26.10.1995

Merseyside fights backs

Liverpool aflame

THE STRIKES on Merseyside are beginning to attract national attention. Liverpool Labour Group, which only obtained an overall majority following a council by-election three weeks ago, is now keen to achieve a settlement.

The Merseyside Image Campaign produced an advert playing on the irony that Liverpool was famous for its strikers. This was hurriedly withdrawn, but points to the pressure the strikers are applying to the Merseyside business community.

The business and finance section of the Liverpool Daily Post noted a wider question: “None of these disputes touch on the issue which is most likely to lead to strikes in the near future - the pent up demand for wage rises.” Capital fears the Merseyside strike wave is a portent of worse to come. Communists can only hope they are right.

Dockers

Three hundred and fifty striking dockers paralysed Liverpool on Saturday when they and 500 supporters marched through the city centre.

In a cynical move Merseyside Docks and Harbour Board had offered £10,000 to each and every docker if they would walk away from their jobs. The sacked dockers unanimously rejected the offer.

On Monday morning at 5.30am the dockers began a series of mass pickets to prevent the use of recently recruited scab labour. The port is still turning away the profitable container trade and looks unlikely to be able to restore a full service while the dispute lasts.

The MDHB wants to recruit experienced dockers back to do their old jobs and has contracted Drake Port Distribution Services, a London based firm, to hire a new workforce. The employers have indicated sacked dockers could have up to 150 of the new jobs, but would lose pension rights because of the sackings. The £3.5million on offer is a trivial amount to compensate for this loss.

The dock dispute is a characteristically defensive dispute with workers trying to protect themselves against an aggressive employer. A victory can be won, but it will need mass picketing and a return to the practice of solidarity by other workers.

Residential social workers

Residential social workers look set to end their long-running dispute with Liverpool city council. Management attacks on national conditions, involving sleep-in and weekend working payments for those on sick leave or training, have been dropped. But many local issues remain, including the sacking of staff from one of the residential homes and the employment of agency staff.

Aldan Pollitt of Unison has claimed this as a victory, saying, “We have stopped the process of casualisation and pay cuts and we have protected the service.” However the council still plans to set up an in-house pool of agency staff - in other words, employ casual labour. While workers feel bound by the return to work plan, they feel pressurised into accepting the deal by Unison. They claim the union restricted payments to them and made it plain that funds were not open-ended.

There are still outstanding problems, but both sides expect a return to work by October 31.

Firefighters return to 24-hour strikes

In a dramatic move Merseyside Fire Brigade Union called off a series of 24-hour strikes one hour before they began.

The return to work mirrored almost exactly the ploy used three weeks ago by the fire authority after the last strike ballot.

Peter Dowd, the Labour chair of the authority, made plain the contemptuous attitude he had to resolving the dispute: “I think after this suspension of the stoppage it will be difficult for the FBU to go back on strike. I don’t think the people of Merseyside will accept it” (Liverpool Echo October 21). The FBU has issued a new series of strike dates following the rapid breakdown of talks.

The FBU accepted ‘unconditional’ talks following the withdrawal of the threat to 20 jobs and the reduction of three days’ annual leave. The move was felt necessary to test the genuineness of the employers’ offer. Many FBU members and officials at all levels were sceptical and the Merseyside brigade committee refused to “endorse” the suspension of strikes, insisting on the replacement word, “confirm”.

The Labour fire authority is clearly prepared to put more lives at risk to get its own way. In a leaked memo the home office has clearly indicated that it cannot cope with 24-hour strikes.

The talks broke down when it became clear that the employers had nothing new to offer. FBU members have set clear conditions for a settlement: no arbitration, no loss of jobs, no loss of three days’ leave, no cuts in aerial appliances or Bank Holiday leave. Strikes will resume on November 1 and the FBU is confident of the members’ support.

The determination and discipline of the firefighters and control room workers is impressive, but they remain insular. Few attend the demonstrations of other unions, and little active involvement is encouraged from other brigades. Firefighters need to rekindle the sort of unofficial national and inter-union contacts that were so useful in 1977. As the strikes continue, collections to support the strikers become more important.

Chris Jones
Ex-chair of Merseyside FBU