Local Govt Unite/Unison Strike 16th 17th July

[cockneyrebel]

I think you misunderstand the public sector work force. Plenty of people are still in house but the direction of the wind is changing to privatised. However even the privatised work force are still accountable to the service provider i.e public sector management and they still have very common interests with in house staff still. We need action and linkage before its all privatised and conditions etc are seriously attacked.

As for the rest of your comments - you are talking out ya backside, support could be maximised and politicised by selective action.

Are you a union hack cos you sound like you are?

Sadly a lot of councils have privatised key sections of their services which had the most clout when going out on strike. For instance the council I work in has privatised the refuse collection and many councils have done this.

The point about the sections that have been privatised is that to go on strike they would have to take secondary action in a dispute which doesn't involve them directly. Can you really see this happening at this point? I'm not saying this shouldn't be an aim but given that it's difficult enough getting in-house people on strike, secondary action isn't really on the agenda. However there were some cases of privatised workers refusing to cross picket lines.

The real danger in this dispute is that the union leadership either i) calls the whole thing off like it did with pensions and london weighting or ii) accepts an extremely small additional rise. Both would have the affect of further demoralising an already demoralised membership.

There aren't any short cuts here, the unions need to be rebuilt from a very low ebb and branches need to be built at a local level. However at this point I would say the best chance we've got in getting even a half decent pay rise is everyone going out on strike rather than selective action. For this to happen we need to really push in building things at a local level and not letting everything drift.

 

[exosculate]

The real danger in this dispute is that the union leadership either i) calls the whole thing off like it did with pensions and london weighting or ii) accepts an extremely small additional rise. Both would have the affect of further demoralising an already demoralised membership.

I think this is what will happen. My view is that the unions should pick the sections of the work force in each LA area which is considered will have the most effect locally and do week long repeated strikes.

Other public sector unions/workers should be balloting for the same days for striking too (including privatised workers where possible) as well, is that so hard for our well payed hacks to manage?

 

[cockneyrebel]

Other public sector unions/workers should be balloting for the same days for striking too (including privatised workers where possible) as well, is that so hard for our well payed hacks to manage?

Why would they want to? They are hand in hand with New Labour and it's in their interest to stop strikes, not plan better ones.

I think this is what will happen. My view is that the unions should pick the sections of the work force in each LA area which is considered will have the most effect locally and do week long repeated strikes.

I'm very sceptical about the value of selected strike action. In a lot of cases it just leaves those workers isolated and it doesn't involve most of the workforce. It was used quite a bit in the London Weighting dispute and didn't work well at all.

 

[The39thStep]

You are stupid!




You are an idiot, I do not agree with you, in my view you are wrong and the strike will fail. You have no concept of tactics whatsoever.

Only one idiot here .

Seeing as you are not involved in the dispute your thoughts are not entirely uppermost in my mind or anyone elses who is either. You were invited to discuss your view with pickets in the strike and replied that the pickets weren't representitive of the work force. Perhaps we should invite you to address a rally in Manchester or London or if that isn't representitive enough a personal letter to all union members. Either way I think that a poster who has such a grasp of tactics should be given a bigger playing field than posting on a message board when they have had enough of discussing Big Brother.

What union are you in by the way? What is your experience of strike action?

 

[The39thStep]

Employers to sit down with UNISON and UNITE to discuss this years pay claim and .........the national condiotions. Apparantly anything goes.

Unison will be looking over their shoulder on their TUC demands to New Labour.Thye won't want to be seen as jeopardising a New Labour govt in 2009.The leadership won't really want to go down a reluctant coordinated public sector trade union action and neither do the other trade unions. They will be prepared to do a deal. Employers have the teachers next into bat and will be quite happy to make a pay deal self financing if some of the national conditions can go.

 

[exosculate]

Seeing as you are not involved in the dispute your thoughts are not entirely uppermost in my mind or anyone elses who is either. You were invited to discuss your view with pickets in the strike and replied that the pickets weren't representitive of the work force. Perhaps we should invite you to address a rally in Manchester or London or if that isn't representitive enough a personal letter to all union members. Either way I think that a poster who has such a grasp of tactics should be given a bigger playing field than posting on a message board when they have had enough of discussing Big Brother.

What union are you in by the way? What is your experience of strike action?

