Defend our unions, ght Tory austerity

T
he Tories are attacking our unions again. They want to strengthen Britains anti-union laws laws that are already the most restrictive in Europe. The Tories and the bosses hate our unions because they are our best weapon in the fight against attacks on our pay, pensions and jobs. They are also the best defence against attacks on our public services. The unions are even more important now with the Tories saying their austerity agenda will go on no matter what improvements there are in the economic situation. Whats brought on the latest assault? Billionaire boss Jim Ratcliffe and his company Ineos recently threatened to close down the giant Grangemouth petrochemical works in Scotland. The closure threat put 1,400 jobs at and the future of a whole community at risk. Ineos bosses blackmailed the workforce into signing up to a survival plan. It meant accepting a three year pay freeze, a no-strike agreement, attacks on pensions and on their unions right to organise. Ratcliffe said if workers didnt accept he would shut down this facility for good. Their union, Unite, opposed these attacks, threatened strikes and carried out a leverage campaign of protests against Ratcliffe and other Ineos company directors. The protests included a demo outside Lymington Town sailing club where Ratcliffe moors his 130 million yacht. The Tories have now launched a review into the unions tactics at Grangemouth which will report to millionaire cabinet minister Francis Maude. Hes described Unites campaign as unpleasant. Well how unpleasant is it to threaten to sack hundreds of workers? We all have to stand by Unite against these attacks and against the media witch-hunt. Shockingly it was Labour that opened the door to all this by attacking Unites role in the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk, near the Grangemouth plant. Unites union convenor Stevie Deans was suspended by Ineos after accusations by the Labour party. So the Tories, the press, Ed Miliband and Labour have all attacked the union. Its a disgrace.
Fireghters striking on 4 November

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other Ineos plants could have hit the companys operations. The 48-hour strike could have gone ahead and workers could have called for solidarity. An occupation to save jobs at Grangemouth, alongside a call for nationalisation, could have created a political crisis in Scotland and at Westminster and brought about a different outcome. Unites leader Len McCluskey eventually said workers had to sign up to the bosses terms warts and all.

Militant

Swallowed

Unfortunately, in the face of these attacks, Unite backed off from action at Grangemouth. Union leaders called off a planned 48-hour strike to defend Stevie Deans and the bosses responded by saying they would close the plant unless workers swallowed all the attacks. Stopping a boss like Ratcliffe was never going to be easy. The union had a huge weight on its shoulders. But protests (leverage) targeting

Of course there were no guarantees that militant action would have won. But the problem is now that the retreat has given the green light to everyone who hates the unions. Thats why the Tories and the bosses are on the attack. We need to go all out to defend our unions. Unites leader Len McCluskey says that we have to learn the lessons of what happened at Grangemouth. Thats right. We have to make sure that there are no more Grangemouths and that in the private and public sector we take on the bosses and fight to win. Workers in Higher Education are striking across Britain on 3 December, and firefighters are still in dispute. We need much more resistance like this as well as a fightback over NHS closures, the bedroom tax and racism.

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