HeartUnions: Trade Unions post-General Election, Trade Unions post-Brexit

To mark 'HeartUnions' week (10-16 February 2020), Reading Trades Union Council supported Reading & District Labour Party's panel event discussing trade unions in post-general election, post-Brexit Britain. Held on 12 February in the conference room of the Reading International Solidarity Centre, John Partington (TSSA) as RDLP's Trade Union Liaison Officer and RTUC's Secretary introduced speakers from three unions across a range of sectors. Nikki Dancey (GMB), RTUC's Vice-President, was joined on the panel by Karin Lesnik-Oberstein (UCU) and Cllr Chris Clark (TSSA).

Speakers, Chris Clark (TSSA), Karin Lesnik-Obersten
(UCU) and Nikki Dancey (GMB)

Karin, Reading UCU's Equality Officer, began the evening, speaking about the long campaign by the University and College Union to defend university staff pensions and to halt the move towards greater casualisation and wage depression in the higher education sector. Karin framed the dispute, which commenced in 2018, within the context of the monetarisation of education, converting learners from students to customers and prioritising exam success along a rapid conveyor belt over cultural and intellectual fulfillment. The result is not only the employer, Universities UK's confrontation with staff in a bid to maximise university income, but also a pressure on teaching staff to spoon feed ready-made, formulaic education to student-consumers programmed to demand the 'right' answers rather than to challenge the universities (and, by extension, society as a whole) with thoughts of their own.

In connecting the UCU dispute with wider student intellectual welfare, it is to be hoped that a broad base of support for the strike will be garnered. All are encouraged to join the University of Reading UCU pickets (or your local university pickets) between 08:00 and 10:30 on the following days:

Week one: Thursday 20 & Friday 21 February;

Week two: Monday 24, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February;

Week three: Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 March.

Karin and Nikki, local activists in the
Reading labour movement

Following Karin, Nikki, the GMB South Regional Organiser, presented a comprehensive analysis of the prospective battles to be faced by the labour movement in the coming years. With a Conservative government sitting on a large majority, it is clear the Labour Party in parliament will be weak in the face of the anticipated repression Boris Johnson's government will unleash on organised labour. The nullification of the CWU ballot by the courts in November - despite over 90% support for strike action - and the government's suggestion that the right to strike by railway staff should be reviewed due to the railway being an essential service demonstrates which way the wind is blowing. Further anti-trade union legislation seems an inevitability. Nikki suggested TUPE protection and the 'check-off' method of paying trade union subscriptions might be early Tory targets.

Nikki promoted community engagement, coalition building and joint actions. The trade unions and Labour, yes, but more than that: mutual aid and solidarity throughout the community, learning from other areas and sharing organising practices with other areas. She told the story of the Prospect School dispute which she organised and which brought great pride to the wider Reading labour movement. The school proposed to outsource cleaning services to a private firm, largely bypassing the requirement to consult staff and not informing the GMB of their intentions. The cleaners objected, Nikki learnt of the proposals and a membership drive was commenced. In the subsequent union membership ballot, 100% was won for strike action! Following a school gates protest by RTUC, RDLP and the cleaning staff, the school management backed down and outsourcing was cancelled!

The meeting of trade unionists and Labour supporters

The final speaker of the evening was Chris Clark (TSSA), Labour councillor in Croydon and the TSSA's executive member on the London, East and South East TUC. Playing devil's advocate, Chris suggested the Tory government, having won so many traditional Labour seats in the North of England, may seek to offer concessions to workers in a bid to retain northern working class votes. Railway nationalisation, given  the patently obvious failure of the post-privatisation franchising system, seemed possible. Chris's suggestion was not without challenge, with Kevin Jackson (Unison) and John Partington (TSSA) vocalising skepticism....

Chris suggested Labour's election offering was largely sound, but was too broad for a focused campaign while the allure of the Tories' 'Getting Brexit done' was too great. Chris advocated community organising as the primary bulwark against the Tory government's large majority.

The evening was punctuated by questions from the audience and concluded with general discussion. The audience engagement was uplifting and it is clear that the disastrous general election defeat and Britain's departure from the European Union have not knocked the fight out of Reading's labour movement. Leadership from the likes of Karin, Nikki and Chris is important - but workers', community organisers' and political activists' participation is vital. Without the grassroots, the resistance will fail. It is incumbent upon us all to keep up spirits and recruit colleagues and comrades into active social participation.

As well as Nikki Dancey (GMB) and John Partington (TSSA), RTUC was well represented with attendance from Kevin Brandstatter (GMB), Steve Geary (USDAW), John Gillman (Unite), John Oversby (UCU) and Chris Reilly (RMT).