Solidarity 060, 21 October 2004

Read on for a look at the events of October and the scabs and the law. The events 8 October: the NUM and the National Coal Board agree to meet at ACAS under an independent Chair on 11 October. 10 October: the NUM fined £200,000 and found in contempt of a High Court ruling which states the strike is unlawful because of the lack of a national ballot. 12 October: Restrictive bail conditions on striking members are upheld in the Divisional Courts. 15 October: NCB walk out of ACAS talks. 25 October: ACAS prepare a formula which both NACODS and NUM accept and which includes provision for an...

At the European Social Forum on 15–17 October, AWL members leafleted, sold papers, ran literature stalls, and sought out people interested in political discussion. Where we could, we took the floor in sessions to put our point of view. That wasn’t always possible: many of the sessions, crowded and with large platforms, took only a small proportion of those wanting to speak from the floor. We also helped with the No Sweat activities at the ESF, which included a stall at Alexandra Palace; a large seminar at the same venue; a comedy benefit with Mark Thomas and Simon Munnery for Iraqi trade...

By a civil servant On 22 October voting closes in the PCS national ballot over jobs, pensions and sick arrangements. If the vote is “yes”, then there will be a Civil Service-wide strike on 5 November (the first since 1993). The Alliance for Worker’s Liberty thinks: - PCS has mentioned pay among the “Ten Reasons” to go on strike. We think pay should be put centre-stage, alongside pensions and jobs, with a precise demand: that the Treasury set its “remit” high enough to allow pay and conditions to be levelled up across the civil service, eliminating the poverty rates in the current maze of 192...

EWS wants to introduce a new driver restructuring initiative. EWS is touting an offer of £40k + £5k in bonuses for drivers, for a 45-hour week, with drivers taking on rolling stock technicians’ duties, train preparation and other work. The train crew Company Council reps — and the drivers — have rejected this. Groundstaff know that this offer would further encroach on their work (the company has already sent new drivers on shunters’ courses). RMT votes to fight RMT members voted 54% to strike, and 75% for industrial action short of strike. The union called two weekends of strike action (9/10...

A Unison Branch Officer in Tower Hamlets, John Gray, is being disciplined for challenging a management decision to stop a day’s pay to a Unison steward. Defend the right of union reps to represent their members! More details from: 020 8983 0637.

By Nick Holden The leadership of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has conceded that Paul Woolstenholmes, the National Officer suspended in a witch-hunt against those who criticised the leadership during the pay dispute, has no case to answer, and can return to work. This is a defeat for the Gilchrist leadership. Ever since Woolstenholmes beat the sitting National Officer in an election during the dispute, the Gilchrist leadership has been running scared. It has used witch-hunts and delaying tactics to avoid being held to account by a membership increasingly angry about the collapse of the pay...

By Kate Ahrens, Unison NEC (personal capacity) On a very close vote, Unison’s special health sector conference on 7 October decided to recommend that we vote yes to Agenda for Change (AfC), the government’s proposed new pay scheme for health workers. Unison health workers are now balloting on the scheme.. But that is only half the story. The conference was denied a card vote, which would have shown how evenly split the union is over the proposals. And Amicus, the other major union also balloting this month, has not made a recommendation either way. The evidence presented by the supporters of...

On 6 October, victimised east London civil servant Charlie McDonald heard that management had dropped the main charge against him. Consequently his union, the PCS, has now suspended strike action in support of Charlie, pending further negotiations on two other minor charges. Charlie’s PCS Stratford Social Security office had voted in favour of an all-out strike to support him. The union had forced management to climb down — a victory for a strong, united union campaign.

Prisoners committing suicide and pensioners left to freeze. Locked up and forgotten In August this year 14 male prisoners — a record number — committed suicide. There were no words of horror or regret from David Blunkett. But then rising numbers of prison suicides are not news to the Home Office. It is a trend that has been going on for 10 years — the inevitable result of New Labour’s policy, following on from the Tories, to lock more people up for longer. Whatever their crimes — and, of course, violent crimes are repellent — very many prisoners are very vulnerable people. Many are mentally...