Another judge stops another strike

It’s enough to make you think that the courts are on the side of the bosses. Next week union members are balloting for strike action in British airways in defence of jobs, pensions and salaries. Last year the airline got a posh man in a wig to overturn the 92% majority on an 80% turnout…

Liam

February 18, 2010

2–3 minutes

It’s enough to make you think that the courts are on the side of the bosses.

Next week union members are balloting for strike action in British airways in defence of jobs, pensions and salaries. Last year the airline got a posh man in a wig to overturn the 92% majority on an 80% turnout of Unite members. Yesterday, at the High Court, Justice Sweeney according to the Morning Star, granted the bosses at Milford Haven Port in south Wales to an injunction against Unite members. To save their final salary pensions and oppose a rise in retirement age 50 trade unionists had voted for a 48 hour strike. A perfectly reasonable thing to do in the circumstances.

Non lawyers will struggle with m’lud’s assertion that "”the balance of convenience" in the case was in favour of the employer”. To most people working longer and having your pension chopped are pretty major inconveniences but Sweeney reckoned that enforcing the Tories’ 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act was the right thing to do. It’s funny how New Labour has never managed to get round to repealing a law that now seems to wheeled out every time a group of workers want to take legitimate defensive action.

According to Gregor Gall the legislation has been used thirteen times in the last year and the threat of it has intimidated some unions into calling off their actions. It usually take advantage of trivial administrative errors in the running of the ballot. The decision has caused some union officials to get mildly annoyed. Brendan Gold, Unite’s national secretary for docks and waterways said: "It is hugely frustrating going through the correct legal procedures to call this action then to have the courts intervene to block it."

Not mildly frustrating or rather frustrating. Hugely frustrating. And people say the language of class hatred is dying out.

We are going to get a lot more of these shenanigans when the ruling class really gets the bit between its teeth after the election and starts slashing jobs, salaries and pension on an industrial scale. The question is if we will see the emergence of a new “awkward squad” willing to defy the courts?

One response to “Another judge stops another strike”

gerry downing

February 18, 2010 at 12:30 pm

Hi Gerald,
The London Jerry Hicks supporters group meeting is 26th February at Lucas arms Grays Inn Rd, Kings Cross. Starts at 7pm and is planned to set up a group and maybe a committee to assist Jerry in his campaign Jerry should be there, I will be posting leaflets if you need any more let me know yours in solidarity.

Steve Kelly

Comrades,
This is a very important campaign if struggles like Alberto Dorango’s are to succeed against the employers and their covert supporters in the reactionary bureaucratic unions. Jerry Hicks go almost 40,000 votes against Simpson entirely outside the bureaucratic structures of the union itself and the Stalinoid United Left

His election would strike a real blow to the bureaucracy and would enable us to begin to develop the basis of a real rank-and-file movement in the buses and in other industries if we go about it the right way. The Manchester Right To Work meeting called for a rank-and-file movement and those of us who know what that should look like – no bureaucrats or union employees voting, workers wage for officials, standing for all electable positions against the bureaucracy answerable to the R+F movement, direct and participatory democratic structures, etc – have an opportunity to start fighting for it in a wider context, The SWP has not yet committed to Hicks, but it is difficult to see them not doing so after Manchester, the SP seems committed to McCluskey (although Jerry says after a meeting with them that he is “hopeful”), the AWL and Workers Power will surely back him so a real fight is in the offing. Sectarians will use the Lindsey excuse to abandon the class yet again.

Please circulate this invite as widely as possible so we can get a real committee going and make plans for campaigning. I will contact as many as you as I can personally by phone to urge participation.

Comradely Gerry Downing

PS Many of us had difference with Jerry over Lindsey and I am not saying that we put those aside in any way but it would be criminal to allow these differences to block participation in this campaign rather than fighting them out whenever we think they are holding the campaign back.

LikeLike

Reply

Liam redux