On the Royal Mail picket line in Halifax - Big Issue North magazine

Not since the 1980s has there been such a strike wave as over the last few months. Back then industrial action by, amongst others, steelworkers, miners, printers and dockers was unsuccessful and failed to prevent a massive loss of jobs and the ongoing destruction of key industries.

Trade union membership, which had risen to 13 million in the 1970s on the back of successful strikes that included the miners’, whose action in 1974 brought down the Ted Heath government, and building workers’, whose strike in 1972 won the largest single rise ever in their industry collapsed in many sectors of the economy. It is today around 6.5 million. This is under a quarter of the workforce and most of these members work in the public sector, where only at the start of the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government (2010-15) did any significant strike action take place when over 2 million withdrew their labour in an unsuccessful attempt to protect their pensions.

Despite many years of austerity since 2008 onwards plus the growth of the Labour Party left under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership between 2015 and 2019 the number of strikes, which, with very few exceptions in the UK are the result of trade union activity, remained low. Where trade unions are recognised in the private sector they have sought to partner with management to maintain profits in order to secure pay rises and retain jobs.

All of which means most workers have never contemplated, never mind taken strike action. This has changed dramatically as trade unionists, desperate to avoid being plunged into poverty as a result of a rapid rise in the cost of living in everyday basic necessities and facing stark rises in energy bills, across significant sections of the economy are being pushed to reveal their economic strength by withdrawing their labour.

There is ongoing action by RMT - and other rail unions - and CWU members at the Royal Mail, which made a £726mliion profit during the pandemic last year when online deliveries soared, over pay and job security. Dockworkers at Felixstowe, where profits of £61 million were recorded in 2020 and which has been strike free since 1989, walked out in a pay battle in August for eight days. Edinburgh bin workers took action during the annual festival in Scotland’s capital city. Reach PLC, which publishes the Daily Mirror and Express, took action in a dispute over pay.

There have been numerous actions on the buses and UNITE, Britain’s biggest union in the private sector, where many companies have recorded record profits, is supporting under Sharon Graham’s leadership, dozens of strikes by their members. Strikers have been winning pay rises close and, in some cases, exceeding the rate of inflation. The Community union was also successful in defending the terms and conditions of workers at Clarks Shoes last year in a battle over fire and rehire.

The actions by the already organised, which in the case of the rail unions has paralysed the network and London Underground, has inspired non-union members such as at Amazon in the private sector to revolt. Their actions are being facilitated because following Brexit there has been the return of millions of migrant workers to their home countries and this means employers are operating in a tight labour market. Obtaining strike breakers will not be easy. Attempts to break the RMT strike using agency workers have been unsuccessful.

With the RMT’s Mick Lynch also proving to be a fine advocate for trade unions then this year has seen membership increasing considerably as workers seek to defend themselves at work.

With a  government that is also in disarray due to Boris Johnson being forced to resign as Prime Minister then further strikes involving more workers than ever in a very long time thus seem certain.  

Speaking to strikers – the vast majority of whom wished to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation - from the RMT, CWU and the University College Union (UCU) that represents 120,000 academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and academic-related staff across further and higher education and where staff took 10 days of action throughout February and March then it is apparent that none want to be on strike. This is because sacrifices are needed, it takes time to win support for strike action across the workforce, there are legal restrictions that must be adhered to, gaining public support is not assured, organising effective picketing is hard work and that underpinning everything is the fear that the action may be unsuccessful and leave strikers in a weaker position on their return to work.

Claire Lord has been a postal worker for 21 years and is an elected CWU workplace representative in Halifax.  She has previously taken strike action 13 years ago over job security and working conditions and which ended with a compromise deal with the Royal Mail, then publicly owned.

“The process of going on strike is a very long one. There are no union barons instructing workers what to do. Our leaders are elected and to obtain support for strike action then members are consulted first and then balloted, for which there are strike procedures”.

Back in 2017, CWU members, 89.1% of whom voted for a strike, were stopped from taking action when the High Court ruled the union did not properly follow the dispute resolution procedures.

Royal Mail legal action also prevented Christmas strikes in 2019.

In July 2022, 115,000 CWU postal workers voted by 97.6%, on a 77% turnout, to take action until they receive a “dignified, proper pay rise”. This followed extensive negotiations between Royal Mail, privatised in 2013, and the union.

