trade unionism

The women who sparked the Labour movement

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http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2013/nov/04/women-who-sparked-labour-movement

The Match Women of Bryant and May formed Britain’s first women’s trade union and won the right to better conditions. So why do so few know about their achievement?

by Lyn Brown, Labour MP for West Ham.

object on black match with smoke…

Hearing of the grim conditions, Annie Besant investigated and published an article in her weekly newspaper, The Link, headlined: “White Slavery in London,” prompting Bryant and May to threaten libel action. The company put pressure on the women to discover who had spoken to Besant.

Bryant and May identified and dismissed “ringleaders,” provoking around 1,400 women to walk out on strike. The workers put a picket line in place. The factory was at a standstill.

The striking women marched daily through the streets, collecting money to sustain their families. They marched on parliament where they lobbied and impressed MPs. Bryant and May was forced, through public, social and political pressure, to accede to the women’s demands for safer working conditions and the cessation of arbitrary fines.

Crucially, the company allowed them to form a trades union, so that “future disputes, if any, may be laid officially in front of the firm.” The Union of Women Matchworkers, the greatest union of women and girls in the country, was formed.

The Star newspaper congratulated the workers on their “magnificent victory, a turning point in the history of our industrial development.” Truly, it was.

Given Bryant and May’s political and economic power, the strike by these impoverished women was particularly audacious and by no means predestined to succeed. The struggle of these women, played out in the glare of publicity, had repercussions far beyond the betterment of their own conditions.

The Match Women’s Strike was a vital catalyst for ‘new unionism’. It was openly acknowledged by the dock strike leaders a year later in 1889 when the call went out from John Burns to a meeting of tens of thousands of strikers to: “Stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Remember the match women, who won their fight and formed a union.”

The Match Women demonstrated to working people that it is possible for marginalised, unskilled workers to bind together in solidarity in trade unions and succeed in their demands for reasonable pay and conditions.

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Postal workers’ strike: Royal Mail should expect a battle royal

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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/16/postal-workers-strike-royal-mail-cwu-privatisation

Image of post office van next to postboxIt’s been a case of third time unlucky for the postal workers’ union (CWU). It defeated the privatisation of Royal Mail in 1994 under the Tories and again in 2009 under Labour. Despite employing similar tactics of political lobbying and industrial action, on Tuesday the company was floated on the stock exchange. The share price has risen by almost 50% since then. And just a tiny handful of postal workers refused to take up the free share offer open to them.

Some have proclaimed it’s “game over” for the CWU and any planned industrial action – the left-leaning New Statesman pronounced striking now was “a little bit pointless”.

Yes, the CWU was caught on the hop by a sell-off timetable that was brought forward, a bargain basement initial share price and having to take extra time to fully check the accuracy of its membership records in order to avoid a possible high court injunction to stop any action.

But exactly the opposite is now true. So while industrial action is extremely unlikely to bring Royal Mail back into public hands any time soon – especially as the Labour leadership reneged on its own party policy within days of it being set , it is still vital. This is because it is necessary to allow the workforce to have the chance to contest what privatisation turns out be. And, that’s why postal workers today voted by 4-1 for action on a high turnout.

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Royal Mail offers £300 to postal workers to cross picket lines

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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/15/royal-mail-cross-picket-lines-strike

Image of Postal workers rally

 

The Royal Mail is offering a £300 bonus to any of its 150,000 staff who cross the picket line in any forthcoming nationwide postal strikes.

Moya Greene, its chief executive, wrote to all employees before Wednesday’s strike ballot result to offer the sum if they continue working while colleagues are out on strike.

… <about shares being ridiculously undervalued >

Greene’s last-ditch attempt to avert the first nationwide strike in four years came as the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was confident workers would back industrial action when it announces the results of a strike ballot on Wednesday afternoon.

Postal workers described her offer as an “act of desperation and discrimination” and a “scab bonus”. Paul Firmage, one of the 371 of Royal Mail’s 150,000 staff to rejected free shares in the privatisation, said the £300 bonus was “yet another bribe”.

“They are offering people money to be a scab. It is a scab bonus,” he said.”

The CWU said: “It’s an act of desperation and discrimination. We believe it’s irrelevant and will make no difference to the strike ballot.”

In a consultative ballot this year 96% of postal workers were opposed to the privatisation, which they said will erode their pay and conditions.

If staff have voted in favour of industrial action, the first strike could take place on 23 October and would likely be followed by a series of rolling strikes in the runup to Christmas.

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Postal workers push ahead with strike plans over pay and conditions

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http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/13/postal-workers-strike-ballot-pay-conditions

Postal workers union says staff concerns are about longer term issues not Friday’s 38% rise in the price of free shares

Image of post office van next to postbox

Royal Mail staff are pushing ahead with plans for strikes in the run up to Christmas as the battle over privatisation intensifies.

The Royal Mail’s 150,000 workers were handed £2,200 worth of free shares as part of the privatisation, handing them at least an £800 instant paper profit on the first day of trading.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said the 38% rise in value would not make “one scintilla of difference” to employees, who are expected to vote for strike action on Wednesday. Staff are prevented from selling their shares for three years.

The union is planning a nationwide strike as early as 23 October – before balloting for further strikes in the run up to Christmas.

“It is likely to be an all-out strike first, then rolling strikes in the run up to Christmas,” a union source told the Guardian.

The union, which represents more than 100,000 postal staff, had wanted to hold the strike – the first since 2009 – before the privatisation but the government started the sell-off sooner than expected. More than 95% of Royal Mail staff were opposed to the privatisation in a consultative ballot earlier this year.

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[Royal Mail privateers get thousands of pissed-off posties.]

 

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Royal Mail warns thousands will lose jobs after sell-off

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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/09/royal-mail-warns-thousands-job-losses

Company spokesman indicates substantial job losses following controversial privatisation of 500-year-old institution

Image of back of postman and post sacks

Royal Mail has warned that thousands of postal workers will lose their jobs following its controversial privatisation. On Tuesday the 500-year-old national institution saw unprecedented demand for its share offer, with more than 1 million people thought to have applied. In its written submission to parliament on Wednesday, Royal Mail said: “The company will employ fewer people in the future, whoever owns it.”

The company refused to state how many jobs will be axed, but a spokesman indicated it would be thousands if not tens of thousands of Royal Mail’s 150,000 employees.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail’s chief executive, who was paid £1.6m last year, has said the company needs to be “sized appropriately for the [declining] traffic we have to process”.

The forthcoming cuts come on top of 50,000 jobs lost over the past decade. The company said it “remains committed to the overarching objective of achieving this without compulsory redundancies”.

“Over the past decade, the postal services sector has changed dramatically. A decline in mail volumes has coincided with the liberalisation of the market and the emergence of competition. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of parcels being sent. All of this has meant a difficult process of change for our people,” Royal Mail said in its submission to the business, innovation and skills select committee.

“Many of Royal Mail’s employees have seen changes to their working practices as the company has adapted its operations to the changed mix of mail. Change will continue and the company will employ fewer people in the future, whoever owns it.”

Royal Mail workers, who are 96% opposed to the privatisation, continued their campaign against the sell-off with a protest outside parliament ahead of committee meeting. Activists dressed up as highway robbers carried banners saying: “The Great British Royal Mail Robbery”.

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