Strike!
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dennisr
the acceptable face
http://www.shopstewards.net/news.219.htm
NSSN and left union activists calls lobby of TUC Public Services Liaison Group: Demands further action on pensions
16 December A recall conference of the Public Sector Liaison Group (PSLG), the body that brings together TUC affiliated public sector unions, will be convened on Monday 19th December at 3PM.
At this meeting TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber will attempt to sell Francis Maude's latest pensions offer as the basis for a settlement of the dispute to trade union leaders.
In a bid to head off this damaging out come the NSSN and other left trade union activists are calling for a lobby of the PSLG before it meets. Trade unionists will have the opportunity to voice their opposition to Maude's proposals and demand further action in the New Year.
The NSSN will be demanding:
The NSSN urges all of it's supporters and readers to come down to the lobby and build the pressure for further action in defence of pensions.
NSSN and left union activists calls lobby of TUC Public Services Liaison Group: Demands further action on pensions
16 December A recall conference of the Public Sector Liaison Group (PSLG), the body that brings together TUC affiliated public sector unions, will be convened on Monday 19th December at 3PM.
At this meeting TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber will attempt to sell Francis Maude's latest pensions offer as the basis for a settlement of the dispute to trade union leaders.
In a bid to head off this damaging out come the NSSN and other left trade union activists are calling for a lobby of the PSLG before it meets. Trade unionists will have the opportunity to voice their opposition to Maude's proposals and demand further action in the New Year.
The NSSN will be demanding:
- Reject Maude's latest pensions proposals which will mean all public sector workers having to work longer, pay more, and get less.
- No to secret deals by union leaders over the heads of the membership. We demand democratic control of the negotiations.
- We demand that the date is set for the next co-ordinated public sector strike early in the New Year. UNISON Scotland has already proposed 25 January as the date of the next strike.
The NSSN urges all of it's supporters and readers to come down to the lobby and build the pressure for further action in defence of pensions.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Unison saw a lot of new members and hitherto unheard from support over this recent strike. If they spunk the momentum up the wall by caving then what bloody use are they?
Agree with all of the above. A petition has been launched, this SW page has a link on it to sign it. The spirit of fucking 1926 is clearly alive and well!
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27054
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27054
krink
I'll do it this afternoon
what's this about? I've read a few stories on the web and to my tired little brain it looks like a cave-in. I work in the council and if this is the case that unison and gmb are selling out the other public service workers for the sake of some local government pension kick-back then they should be shot.
fractionMan
Custom Title
I can't believe the TUC is telling people to cave in ffs.
Any updates?
Any updates?
krink
I'll do it this afternoon
I'm a bit busy to read the stories properly but it looks like the government and TUs are going for a divide and conquer approach and it might end up that at least some of us who went on strike will still be getting the shitty deals offered in the first place. So, go on strike for fuck all. this could be very bad news for the union officials as they're going to look like right soft bastards now and the strikers are going to feel they've been played for fools.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Hopefully there'll be enough grass-roots outrage that local reps will send a "fuck off" message up the chain and/or give a "no" vote on any ballot for acceptance.
krink
I'll do it this afternoon
I really hope so, first time in ages people have been really keen to strike.
Streathamite
ideological dogmatist
nice one!
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
And for good reason. To be sold out by the government is to be expected. To be sold out by your union bigwigs who're mostly thinking of their future as an MP or in the House of Lords shouldn't be. Fuck careerist Labourite pseudo-leftists like Barber and Prentis. They're cunts in the tradition of that establishment-loving membership-ignoring walking shitlump "Lord" Morris of Cunthaven.
Fedayn
Well-Known Member
What it is, is this.....
In other words UNISON's health sector head telling her memebrs the November strike wasn't about winning anything but just making it a bit less worse.....
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
So without a mandate to do so, these miserable curs are tucking their tails between their legs and slinking away from their responsibilities to the members? What a bunch of shitcunts.
Mr.Bishie
pickled egg
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_e...ex.cfm/id/778775D3-D9D3-4354-98416A72D99B6D9F
At least someone's got some bollocks.
