09/12/22 SPECIAL BULLETIN Mount Pleasant

[jimallen]

Hi, attached (and pasted below) is a special bulletin from Mount Pleasant, related to the strikes! Comments welcomed, as usual.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GENERALISE OUR FIGHT... BUT THAT MEANS COLLECTIVE ORGANISATION!

Our strike remains solid!

CEO Thompson claims that "11,000 of his employees came back to work during the last strike". It's less than 1 in 10 of our number and we know very well that it's not our workmates doing this job, but mostly temps he has been able to employ to do the work...

But not all of it! He mentions 700,000 parcels having been delivered. In his mind, letters have already beed forgotten..!

In the meantime, the pay offer remains at "up to 9% over 18 months"... so a real pay cut of 8%. But as we keep saying, this isn't just about pay! Thompson boasts that he is already recruiting new workers on "different contracts, but their terms conditions and pensions will still be the best in the industry. This is not the gig economy". But gig economy is exactly what it is!

So yes, of course we have to keep up the fight! With many other workers joining strikes this December, the fight of each and every worker no matter which sector or industry, could be stronger. But that will not happen by itself. Dave Ward and others have mentioned in passing the words "general strike". They have even talked about co-ordination of strikes with other unions. And yes we all have more or less the same demands.

It would make sense if we joined in with the other workers, consciously and in an organised way and filled the streets in protest - a revolt of the poor! The seeming reluctance of the union leaders to pull their fingers out on this score makes us wonder if they are afraid of us fraternising with our fellows from other sectors and industries - we might, after all, get ideas!

Indeed, we wonder why, even within the same CWU, there is no coordination of strike days. The cleaners and engineers of RMPFS not only had to wait for their ballot, but were initially meant to strike on their own on the 5th. Post Office workers are due to strike on the 12th and 13th! As for BT engineers - their fight was kept entirely separate - and maybe they are not even very happy with the final recommended offer ...

So, the first step towards effective striking and winning has surely to be taken in our own backyard? For the time being, those of us on the ground including our local reps, have little or no say as to when, or how we strike, or who we strike with. That surely needs to change? The more of us involved in a strike committee for instance, the stronger the strike will get - just when we need it, after so many months of action without results ...

Importantly, the demand for RM to pay back our lost wages due to strikes has to be included. This ground level organisation could even make real co-ordination and a "general strike" a reality!

What we also need to take control of, is the fight to get our workmates reinstated as soon as possible - those who have had all sorts of lying allegations made against them by managers - who are themselves bullied into making these attacks against us!

The working class is one class. So we need to look beyond our sectional boundaries. And there, we see the nurses' and ambulance workers' strike - which, given the nature of the NHS and its collapsed state, can really only remain at the level of "protest". They can better be assured to win if other workers go out on strike and demand they get paid. This is what the one and only General Strike in 1926 was about - a solidarity strike for the starving miners. Today solidarity strikes are illegal on paper, but if you are striking in your own mandate, who's to say this is secondary action?

It's all these issues which we need to discuss. And not just talk about them, but do something about them, by getting organised on the ground. Because this will be the only effective way to beat the bosses and the government behind them - and begin to turn the tide in favour of our class and society as a whole.