chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Hooked up with "Don't Pay" and figured out how organised labour (incl. striking unions) could coordinate with that (kinda like a "Don't Pay, We won't collect" sorta thing but wider...)
Cost of Living Crisis: Enough is Enough Campaign
- Thread starter Smokeandsteam
- Start date
Karl Masks
Birds Angel Delight
build confidence in long haul coordinated mass industrial action. Raise class consciousness and counter capitalist propagnda
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
I'd argue it's already doing that and is focused precisely on re-introducing 'class' as a category and way of understanding capitalism
I think there is some merit in this, but the question is the extent to which Don't Pay is going to survive the intervention by the state on bills. A few months ago I'd have bet that Don't Pay would have taken an organic form and the question was the extent to which it could be channeled.
Agreed. Can you give some examples and the form you think this should take.
Karl Masks
Birds Angel Delight
Is it? "The working class is back" tells me nothing. It's just a borderline
facile statement in that it is vacuous. How are they following through? From what I've heard of the meetings thus far they have been passive. Exercises in union types, along with some Labour/Green MP's (ffs) talking. Now maybe that will change and this is just an introductory phase. That's fine. But where is the debate? Where are the activist groups, claimant groups etc. Say what you like about XR, they mobilised and got a profile very (it seems) quickly. Is that happening here?
We've just had the 'emergency budget' and it's a disaster for the poor, ie everyone not a rich landowning tory. No surprises there, but still a massive kick in the teeth. They are setting the stage for a huge acceleration in class war. What is EiE's response?
EiE appear to be doing very little. Militant and subversive escalation and coordination is required.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Have you signed up for EiE or been to any of their rallies Karl or tried to engage with EiE supporters locally?
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
I like the idea of this ( we got this through the unions in the housing section in Manchester during the Poll Tax) . Has 'Don't Pay' made any approaches to the trade unions in the electricity companies ?
Yes. Although it's not a heavily unionized sector (at least not the meter reading/call centre bit of it).
pinkmonkey
2.4 hour party person
I signed up, think I’ve had 1 email. But I can’t get out to rallies, I’m so busy being a part time carer and being self employed, I seldom get out on my own.
Karl Masks
Birds Angel Delight
I have signed up. I don't live near any meetings. I have engaged, and I'm doing it right here.
I'm happy to hear their ideas and I hope they have some. But we can't afford another talking shop and another electoral black hole.
This isn't a game
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
So Karl, bar the co-ordination of strikes, building and organizing support for picket lines, setting up local community initiatives and promoting the return of the working class to the battle what else should EiE be doing? I'm off to the Birmingham launch tonight so interested in any suggestions that I can try to raise.
Am I take to from this that you want EiE to become a direct action/physical force outfit?
Karl Masks
Birds Angel Delight
What does victory look like? What methods do they propose? There's probably a ton of better ideas than I can come up with, so if others have better ideas, within or without EiE, then sound off! Maybe some of the people at this meeting will have some good ideas. Do they even plan to open up their meetings to greater participation?
I don't know. Maybe it will have to be?
I’m merely noting the perspective that has been mentioned many times in this thread. I repeatedly see it expressed that central groups are controlling what is and is not deemed acceptable protest — see, for example, the confusion around “Don’t Pay”, with the accusations of it having been ignored or belittled. I read accusations such as this:
Given the way that power is maintained and exercised within large groups, this has the ring of truth to it. But it’s what has to go if a grass-roots campaign is going to escalate — mass disruption to the social order is needed, not just disruption that the central committee approves of.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Yes but what would this look like in practice?
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Not sure I follow. There isn’t a central committee. Local groups are given latitude to do what they think will work best where they are. There is no election process for leaders. Coordinated strike action is being called to create mass disruption. Bar the position on Don’t Pay which had been week rehearsed on here is there anything specific they you think EiE should be doing but isn’t?
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
Victory would be progress on the demands of the campaign.
Methods are industrial and community mass action.
As I say, if anyone has got ideas I’m all ears.
Identifying where grass-roots disruptive action is taking place (see chilango’s list above) and spreading the message, helping to connect and organise the disruption and vocalising support for it.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
No, imo they clearly they won't/can't. They will not encourage or support any illegal activity, which leaves them stuck with a very limited range of things to do.
Where are these local groups?
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Do you know where Dont Pay up to on their 1 million threshold for the payment strike?
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
They're at 190k Don't Pay Which means they clearly won't make a million by October. I wonder if they'll offer people a vote about doing it anyway, or something like that.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Don't Pay realized the million by 1st October wasn't looking like it was going to happen. It was always a massively ambitious goal, but one that was well worth trying for I think.
So the 1st October cut off has been scrapped. The plan is to build for a million and strike then. It's on the website:
FWIW I think this shouldn't be (and isn't) some Enough is Enough vs. Don't Pay thing, and going down that road isn't at all helpful. We need workplace struggles and struggles where we live, and they need to support each other and work in concert.
So the 1st October cut off has been scrapped. The plan is to build for a million and strike then. It's on the website:
FWIW I think this shouldn't be (and isn't) some Enough is Enough vs. Don't Pay thing, and going down that road isn't at all helpful. We need workplace struggles and struggles where we live, and they need to support each other and work in concert.
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Don't Pay aren't going to hit a million because the mere threat of organised "illegal" direct action was enough to make sure that the only part of the cost of living crisis addressed by the government was energy bills.
So the October price hike was scrapped.
Might be a lesson there.
So the October price hike was scrapped.
Might be a lesson there.
hitmouse
music obfuscation technology
As it happens, last time I went on a union training course there was a bloke there who was a rep working in the collections department at Eon. So the good news is there's some union presence at Eon, the bad news is that it's Unison, so it might be a bit optimistic to hope that a union that's historically been barely competent at demanding a fair day's pay for a fair day's work will suddenly start taking up class demands.
Anyway, I'm not feeling too positive about Enough is Enough at this point - several weeks on from when they had their first launch events, is there any local infrastructure in place? Maybe there is and I'm not seeing it, but I've not really seen any evidence of local groups. Will wait and see what the October 1st events look like - I'm guessing they'll function as joint RMT/CWU strike rallies, which is a good thing and I imagine that doing it as EiE will probably get bigger crowds in than RMT/CWU/local trades councils could manage on their own, but I'm still wondering, will they manage to connect with local Unite/Unison/GMB branches that might have active disputes in their areas? And will there be any active input from local community groups, or will the community side of it just be entirely farmed out to Acorn? Maybe they will do all that stuff really well, in which case congratulations to them, but the lack of any visible contact points for local organisers isn't making me feel hopeful at the moment.
fucthest8
Cool people die horrible, preventable deaths.
No it wasn't. Is was reduced in an attempt to shut people up. So I'm campaigning in my neighbourhood on exactly that basis. My energy bill from October to March is set to be almost £1000 more than last year. Gov is funding £400 of that. Where's the rest coming from?
Oh and now they are going to scrap the top rate of tax, so those fuckers get even more money. Fucksake.
Don't pay isn't dead by a long way. Where I live, it's only just got going.
(I'm not missing your point about threatened direct action getting results by the way, just pointing out that the rise wasn't scrapped and there is still more that can be campaigned on)
Ĝasper
Well-Known Member
Considering the Rmt have been disaffiliated from Labour since the 00s (iirc Labour's choice, due to their funding for the Scottish socialist party - now imploded for over 15 years), you'd think Lynch would be bigging up others than Labour.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Good turn out in Liverpool
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