Workers are fighting with their unions to stop bad deals

Features

Yuri Prasad explores the discussion between trade unionists in health and the post about how the rank and file can win

A period of rising confidence, and intense and growing strikes, has given way to a new season typified by union-backed deals. In two industries—health and the postal service—unions have been met with stiff resistance when trying to sell agreements that fall far short of what was called for. Socialist Worker went along to two online meetings to hear how people are organising, and the obstacles they are trying to overcome.

The NHS—nurses resolve to fight Tory deal

The Tories want everyone to believe that the issue of health service pay is now closed. The NHS staff council last week voted to accept the government’s offer of an additional lump sum for last year, and a meagre 5 percent for this. But the mood among many health workers remains bitter. Everyone knows that the deal will do nothing to fill the thousands of vacancies or improve the terrible conditions staff work under.

It’s no wonder that voting, even in unions that accepted the deal, was far closer than officials had hoped. In unions that voted to reject, there is defiance. On Monday of next week nurses in the RCN union will start voting on further strikes. And a 50-strong online meeting of the NHS Workers Say No group last week was determined to back them and continue the fight.

Nurse and senior Unison activist Karen Reissmann opened the meeting. She explained how important it was that nurses in the RCN had overturned their leadership to reject the Tory deal and pointed to others still on the pay battlefield. Karen said workers in unions that accepted the offer must now look for ways to show solidarity—and spark their own local disputes. Those themes dominated the meeting, which had members and reps from the Unite, GMB, RCM and Unison unions.

Fresh from last week’s picket lines, a Unite rep and nurse from St Thomas’ Hospital in central London spelt out the new situation. “The Unite strike at my hospital shows that if you give people a lead, they will fight,” he said. He added that nurses and an array of specialist staff had joined together during the strike.

“Karen is right, this fight is not over. “But,” he said, pointing to the unions that have settled, “We have been dented. Nevertheless, there are real positives so far. The act of overturning the RCN leadership to reject the Tories’ pay offer was down to this group. This is the first time in years that we have a rank and file organisation in the NHS.”

Another nurse from the same Trust backed him. They pointed out that many RCN nurses had temporarily joined Unite in the week of strikes specifically so they could walk out last Tuesday. Nurses were bitter about the court ruling that said the second day of their planned action was illegal.

Speaking about the forthcoming RCN reballot, the nurse added, “Everyone needs to give up one morning during the ballot period to do a walk around hospital wards with leaflets urging a yes vote. I do mean everyone. Not just RCN members, but members of other health unions and members of non-health unions too. The government will try to isolate the RCN. It may try to do a deal with the junior doctors, so we have to make sure they get the ballot over the line.”

This was music to the ears of the RCN members on the call. A support worker from Sheffield pointed out that nurses have been on a “huge learning curve”. “For many people, these strikes were the first they’ve been part of,” he explained. “We’ve gone from being reactive to the situation we face to being proactive.

“That means we are no longer afraid of setting out our demands, which includes pay, but also many issues beyond it.” A nurse from central London who had also been on strike last week echoed that confidence. “If I hear of a ward or an area of my hospital which is not striking, I go straight round to visit them,” he said.

“And I put the case for why they should be out on the picket line with us. The point is, we all have to see ourselves as an extension of our union. But we also have to battle inside our unions—whether the RCN or Unison. They say they are member-led but they don’t have the structures to deliver on this. That’s why we have to fight to make the union what we want it to be.”

Striking nurses remain defiant—and question RCN union leaders’ strategy

A nurse and RCN member among the meeting organisers agreed. “People have got to look at how far we’ve come,” she said. “There would have been no strikes if we hadn’t pushed hard for them to happen. And, if there had been no strikes, then there would have been no better offer.” 

She disagreed strongly with talk from RCN leaders that future strikes could last for months. “If we have a programme of escalating action, coordinated with junior doctors in the BMA union, we can win far quicker than that,” she said. “We can put pressure on both the government and the Labour Party over the issue. This fight is not just about this pay round. We want a fully funded NHS and public services.”

