I have just visited picket lines in Tower Hamlets, where (as MJ blogged yesterday - http://unionfutures.blogspot.com/2011/03/solidarity-to-tower-hamlets-council.html) UNISON and NUT members are taking co-ordinated strike action against cuts and job losses.
The mood on the picket lines is positive and the numbers crossing at the main office complex represent a small fraction of the workforce not yet ready to defend their colleagues (and their own interests).
The commendable audacity of UNISON and NUT members in Tower Hamlets is an example to the rest of London (and the country). When fighting job losses the time for action is always as soon as possible.
As we have seen recently in Lambeth, a mandate for strike action often has a practical as well as a legal shelf-life, as if a reorganisation goes too far the incentive to act can be lost and confidence can dissipate.
The welcome unity of UNISON and the NUT in Tower Hamlets today is an excellent example of how to increase both the confidence of members to act, and the impact of the action that is taken. We need to learn from this example in every local authority, health trust and college.
Today's action also provides a timely reminder of the urgent need for co-ordinated action to defeat the coming and current attacks upon public service pensions.
Anyone who can get over to Tower Hamlets this lunctime to support the strikers should do so (http://falseeconomy.org.uk/campaigns/event/tower-hamlets-demo-march-nut-and-unison-on-strike-against-the-cuts)!
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
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