In the next few days we will know the result of the Unite ballot for strike action at balfour Beatty.  It is essential we get a positive result there as Balfour Beatty was the one company (out of the seven in the JIB agreement) who brought forward their threat to cut the terms and conditions of hundreds of construction workers from March to December.

Balfour Beatty issued 90-day redundancy notices to its workforce, demanding that they be reemployed on new contracts with worse pay, in fact, with wage cuts of 35% plus de-skilling. Rather than the skilled rate of £16 an hour for sparks, they will be seeking to impose £10.50 an hour, a massive cut in pay. Workers were being asked to sign these new contracts with a gun to their heads by 7th December. If they did not sign, they would be sacked. The union correctly told the 1,700 workers involved not to sign the contracts.

UNITE leaders agreed to a strike ballot of Balfour Beatty workers after a groundswell of pressure from below. UNITE members have attempted to leaflet different Balfour Beatty sites in order to counter the propaganda put out by management that there would be no real changes to those “on the cards” and that the union was exaggerating. This campaign by the employers was nothing more than a deliberate attempt to cause confusion during the ballot.

Already rank and file committees have been established in different parts of the country as part of the fight back and to ensure greater involvement. Weekly protests, involving members and supporters, have been staged to bring home the message and prepare for the shutdown.

A successful ballot result would mean a national official strike and day of action across the Balfour Beatty sites on 7th December. The intention is to close down all sites with well-established pickets, appealing to all non-union workers not to cross and to join the protest. A successful action will build the confidence of the workers and lay the ground for spreading the dispute.

Rank and file committees have done a great job in coordinating workers in different parts of the country and on different sites. These committees have not been set up in opposition to the official unions, but to help link, where possible, unofficial action with official action. They are an effective means of keeping up the pressure and making the most of the situation. They are not about breakaways and stupid adventures. The rank and file committees must go hand in hand with the official union structures, as has been the case, to ensure that sufficient pressure is applied at the right time. We welcome the announcement of Len McCluskey, the general secretary of UNITE, who has publicly supported the national rank and file committee when he addressed workers at the Shard protest in London and pledged the maximum support in the face of a brutal employers’ offensive against our members and fellow workers.
If the action is successful at Balfour Beatty, then the other construction companies will think twice about going down this road of massive cuts to pay and conditions.
It is time we made a stand. We must stand up to the bullies at Balfour Beatty and the rest of the construction companies. Whatever happens in the ballot, we must take this struggle forward. Forward to victory