the vans which delivered the papers to the news agents) and many other actions took place. The mass picketing of Wapping was aimed in particular at the TNT juggernaut lorries that brought the newspapers out of the Wapping plant.
The unions were taken to court for secondary picketing and other so-called "illegal" actions. Massive fines were imposed on the unions and Sogat had its funds sequestrated by the courts (in effect the union's bank accounts were frozen).
The Metropolitan police hospitalised hundreds of pickets and demonstrators. Over 1,400 trade unionists were arrested during the dispute. In an inquiry afterwards by Northamptonshire police, the Met were found to have acted in a "violent and undisciplined way" but nobody was put on trial as a result.
Disgracefully Eric Hammond, the general secretary of the EEPTU (electricians' union) was proved to have been in secret talks with Murdoch well before the strike. He had been responsible for recruiting a strike-breaking workforce mainly from southern England and bussing them into Wapping every night.
Despite this the TUC refused to throw the EEPTU out of its ranks for this crime against the print workers, (it was thrown out a year after the strike for negotiating single union deals with other employers).
Following the attacks on the union funds the national print unions called off the strike in February 1987.
The exhibition is well worth visiting (and it's free). It is a reminder that the 1980s was a decade where the unions were under systematic attack from the employers, the state, the police and the courts.
Fleet Street print unions were some of the best organised in any industry but it was not enough to stop the defeat. All the capitalist system's resources were used against them. It would have required the mobilisation of the whole trade union movement to win this battle but it would have needed a political answer as well.
The TUC's right wing leaders in effect stood by, as they did with the miners earlier, as the printers were driven into defeat. This is the main lesson from the battle of Wapping.
Journalist Nick Robinson follows the residents of a street in Preston who have agreed to go without any council services for six weeks. No one can use leisure centres, libraries or youth clubs. The street lights are switched off and the rubbish starts to pile up. The kids aren't picked up by the school bus, after-school club is off limits and school meals are refused.
The film-makers gradually up the ante. Although the residents have been rebated their council tax and have decided to pool it, Robinson returns one evening to explain that the rebate does not actually reflect the cutting off of all council services. One resident's 82 year old disabled father is receiving £300 worth of care a week. Another resident receives £92 a week in housing benefit and £150 a week in Local Education Authority support for her student daughter. The rebate is less than the street's expenditure!
Robinson makes them choose what they will and won't spend money on leading to massive arguments.
Nick Robinson says several times that "cuts are about choices". This is the 'official' message of the programme, but it is not true. The only choice that has been made is the choice of pro-big business politicians to make the working class and middle class pay to fix an economy devastated by the bankers and their profit system. We are getting no choice. There is an attempt to force these cuts on us.
Despite the 'official' message, the response of the residents goes further. One woman - a nursery manager - argued at the start of the programme that she didn't feel she got "value for money" from the council. By the end of the six weeks she says she "supports everything the council does and everyone it supports". Most residents express similar sentiments.
Towards the end of the six weeks the residents write to the local councillors and condemn them for allowing real council cuts to go through. The councillors visit the street and are asked by angry residents how they can sleep at night.
Now that the residents have experienced what cuts could mean they do not support them at all. This is an important point for socialists and anti-cuts campaigners. At the start of the experiment most residents repeated the myths put out by the mainstream media that 'some cuts are necessary' or that the public sector 'does not give value for money'.
Acceptance of these myths is shattered by reality and turns into boiling anger. This will happen on a mass scale up and down the country as the cuts bite and a mighty anti-cuts movement will emerge.
Sir Roy McNulty's railway 'value for money' report, commissioned by the government, seems to blame and penalise workers for the failed privatisation policies of successive Tory and Labour governments.
The disastrous privatisation of British Rail resulted in worse employment conditions and cost three times as much to run as the nationalised British Rail.
The subsequent public-private partnerships (PPPs) on London Underground, shamefully the brain child of the Labour Party, were equally disastrous. Having pillaged the industry, private conglomerates Tubelines and Metronet fled when pickings weren't so rich, leaving the tax payer to pick up a bill of £billions.
It beggars belief that McNulty expects the commuter and worker to pay for the failed policies of private greed. More jobs cuts, worse services and still further cuts in safety will result unless unions and commuters unite to kick out the McNulty report and demand full renationalisation of the whole rail network under democratic public control.
