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From The Socialist newspaper, 14 April 2021
Thurrock Council workers strike against pay cuts
(Click to enlarge)
Dave Murray, President Basildon and Thurrock TUC
In the shadow of Dartford Bridge scores of Unite members joined a solid picket line on 13 April outside Thurrock Council's environmental services depot. This was the first day of three weeks of strike action provoked by the employer's plan to cut pay allowances (such as unsocial hours pay) to the tune of thousands of pounds.
At the top end a loader could lose up to £11k. At any time this would be an act of aggression, but after literally keeping the show on the road during the year of Covid, this is seen as an act of betrayal on the part of Thurrock Council.
Speaking to assembled strikers Unite officer Onay Kasab pledged the union's support for a win in this dispute, donating his own back pay to the hardship fund.
Morale was extremely high, partly because of the sunshine and the boombox (playlist was heavy on classic reggae and ska but also included AC/DC and Village People), but mostly because of the strength of the union's organisation and an understanding of the importance of winning the dispute.
If Thurrock get away with this, many other councils will be looking at saving their financial bacon at the expense of anti-social hours payments and other pay allowances that so many rely on - in the care sector as well as in cleansing and refuse.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 14 April 2021:
Covid-19
'Covid passports' discriminatory and questionable - fight for workplace safety
Covid inquiry? Workers must decide
News
Tensions escalate in Northern Ireland
How to deal with the tax-dodging mega-rich? Nationalise!
NHS pay: reject Tories' miserly 1% 'offer' - Fight for full 15% rise
Tory hypocrisy over housing benefit cut
US cops shoot dead another black man
Elections
Every voter in Wales has the opportunity to vote for TUSC
TUSC: Launching a working-class electoral alternative in London
London housing crisis: vote TUSC to fight back
Workplace news
PCS elections: Support the Broad Left Network for a democratic, fighting union leadership
St Mungo's maintenance workers on indefinite strike
Thousands of London bus workers strike across multiple companies
Rally for sacked RMT rep Declan
East London cleaners fight outsourcing and redundancies
Bristol Water workers walk out
SPS Technologies workers end strike after management backs down
Thurrock Council workers strike against pay cuts
Deliveroo workers strike and protest
Lessons from history
1920s-30s Britain: A working-class movement fighting unemployment and capitalism
Campaigns news
Students in action: Protest on 21 April
Why you should join the Socialist Party
Cardiff: Hundreds protest to free Siyanda
Fighting fund target smashed. Can we do it again?
Readers' opinion
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