Support grows for cabin crew

Strikers can beat BA bosses“We’ve been forced into going on strike because the terms and conditions have changed on board the aircraft. It’s not so much about pay. In fact we’ve offered a pay cut but Mr Walsh [BA boss] is obviously trying to break the union” said one BA striker. Visit airstrikes – the Socialist Party Blog for BA workers and trade union activists

From 27 to 30 March, British Airways cabin crew are due to have a second round of strike action. The first round came to an end on 22 March – the most important of the three days of strike action.

The action over the weekend mostly affected leisure travellers but Monday’s strike hit business travellers, a lucrative market for BA. One of the world’s largest airlines was largely put out of action at the beginning of a working week. BA bosses tried to claim that the strike was having no effect but they then announced £21 million losses!

The crowds outside the strike HQ grew over the three strike days with strikers queuing up to go on picket duties despite the early morning cold weather. Streams of vehicles passing pickets honked their horns in support.

Cabin crew have every right to feel confident. The rows of idle planes on the tarmac keep getting longer. Crew buses supposedly ferrying 50% of cabin crew to work were largely empty. BA bus drivers are directly employed by BA and are also members of Unite. They are some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the pickets.

One driver carrying a handful of scabs beeped her horn with gusto while passing a picket on a roundabout. By a stroke of luck the traffic lights turned red so the bus stopped close to the pickets for several moments. The driver considerately opened her window and gestured for the pickets to sing louder so her passengers inside would get the full benefit!

After months of relentless attacks by management, cabin crew feel they have finally started to shift the pressure on to management and Willie Walsh. The man himself disappeared during the strike, with no sightings of him around Waterside (management HQ) – apart from the occasional video broadcasted on YouTube where Walsh assured everyone that all was well and everything was going exactly according to plan.

This has led the strikers to dub him ‘Comical Ali’, after Saddam Hussein’s former propaganda minister, eternally optimistic in the face of reality!

From discussions on the picket lines and statements from Unite it appears there has been no contact from management about restarting negotiations. The general consensus was that a second round of strike action is likely.

Cabin crew will be starting this round of strikes in a much stronger position. They have public support, they have the backing of much of the British and international trade union movement and industrial action has hit the company hard.

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Defend higher education

The last 18 months, since the start of the economic crisis, have seen students and campus trade unions organising protest action in Britain on a scale not seen since the movement to oppose the introduction of tuition fees in 1997-1998. Why? Higher education faces a 'fight for survival' as reports show that funding could be cut by a third.

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Protest against cuts to services

EUROPEAN-WIDE WEEK OF PROTEST & SOLIDARITY - BELFAST PROTEST
NO CUTS TO PUBLIC SERVICES


Protest: 5-6pm Thursday 24 June
European Commission Office, 74-76 Dublin Rd, Belfast

ENDORSED BY: FIRE BRIGADES UNION - I.N.T.O. NORTHERN REGION - SOCIALIST PARTY - WORKERS PARTY - ORGANISE - SAVE MID-ULSTER HOSPITAL - WE WONT PAY CAMPAIGN - YOUTH AGAINST RACISM plus many others

NO CUTS TO BAILOUT THE BANKS - DEFEND JOBS, WAGES & SERVICES

For more information contact Gary Mulcahy on 07743282321

 

Stop the Cuts Campaign rejects Draft Budget

 

The Stop the Cuts Campaign today submitted it's "rejection of the Assembly Executive's Draft Budget" in a hard-hitting statement which accused the political parties in the Executive of taking "a political decision to stand together with the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government in implementing savage cuts against ordinary people."

The submission continued "Those who claim to oppose cuts to public services must refuse to implement cuts and oppose this Draft Budget. The fight to secure necessary funding for public services must be carried out by organising ordinary people, public sector and private sector workers, alongside the trade union movement to actively resist the cuts and link up with the millions of people across Britain who oppose the cuts, including initially a one day public sector strike."

The Stop the Cuts Campaign, which is backed by the Fire Brigades Union, the teachers union INTO and union branches argued "Big business and rich individuals are allowed to get away with avoiding and evading approximately £120billion in taxes every year. An extra £4.7billion could be raised immediately by introducing a 50% tax rate on incomes over £100,000. The scrapping of privatisation schemes such as Public Private Partnerships and Private Finance Initiative in the health service alone would save £20billion a year."