The gauntlet has been thrown down; together we must pick it up and meet this challenge head on.
31,000 people living in care homes face uncertainty over their future.
Southern Cross Health Care, Britain's biggest care homes operator, announced losses of £311 million for the last half year. It admits to being in a "critical financial position" and is battling to avoid bankruptcy. Southern Cross does not have enough cash to survive beyond 30 June.
Rising rents and falling income have opened up a hole in the company's finances.
When the company was owned by the US private equity group, Blackstone, a rapid expansion plan was financed by selling properties to investment companies and leasing them back on guaranteed, upward only annual rent reviews. Southern Cross pays rent on all their 750 homes amounting to £250 million a year.
As a consequence of the Con-Dem cuts, local authorities are placing fewer people in homes, paying fees of £558 a week. Occupancy rates have been falling.
Already, Southern Cross is closing the Sefton Park Care Home in Lanarkshire in Scotland leaving 35 residents only 12 weeks to find a new home. And a "few tens" more homes are to close that are "not financially viable". But the whole company is not financially viable. What happens when it goes belly up?
Local authorities are drawing up emergency plans to deal with the closure of care homes. The uncertainty means that councils are even less likely to send people to Southern Cross now, compounding the crisis.
There have been half a dozen management shake ups in the last two years but to no avail. In a new wheeze they have appointed a new chairman. Yes, you guessed it, a former merchant banker.
Last year 40 homes faced embargoes by the regulator, several facing enforcement orders over hygiene and safety including doors falling off hinges.
This is just one more of example of the private sector's inability to run public services. The spivs and crooks of private equity firms, property speculators and bankers have no interest in providing good quality care homes. They are only interested in making profit.
Councils must have the resources to provide them, planned and organised in a way that includes the residents, their families and workers in the industry.
Tata Steel, the world's biggest steelmaker, is to slash another 1,500 jobs at plants in Scunthorpe and Teesside. This latest blow to jobs in the north east is on top of the 2,000 axed in 2009.
Then, thousands of steelworkers and their families marched to demand action by the Labour government which, apart from a vague promise of funds for retraining, did nothing to stop the job losses - such as renationalisation. In the previous year Tata Steel had reported a nearly £3 billion profit.
This time Tata says the cuts are due to falling demand and blamed the threat of carbon taxes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, many suspect that the real reason is that its European operations make less profit than its plants elsewhere in the world where labour costs are lower.
Chancellor George Osborne breathed a sigh of relief following a 36,000 fall in the total unemployed. However, this miserably small decline means that the UK's unemployment rate remains at nearly 8% officially and the claimant count actually increased in April by 12,400.
Moreover, the number of workers in full-time employment fell by 1.4% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2009, while those in part-time jobs rose by 5%. Youth unemployment continues to hover just below the one million mark at 935,000.
With the economy flatlining over the last six months and public spending cuts only now beginning to bite, unemployment could easily breach the three million mark in the next 12-18 months.
The average monthly rent in London is set to break through the £1,000 mark - a new record. Last month the average London rent was £998, a rise of 8% in a year. At current interest rates, a £1,000 monthly rent is the equivalent of a £180,000 repayment mortgage. But first-time buyers have been effectively frozen out of the property market by the banks and other mortgage lenders.
The government's cap on housing allowance will affect one million people nationally with an average loss of £22 a week in London. One-third of these claimants are people in regular employment.
And changes to extend the shared accommodation rate to 25-34 year olds will see an average cut in housing benefit of £47 a week, as their benefits will only cover the cost of a room in a shared house, instead of a self-contained flat.
New social housing tenants will also see rents rise if landlords charge the 80% of market rents recommended by the government.
Many people now face the prospect of being pushed out of many high rent areas or entire cities. Those who do avoid eviction (an estimated 82,000 in London alone face eviction) could end up in overcrowded accommodation as more people are forced to share flats.
When I left Madrid on the day of the elections, the protest camp in Puerta del Sol was continuing to grow with new people arriving all the time having travelled from the towns surrounding Madrid and further. Everyone I spoke to in the square was very clear - they're not going anywhere.