Four days of walkouts (by the time this article comes out -ed )  have taken place by CWU members including in Halifax by Terry (not his real name) who fears this may not prove enough to force his employer to make an agreement. “The two sides are a long way from what they both want. The company has imposed a 2% pay deal on us and with inflation at 12% that would mean a massive drop in living standards. Royal Mail also want to massively change our working conditions such, as for example, moving everyone on to statutory sick pay and getting people to work on Sundays”. The CWU wants a no-strings pay increase.

Carol, not her real name, has been taking strike action for the first time. “It is hard to persuade people to walk out because they lose money. I believe it is the only logical action as everyone’s bills are rising quickly. The normal jolly working atmosphere has gone due to the pressure on household budgets especially those with families. There is also anger that despite having worked during the pandemic, when we not only delivered letters but were the only friendly face that many single, elderly people saw for many weeks, we appear to be of no value to the employer, who have enormously increased senior executives pay and handed out massive dividends to shareholders”.

Carol said she had been buoyed by her customers "support for our strikes and which I think is mirrored amongst the public in general due to their own current hardships”.

This was a point also made by Gary, not his real name, a RMT member working as a guard at Huddersfield. “Working class people are being eviscerated by this government, which in our case can, because it provides vast public subsidies that franchise operators rely on, step in to end the rail disputes by agreeing a decent pay deal that protects jobs, working conditions and the rail network. Many members of the public see us as fighting for them and other less organised union members are looking at us as figureheads in their battles over pay”.

Tom, not his real name, like Gary was amongst the guards who took successful strike action in 2018-19 to prevent Northern rail abolishing their posts. “We stuck together and won. Now, Network Rail and the operating companies, which are handing out dividends to shareholders, can afford to make us a decent pay offer. They must as bills are rocketing. It may take a while as the companies know that the longer it goes on the greater the pressure is as bills such as mortgage payment must still be paid”. The RMT has set up a hardship to help those struggling the most but everyone taking strike action will, like CWU members, be losing some pay and trade union members in other industries have been asked to make donations to help out.

“The support of other trade unionists has been fantastic,” said Lord “and we have been delighted that a number have shown solidarity on our picket lines, which are designed to persuade possible waverers not to go into work, bring strikers together and show that we are serious about our intentions to the public and who we will answer any questions from and explain our actions.” Lord reported that one member of the public who approached her did not know the Royal Mail was no longer publicly owned,

She was buoyed by the fact that just one person out of over 185 staff, 95% + of whom are CWU members, had crossed the CWU picket line in Halifax, a place not traditionally known for its militancy in the first two days of strike action.

Workers who cross picket lines – a protest outside of the workplace by workers on strike – weaken strike action. In a case where more workers cross the line than take action and normal working is resumed then defeat for the remaining strikers is almost certain.

Susan, a UCU member from Sheffield, has been a lecturer for a decade. She has been forced to accept short term contracts. Despite her precarious working conditions, she participated in strikes in the spring over pay, pensions and conditions. She did not though attend the picket line. “I had previously taken action in 2020 and it demoralised me to see many colleagues not joining in. I also did not want to try and stop my managers going into work”.

According to the UCU, 46% of universities and 60% of colleges use zero hours contracts to deliver teaching and 68% of research staff in higher education are on fixed term contracts, with many more dependent on short-term funding for continued employment.

Richard, an administrator, was a UCU steward for many years. When he sees colleagues cross the picket line “it is quite demoralising and personally difficult to rationalise especially when back at work you must always be civil.  I suspect when I end working here I won’t remain in contact with those who’ve been strike breakers”.

What has though always lifted Richard’s spirits on picket lines is the arrival of trade unionists from other workplaces. “There have been RMT and CWU members who have come along with their banners, cups of tea and cakes. We have taken strike action over the last few years because our pay has been cut by about a fifth since 2007, when we last got a decent rise, and the employers are attacking our pensions. My job is fairly secure but many UCU teaching members have been pushed into precarious positions.”

Richard confidently expects to be amongst university staff who will join the current wave of industrial action sweeping across the country as the UCU is balloting staff in the ongoing disputes over pensions and pay & conditions. If the union obtains the support of a majority of its Higher Education members on an overall turnout of 50%+ then strikes will follow in November, along with further ballots for industrial action in spring 2023.  

