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Whatever happened to the unions?

Other | 17.04.2010 14:38 | Other Press | Workers' Movements | Liverpool

The following article was written by an active trade unionist, working-class militant and supporter of The Other Campaign.



I have been a postal worker since 1980 and have stood on every picket line during every strike we have been involved in.

All through the 1980s and 1990s the talk on picket lines (once the football was got out of the way) was how things would improve for the working class once a Labour Government replaced the Conservatives. Hadn’t our Trade Union General Secretaries Tom Jackson, Alan Tuffin and Alan Johnson repeatedly told us so in an endless stream of UPW/UCW/CWU literature?

There was quite a bit of hope in the air when the Labour Party won the 1997 General Election. After all, hadn’t we members of Trade Unions funded the victory? Surely the Labour Party would look after us?

Read the rest of the article here...
 http://theothercampaign2010.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/whatever-happened-to-the-unions/

Other
- e-mail: theothercampaign@hotmail.co.uk
- Homepage: http://theothercampaign2010.wordpress.com/

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Join a workers union...duh!

17.04.2010 17:13

Why bother joining a union if it's going to accept people whose interests conflict with yours?

The I.W.W. is a workers-only union and doesn't accept membership from management or anyone else who follows a different agenda to the majority of ordinary working people. In other words, there's no chance of the I.W.W. becoming corrupted/subverted, as so many of our unions now are, by those who would profit from your misery!

Join a real workers union. Join the I.W.W!

M

IWW

17.04.2010 20:36

The author of the article is actually a Wobbly, but the idea of the campaign isn't just to tell people they should join the IWW or SolFed or whatever. The idea is to promote working-class consciousness and self-organisation.

Other

Wibbly Wobbley

18.04.2010 18:11

"The author of the article is actually a Wobbly, but the idea of the campaign isn't just to tell people they should join the IWW or SolFed or whatever. The idea is to promote working-class consciousness and self-organisation."

Because indymedia isn't just bookmarked by the middle class. Or is it?

Wibbly

question

18.04.2010 22:06

"Because indymedia isn't just bookmarked by the middle class. Or is it? " But can you prove it?

Not a Wibbly

North Prole

19.04.2010 10:41

I'm working-class (and I've got the blister to prove it)!

Love the other campaign too.

Spartacus