The Unions United Will Never Be Defeated

Image by Korean Resource Center 민족학교 via Flickr

Image by MuseumWales via Flickr of striking Welsh miners.

Image via Wikipedia of Jack London's Grave.

 The recent success of the British Airways staff in forcing the airline to climb down from their union bashing stance (you will see much of that from Cameron and Clegg in the next few days) and finally negotiate a package which was acceptable to all, should be an example to those who are NOT taking part in The Day of Action on 30 November. They need to learn the lesson that unity is strength.

 As I have said before on this blog those who opt not to strike are free to do so and should never be intimidated in any way except for allowing those member on the picket line to speak to them to express their grievances and explain why they are depriving themselves of part of their salary to take part in the action. Indeed, not only are they depriving themselves of part of their income, in these hard pressed financial times, but they themselves also run the gamut of intimidation and sanctions from their employers for having taken part in a strike. Add to this the opprobrium of the press and all of the other dirty tricks  that might be taken against them for withdrawing their labour (I once had a promotion taken away from me for striking over a matter of conscience)  and nobody, except for a minority of hotheads, takes any such decision lightly. I have never to this day however come across any non striking member of a workforce who has refused to accept the benefits gained, if any,  from strike actions by their colleagues.

 As for the Liberals role in all of this, if you look to their history, they have never supported the trade union movement so Danny Alexander and Nick Clegg follow in the dishonourable traditions of their party and a former member, Winston Churchill, who is, to this day, hated in the Welsh valleys for his role in suppressing the miners during the Tonypandy Riot. Nevertheless temperatures will run high in the next few days and much anti-union hysteria will be generated.

 For those who will not be striking I will restrict myself to the term filthy blacklegs. You will notice that I have not used the term, "scab" which I have always thought to be offensive and slightly over the top demotic language. It postdates "blackleg" and it's first use in this sense is allegedly attributed to Jack London, a writer I much admire, and who turned me into a socialist at a formative age when I read his description of the poverty that existed in London in, "People of the Abyss" when the British Empire was at it's zenith in the Victorian age. I say alleged because although the passage smacks of his fine descriptive writing it has never been truly attributed to his pen - it reads, "After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and Angels weep in Heaven, and the Devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out...."

 And whilst I'm at it bollocks to Keith Richard and Mick Jagger who have made fortunes presenting themselves as rebels when they are as false as Jordan's tits and hobnob with the Tory elite and collected their gongs from HM. Which brings me neatly to the fact that in the Civil Service anyone who takes strike action is never awarded a medal. Not to worry, says I, gongs are only given to fraudsters and lackey's.

 I believe that the trade union movement have however made a tactical mistake by concentrating the Day of Action on the pensions issue. Public sector jobs are being slashed by this Thatcherite like administration  (smoothly avoiding her confrontational language but, dressed in their sheep's clothing,  they are taking decisions of a much more extreme nature than she would have ever contemplated) their pay is being frozen and like many other people their allowances and children's benefits are being slashed.

 Social engineering on a scale rarely seen in this country is being undertaken with people having to work longer and earn less for their pensions. Unemployment is on the rise again, new housebuilding for first time buyers is at a standstill and all pensioners will suffer cuts in the future because of this government's decision to base pensions on the lower Consumer Price Index figures rather than the Retail Price Index. The number of university places are being slashed, the higher education grant for the low paid has been taken away and student fees are being increased. They used to complain about Gordon Brown's stealth taxes but there is no doubt that they are secretly setting about the privatisation of our schools and of the National Health Service. A 94 year old lady that I know has just received a letter telling her that the £400 Winter Fuel Allowance that she received last year is to be slashed by 25% to £300 this year. This is not just immoral, it is wicked.

 And finally I read this excellent article on John Snow's blog about many unoccupied flats in London's most expensive block being owned by tax avoiders who run their companies from British dependencies abroad. I can't help thinking that if the tax dodgers in this country, and there are probably millions of them, such as the self employed, who do jobs for cash, and businesses who use disingenuous accounting practices were to pay their dues then none of the cuts would be necessary. One thing however that you can be sure of however is that all of the Public Sector Workers who will be striking on Wednesday pay their taxes in full.