People who were there report that the central London demonstrations against the Con Dem budget attracted dozens of people. You can’t help feeling that a bigger response might be called for.
Some of the consequences of this budget are that the poorest 10% will see their incomes cut by more than 2.5% over the next five years. From April 2013 people who have been on jobseekers’ allowance for 12 months of more will see a 10% reduction in their housing benefit. 500,000 public service workers will be added to the dole between now and 2015. The rest will see their wages cut, their pensions reduced and their working life extended. This is a simultaneous frontal assault on the most organised sections of the British working class.
A bigger response might just be around the corner. How’s this for a rhetorical flourish?
Dave Prentis who has just been re-elected as leader of the largest public sector union said; “Now more than ever, we need a union that will stand up for fairness, be a voice for the voiceless and hold the powerful to account.” Brilliant!
At the international level in this time of stress and crisis European workers will be both pleased and surprised to discover that they have a voice. I certainly was. It’s called the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and it’s one of those things you should probably know about but of which you never hear anything. That may be because it’s headed up by General Secretary John Monks. Remember him? Probably not. He used to be General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK from 1993 until 2003. That’s him on the horse in the picture.
ETUC has called a European Day of Action on September 29th. Here’s the statement with which they are rousing the masses.
“As European Governments move collectively to slash public expenditure, including jobs, pay and pensions, while the European economy is fragile and vulnerable to renewed recession, the ETUC is to mobilise a collective trade union response. This will be centred on a big demonstration in Brussels but the ETUC is calling on affiliates to take the maximum possible degree of action in all the countries of the European Union. This can include protest stoppages, demonstrations, meetings with Government finance ministers etc.”
ETUC is an outfit with modest aims. “The ETUC conducts industrial relations with the employers at EU level through European social dialogue.”
Unison is supporting the Day of Action. This is the right thing to do. But rather than a symbolic protest releasing a few balloons the obvious thing to do is use the 29th as a target date for massive demonstrations of public sector workers and users to launch a meaningful resistance to an aggressively anti-working class government.
Liam redux 
Leave a comment