Workplaces

UCU special congress – the fight for Higher Education must continue!

September 8, 2021

Socialist Alternative members in UCU
Sharon Graham wins! Now build workplace power to win for workers

August 25, 2021

International Socialist Alternative members in Unite the Union
As Pret a Manger bosses attack rights, workers prepare to fight back!

August 13, 2021

Kacie Shields, Coventry Socialist Alternative
Socialist Alternative USDAW Bulletin: OUT NOW!

August 9, 2021

Socialist Alternative
Left wing majority in UNISON NEC elections: now transform the union!

June 16, 2021

Socialist Alternative in UNISON
Rights and wages of Pizza Express workers sliced and burned

June 14, 2021

Daisy Bradford

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UPCOMING EVENTS

UCU special congress – the fight for Higher Education must continue!

In March last year, as the coronavirus pandemic started to take a firm hold, university workers across the country were undertaking escalating strike action over pay, conditions and pensions. 74 universities were involved at the height of the action and the potential for more to join was rising. After going out for 22 days, picket lines remained solid and our employers were being pushed into negotiations that they had so far refused. However, the disputes were put on hold and the planned reballot shelved by the UCU leadership as campuses were closed down due to the UK-wide lockdown. SA members argued strongly against this delay at the time as it was clear that the momentum we had built up would be needlessly lost at a crucial time for the progress of the disputes. It was also clear that workers were going to bear the brunt of the attempts by management to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, exacerbating many of the key issues we were fighting on. Workloads skyrocketed as we were expected to adapt our teaching methods and material immediately to cope with the move online, casualised staff were left without new contracts as uncertainty over student numbers grew and the question of health and safety on campuses was posed starkly.

Now, a year and a half after our last day of national strike action, a special higher education sector conference is due to take place online on 9^th September to decide the way forward. It is crucial that we come out of this congress with a fighting strategy and that we clarify the way forward, with or without the support of union leadership. Employers have been emboldened during the pandemic, as we warned at the time. Workers at a range of institutions have had to fight against redundancies, in addition to the paltry final pay offers of 1.5% for this year and 0% for the previous year. This is coupled with the recent forcing through of severe cuts to the USS pensions scheme which will see a significant loss of retirement benefits for members in addition to the pricing out of many workers on lower incomes.

Two disputes but one set of attacks on HE

    It is being argued by some in the union that the USS pensions dispute should be separated from the ‘four fights’ dispute which covers pay, workload, casualisation and pay equality. Unfortunately, this was echoed by general secretary Jo Grady at the national members briefing held last week. It is a mistake to believe that a satisfactory short-term deal can be made on pensions, despite the flawed valuation, and that we just have to accept that employers will never give us enough on pay and casualisation – this is a recipe for defeat. Though it is true that the USS pension scheme covers only the pre-1992 universities whereas the four fights covers the whole sector, keeping the disputes together is key to winning concessions on both. Real gains can only be made by maximising and coordinating action that involves as many members and institutions as possible. This must include more senior staff standing and fighting alongside newer and more casualised workers and this will only happen to the extent needed if the disputes continue to be linked. These are not two separate fights but one fight against one set of employers for the future of higher education. It is important to remember that the boards of the two employers’ associations involved in the negotiations, UUK and UCEA, are in fact made up of our day-to-day bosses, the university vice-chancellors, and that they can be pushed back by well-planned and determined industrial action, as the ongoing heroic action at the University of Liverpool has shown.

What does a win look like?

    It has also been repeated many times by some in the union that it is not clear what a win looks like in the four fights dispute, apart from the pay element. This is not true – we already have a clear set of demands that have been detailed in the latest joint union claim. For example: on workload, a maximum 35-hour working week; on pay equality, for equal pay audits to be carried out at every institution to an agreed timescale and then a plan to be agreed and implemented to close the gaps; and on casualisation, a minimum contract length of 24 months, which would allow workers to access more employment rights, and an end to the use of zero-hour contracts. Achieving these demands would mean a thorough shake-up in how universities are currently run and will therefore require an intense and unwavering struggle. But we mustn’t put off this struggle to some unspecified future time. Members have shown that they are willing to fight on these issues and leaving it any longer will embolden the employers even further to carry out more damaging cuts to our jobs and conditions.

A fighting strategy

    There are several actions that need to be taken as soon as possible:
- An immediate, strong commitment to building the fighting fund needs to be made with clear communication and assurances to members that there will be enough to fund whatever strike action is necessary.
- A proper national members’ meeting should be held, not a one-sided, top-down briefing, that allows speakers from the floor to direct questions to the union leadership about the next steps. If this isn’t organised, branches should get together to call a mass members’ meeting themselves, led by those who have recently fought and won.
- A plan of escalating industrial action needs to be agreed and put in place with a clear strategy for the next academic year, including targeted action such as marking and assessment boycotts. As part of this, the possibility of indefinite strike action should be discussed.
- A ballot timetable should be announced and full resources made available for a serious get-the-vote-out campaign.
- Commitments made at congress to meet with the other major trade unions should be extended to discuss coordinated action on pay. The other campus trade unions should be discussed with urgently about taking joint industrial action to shut down campuses.
- Joint staff and student solidarity campaigns need to be built and strengthened with assemblies called to discuss the issues at stake.
- The moves by the union leadership to leave branches to fight on their own on issues such as redundancies and health and safety must be countered with action coordinated wherever possible.
Sharon Graham wins! Now build workplace power to win for workers

While an official announcement has yet to be made, multiple sources have now confirmed that Sharon Graham has won the election to become the general secretary of Unite the Union. Socialist Alternative members send our congratulations to Sharon, for whose candidacy we mobilised support.