What are you talking about? What has big brother got to do with anything? You are incapable of rational argument, make assumptions of things you know nothing about and are a rude cunt too. You must be a right illogical insulting cunt of a rep!

Prick!

 

[exosculate]

Employers to sit down with UNISON and UNITE to discuss this years pay claim and .........the national condiotions. Apparantly anything goes.

Unison will be looking over their shoulder on their TUC demands to New Labour.Thye won't want to be seen as jeopardising a New Labour govt in 2009.The leadership won't really want to go down a reluctant coordinated public sector trade union action and neither do the other trade unions. They will be prepared to do a deal. Employers have the teachers next into bat and will be quite happy to make a pay deal self financing if some of the national conditions can go.

What a success that will be then! Effective striking at its best!

 

[bristol_citizen]

There aren't any short cuts here, the unions need to be rebuilt from a very low ebb and branches need to be built at a local level.

This is from the Bristol Evening Post on the day of the strike:

Jane Taylor, branch secretary for Unite, said: “A lot of council services now go through call centres which are not heavily unionised."

About 90% of the public in Bristol now go through the council's customer call centre. that's where the work should have been done.

 

[cockneyrebel]

The same with our call centre. Although to be fair where I am the call centre is quite well unionised and had a good turn out on the strike.

 

[The39thStep]

What are you talking about? What has big brother got to do with anything? You are incapable of rational argument, make assumptions of things you know nothing about and are a rude cunt too. You must be a right illogical insulting cunt of a rep!

Prick!

Calm down sonny. Just because your 'so clever I know better ' solution has been blown out of the water there is no need to have a tantrum. I am not a rep, used to be a steward and then a conveynor and then a steward again but jacked that in some time ago.

If you think i am rude you should meet the militants!!

 

[exosculate]

Calm down sonny. Just because your 'so clever I know better ' solution has been blown out of the water there is no need to have a tantrum. I am not a rep, used to be a steward and then a conveynor and then a steward again but jacked that in some time ago.

If you think i am rude you should meet the militants!!

Do you advocate not letting union members vote if they watch big brother? Do you look down on them? Are they less than you?

Are you capable of understanding how stupid and ridiculous your personal attacks are?

I'm suspecting not by your last response

I bet you call people chavs as well?

Total buffoon you are, and clearly incapable of constructing proper argument.

Big brother = stupid. You total tool!

 

[Fullyplumped]

Well, it's been a month now.

Did you win?

 

[The39thStep]

Talks have commenced and adjourned to 22nd August

 

[Fullyplumped]

Talks have commenced and adjourned to 22nd August

Thanks. The local government unions have called a one-day strike in Scottish local authorities on Wednesday.

 

[Fullyplumped]

The Scottish LA unions are on strike tomorrow for one day. And look what the GMB is saying if, by some chance, one day's closure of home help services doesn't have COSLA quaking in its boots -

GMB official Alex McLuckie, one of the country's most experienced union negotiators, accused public sector bosses of ignoring his calls for fresh talks to try to break the deadlock. He said: "On Monday they appeared to warm to the idea but by Tuesday they went cold. They didn't come back to me which suggests they are prepared to gauge the reaction of the strike before deciding what their next move should be.

"If this row isn't resolved soon then there will be more strikes and I don't just mean 24-hour stoppages. We could be talking week-long strikes involving selected groups of workers such as grave diggers, or school janitors, cleaners and catering workers or nursery nurses.​

That McLuckie lad will go far.

 

[exosculate]

The Scottish LA unions are on strike tomorrow for one day. And look what the GMB is saying if, by some chance, one day's closure of home help services doesn't have COSLA quaking in its boots -

GMB official Alex McLuckie, one of the country's most experienced union negotiators, accused public sector bosses of ignoring his calls for fresh talks to try to break the deadlock. He said: "On Monday they appeared to warm to the idea but by Tuesday they went cold. They didn't come back to me which suggests they are prepared to gauge the reaction of the strike before deciding what their next move should be.

"If this row isn't resolved soon then there will be more strikes and I don't just mean 24-hour stoppages. We could be talking week-long strikes involving selected groups of workers such as grave diggers, or school janitors, cleaners and catering workers or nursery nurses.​

That McLuckie lad will go far.

The Scots are so much better at this sort of thing.