General assemblies during the day are attended by at least 2,000 people and in the evenings, more than 30,000 pack into the square. A movement that started with young people has gathered support from the majority. Thousands of families, pensioners and workers pack into the square to join the evening protests. Donations of money, food and blankets keep pouring in.
When I asked why they were there, most people responded "to defend our rights". The government ruled that the camp is illegal which made the protesters even more determined to stay. But they also talked about having no alternative but to protest. They call themselves the 'ni ni' generation because they have "ni empleo, ni casa" (no job, no house).
Alejandro, a university student, told me: "I still live with my parents. I'm only 19 but my brother is 27 and he still lives there too. We don't want to live in these conditions for our whole lives!"
There is a lot of hostility towards trade unions because of the role of the union leaders in holding back the struggle. There is also big mistrust of political parties.
While most seem to think that there is no way to have a party that represents the masses, a few protesters correctly pointed out that one step forward would be for the movement to stand its own candidates in the elections next time.
The camp is incredibly well organised. There is a kitchen, a crèche, a quiet area and a library stocking all the daily press. Teams of volunteers are delegated to clean up, hand out water and sun cream to protect people from the heat, talk to the press and organise entertainment.
But unfortunately, in terms of a strategy to bring about the 'revolution' they are calling for, the movement is much less organised. Alejandro said "I don't know that we can win the democracy we want but what else can we do? We have no future because of the politicians and their cuts so we will stay here."
Events in Spain clearly demonstrate that as living conditions are driven down by governments around the world and young people see their futures disappearing, mass movements will be inevitable. It is clear to people in Spain that the system is broken, even if there is some confusion about what the alternative should be.
Thousands of banners around the square read "Revolution!" and show hatred towards the bankers, the IMF, the police, capitalism and especially the politicians. The main chant in the square is "They don't represent us!"
What is needed to achieve the change the protesters are calling for is a socialist programme of demands and struggle. Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI Spain) is calling for the non-payment of the debt and nationalisation of the banks and utilities under democratic working class control.
The workers' movement should give clear support to this movement of the youth and a general strike combined with the protest camps would have huge power.
On 7 May, 70 activists from a range of trade unions met at a forum in Dublin organised under the title Reclaim the Unions.
The purpose of the meeting was two-fold. Firstly, it was an opportunity for trade union activists to discuss the state of Ireland's trade union movement in the wake of three years of attacks on jobs, pay and conditions from governments and employers. During this time the leadership of the trade union movement has failed to offer a fighting lead to the membership. From there we could then discuss the measures necessary to prepare for the attacks that lie ahead.
In the discussion, chaired by Eddie Conlon of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) executive, there was a common understanding that a combination of factors has weakened the trade union movement. Institutionalised 'Social Partnership' [collaboration of the trade union leaders with the government in holding back workers' demands and struggle], from 1987 until 2008, largely robbed a generation of trade unionists of the opportunity of being trained up as militant activists through taking on their employer, locally, to advance and defend pay and conditions.
Likewise, the lack of a real radical alternative to the cuts agenda from the trade union leaders, even among those who opposed social partnership and the rotten Croke Park deal [agreed in March 2010], means that they implicitly accept the attacks and offer no strategy of sustained resistance to the membership.
The discussion moved on to what steps were needed to rebuild the combativeness of the trade union movement. A genuine debate emerged as to whether it was a better strategy to develop activist groups within the existing unions to fight the bureaucracies along the lines of the CPSU Activist Group and the newly created ASTI Fightback, whose successful launch was explained by Andrew Phelan.
An alternative view was argued by some construction worker activists and Dave Cotter from the Independent Workers' Union (IWU). He said that the efforts of genuine union activists would be better spent taking people out of the existing unions and either switching to better unions or building new militant organisations from scratch like the IWU.
The prevailing view in the discussion articulated by Socialist Party member Stephen Boyd (Unite) and others, was that while there were some exceptional cases in which the movement of members from one union to another was warranted, in general it was better to stay and fight.
This is in order to avoid the danger of separating the best fighting elements in the unions from the broad membership, who are then left in the thrall of the right wing leadership.