“Hopefully, those on strike currently will have won their disputes by the time we may take action. If not let’s hope there can be simultaneous actions,” said Richard, who like many trade unionists will be watching the TUC Conference (10-14 September)  this month when delegates there will discuss trying to co-ordinate strike action to maximise the numbers out on specific days.

 

 

 

Leaflet given out on Liverpool Dockers picket line on 28 September 2022

 

Trade union appeal to assist flood affected communities in Pakistan

 

Calderdale Trades Council is appealing to local trade union branches and members to join them in donating to relief efforts by trade unionists to flood affected communities in Pakistan.

This follows the decision by Calderdale TC to donate £100 to the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) fund that, as a global union, is supporting the efforts of the Pakistan Construction Federation (PCF) and the Bhatta Workers Federation (BWF) in Pakistan. A further donation of £100 had also been received from an active retired trade unionist from Mytholmroyd.

 Since June 2022, close to 33 million Pakistanis have been affected by incessant rains and flooding across the country, with at least 1,136 people reportedly killed. A third of the country has been affected causing irreparable damage and displacement. Areas severely affected include Southwestern Baluchistan, Southern Sindh and parts of North Western of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Punjab province.

Pakistan’s Climate Minister described the crisis a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions,” with its effects expected to be felt for years to come. The Pakistani government estimated that the floods’ devastation amounted to about USD 10 billion, which it expects to contribute negatively to the country’s current economic crisis. 

 https://www.bwint.org/es_ES/cms/pakistan-bwi-extends-humanitarian-assistance-to-flood-affected-workers-communities-2710

 BWI is the International Federation of Trade Unions which brings together free and democratic trade unions with members in the construction, timber building materials, forestry and related sectors.

In total, BWI has 351 trade unions representing around 12 million members in 127 countries. The headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. It has Regional Offices and Project Offices in Panama and Malaysia, South Africa, India, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Kenya, Thailand, Russia, Peru and Brazil.

The mission of BWI is to promote the development of trade unions in the construction and timber industries in the world, to promote and strengthen workers' rights in the context of sustainable development.

BWI works closely with the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (FETCM), the Nordic Federation of Building and Wood Workers (FNTCM), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the World Trade Union Federations (WFTU).

Our International has a special consultative status in the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations and is committed to international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), international employers' organizations, such as the Confederation of International Contractors' Associations (CICA) and regional and international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Our president is Per Olof Sjöo of GS in Sweden. The deputy presidents are: Dietmar Schäfers of IG Bau Germany, Gail Cartmail of UNITE UK and Dave Noonan of CFMEU Australia. Our Secretary General is Ambet Yuson of the Philippines.

The next BWI congress will take place in Madrid in October 2022.

RACISM IN THE NHS DOCUMENTED

 New film highlights the problem in the North 

Black NHS director backs up claims 

 Like everyone, Gemma Newbold, who is mixed race, was keen to make a good impression on her first day in a new job as a community nurse in the Peak District. When somebody asked about her family, she spoke about her brother only to be left stunned when a manager asked if he had a big penis. 

This highly racialised phrase is used today as evidence of black men’s hyper-sexuality and aggression. Abuse and discrimination “When I was asked about my young son, I showed them his photo,” said Newbold. “He is much lighter skinned than me. They said it was good he did not resemble me as he would have better opportunities as he got older. “I wanted to make a good impression but I also needed 

Like everyone, Gemma Newbold, who is mixed race, was keen to make a good impression on her first day in a new job as a community nurse in the Peak District. When somebody asked about her family, she spoke about her brother only to be left stunned when a manager to set some boundaries. I could not do so. All afternoon I felt uncomfortable.” 

 Such levels of racism are not uncommon across the NHS and they have been highlighted in an hour-long documentary, Exposed – Nursing Narratives. The catalyst for the production was the large numbers of deaths arising from Covid among Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff. However, the 19 nurses, care workers and midwives who appear in the film, many with decades of caring for people, reveal a catalogue of abuse and discrimination dating back years. 

Newbold, now an immunisation nurse, was courageous enough to be interviewed. On screen she says that when she said how tired she was as she had more patients to look after than another white nurse, the response was that it beat being a slave and she should consider herself lucky as there had been 13 other applicants for her post. 

