After Cheltenham demo: keep up campaigning, build for open defiance

By a Free Our Unions supporter

Thousands of trade unionists marched in Cheltenham today (27 January), to mark the 40th anniversary of the Thatcher government’s ban on unions at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and protest contemporary anti-strike laws, including the new Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act.

That the demonstration took place at all is positive. For the trade union movement to mobilise as the trade union movement, bringing together unions from across the economy, is important in itself. The Cheltenham demonstration must be the launchpad for an ongoing campaign against anti-strike legislation that seeks to build open defiance.

Further demonstrations must take place in London. Actions elsewhere in the country are important, but visible protest in the capital and principal seat of power are essential. And unions must step up their mobilisation. Many marchers reported their unions’ mobilising efforts as sluggish, reflected in a fairly small turnout which had mostly drifted away before the rally had finished.

At that rally, there were stirring words in many union leaders’ speeches. Unite’s Sharon Graham gestured towards defiance, invoking the slogan of the 1921 Poplar Labour councillors’ rates rebellion to declare “it’s better to break the law than break the poor.” The RMT’s Mick Lynch reminded the crowd that “the official position of the TUC is for non-compliance.” The NEU’s Daniel Kebede said that, whilst Labour’s commitment to repeal the Minimum Service Levels Act was welcome, it must be a “first step”, and that unions must push Labour to go further and repeal all legal restrictions on the right to organise and strike.

But Lynch was also on the mark when he opened his speech by promising the dwindling crowd that he would be brief, as “no-one wants to hear a load of general secretaries waffling on”. Unfortunately, and whilst there were some rank-and-file voices on the platform, that is mostly what the rally consisted of. And with few real signs of unions using their resources to generate ongoing campaigning, involving their grassroots members, it is hard to see even the better speeches as much more than hot air.

Where defiance was referred to, it was often posed as something that would happen in the event that a worker was sacked for defying work notices. But a mass strike to protest such a sacking might well involve a confrontation with the law itself: if unions are prepared to countenance such a confrontation, why wait for anyone to be sacked? Why not go for confrontation with the law at the earliest possible point in the process, by refusing to take the “reasonable steps” called for by the Act to ensure members comply with work notices?

Undoubtedly, many union leaders are now in “get Labour into power” mode, having little strategy for winning reform beyond this. Whilst a Labour government will be preferable to a Tory one, simply waiting for it is not good enough. And, if Labour does not feel under pressure from sustained campaigning, there is a risk it will backslide on its existing commitments, and will certainly not go beyond them.

The rank-and-file conference called for in the FBU’s motion to TUC congress would be a useful place to discuss how to build the campaign we need. In the meantime, union branch meetings, Trades Councils, and campaign meetings can provide space for discussion and coordination.

Troublemakers At Work meeting on the Minimum Service Levels with Tim van Tinteren (Aslef), Emma Runswick (BMA), and Ian Allinson (Author of Workers Can Win) – 7pm, 1 February – click here for details

Free Our Unions public meeting with Matt Wrack (FBU GS and TUC President) – 7pm, 15 February – click here for details