Terry Kelleher from the CPSU Activist Group and Owen McCormack, now in Siptu's Dublin Bus branch, led-off the second session by making proposals for where to take this initiative. It was proposed and agreed that a national network of trade union activists would be built and formally launched at a conference in September. A committee to organise the conference was elected. It was also agreed to organise a protest at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions conference in Kerry in July.
An extensive network of activists spread across all sectors and key workplaces can be a structure through which solidarity can be built for strikes and campaigns that emerge. Importantly, a trade union activists network can be a means of quickly disseminating into the workplaces the key lines of political argument that answer the cutback consensus of the bosses and politicians, as well as the defeatist arguments of the trade union leaders.
With further attacks in sight on REA and ERO [industry pay] rates mainly affecting private sector workers; 25,000 job cuts and attacks arising from the Croke Park deal in the public sector, and privatisation of assets in the commercial semi-state sector, it is clear that the organised working class has major battles on its hands in the months and years ahead.
This first step in building a network of trade union activists can ultimately make a big difference in ensuring that the thousands of workers who want to fight can link up with the best fighters in the union movement and defeat the government and employers' austerity measures.
Greece's second 24-hour general strike held this year, on 11 May, saw massive workers' participation and completely paralysed every aspect of economic life in Greece. It showed again the enormous power of the organised working class and its potential to defeat the Pasok government's austerity cuts.
But just days later, reaction took to the streets of Athens in the form of a murderous rampage by neo-Nazi thugs, while the police stood by. 'Golden Dawn' thugs attacked immigrants, killing a young man from Bangladesh and hospitalising many others.
Public participation, although slightly smaller than during the last general strike in February, was still very big. Many tens of thousands demonstrated in all the major cities. In the two central rallies in Athens (the communist party, KKE, organised a separate rally from the Greek trade union confederation, the GSEE), 40,000-50,000 took part.
The lower turnout was mainly due to the complete lack of organisation and preparation, not only on the part of the trade union leaderships, but also on the part of the leaderships of the main Left parties. It was also due to the lack of any plan and any prospect for the development of the mass struggles.
Many workers understand that a 24-hour strike, every two or three months, will not force the government to back down over its severe austerity programme. There have been nine general strikes in Greece since the beginning of 2010 and the government still continues to push through its policies.
In contrast, Xekinima (CWI Greece) says: refuse to pay the debt; for the nationalisation of the banks and commanding heights of the economy, under democratic workers' control and management; for the development of the strike movement, including coordinated strikes and occupations, general strikes (24-, 48-hours and longer) to stop the cuts.
This action must be organised by the masses themselves, through action committees in workplaces, neighbourhoods, and in colleges.
Xekinima puts forward the perspective that through the mass struggles of the working class, the conditions will develop for a strong and militant socialist opposition. Big class struggles will radicalise workers and youth, developing the forces on the Left. Class battles can see mass action committees spring up in Greece, as has happened in the past.
These types of developments can provide the basis of a viable alternative to the Pasok or NDP governments of cuts - for a government genuinely representing the material interests of working people and the poor.
The Athens demonstration on 11 May saw violence on the part of the police, who viciously attacked workers' contingents, hospitalising around 100 people.
The police violence increased the massive hatred in Greek society towards the government and anger against state repression.
Despite the fact that there is no real alternative on the part of the main Left parties, most of the slogans chanted in the course of the demonstrations called for the downfall of the government.
Following the violent police attacks on workers' demonstrations and the fascists' murderous assaults, it is essential that workers' demonstrations are properly organised and stewarded, to protect them from provocations and attacks.
A united workers' movement must oppose all forms of racism and racist attacks, resist the neo-Nazis and the far right, and oppose the bosses' agenda of sowing 'divide and rule' policies amongst working people. This means putting forward clear socialist policies, including calling for jobs for all, a living wage, decent and affordable housing and full funding for health and welfare.
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What the Socialist Party stands for
The Socialist Party fights for socialism – a democratic society run for the needs of all and not the profits of a few. We also oppose every cut, fighting in our day-to-day campaigning for every possible improvement for working class people.
The organised working class has the potential power to stop the cuts and transform society.
As capitalism dominates the globe, the struggle for genuine socialism must be international.
The Socialist Party is part of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), a socialist international that organises in many countries.
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http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/12116