That's my union that is
Not good news though that they're the only ones who still seem to be holding out -- if the other unions do cave in (officially I mean) then PCS will become marginalised.
MY gf's Unison, she'll be trying to find out ASAP what's happening on the local government side of things.
Now Unison's caved, I suppose the other big ones are gonna cave in too. PCS will hold out, at least for a while. The teaching unions may still have work-to-rule or something in the upcoming year. Very disappointing, because I think that there was momentum building. It's noticable too that what little concessions they have made have been aimed at just one sector, health workers, possibly to prevent the Royal College Nursing coming out on future strikes. Classic tory divide and rule.
Of course, even if the health workers can claim to have won some minor victory, in reality the leadership of that union has done immense damage to the whole emerging anti-cuts movement. Now the other unions, the PCS, will be isolated and picked off. The prospect of forming a new political movement that could challenge neo-liberal austerity measure has been dealt a blow. We had optimism a fortnight ago, now what?
And of course, once the tories have hammered the PCS etc, what d'ya think is gonna happen to health workers pensions, and the agreement they've just been told to accept from the leadership? It'll be torn up, because the Tories don't play fair they play to win, and they'll be just as fucked as the rest of us when they actually do get to retire. Of course by then Brendan Barber and UNISON top brass will be done, happily retired with a fat fucking pension, knowing he/they took the easy option.
In such a situation I think you can argue that we need to just break the anti trade union laws and those stewards and other members should act unilaterally. If UNISON members want to strike in solidarity with the remaining unions, they should do so, and we should support them. We should also get people who recognise this fact, and who are prepared to deal with it, elected into the executives of these unions so this can actually happen and not just be chit-chat.
Of course, even if the health workers can claim to have won some minor victory, in reality the leadership of that union has done immense damage to the whole emerging anti-cuts movement. Now the other unions, the PCS, will be isolated and picked off. The prospect of forming a new political movement that could challenge neo-liberal austerity measure has been dealt a blow. We had optimism a fortnight ago, now what?
And of course, once the tories have hammered the PCS etc, what d'ya think is gonna happen to health workers pensions, and the agreement they've just been told to accept from the leadership? It'll be torn up, because the Tories don't play fair they play to win, and they'll be just as fucked as the rest of us when they actually do get to retire. Of course by then Brendan Barber and UNISON top brass will be done, happily retired with a fat fucking pension, knowing he/they took the easy option.
In such a situation I think you can argue that we need to just break the anti trade union laws and those stewards and other members should act unilaterally. If UNISON members want to strike in solidarity with the remaining unions, they should do so, and we should support them. We should also get people who recognise this fact, and who are prepared to deal with it, elected into the executives of these unions so this can actually happen and not just be chit-chat.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
I reckon that if the likes of Unison try too hard to stage-manage the dispute into a "we did the best we could" scenario, they'll either shed members like water off a duck's back, or they'll be facing walking a metaphorical plank. People are not quite as likely to fall for the old anodynes as they once were. "keep your head down and you'll be alright" has become meaningless in a lot of workplaces.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
So without a mandate to do so, these miserable curs are tucking their tails between their legs and slinking away from their responsibilities to the members? What a bunch of shitcunts.
If they are to cave then they're shits of the first water, who have in fact used members goodwill and faith in order to bolster a position they had no intention of holding- but rather a posturing 'we can get the boots if needed' move to give some legitimacy/relevance to themselves. To themselves.
If the matter is not kicked downstairs then unison have sold their members down the fucking river.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
And will deserve everything their members decide to visit on them, including kickings.
The current union boss tossers came up through the ranks during a long period of unprecedentedly low union militancy in the UK , after the 1980's defeats and the following social engineering of Thatcher/Blairism , and in a period when TU membership has fallen to a remarkably low level in many sectors - including the public sector (isn't it only about 30% or so in local government nowadays ? ) So its hardly surprising that the union bosses are mainly terrified of strike action and militancy generally - thinking of their cosy pensions and "after job" sinecure jobs in House of Lords , etc etc. Mind you , the TU bureaucracy were never great overall - even the Left spouting types of yesteryear sold out the 1926 General Strike -- JUST WHEN IT WAS STILL GROWING !
