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At the University of East Anglia recently Rob Sewell of the Socialist Appeal gave a talk on the Miners strike in Britain 1984-5. The strike was a culmination of the inevitable build up of tension between the ruling and working class. In the post-war period the decline of British imperialism had occured. The Tories of the 1980s were a rabid reaction to that phenomenon, determined to destroy the organised labour movement by taking on its most militant section, the National Union of Miners.
For the past sixty years, Remploy has offered skilled work to
disabled workers who otherwise would, frankly, have been dumped in a
corner and forgotten about by capitalist employers. Now the
government plans to close half the 83 factories that offer their unique
contribution from Aberdare to York. Remploy currently employs about
5,000 in its factories.
Management in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are imposing a
three year pay deal on staff in their November pay-cheque. This is
because they believe that staff want money for Christmas, which is
true, but we must not be fooled into thinking short-term. The pay deal
is being hailed as a great offer by management who, in an unprecedented
move, have been putting pressure on local managers to promote the deal
and sell it to staff.
Two hundred day care workers in centres across Glasgow are now entering
the second month of an indefinite strike, after the Council refused to
negotiate pay and conditions until the workers agreed to 'modernisation
of services'. The day care centres provide support and education for
people with disabilities and learning difficulties and are crucial not
only for the clients who use them, but for their families.
Production at the
American dream factory has slowed down as workers organised in the Writers
Guild of America just completed their third week on strike. 4,000 marched in
support of the strike down the famous Hollywood Boulevard.
We are publishing
here an interesting piece on the Irish trade unions by Peter Black, an active
member of the TGWU (now fused with Amicus to form "Unite") and the Irish
Republican Socialist Party. Trade union membership is growing in Ireland, as is
the militancy of the working class and Socialist Republicans, in the tradition
of James Connolly, can play an important role in providing the militant
leadership the Irish workers deserve.
On Saturday 24th November over 2,000
trade unionists marched through Manchester demanding the reinstatement of
UNISON health service activist Karen Reissmann.
The London Fire Brigade have been trying to impose a change in the
current shift system on its fire-fighters. This has been in the
pipeline for some time and would benefit the LFB management to the
detriment of its workforce.
MANCHESTER (fighting the victimisation of Karen Reissman)
BBC staff are set to ballot for strike over plans to axe up to 2500
jobs. The mood is angry and a big 'yes' vote is likely among the 23,000
workers. The three unions involved are Bectu, Unite and the National
Union of Journalists.
Postal workers are to take industrial action this month over
a bitter row over pay and conditions. Walk-outs will take place on 5/6 October
and 8/9 October followed by a rolling programme of strikes until the dispute is
resolved.
We republish this article from Socialist Appeal April 1995 on proportionality as part of the ongoing discussion in the labour movement about reserve places as a means of overcoming discrimination. Since its original publication it has become more evident that proportionality and reserved seats have been used to undermine democracy in the trade union movement, while not resolving the issues of discrimination.
