06.07.1995

Labour attacks workers

SHEFFIELD’S Labour council - part of the erstwhile Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire - is trying to up the rate of exploitation on the working class by abolishing overtime for Saturday work in the libraries. In the best traditions of divide and rule only one sector of workers has so far been targeted, but a further £4.5 million of cuts need to be made to satisfy government spending limits. When these measures were discussed on Wednesday, 800 council staff came out on strike to protest at council plans to slash services across the board.

Unison shop steward Nick James said of the Labour Party: “Nothing surprises me. What we see here is the taste of things to come when Tony Blair gets into government.”

An all-out indefinite strike has been resolutely pursued by 350 library staff for over three weeks. The strikers were especially heartened by Wednesday’s action when sports staff from the GMB union joined the demonstration prior to the outcome of their own ballot on strike action. Local members are annoyed that the GMB seems to be avoiding action by entering an eight week conciliation period.

Local activists are in day to day control of the strike, but the action also reflects the present weaknesses of the trade union movement. These are: fear of the anti-trade union laws, the number of unions organising in a single industry and the fact that, even though both union bureaucrats and activists are aware that our class is being attacked right across the board, only a fraction of the membership is mobilised at any one time.

The dispute also serves to warn all workers which side Labour is on.

Phil Kent