PCS: Left Unity loses NEC elections
PCS Communists
Although it may have come as a shock for some, the loss by Left Unity’s majority on the NEC was not that surprising, given the close vote for the general secretary in December.
While Left Unity (LU) won the presidency, an alliance of different groups hostile to LU has won control of the union’s ruling body. This is the first time in 20 years that LU has not controlled the NEC.
It looks as if most members didn’t see much of a difference between the various platforms on offer, as indicated by the 8.6% turnout and the narrowness of the results. This explains LU’s setback.
More significantly, LU has lost a lot of its base amongst the active layers of the union, as we previously highlighted.
The warning lights have been flashing for some time. LU has been on the backfoot in some quarters over the previously-agreed pay deal. It is clear the opposition groupings managed to tap into this confusion and discontent.
At the time of writing, the sectoral elections are also concluding.
This change could not have happened at a more testing time for the union. The result of a national ballot over pay is imminent. This could mean further industrial action.
The Tory government has been preparing for a confrontation, with members of the armed forces being trained as strikebreakers to replace Border Force staff in the event of a strike.
The new NEC will now take charge at a time of storm and stress for civil servants, and for the working class more generally.
The union faces bigger challenges: not only attacks from the Tories, but from a future Starmer government.
The Tories want tens of thousands of civil service job cuts. When Starmer’s Labour takes power, however, they will also be under ferocious pressure to reduce the state’s bill.
Members of PCS, as with all other unions, will need to concentrate all their efforts to resist such attacks. The building of a genuine revolutionary leadership in the trade unions has never been more urgent.
Amazon turns up the union-busting – but workers keep fighting!
Nathan, Coventry
The long-running battle for union recognition at the BHX4 Amazon warehouse in Coventry is at its last hurdle.
On 9 May, Coventry RCP members responded to an emergency call by the GMB – who have been organising the Amazon workers for the past year – for their allies to meet and plan a successful campaign to get recognition.
This comes after more than half of the workers in the warehouse have signed up, forcing the Central Arbitration Committee to allow a ballot for the recognition of GMB as these workers’ official union.
The Amazon bosses are utilising every trick in the capitalist book: from bullying and threats, to harassing workers to scan QR codes that draft and send a membership cancellation email to the GMB.
After lying that the union would not address the oppressive conditions in the warehouse, they then ‘reminded’ the workers that they have recently installed new massage chairs and a pool table!
The workers know when they are being taken for fools, however. A new layer of rank-and-file leadership in the warehouse is stepping up to counter the bosses’ lies.
The workers are waging a historic struggle for a union within Amazon – and they won’t settle for anything less.
Coventry RCP are proudly fighting alongside them as they do so, helping to build a public campaign that shouts from the rooftops: a victory for the Amazon workers is a victory for the whole working class!
ASLEF pickets show solidarity for encampments in Oxford
Hugh Nankervis, Oxford
In the midst of helping to build the local Palestine solidarity encampment, comrades in Oxford recently took the time to attend a picket of ASLEF train drivers.
The rail union members were in the middle of an overtime ban at the time, organising to hit the rail companies where it hurts.
The bosses are attempting to con the train drivers by promising much while offering nothing. It’s a case of “talks about talks”, stated workers on the picket.
There was some hope that a deal may be on the cards, allowing the government to concentrate on other battles in the wake of the recent local elections, which further loosened the Tories’ political grip.
Workers actively asked about the encampment protest, with one outright saying that “the USA are the bullies”.
When we asked if the ASLEF train drivers would like to send a message of solidarity to the encampment, they agreed unanimously on the spot!
By uniting with their natural allies, on a programme of taking democratic control of universities and workplaces into their own hands, students and workers can ensure the success of their struggles.
Greenwich library strikes: Organise to break the deadlock
Pat MacDonald, Unite Greenwich libraries branch (personal capacity)
Greenwich and Bromley library workers went out for a second one-day strike on 30 April. Unfortunately, the only way to describe it is as an absolute shambles.
In the lead up to the strike, nobody at work – including the shop stewards – seemed to know what our plans were.
After having to hunt down the information myself, it turned out that our plan was to hold a stunt…outside Islington Central Library, where one of the partner organisations of the employers, Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), is based.
Since the victory of the Bromley librarians in 2019-20, it’s been said that this past strike was ultimately won because of Unite’s name-and-shame publicity campaign. Apparently GLL even admitted this themselves, off the record.
But while no one doubts the effect this had at the time, it is a big error to think that this tactic can simply replace picket lines.
Bromley librarians won their previous dispute because they combined pressure tactics with solid, well-attended pickets, thanks to a history of on-the-ground organising. None of this is currently present in Greenwich.
The result was that, on the day, only two librarians turned up outside Islington. Bemused members of the public quite fairly assumed that Islington librarians were the ones on strike!
Unite now plans to re-ballot the members for strike action. The strike has made some important gains, like forcing the cancellation of the punitive sick-pay policy. But there is no sense of direction amongst library workers.
Given this, workers may decide to simply quit ‘while they’re ahead’, rather than going for the full list of demands. Union members need to be properly involved in the running of this strike.
We need to hold shop-floor meetings to discuss tactics and bring out the political dimensions of the dispute – in particular, the need for a fighting socialist programme.
With rumoured council cuts coming up, this may be a dress rehearsal for a much bigger battle. We can’t afford another round of photo opportunities with smiling union officials. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but a picket beats both!