This victory, which saw the Blairite-backed Gerard Coyne relegated to third place behind Steve Turner, is testament to the determination and resilience of Unite members – many of whom have been on the frontlines working in difficult and potentially dangerous conditions throughout the Covid pandemic.

As the new general secretary, Sharon now faces a number of major challenges. First and foremost, there is the need to build a fighting industrial response on the issues of workplace safety, pay restraint, working conditions, and the growing threats of casualisation and automation. These issues are among those most pertinent to both Unite members and the wider working class, much of which is currently in urgent need of organisation.

Most immediately, building the fightback means using the ‘workplace power’ model to direct all necessary resources to win the consultative ballots on pay in the public sector. In the private sector, it means making clear to employers, such as Rolls Royce, that Unite is in dispute with, that the full power of the union will now be mobilised with solidarity protests and a strategy of widening industrial action, based on connecting the steward and convenor layer of the union to link up disputes and potential disputes. At a strategic level, Unite should be pushing for a programme of coordinated and escalating strike action against this rotten Tory government, as well as further attempts at fire-and-rehire. This requires starting a discussion within Unite about how these things can be implemented on the basis of mobilising members in action. The recent victory of the left in the Unison national executive is also evidence of the huge appetite that exists among workers for struggle, as well as the potential for coordination.

For Sharon to succeed in the aims she outlined in her election campaign, it will be crucial to build upon and broaden out the networks of support that were developed in the run up to this vote. There is an urgent need for a genuinely democratic, grassroots and socialist broad left. The existence of such an organisation, which can bring together the union’s best fighters on the ground, is vital for any leading figure in order for them to withstand the huge pressures that they can face from both from the capitalist class and within the union, as well as to empower the activist base of Unite.

Also essential is that Sharon helps to marry a militant industrial approach with a political strategy that can win for workers. Keir Starmer is currently on an anti-left rampage in Labour, with auto-expulsion letters fired off to leading figures in the trade union movement daily, the latest prominent example being Ian Hodson of the BFAWU. Politically, the party is being returned to the dark days of Blairism. Unite, along with other trade unions, should oppose anti-democratic attacks on the left, whilst facing up to the pressing task of playing an active part in developing a viable political alternative – discussing how a new party of struggle for working people can be built.

Socialist Alternative wishes Sharon all the best in her new role. Our members inside Unite will do all that we can to assist in developing the fighting strategy of the union, both industrially and politically. A further response to this excellent victory and more thoroughgoing analysis of the result will be carried on our website in due course.
As Pret a Manger bosses attack rights, workers prepare to fight back!

High street coffee chain Pret a Manger, who have over 900 stores across 9 countries, have launched their latest round of attacks on the rights of their workers leading many to call for strike action. Pret a Manger is no stranger to controversy, with poor working conditions a seemingly habitual part of their history. For example, their heavily criticised use of ‘Mystery shoppers’ to extract exhausting emotional labour from their staff and the sacking of a Pret a Manger union co-founder in 2012. These latest attacks are set against the backdrop of the pandemic which has had devastating effects on workers worldwide. In August 2020 the company cut 2,890 jobs in the UK, announced that staff would temporarily not be paid for breaks and that bonuses for staff judged to have given good customer service would be slashed. Almost simultaneously the chain introduced their ‘coffee subscription’ that would entitle customers to up to 5 coffees a day for a charge of £20 per month, meaning that workers were dealt a double blow of harder shifts and worse conditions.

Despite assurances that the cuts would be temporary measures, Pret have now announced that they have no intention of undoing the changes.This has sparked outrage and many have taken to Twitter to express their anger at the company and staff calling for a strike next month. Ian Hodson, national president of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union, has been quoted as saying: “We call on Pret to think again. We can no longer sit back and allow these companies to boost their profits from workers’ wages. It’s awful to read that workers are facing even worse conditions as we try and get the economy back on track. After the pandemic we are seeing a return to bad business as usual and working people cannot and should not accept that any more. We all deserve a better deal and we will support the workers at Pret if the strike goes ahead.”

Socialist Alternative stands in solidarity with Pret staff and calls on trade unions to support workers not only in words but also in action. Millions of workers in hospitality and retail would join a trade union if they see a fight back taking place. These groups of workers have faced huge difficulties during the pandemic whilst companies have profited. The trade union movement should look to organise the most exploited in society, and to harness the collective power that could strike a blow against the bosses and their profit agenda.

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