Solidarity 585, 17 March 2021

The excellent It’s A Sin , brilliantly reviewed in Solidarity 580 here , has propelled queer pop star Olly Alexander — Ritchie — into greater fame. The deeply moving 2017 documentary Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay (directed by Vicki Cooper, available on BBC iPlayer ) has got greater coverage. The documentary looks into the experiences — mental health difficulties, and bullying — of young gay people today, growing up three or four decades after the people of It’s A Sin . The contrast between Olly and Richie is perhaps starker even than the unimaginably different contexts. Where Richie was...

BT Openreach engineers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) struck again on 3-5 March, with further strikes planned on 18-20 and 22-25 March. And on 11 March, the CWU announced it would move to a wider formal industrial-action ballot in "every part of BT, Openreach and EE where the CWU is recognised for collective bargaining purposes". CWU members in that wider area have already voted overwhelmingly for action in an indicative ballot. The Openreach strikes, which involve a workforce of 170 Repayments Project Engineers (RPEs), working to move or protect BT cabling during construction works...

In October 2020, Gavin Williamson wrote to all university vice-chancellors “requesting” they adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, and insisting on action before Christmas… or else. In February the government announced plans to appoint a “free speech champion” whose job will be to ensure freedom of speech and expression is not stifled at UK universities. The role is embedded in the Office for Students (OFS), which would have the power to impose fines on institutions if the OFS find they have suppressed free speech. New legislation...

A well-attended online organising meeting on 9 March discussed Tracy McGuire’s victimisation by Rydal Academy, Darlington, and since then there have been three days of strikes by NEU [National Education Union] members at Shrewsbury College in defence of NEU rep John Boken . Their strike action is to run for three days every week, over three weeks. The online meeting, hosted by Darlington Trades Council, heard from local and national trade unionists and Labour Party members about the current victimisation cases, and how they can be seen in the wider context of some school bosses clamping down...

Private hire drivers working for multiple apps, including Bolt and Uber, struck on 3 March to demand improved safety provision, after Bolt driver Gabriel Bringye was stabbed to death while working on 17 February. Nader Awaad, chair of the Independent Workers' union of Great Britain (IWGB)'s United Private Hire Drivers branch, which supported the strike, said “Most of my colleagues have been assaulted at work so Gabriel’s death is not only tragic but alarming. That’s why we’re calling not only for practical health and safety measures but also culture change. “Passengers don’t expect to be held...

As of 10 March 2021, and until 17 April, GMB branches can nominate candidates to stand for election as the union’s General Secretary. To get onto the ballot paper, candidates need to obtain at least 30 branch nominations from at least two GMB Regions. Voting will be between 12 May and 2 June. The election was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent Tim Roache last year, following allegations of sexual harassment. A subsequent investigation, the Monaghan Report https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2020-09-09/gmb-democracy-vs-regional-secretaries, found that the GMB was rotten to the core...

British Gas engineers will fight on in their battle to resist attacks on their terms and conditions, after voting by an overwhelming majority to reject the employer’s latest offer. Workers voted by a margin of 4-1 to reject the deal, with the largest section of the workforce, Service and Repair engineers, rejecting by a 79% majority on an 88% turnout. Strikes continued from 5-8 March. 8 March was the 30th strike day in the dispute so far. Strikes from Friday-Monday are planned through the rest of the month. British Gas wants to impose new contracts via “fire and rehire”, effectively dismissing...

Bus drivers in London struck again on 5-6 March, with further strikes planned on 10, 17, 24, and 31 March. Over 2,000 drivers at three bus companies – London United, London Sovereign, and Quality Line – are involved in the strikes. All three companies are subsidiaries of the French company RATP. Drivers will strike again on 17, 24, and 31 March. All three disputes centre around pay. Quality Line drivers are among the lowest paid drivers in London, earning £2.50 per hour less than drivers at other RATP subsidiaries. They have been offered an increase of 7p per hour. London Sovereign drivers are...

Work is depressingly slow. The fewer jobs there are, the more lethargic we become. L keeps suggesting: “We’ll do that tomorrow — spread it out. Our problem today was that we started too early, that’s why the morning’s dragging.” A trip to the control room turns into a drink in the control room, then long discussions that become increasingly awful to listen to. I offer to make a round of drinks and A says says to N — “It’s International Women’s Day, you should offer to make drinks.” N doesn’t offer. Instead everyone goes silent and looks at me, as if they expect me to make a speech. I feel...

Following the new issue of Women’s Fightback , it’s back to 1929 and a rare film about the 1871 Commune: The New Babylon by Soviet directors Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg with music by Dimitri Shostakovich. The title derives from the fictitious department store frequented by the Parisian bourgeoisie where Louise (Yelena Kuzmina) is a shop assistant. The Franco-Prussian war ends disastrously for France, while the workers of Paris starve to death. They take control of the city and establish the Commune with Louise joining their ranks. She befriends a soldier, Jean (Pyotr Sobolevsky) but...