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Court verdict is a disgrace...
don’t let unjust
law stop the fight
I The Vestas wind turbine workers
t is an utter disgrace that
the courts have bulldozed aside
the wishes of trade unionists at
British Airways and ruled a strike
illegal. Delivering a 92 percent vote for
action on an 80 percent turnout is no
guarantee that the law will protect you
in “democratic Britain”!
The judge accepted BA’s argument
that some people had voted who,
although they still worked at BA, knew
they were leaving in the future.
Nobody claims that even if these
votes were all discounted that it would
have changed the outcome of the ballot.
But claiming a technical infringement
was enough for the bosses to win.
What an outrage that 12 years into a
Labour government workers still have
so few rights. And why does Unite, the
BA workers’ union continue to give so
many millions to that party?
Don’t back off
The best response to the injunction
would be to strike anyway. On several
high-profile occasions recently this
is what trade unionists, mainly Unite
members, have done—and won.
The Visteon car plants workers
occupied their factory illegally in April
and defeated the multinational Ford
corporation.
Lindsey Oil Refinery workers walked
out in the summer and spread their
action to dozens of other sites—without
ballots or any of the other legal
niceties—and they won.
Right to Work
Conference
Fight for every job  Stop
the cuts  Defend services and
pensions
Speakers include Mark Serwotka, Tony
Kearns, Jerry Hicks, and Jeremy Dear
Saturday 30 January
Central Hall, Oldham St, Manchester
Sign up today at
www.righttowork.org.uk
This is a threat to every trade
occupied their plant illegally and made union and, if successful, will make it
front page news across the globe. virtually impossible to organise legal
If the union gave the nod towards strikes.
unofficial action it could win again— On 22 October last year, some
just as the BA check-in staff won 14,000 London bus workers in the
through an unofficial and illegal strike Unite union were due to strike. Union
in 2003. leaders called off the action because of
Or perhaps BA workers should do a legal injunction.
the same as the railworkers at London The same manoeuvre was used in
Midland did recently and all just happen 2007 to get an injunction against a
to decide not to work overtime or do national post strike.
anything else that isn’t in their contract. More recently energy multinational
Or go sick together. EDF stopped an RMT strike because
Millions of people in Britain are a judge decided the union had not
furious that workers are being asked to detailed the exact grades involved.
pay for the bankers’ and bosses’ crisis.
They supported the BA workers and Defiance can win
would support a fight now. The anti-union laws were brought in
Instead the union leaders accepted by the Tories under Margaret Thatcher
that they must reballot—and even that’s and have been maintained in all their
not certain. It’s no help that Unite leader essentials by Labour.
Derek Simpson said the 12-day strike They were designed to hamper
programme was “probably over the top”. unions’ ability to resist, and to give
That made it easier for the media to union leaders a way to persuade their
attack the strike. members not to strike.
There should be a mass trade union
Battle continues campaign against these laws. In the
We need much more serious leadership end the only way to win is for a union
if BA workers are not to see jobs to say that it is not going to back down
destroyed and conditions savaged. in the face of injunctions and threats,
Calling off the strike is a huge and that it will strike regardless. And
setback. But the battle has to go on. The then every other union, and the TUC
union must not surrender. must support them.
The stakes are very high. A very Labour has let down workers and the
serious push is being made by the state, Tories only offer more of the same.
the bosses and their legal jackals to We need a genuine working class
extend the anti-union laws by stealth. political alternative.
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