25.07.1996

Labour attack on strikers

Workers’ organisation needed to halt Labour-Tory offensive

Strikers in all sectors have faced a barrage of attacks by Labour and Tory politicians alike. Nevertheless London underground and postal workers have so far refused to be intimidated by these threats.

Public sector workers are at the butt of the politicians’ attacks. The bosses are desperate to make workers pay for their profits in an attempt to drag themselves out of capitalist decline. Undeterred, fire workers in Derbyshire have announced another four strikes in protest at cuts. Benefits Agency workers in the civil service union, CPSA, have voted 5,449 to 4,434 for action to demand the reintroduction of security screens with the implementation of the Jobseekers Allowance.

This new attack on unemployed workers has caused much anger throughout the Employment Agency, as benefit staff are forced to harass and snoop on anyone seeking benefit. Employment Agency staff up and down the country have already organised themselves against the JSA, taking strike action throughout the year against it and the new conditions of work being imposed, including performance-related pay.

The sneaking attempt by the Tories to privatise Royal Mail is as unpopular as it is unworkable. But this has never stopped privatisation in the past, especially when the smashing of unions and workers’ opposition is involved.

But for workers the whispering behind Labour Party closed doors probably represents the greatest threat. After using David Blunkett, spokesperson for education, as the fall guy, Blair tried to ride the big business and workers’ horse at the same time. To little effect. He refused to answer questions on the tube strike or condemn it in the Commons, nor has he given support to the strikers. Labour is clearly no friend of the workers. Blair’s office later echoed Blunkett’s call for an end to the strike.

Where Labour is concerned workers have come to realise that its worst threats just might come true. While many are keen to get the Tories out at the next general election, Labour is offering little to look forward to. This casts a dark shadow over the latest mumblings over compulsory binding arbitration in the public sector, which would effectively outlaw strikes. Labour did a rescue job late this week to try and close the doors on such mumblings, but workers need to be prepared for the worst.

The tube workers have not given in to such threats and the one-day strikes have been solid, bringing the capital to a near halt. More strike days are planned up until September.

It is vital that workers do not give way. Despite the defensive attitude of the RMT underground union’s assistant general secretary, Bob Crowe, these strikes are about much more than a 35-hour week. Bob Crowe may tell us: “It is not a political dispute. Any interference by the government for political reasons will be counterproductive and unhelpful, and that goes for intervention by an opposition party. Arbitration is not a real substitute for negotiations” (The Independent July 19). However, the problem for Bob is that Labour and the Tories are making it into a political strike.

Bob Crowe is also on the executive of the Socialist Labour Party, which is well placed to raise this struggle onto the political terrain. We can only hope that his anxiousness to avoid politics is an attack on Labour and the Tories rather than a strategy for the SLP.

John Prescott, who is sponsored by the RMT, early last week was reported as having to be “scraped off the wall” on hearing of Labour’s call for an end to the strike and binding arbitration. However he was quick to deny this.

The SLP was formed by militants in the class precisely because the Labour Party lacked any socialist or even working class agenda. Our class needs political organisation not just to win this strike, but to win hegemony over the whole of society. This is the task of all revolutionaries. Only in this way can the Labour-Tory offensive be halted.

Helen Ellis