Well if ever there is a place in England that isn’t revolutionary or willing for workers action you might think it would be Bury St Edmunds – or so you might think. Bury is a town that is typically seen as bourgeoisie and reactionary with quaint villages surrounding it which keep to themselves.

The 30th however saw something that has not entered the consciousness of the people of Bury (after discussion with locals) ever. By this of course I’m talking about the mass strike action.

As the UNISON rep for West Suffolk College I was able to draw upon my own reflections of the day and discuss with others why this was necessary. The first point I would like to make is that out of 450 staff – 180 went out on strike that is 40% of the work force.

Why would this be so high? A first thought on this would be of course what the government is going to do to public sector workers pensions. I won’t go into this but to summarize: – work more years – pay more money – get less of a pension. This of course is totally unacceptable.

 As I explained to members of the public, many workers choose the public sector not for a ‘good pension’ but to do something constructive for society. My wife a nurse isn’t particularly bothered by pensions, pay or hours of work. She has always wanted to be a nurse because she wishes to care for people and help in whatever small way she can. With this in mind then, hardworking and conscientious worker’s choose public sector as opposed to what could be better paid private sector jobs and deserve that small reward at the end of their working life for this. 

I think though that there is more to this. Speaking to other on the picket line – this was just the catalyst. What the issue for many at the college is, is the stripping of resources from the public sector, privatizing teaching and diminishing the quality of teaching. None of this can be denied I feel but again there are deeper routes at work here.

From the reaction of many of the passers by whilst on picket – the beep on the horn – the cheering out the window, friendly discussion it was generally supported (we got two pieces of abuse and shakes of heads from those, as was pointed out, in their Mercedes and Jaguars). So why then would this ‘nice area’ be so supportive?

I think that what this is becoming increasingly clear is the working population of Britain is sick and tired of the capitalist made world crisis that we are in at the moment. As Rob Sewell mentions  ‘In the Cause of Labour’ 

‘The world crises means that corporate profits are falling stagnant. The bosses are therefore demanding wage restraint and deep cuts in the ‘social wage’ in order to bring about tax cuts for the rich. Millions of workers are faced with lay off’s, wager freezes and attacks on pensions” (2003)

This sounds exactly why we received such good support in Bury. Many workers are feeling these government and company actions at the moment and the time is coming when enough will be enough.

The West Suffolk College picket line then went into Bury itself to join a hastily prepared UNISON rally (11 days to prepare). The significance of this, other than the fact that the passers by in the center wanted to read the leaflets we were handing out because of the general support, was that this was the first demo Bury had had for some years (speaking to a policeman, he mentioned that there had not been a demo in Bury in the 21 years he had worked).

Again then this highlights the support people are generally willing to give to working people in these times. I also feel that, are we coming to a time when

 ‘the proletariat seizes power and turns the means of production into state property’? ( Engels – Anti-Duhring, Moscow 1969)?

 Maybe we are, maybe this strike will be the start of something, maybe it’s the time people awaken to centuries of exploitation and take the means into there own hands, maybe it will bring realization that the state is merely a form of oppression and holds class antagonisms within. Maybe people will consider that the only way out, is if

 ‘the liberation of the oppressed class is impossible not only without a violent revolution, but also without the destruction of the apparatus of state power’  (The State and Revolution – Lenin December 1918).

These are all fair points I think that are collectively being considered at this present time and why the strike action was so well supported. Apathy, which for so long gripped the population, is finely changing into something active with change finally being thought of. Under the current system, lets face it; it’s only going to get worse for a lot more people. The economic crises won’t just sort itself out, it will take years and years before we can get out of this. Change is needed and as Marx pointed out, it’s not maybe going to happen – it will happen.

I would just like to finish by looking at Trotsky and what he wrote in ‘The Transitional Program’ – 1938

The economic prerequisite for the proletarian revolution has already in general achieved the highest point of fruition that can be reached under capitalism. Mankind’s productive forces stagnate…conjunctional crises under the conditions of the social crises of the whole capitalist system inflict ever-heavier deprivations and sufferings upon the masses. Growing unemployment, in its turn, deepens the financial crises of the state and undermines the unstable monetary systems. Democratic regimes…stagger on from one bankruptcy to another.”

Trotsky was writing this back in 1930’s – don’t you think though that this piece he gave us is either an insightful prophesy of what was to be, or, as I think a complete mastery of his understanding of contradictions in society that will lead to dialectical conflicts with the result that our current system will be overthrown and we, the workers taking on the means of production ourselves.