The Tories are using public sector workers in the North of Ireland as pawns in their efforts to end the political paralysis at Stormont. But workers across the sectarian divide are refusing to be passive observers, and are moving into action.
Tata bosses have confirmed plans to cut thousands of jobs at the company’s steelworks in Port Talbot, south Wales. With the unions failing to put up a fight, workers must mobilise, organise, and occupy to protect their livelihoods and community.
The Tories are attempting to steamroller academisation in schools across the country. But education workers – such as those at Castle Wood in Coventry – are resisting this push, standing up in the interests of staff and students.
PCS members in Defra have launched a campaign for a 4-day-week with no loss of pay. This would be a significant conquest for workers to achieve, and would be an inspiration to workers everywhere. But it requires bold tactics for its success.
The unions’ responses to Tata Steel’s threatened furnace closures don’t go nearly far enough. Unite’s ‘Workers’ Plan’ is a step in the right direction. What is needed is militant action, based on the rank and file, fighting for bold demands.
PCS leadership elections are now over, with Fran Heathcote elected to General Secretary. The union’s leadership must now put serious time and effort into rebuilding its grassroots rank and file, taking radical, fighting demands to every corner of the union.
Activists across Britain have blockaded arms factories supplying the Israeli regime. Trade union leaders have failed to give a lead. To escalate the movement, workers inside the factories must be convinced to take solidarity action themselves.
Union leaders met last Saturday to discuss their response to the Tories’ latest draconian anti-strike legislation. But the TUC’s plan of action falls short of what is needed. The trade union movement must mobilise en masse to defy the bosses’ laws.
Architecture is often considered a well-to-do profession. But the industry is plagued by burnout and unpaid overtime. Architects are getting organised. The unions must fight for public ownership and workers’ control across the construction sector.
With workers on the move, the Tories are tightening anti-union restrictions and curbing the right to strike with new minimum service laws. The TUC is meeting this weekend to discuss its response. The trade unions must mobilise to defy the bosses.
Having been strung along for months by the government, junior doctors have announced a new wave of winter walkouts. This determined action must be linked to a mass campaign across the trade union movement to kick out the Tories and save our NHS.
The recent conference for young members in Unison showed the appetite that exists for organising around burning class issues. To channel this enthusiasm, a transformation is required across the union, putting grassroots activists in control.