You could be forgiven for thinking of late that there are faultless economists out there. Over the past year those who predicted the credit crunch, and even Vince bloody Cable, have been viewed as oracles. Truth be told though capitalism will always have booms and slumps and economists will have a variety of different views about when it will come, where and by how much.
What is worrying about the Economist article is that it summarises the views of some of the thinking representatives of the market. They believe that the fight has to be taken to the public sector and that they can win. The worry is that they could be right.
There are plenty around who believe that the coming cuts and fight in the public sector is the next turf war, where not only will public v private be decided for a generation, but also organised labour v free markets. They think they will win but as with economic predictions they can't be certain.
The solution remains in our hands and it remains as simple as it ever was. For a long time now we have had what has become a sterile debate about organising v servicing. We no longer have the luxury of debating what we should do, we now have to do it. Its not complex strategies, its not the theory of organising, its getting into workplaces and talking to public sector workers. In particualr those who have no rep or contact with the union.
It's finding out what they are prepared to do, what they want to do, to defend their jobs and their services. If we have 30% density and we talk only to those workplaces with a rep we will lose. If we turn that into 40,50,60% density and get reps everywhere, its an entirely different scenario.
The recent announcements on effectively privatising the NHS, following on from 1m job losses and widescale sell offs in Local Government show that this is as serious as the miners dispute. The only difference is that this time they are doing it with a sympathetic smile.
The next couple of years will determine the future of public services for a generation. It's our watch. There really is little left to talk about, our slogan should be "workplace, workplace, workplace" and thats where we have to be.
AB
For more information read
http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/2010/07/public-sector-unions-cuts-neo-liberal.html
