particularly in the public sector, a series of national issues, over pensions, privatisation and cuts, which need to be faced up to. It is clear that the existing union leaderships, whilst having to appear to oppose these attacks on their members, with little or no exceptions have no desire to enter into any of the necessary battles.
We have to fight to turn the rhetoric into action, whether that is through immediate internal fights inside the unions over pensions and privatisation, or by supporting broader campaigning as in defence of the NHS.
The anti-union laws clearly present an obstacle to this, as much because they centralise power in union leaderships as that they frustrate the taking of timely action. But the experience of postal workers and others show that organised workforces can take action outside the legal framework - Civil servant members of the Public and Commercial Services union PCS are being balloted for a one-day strike on January 31 in opposition to the relentless tide of job cuts and declining services.
Ministers have refused to give the union a commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies, and ignored evidence of the damage to services such as benefits, pensions and inland revenue from reduced staffing levels.
PCS members will also be balloted on additional action short of a strike, including a 2-week ban on overtime.