She was among many in the meeting that echoed Karen’s points. These included the need for a rash of local disputes over pay grades, recruitment and retention bonuses, hospital parking charges, mileage allowances and overtime. “We need to do everything to get the RCN reballot vote,” the nurse added. “And we have a message for colleagues in unions that have voted to accept the deal.

“Don’t just get frustrated—and don’t be divided. Instead turn the anger into action.” The activity by rank and file members matters now in the fight over pay. And the networks they’re creating can be used in the battles that lie ahead.

‘In Royal Mail, we need to be brave and get around the offices to say the deal is shite’ 

The temperature is rising in the postal workers’ union over a prospective deal with Royal Mail. A CWU members’ ballot on the agreement is set to start on Wednesday of next week and last three weeks. Many rank and file workers are furious and say the deal will heap extra work on them, tear up their lives and leave them worse off. 

Some reps even think that those who were sacked or suspended during the 18 days of strikes in 2022 will be hung out to dry by new disciplinary processes. So far, most branches that have discussed the offer have accepted it. But South Central Postal branch that  covers the HP and OX post code areas last week voted to reject it.

The prospect of some others doing the same has the union tops rattled. Leading members of the union have embarked on a tour to win over waverers and get the deal over the line. Speaking in Portsmouth last week, general secretary Dave Ward admitted there were “elements of the agreement that not all members will like.” 

Postal workers rage against rotten deal pushed by union

But, he said, Royal Mail was in “unprecedented circumstances” and so it was a “good deal for anyone that cares about the future of the company”. Ward went further and attacked those organising against the deal.

Sounding like a relic from the Cold War, he said their campaign was run by “extreme political groups who sometimes look to infiltrate trade unions.” He went on, saying, “I don’t respect that they should have influence on our members.” Ward’s attack is unlikely to trouble the 30 people that joined the first meeting of Postal Workers Say No.

Peter (not his real name), a sacked CWU rep from West Yorkshire, opened the online gathering by explaining some of the deal’s key weaknesses. Socialist Worker has hidden the names of the activists because of the vicious threats from Royal Mail bosses and CWU bureaucrats attacks on those who speak out.

“We’ve been told that the agreement gets rid of the worst that Royal Mail wanted to impose on us, including compulsory redundancies and Sunday working,” said Peter. “But the price for that is annualised hours, seasonal working, pay cuts, and cuts to our sickness policy. That will drive people out of the job.”

He pointed out that delivery workers will now spend more time outside in the winter—in the cold and dark. And many older workers will not be able to cope with the new workloads.

“The merger of mail centres, the network and Parcelforce will lead to ‘rationalisation’, and job cuts,” he  said. Jake, a worker from the south west of England, explained that he’d been on the picket line during all the strike days at his depot. 

“Everyone at my office says this is a terrible deal,” he told the meeting. “No one likes it, but some will vote yes out of loyalty to the union. I think Dave Ward is completely out of touch.” James, a delivery worker from Stoke, which has long been a strong CWU area, said the mood in his office was “unhappy” but warned of “fatalism”.

“Lot of people who don’t like the agreement won’t vote against it because they think it’s a done deal,” he said.  The union is going to rely on their apathy. That’s why I think we have to target the mail centres with leaflets—that’s where we can get the biggest votes”. 

Royal blackMail—don’t give in to bosses’ new threats

A Parcelforce worker from Coventry spoke next. “The problem with the agreement is that our leaders have based their strategy on saying, ‘We can run Royal Mail better than you’,” he said. He went on to argue that members opposed to the deal would have to show real courage to defeat it. 

“People have to stand up to others in positions of power,” he explained. “We need to get round our workplaces and be brave. We need to speak out to reps and colleagues and say this deal is shite. If Royal Mail was in serious trouble there would already be parts of the business being shut down. That isn’t happening. 

“The trouble is that in the past there have been too many comfortable relationships between our negotiators and theirs. But now we have a management that wants to break the union—those days are over. The union should have recognised that, and as soon as Royal Mail sacked our reps, we should have gone on all out, indefinite strike.”

The campaign will now need to move quickly to get leaflets in offices and mail centres, and into the continuing round of reps’ meetings taking place across Britain. 

• Postal Workers Say No has produced a first bulletin that outlines why CWU members should vote no. It can be downloaded from their Facebook page, or requested by emailing [email protected]