MARCH 28 saw more than one million people striking across Britain in defence of their pension rights. While the turnout in the original ballots to agree the action was worrying-y low, Involvement on the day reached into places where union activism has been all too scarce of late.
Services were brought to a standstill in a whole number of areas:
• The whole transport netWOrk SOuT doWn across Newcastle and also in the North of Ireland
• The metro in Glasgow came to a halt
• Both the Mersey tunnels were shut
17,500 schools closed their doors
Many council refuse departments. leisure centres. libraries and other services were unable to operate
Many not only stood on picket lines but then attended local rallies later in the day. While this is normal for the committed, this time round there were far more people involved - including whole groups taking action for the first time.
The web site of UNISON, the largest union involved, is full of stories and pictures from those involved - many complaining of the atrocious weather, but more importantly asserting their determination to win this crucial battle.
It also contains several messages of support from PCS activists - many of whom are their own union leadership settled for a poor deal last autumn.
But sadly this settlement set the benchmark for the local government dispute. Few activists in the sector think it would be realistic to maintain the action it workers were offered the same deal their colleagues elsewhere in the public sector settled for back in October.
Instead the concern is how to go ahead and achieve even that with the government digging its heels in.
UNISON has announced that it is calling out its members again on March 25,26, and 27 in three days which will see different areas of Britain brought to a halt aralll.
There are also rumours -possibly calculated to worry the government - that there will be strike action on May 4 and 5; days clearly chosen to disrupt the local elections mense ves.
But members are not really being prepared for a sustained dispute which may well be needed if this attack is to be beaten back. TUESDAY March 28 will go down as one of the most successful days of strike action ever to have taken place. Over I million public sector workers from eleven trade unions suspended their duties to participate in a rallying call to the government to stop their proposal of 'work until you drop.' Josh McNab and Karen O'Toole were on the picket lines and spoke to Southwark UNISON's Branch Secretary John Mulrenan. THE DISPUTE that has caused uproar concerns the pensions proposal by the Government, whereby the age of retirement will be increased to 65. The average lifespan of a manual labourer is 65.
Therein lies one of the many problems. The government's case for introducing this 'work til you drop scheme is that the current economic growth of the country cannot continue if pensioners 'earn' as much as they do now.
We're sitting in John's Walworth Road office and it's eight o'clock in the morning. Over a cup of tea he tells us that the strike in Southwark is