November 30 industrial action
On November 30 up to 3 million public sector workers went on strike - in defence of their pensions, which are coming under attack from a government intent on enforcing spending cuts despite no evidence whatsoever that these cuts are having the apparently intended effect of reducing government debt – but also as a wider mobilisation of trade unionists who are increasingly angry about the government agenda and the attempt to impose the economic costs of a global recession, caused by corporate greed, onto workers who have no responsibility for causing the crisis.
Most of the education unions were on strike – NUT, NASUWT, NAHT, UCU, and many members of Unison and Unite who work in schools and other education institutions. Most IWW Education Workers are also trade union activists within one of these unions, and many were actively involved in organising industrial action that took place on November 30.
Sheffield:
IWW/UCU members picketing from 8.15
Wobblies joining students and other local activists for a tour of pickets throughout the city centre starting at 7.15 at Sheffield Hallam University
IWW block on Devonshire Green feeder march from 11am
Students staged an occupation in the University of Sheffield Arts Tower building, with IWW Education Workers supporting
Ruskin College
UCU supporting picket at Oxford Uni 8.30am, then touring picket lines in city. Having a presence outside of Ruskin to build for the demo at 1.30.
3 feeder marches to main demo, congregating at 2pm, marching to city centre, then rally with speakers
Glasgow IWW were up and about! Unison – not balloted and not officially striking at the University (different pension scheme – talk about ‘divide and rule’!), but dual-card IWWs will be supporting the UCU. Feeder march with students and UCU planned to meet up with the rest in town.
Falkirk
A rally in Falkirk was chaired by an IWW Education Worker for the Trades Council. The turnout was 4 times that expected (nearly 300 people) requiring the meeting to overspill into a larger room. Lots of prison officers, physiotherapists and teachers (EIS). Mood was pretty militant.
Nottingham
In Nottingham, IWW members, at least 6 from the branch, went on the main city march after picket lines had finished (around 10am). We are in disparate mainstream unions, two of us in UCU. The picket lines that IWW Education Workers were on were at University of Nottingham and South Notts College. The march had at least 10000 people on it (one of our fellow workers was doing a proper count) – this is the largest demo in Nottingham in my memory. The UCU picket lines were supported by Notts Uncut who brought sandwiches for the strikers all the way out to the University of Nottingham campus at the several entrances. These supporters included students and people active in Notts Save Our Services. People who are involved in the the ongoing Nottingham Occupation also supported city centre picket lines – mainly PCS ones. There was a good anarchist contingent on the march with red and black flags and the Nottingham AF banner. People generally dispersed after the march as the rally point was a bit out of the way (organised by East Midlands TUC at a hall which had limited ticketed entry for trade union members) and there was not a lot of room to meet outside. Quite a bit of the disperal was to local pubs.
West Midlands
Swanshurst School had about 20 out on the picket from 4 unions-NASUWT,
UNISON, NUT and GMB. We picketed both front and back gates from 7.30 to
9.45. Chris Keates (NASUWT National Sec) showed up. ITV had a small
piece on it nationally and the Birmingham Mail also produced this for
the website:
Photos form the picket can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasuwt_union/sets/72157628217572189/show/
The main TUC march in town was well attended (TUC said 15,000 but ITV
said 30,000). About 20+ West Mids IWW members/supporters were out and we had
the guillotine with Cameron and Clegg with us for the duration. This
went down well with all the marchers and it must be said our
megaphone/chanting was the business. Outside the rally we held our mock
execution to the applause of the ground:
At the University of Birmingham, there was a noticeable presence on all the picket lines, and much lower student presence within the campus than usual. IWW Education Workers – based in UCU, Unison and the NUS – were present on the picket lines as either supporters or strikers.
Unfortunately the University security team, overseen by the Head of Security and accompanied by the Director of HR, Director of External Relations and Director of Hospitality, sought to obstruct picketing on the East Gate. Despite attempts by UCU officials to inform the University managment of their legal right to discuss the industrial action with those entering the University, the security staff sought to hold back picketers from incoming traffic, waving incoming traffic through the barriers. This caused many vehicles to accelerate as they entered the group of picketers, creating what we viewed to be a serious risk for picketers. Fortunately this policy was dropped after a prolonged discussion with the Head of Security over our legal right to picket.
This aside, the presence of such senior management at the picket lines is a clear sign that the industrial action on Wednesday rattled the University managers.
The branch also hosted a teach-out which was very successful, with around 10 speakers covering topics such as the comparisons between Soviet rule and British Universities, the insecurities that explain the dwindling right to protest, medieval uprisings, and the shallowness of the University’s ‘student experience’ concept, and with around 100 people in the audience.
At the University of Wolverhampton, IWW Education Workers took part in UCU industrial action. Strikers received visits from their Vice-Chancellor, two Deputy Vice-Chancellors, and senior executives at the City and Walsall campuses – who graciously offered hot beverages and wished them well. The strike was noticeably solid, with very few academics and support staff crossing the picket lines, and the subsequent rally and short march through Wolverhampton was large, loud and determined, with all the public sector unions and some of their students joining them.
