Following on from the last post, this is the policy agreed unanimously on Friday by the NEC of UCU;
NEC
Notes:
1) 29 unions representing over 3 million public sector workers took strike action on the November 30.
2) The government threat to impose the changes in January and to introduce more trade union laws if the unions don't agree to their demands.
3) That the NUT and PCS executives votes to consider escalating strike action as soon as possible in the new year, including further national coordinated strike action.
Believes:
1) That the government are attempting to divide the unions. They are trying to intimidate and bully the unions into accepting their paltry revised offers.
2) That, although the government's attempt at an offer is totally unacceptable, it shows that the joint union campaign is having an effect.
3) That the 30th November coordinated strike has transformed the climate of resistance over the fight over pensions.
4) The government is isolated, nasty but weak.
5) That escalating the action quickly and significantly is the key to winning.
Resolves
1) To propose at the next joint education group meeting that, should no acceptable outcome be achieved in negotiations, the next day of nationally coordinated action to be called as early as possible in the spring term. This day of action to be immediately followed by coordinated regional action. This action to be rolled out across the country creating a Mexican wave effect acting as a bridge to the next day of nationally coordinated strike action. This action to end with a 48 hour nationally coordinated strike.
2) To put this proposal to the TUC public sector coordinating group.
This is a positive contribution to the debate about "where next?" after N30, although I'm not convinced that Regional action would seem like a "Mexican wave" of escalation as it could highlight areas of relative weakness.
Another option being promoted by Paul Kenny is to fundraise from the wider membership to support selective action (http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=8715). This is always a popular option as it suggests someone else can win a battle on our behalf - but recent experience suggests it is unlikely to be effective. Do we really have the capacity to organise raising millions of pounds a week from the wider membership to fund selective action, even if we can find groups of workers who have that much clout? The Southampton dispute doesn't suggest that this approach alone could lead to an early victory even if we could fund it.
UNISON is considering another option with a possible ballot for "action short of strike" in the Ambulance Service (http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/2011/12/after-n30-what-next-for-pensions.html). Maybe ambulance workers can have an impact with a "work to rule" but with unpaid overtime and imposed "flexibility" widespread in public services, this isn't a tactic which can do much elsewhere, particularly not in areas of lower union density. The recent experience of Barnet UNISON illustrates the limits of this tactic.
We need to find tactics which we think can be effective and which our members can be persuaded to support. This debate is urgent and necessary and every trade union member should be involved.
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