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Strike!

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The miners have been on strike in Asturias (Northern Spain) since the start of the month against the removal of subsidies for Spanish coal mining as part of the various austerity measures. This will effectively shut the remaining mining industry and lead to big job losses in an already economically weakened area.

Other pics too. And more pics.
 
RMT/OLYMPICS potential strike.

RMT is preparingto ballot its members at the company for industrial action after the companyattempted to impose extra workloads, new rosters and a ban on leave despite apromise attached to last year’s pay agreement that the Olympics would mean “minimal”extra work.

The companyhas since admitted that at least 80,000 extra passengers a day are expected topass through Waterloo, has timetabled substantial extra services and laterrunning, has leased extra rolling stock, and has begun turning down requestsfor leave during the games.
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Related news:

Benefits for striking low-paid workers to be docked

Low-paid workers will have their benefit payments stopped if they go on strike, the government has announced.
Employees eligible for working tax credits because they earn under £13,000 will no longer receive extra cash if their salary falls because they take industrial action.

Bosses will be given a code to alert the authorities if a drop in wages has been caused as a result of a walkout when all welfare payments are brought under the new universal credit system next year
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was just saying to Fed that this must mean IDS thinks there's a serious risk of some kind of long-term strike coming up, a miners' strike scenario, otherwise this would be pointless surely?
 
nah, just blatant toryism
think they'll have support against 'scroungers' and 'strikers' so why not stick the knife in wotwot!?
:(
 
weepiper said:
was just saying to Fed that this must mean IDS thinks there's a serious risk of some kind of long-term strike coming up, a miners' strike scenario, otherwise this would be pointless surely?
Click to expand...

Aye, quite possibly. Or they've got plans to relax certain working conditions which they'll claim will 'incentivise small business and promote growth' and don't want any backlash as a consequence.
 
same old bullshit
can't squeeze profits with a "living wage"
just isn't realistic!

Business groups warn Welsh government on 'living wage'
But business organisations warned Welsh ministers not to try to force them to raise wages, for example by inserting living wage clauses in government contracts.

Robert Lloyd Griffiths of the Institute of Directors said he was concerned the living wage would effectively become the new minimum wage.

"Businesses would like to take on more staff and lots of companies that I talk to would love to be in a position to be able to take on more employees," he said.

'Very difficult'
"It's very difficult out there and anything that now will hinder them from doing that, which they'd like to do, is going to cause problems.
"I'm afraid it just isn't realistic in the environment we live in."
Click to expand...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-18461213
 
weepiper said:
was just saying to Fed that this must mean IDS thinks there's a serious risk of some kind of long-term strike coming up, a miners' strike scenario, otherwise this would be pointless surely?
Click to expand...

Twin purpose - send a message to the party faithful to re-establish their anti-union credentials, and head off possible strike action. I'm sure Fed will correct me if my figure is wrong, but I'm fairly sure that more than half (it might have been as much as 70%) of DWP staff claim tax credits or Housing Benefit.
This may well be Iain Duncan Shit's way of putting a shot across the bows of the public sector unions. If so, I strongly suspect he's underestimated his opponents, but then he's never really shown much grasp of strategy.
 
Did I read correctly somewhere that Germany have more / stronger workers rights, and were growing economically more than the rest of Europe?
 
purenarcotic said:
Did I read correctly somewhere that Germany have more / stronger workers rights, and were growing economically more than the rest of Europe?
Click to expand...

Historically-better workers' rights since the immediate post-war era, fairly full implementation of the "works council" (not "workers' council"!) system whereby management and labour cooperate, much less "slippage" of rights during the current neolib era, but slow erosion is taking place, and wider social welfare rights have taken a pounding in the last decade or so, too, often carried out under cover of the need to save money post the big spunkfest of reunification in '91.
As for growth, the figures and charts speak for themselves. A shallower and narrower crisis than most other European countries, and part of it was/is to do with their national banking system being more disconnected from investments than in most other Eurozone countries, and business not relying on banks for business loans as much as on regional development bodies and on the landesbanken.
 
The branch of Unison where I was active (Kirklees) have gone back to the national executive for permission for a council wide ballot. In the last year there's been strikes in two areas against compulsory redundancies and the turn out and yes vote has been very high. If permission is granted it looks like Kirklees will be leading the fight back with what may well be the first all out in a local authority against redundancies?
 
Riklet said:
More from Asturias:

Spanish Miners' Solidarity Committee - launched by former UK miners and trades unions (.pdf statement in English)

News story about this in original Spanish and google translated into English.

Roads still blocked, all out, riot police with stun grenades and gas vs more of the guys with fireworks and metal tubes. News story (translated) with videos and stuff. Mental.
Click to expand...
Going to try and organise something around this in bristol ASAP.

What on earth have Graeme Atkinson and Mesazros (both searchlight) got to with miners though? That's 2/3 of the delegation sent out by this group.
 
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