 When she defended herself saying “I think that’s because I worked really hard and had the knowledge and skills,” she was told she got the job to tick a box because of her ethnicity. Newbold realised her ambition to be a nurse when she qualified in 2009 and became a community nurse working around Buxton. She had already experienced racism. 

During her work experience in Manchester, she was left frustrated “because white students would be allowed to see more and get more important things to do. I was told ‘you are not ready for that’. I was enthusiastic but I was treated more like a health care assistant.” 

 The upland areas of England have few BAME residents. As a community nurse, Newbold would often need to show shocked home patients her badge to prove she had come to check their blood pressure or administer injections, despite wearing her uniform. Overlooked for promotion “I would say ‘Is there a problem?’ and people would reply ‘I did not realise you were coloured’ and ‘Sorry, I did not mean anything, I am just older.’” 

 Some of her white work colleagues expressed more extreme attitudes. “Some were obsessed that I was the only black person in my village and they’d say this to patients. One nurse would introduce me as such. To fit in you pretend to go along with it.” 

 Newbold’s experiences of racism led to her suffering mental health problems. She started to worry she was going to be a burden on her son’s life because of her race. She dreaded the start of each new school year for fear that she might come into contact with the parents of new pupils. After many years of unsuccessfully trying to cope, she was signed off sick from work for 18 months. 

Now she has been able to return to work but said: “I have still not got over some of my fears.” She does though enjoy working as an immunisation nurse in schools. “Children don’t judge you by your skin colour and many of those I meet are themselves BAME,” she said. “But I am aware, because they say so, that some white colleagues find it uncomfortable visiting schools where most pupils are BAME.” 

Newbold is a member of the Royal College of Nursing, whose North West regional director is Estaphanie Dunn, a Black nurse who has worked across the country since leaving school in the 1970s, as a midwife, health visitor and in senior management. She said she was “blessed” as she got to where she wanted to be professionally but in her RCN role she knows that is not the case for most BAME nursing staff. “I have sought to tackle many of the issues that feature in Exposed, including how BAME staff are often overlooked for promotion for years and even witness staff they have trained being promoted over them.” 

Speaking out In the film, Roseline, 19 years in health care, reveals how during the pandemic some accident and emergency departments adopted red and green zones, with the former being more dangerous to work in. “African nurses were placed in red zones. I call that apartheid,” said filmmaker Ken Fero of Migrant Media, a collective of filmmakers, who collaborated with Sheffield Hallam University to produce Exposed, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. 

 Fero said he was frustrated that mainstream television broadcasters refuse to show the film. Dunn said: “Every time I saw a photograph of a nursing staff member who had died because of Covid they were Black or brown or a migrant worker. This naturally concerned members of these groups – and others –who felt they were being deployed in higher risk areas, were not being given proper personal protective equipment and were refused proper risk assessments. I received many members’ complaints.” 

 In 2020 a British Medical Association survey revealed that although 21 per cent of all staff are BAME, 63 per cent of healthcare workers who had died were BAME. The government will not release current data.

 “Those in Exposed are starting a petition to force them to do so,” said Fero, adding that it could be dangerous for nurses to speak out about mistreatment at work. “We saw nurses being supported, people clapped for them, but look how all of them, not just black nurses, have been treated. They can’t meet the cost of living increases.” 

 Newbold said: “Appearing in Exposed took me on a journey that, combined with Black Lives Matter campaigning around the death of George Floyd, has led to me learning about Black history. It helped me make contact with many amazing people in nursing and health care. “I took an opportunity denied to our ancestors to try and improve things for those following us into nursing. Maybe others will now speak up.” 

 When the film premiered in London invitations were posted across the South East to all chief nurses, who have the power to change workplace practices. None turned up. Colleagues of Newbold, who has welcomed correspondence from a senior member of her trust urging her to continue speaking up, have not watched the film. 

 Dunn said: “I have sought to highlight for many years the issues featured in Exposed. I try and get into spaces where I can make a difference, raise what I have witnessed and stand up for people who have had the worst of racism. Anyone needing help to tackle racism should make contact.” 

 

MARK METCALF 

 View Exposed at nursingnarratives.com/ exposed