London council workers on strike
A. Striker | 14.05.2002 11:37
Council workers from across 32 London boroughs are on strike today (Tuesday 14th May). We are demanding an increase in London weighting to £4000 a year for all local government employees to take into account the increasing costs of living and working in London. The police already get more than this, as do some private sector workers.
I went down to Southwark Town Hall in Peckham where there was a lively picket/rally of about 150 people, with lots of support from passing busdrivers, lorry drivers and others. There was an excellent home-made banner saying 'Peckham Library workers on strike for decent pay - books not bombs -fund the library not the war'. There is a march to the TUC HQ in Great Russell Street this afternoon.
I defintely recommend being on strike - I've also been over the park, played on the swings, and hung out a cafe in Camberwell - far more interesting than what I normally do on Tuesday mornings.
I went down to Southwark Town Hall in Peckham where there was a lively picket/rally of about 150 people, with lots of support from passing busdrivers, lorry drivers and others. There was an excellent home-made banner saying 'Peckham Library workers on strike for decent pay - books not bombs -fund the library not the war'. There is a march to the TUC HQ in Great Russell Street this afternoon.
I defintely recommend being on strike - I've also been over the park, played on the swings, and hung out a cafe in Camberwell - far more interesting than what I normally do on Tuesday mornings.
A. Striker
Comments
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14.05.2002 13:03
(A)
Good for you!
14.05.2002 13:32
I hope in the future instead of the traditional picket line workers will follow the example of the Australian rail workers who, instead of preventing commuters getting to work, gave out free tickets!
French health workers also went on a good work strike, where they tended to patients, but refused to fill in all the pointless bureacratic paperwork - and using the time saved they managed to help far more people.
In both these cases, the workers won their demands, and had tremendous public support.
And PCS members - instead of going on strike to get protective glass, why not give maximum benefits to everyone who walks in the door and let them sign on even if they don't want to work? No one would want to assault you then!
red'n'black anarcho
Nice one!
14.05.2002 14:41
I think that finding other ways for workers to fight back against the system is great, but I don't think the traditional picket should be put down. The whole point of it is to put pressure on (or stop if the strike is big enough) scabs from going to work and undermining the strike, so they're pretty important in my book and we shouldn't do it down.
Trotskyist Revolutionary!!!
STRIKE!
14.05.2002 15:23
i'm employed as an agency worker on a temporary contract with a london borough(I won't say which one).This means that in order to show my soldiarity with the strike i've had to take unpaid leave.Other permanent workers within my department have been told by management that they can't take paid leave owed to them that day and any sick leave has to be supported by a sick note.
A lot of the people I work with support the strike but as the main breadwinners can't afford to!
Marie Antoinette