Looks like its going to have to get a LOT WORSE in the "austerity " stakes, and the growth of that old favourite - pressure from below - before the resistance fightback to the austerity rip off is going to get real; "traction". Have us Brits got the bollocks for a fight though ! Gets in the way of good stuff on the telly , and there's always the National Lottery as an individual route out..... hmmmm...
Looks like its going to have to get a LOT WORSE in the "austerity " stakes, and the growth of that old favourite - pressure from below - before the resistance fightback to the austerity rip off is going to get real; "traction". Have us Brits got the bollocks for a fight though ! Gets in the way of good stuff on the telly , and there's always the National Lottery as an individual route out..... hmmmm...
krink
I'll do it this afternoon
Thanks for the info but that is so depressing
I'm with others in being pretty depressed about this.
PCS are for now still holding out, but I'm not very confident that they'll be able to -- in near isolation! -- for all that long, and the Tories will be using every political and propaganda weapon in their book to paint the PCS (and any other more militant voices) into the 'militant and unreasonable' corner.
(there's a very real danger in some of the erm, more conservative
areas of even the PCS membership, that there'd be a significant vote against militancy in any ballot on further action -- more scope for divide and rule pressures).
Unison and the like, in caving in, will in effect be doing plenty of the Tories' work for them.
I see my former union, Prospect, a amaller CS union than PCS, are making similar caving in noises -- see Paul Noon on TV earlier today -- Prospect were always avery technocratic and strike averse, seeing themselves as an 'association of professionals' rather than a proper union.
Talking of doing plenty of the Toies work for them, the Labour leadership will doubtless be as toothless and voiceless as all along. As will various Guardian pontificators like Toynbee (who's pretty anti-union) and Martin Kettle (who's even worse), aided and abetted by 'objective' BBC bland blah.
And that's before I even start on the full on union bashing, public sector hating 'feather bedded' bollocks from the Maily Telegraph etc.
ETA I know all that sounds a bit defeatist but ...
PCS are for now still holding out, but I'm not very confident that they'll be able to -- in near isolation! -- for all that long, and the Tories will be using every political and propaganda weapon in their book to paint the PCS (and any other more militant voices) into the 'militant and unreasonable' corner.
(there's a very real danger in some of the erm, more conservative
areas of even the PCS membership, that there'd be a significant vote against militancy in any ballot on further action -- more scope for divide and rule pressures).Unison and the like, in caving in, will in effect be doing plenty of the Tories' work for them.
I see my former union, Prospect, a amaller CS union than PCS, are making similar caving in noises -- see Paul Noon on TV earlier today -- Prospect were always avery technocratic and strike averse, seeing themselves as an 'association of professionals' rather than a proper union.
Talking of doing plenty of the Toies work for them, the Labour leadership will doubtless be as toothless and voiceless as all along. As will various Guardian pontificators like Toynbee (who's pretty anti-union) and Martin Kettle (who's even worse), aided and abetted by 'objective' BBC bland blah.
And that's before I even start on the full on union bashing, public sector hating 'feather bedded' bollocks from the Maily Telegraph etc.
ETA I know all that sounds a bit defeatist but ...
It'd be wrong to call it a defeat, because we didn't really fight it, did we? Where the unison leadership planning this when they were making their members take a day off work only a few weeks ago? No, they were saying it was the beginning of a sustained campaign of action. To settle for a shitty offer only a few weeks later smells like pure cowardice to me, bottling out before the going gets tough because, ultimately, Barber and the rest of the labour aristocracy are in it for themselves.
Fedayn
Well-Known Member
Bit of good news...
http://electmartin1.blogspot.com/2011/12/nut-pensions-statement-nut-have-not.html
Update: I understand that four education unions refused to sign the deal today but are all 'reserving their position' until talks continue in the New Year - that's NASUWT, UCAC and UCU as well as the NUT.
