STRIKE on 30th November!
Published:
November 18, 2011 19:06
by B |
Neighbourhoods:
Strike to defend pensions on 30th November
Our public sector workers strike on 30th November is growing, and some say will involve more workers than any action since the 1926 General Strike. Schools and health services, as well as central and local government, will see workers defying their bosses in defence of pension rights, and the wider attack on public services.
The first union to ballot its members was the NUT in the summer. Their vote is still valid and they will be out on 30th. More recently the biggest union Unison balloted 1.1 million members, with 78% of those voting in favour. Over the last few days the GMB and Unite have also announced that their members have voted four-to-one in favour of a strike. This follows the building workers union UCATT who voted with an 83% majority. Today the NASUWT have announced 82% in favour, and there are many smaller less well known unions that are also striking.
Public sector workers are standing up to the ConDem government, who are trying to make them pay for the bailout of their friends the bankers, and the mess they have made. Most public sector pensions schemes have already been overhauled in recent years, and are sustainable. Don't believe the lies the government peddle, or their New Labour stooge Lord Hutton. The NHS pension scheme for example, after being overhauled in 2008, will earn 2 billion surplus each year for the government over the next 5 years. The Local Government pension scheme is also flush. The teachers pension was renegotiated in 2007, and put on a good footing. The government refuse now to say how much it is worth. The changes the government wants to make – raising workers contributions by half as much again, and making us work until we're 68 – are just ways of making more cash for the treasury.
And the government aren't playing fair (like they ever do!) A pension of all things is a long term commitment, and you can't be re-designing the whole damn thing every 3 years. The proper negotiations weren't had when the government proposed these changes. Nor were they when they unilaterally imposed the change from Retail Price Index inflation-proofing to Consumer Price Index. This much lower measure of inflation is now being challenged in the courts by Unison.
Public sector pensions are not gold plated as the media sometimes claims. The average public service pension is £7,800. I myself am a nurse, and went into nursing when I was 20. I'm 40 now. My pension forecast used to say I would get about £10,000 a year, plus a lump sum of around £12,000, when I retired at 60. Okay that's enough to live on, but its not exactly luxury. And thats after 40 years hard work. But now of course I my retirement age is being raised anyway.....
There will be a rally on the Forest recreation ground from 10.30 on the strike day, then marching into town down Mansfield Road at 11.30. It will pass through market Square before heading up to a rally at the Albert Hall, and in the square outside (beside the Playhouse theatre).
Some workers in essential (life and limb) services are being exempted from strike action by prior arrangement – our fight is with the government not with patients and service users. Many of these workers are donating that day's pay to a hardship fund. We want to defend public services for the benefit of everyone. Although the issue at hand is pensions, this is really just the straw that broke the camels back. As we saw when half a million or more people took to the streets of London in March, the bigger issue here is the continued existence of decent public services. Public bodies not private companies should run our health education and social services, and not be subject to the Tories slash and burn, their sell it off and make a dollar mentality. And we will not pay for their crisis! Tax the rich – the buddies of the 23 out of 29 cabinet ministers who are millionaires. They fucked the economy up, not us.
If you work in public services then STRIKE on 30th November! Join a union if you aren't already a member – new members will still be protected to take action.
Spread the word. Messages of support (or flasks of tea!) will be greatly received at picket lines at all major public buildings. Join the march from the Forest! Make a noise!
We won't pay for their mess!
Latest articles feed
EDL splinter groups may target public sector strikers, unions warn
EDL groups are broadening out their attacks to focus on leftwing organisations
Britain's biggest unions are warning of a threat of violence by far-right groups during national strike action this month, amid concern that fascist elements are increasingly intent on targeting striking public sector workers.
Unite, Unison and the TUC said they were taking the prospect of disruption by far-right supporters seriously, and had begun to liaise with police to assess any risk to pickets or those on protest marches. The development follows signs that splinter groups from the English Defence League are broadening their campaign from targeting Muslims to trade unionists and socialist organisations. Members of the EDL have recently been involved in attacks on anti-racist and anti-cuts protesters, as well as attempting to target the Occupy movement which has camped outside St Paul's Cathedral.......
....... Dr Matthew Goodwin, extremism expert and political lecturer at the University of Nottingham, said the far right in the UK was becoming increasingly confrontational. "Historically, trade unionists and the far right have been fiercely opposed to one another," he said. "Trade unionists view the modern far right as a continuation of interwar fascism, and so support anti-fascist campaigns and groups. Meanwhile, far-right extremists tend to view trade unionists as promoting multiculturalism and political correctness. While these disputes are ideological, they have often become incredibly personal.
"Over the past three years, the far right in Britain has become increasingly confrontational and provocative." ....