The Daily Telegraph yesterday drew a parallel between the economic and political conditions which led to the 1926 General Strike and the attacks on jobs, services and the welfare state by the neo liberal Con Dem government. http://bit.ly/crkdVY
The comparison is not off the wall given that all economists predict a steep rise in unemployment and a decline in living standards for working people over the term of the current Government.
The crunch question is the capacity of unions in this country to mount industrial and political resistance on a scale seen elsewhere in Europe?
Hidebound by repressive anti union laws which limit strikes to ‘trade disputes’ and weakened by low unionisation south of the Midlands the UK unions do not start from a position of strength. But there is no alternative other than to resist the coming onslaught. We are in a do or die situation. There are no ‘no go’ areas for the Con Dem hatchet men and therefore no hiding places for any union.
Unions must step up to the plate over the summer mounting local resistance to cuts and job losses. And the ETUC day of action on 29 September should be earmarked as the day trade unionists in Britain take to the streets in cities and towns nationwide in defence of jobs and public services.