NUT PRESS RELEASE: Teachers’ Pension Scheme - talks to continue in the New Year
Commenting on the latest round of Teachers’ Pension Scheme talks, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union said:
“Following lengthy discussions today the NUT was not able to sign up to the Government’s headline proposals. There was insufficient progress in terms of the Government’s position that teachers should work longer, pay more and get less.
In the NUT we reserved our position due to lack of progress but also the lack of documentation in certain critical areas.
“The NUT National Executive will meet in January to take a view on progress in the negotiations and next steps in our campaign.
“The Union remains committed to negotiations and will take part in talks in the New Year.
http://electmartin1.blogspot.com/2011/12/nut-pensions-statement-nut-have-not.html
Update: I understand that four education unions refused to sign the deal today but are all 'reserving their position' until talks continue in the New Year - that's NASUWT, UCAC and UCU as well as the NUT.
NUT PRESS RELEASE: Teachers’ Pension Scheme - talks to continue in the New Year
Commenting on the latest round of Teachers’ Pension Scheme talks, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union said:
“Following lengthy discussions today the NUT was not able to sign up to the Government’s headline proposals. There was insufficient progress in terms of the Government’s position that teachers should work longer, pay more and get less.
In the NUT we reserved our position due to lack of progress but also the lack of documentation in certain critical areas.
“The NUT National Executive will meet in January to take a view on progress in the negotiations and next steps in our campaign.
“The Union remains committed to negotiations and will take part in talks in the New Year.
grogwilton
Well-Known Member
Have spen the past few hours contacting every unison and union rep I know to get them to contact their union regionally and nationally to oppose this deal. at the lobby today the Unison exec said they had opposed the deal and it still needed to be agreed with them, hopefully they can stand up to their leadership. makes me fucking sick, i sacrificed a lot of time and effort, literally a lot of weeknights and my own funds to help my local tuc organise a demo on N30, what is the fucking point in me doing anything for my union and the wider movement with shit like this in charge? in my workplace we have doubled the number of reps and for what? i'm seen as the go to man for union issues, and frankly if I'm asked why unison has caved and what we gained out of going on strike all I'll be able to reply is 'unison are shit, join the GMB/Unite (presuming they haven't also caved) because the union you joined for this is shit!'
It's not over yet.
Prentis is clearly playing an utterly disgusting role. Serwotka is showing that he's got principles. The rest are vascillating inbetween to varying degrees, cos they can see how shit the deal is but they're cacking their pants about whether they could win more. So far Serwotka has stopped a general collapse, and lots of the union leaders are stressing that they aren't recommending the current deal and are playing hard to get. This buys us time to get people on stewards committees, in union branches etc mobilised to increase the pressure stopping more union leaders collapsing into Prentis's embrace. If we can keep the rot confined to UNISON, then we can still squeeze more out of the tory scum before we have to settle. NUT, NASUWT, PCS, UCU, public sector bits of UNITE is still a lot of people, and there are forces like the BMA just starting to mobilise.
Conclusion:Serwotka's bought us time, and there's a space in which we can organise - let's use it.
I'm off bloody work until 4th Jan, but if this is still live I'll be organising a workplace meeting asap when I get back.
Prentis is clearly playing an utterly disgusting role. Serwotka is showing that he's got principles. The rest are vascillating inbetween to varying degrees, cos they can see how shit the deal is but they're cacking their pants about whether they could win more. So far Serwotka has stopped a general collapse, and lots of the union leaders are stressing that they aren't recommending the current deal and are playing hard to get. This buys us time to get people on stewards committees, in union branches etc mobilised to increase the pressure stopping more union leaders collapsing into Prentis's embrace. If we can keep the rot confined to UNISON, then we can still squeeze more out of the tory scum before we have to settle. NUT, NASUWT, PCS, UCU, public sector bits of UNITE is still a lot of people, and there are forces like the BMA just starting to mobilise.
Conclusion:Serwotka's bought us time, and there's a space in which we can organise - let's use it.
I'm off bloody work until 4th Jan, but if this is still live I'll be organising a workplace meeting asap when I get back.
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