PRC-UTE
23rd July 2009, 18:17
Chauvinist strike deal in UK is
blow to uniting working class
(front page)
BY CELIA PUGH
LONDON—Construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire in
the north of England agreed June 29 to return to work after a deal between
the French-owned Total company and the Unite and GMB unions.
The strike and agreement is a rerun of reactionary strike actions in
January and May against foreign-born workers and are a blow to
working-class unity.
Under terms of the agreement, 51 workers who were made redundant (laid
off) and another 647 who were sacked as a result of the strike were
reinstated. The unofficial strikes around the country began June 11 when
the 51 jobs were cut while the company continued to hire immigrant
workers. An estimated 3,000 contracted oil and gas workers from around the
United Kingdom joined these actions.
On the eve of the settlement Unite general secretary Les Bayliss met with
the employers to tackle “grievances” over hiring and firing at the
refinery.
The London-based Guardian newspaper reported that the discussions included
a previous agreement with the unions that no British workers would lose
their jobs while Italian and Portuguese immigrant workers were still on
the work site. The foreign-born workers were shipped in on a barge at
Grimsby docks.
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny announced that the union had launched a
Ł100,000 (US$162,000) hardship fund for the strikers and was pressing
ahead with a national ballot of thousands of workers in the industry on
the settlement. Total reported that the action had left the construction
project next to the Lindsey site six months behind schedule.
Socialist Worker, a newspaper reflecting the views of the Socialist
Workers Party in the United Kingdom hailed the reactionary the strikes,
declaring, “Its time for a total shutdown” and “Spread the strikes.” The
paper criticized the main slogan of the actions—“British jobs,” saying it
had been “pushed back but … remains a danger.”
However, the deal brokered by Total and the unions rests on the very same
divisive, reactionary British-first nationalism that fueled the first
strikes in January at the Lindsey refinery.
This was repeated again in May when the unions backed unofficial strikes
in Wales over the hiring of foreign contract workers. Kenny then stated,
“There is widespread anger and outrage at repeated attempts in different
projects around the country to exclude local people from job
opportunities.”
The Socialist Party in the United Kingdom attempted to deny the
nationalist character of the strikes, citing media reports that
journalists searched in vain to find banners demanding “British jobs for
British workers.” “Workers at South Hook,” the SP said on its Web site,
“were not opposed to laggers from Poland getting work on the site as long
as local laggers were given the opportunity of the work first under the
union agreement.” Forty Polish workers were removed from the site by the
company.
Worker correspondents for the Militant visited the Lindsey site June 23
and spoke with workers there. One of the many British-first placards
present summed up the action: “British jobs, on British sites, for British
labour,” it read. Asked if any steps had been taken to strengthen the
working class—native and foreign born—to fight together for jobs, one
worker said that the Portuguese and Italians “don’t want to know.”
Another striker said, “I’m not xenophobic or racist but we should start
with the British workers and then top up with European brothers if there
is a shortage,” adding that the foreign-born workers don’t have the right
papers or skills for the job.
Alex Xezonakis contributed to this article.
http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7328/732805.html
blow to uniting working class
(front page)
BY CELIA PUGH
LONDON—Construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire in
the north of England agreed June 29 to return to work after a deal between
the French-owned Total company and the Unite and GMB unions.
The strike and agreement is a rerun of reactionary strike actions in
January and May against foreign-born workers and are a blow to
working-class unity.
Under terms of the agreement, 51 workers who were made redundant (laid
off) and another 647 who were sacked as a result of the strike were
reinstated. The unofficial strikes around the country began June 11 when
the 51 jobs were cut while the company continued to hire immigrant
workers. An estimated 3,000 contracted oil and gas workers from around the
United Kingdom joined these actions.
On the eve of the settlement Unite general secretary Les Bayliss met with
the employers to tackle “grievances” over hiring and firing at the
refinery.
The London-based Guardian newspaper reported that the discussions included
a previous agreement with the unions that no British workers would lose
their jobs while Italian and Portuguese immigrant workers were still on
the work site. The foreign-born workers were shipped in on a barge at
Grimsby docks.
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny announced that the union had launched a
Ł100,000 (US$162,000) hardship fund for the strikers and was pressing
ahead with a national ballot of thousands of workers in the industry on
the settlement. Total reported that the action had left the construction
project next to the Lindsey site six months behind schedule.
Socialist Worker, a newspaper reflecting the views of the Socialist
Workers Party in the United Kingdom hailed the reactionary the strikes,
declaring, “Its time for a total shutdown” and “Spread the strikes.” The
paper criticized the main slogan of the actions—“British jobs,” saying it
had been “pushed back but … remains a danger.”
However, the deal brokered by Total and the unions rests on the very same
divisive, reactionary British-first nationalism that fueled the first
strikes in January at the Lindsey refinery.
This was repeated again in May when the unions backed unofficial strikes
in Wales over the hiring of foreign contract workers. Kenny then stated,
“There is widespread anger and outrage at repeated attempts in different
projects around the country to exclude local people from job
opportunities.”
The Socialist Party in the United Kingdom attempted to deny the
nationalist character of the strikes, citing media reports that
journalists searched in vain to find banners demanding “British jobs for
British workers.” “Workers at South Hook,” the SP said on its Web site,
“were not opposed to laggers from Poland getting work on the site as long
as local laggers were given the opportunity of the work first under the
union agreement.” Forty Polish workers were removed from the site by the
company.
Worker correspondents for the Militant visited the Lindsey site June 23
and spoke with workers there. One of the many British-first placards
present summed up the action: “British jobs, on British sites, for British
labour,” it read. Asked if any steps had been taken to strengthen the
working class—native and foreign born—to fight together for jobs, one
worker said that the Portuguese and Italians “don’t want to know.”
Another striker said, “I’m not xenophobic or racist but we should start
with the British workers and then top up with European brothers if there
is a shortage,” adding that the foreign-born workers don’t have the right
papers or skills for the job.
Alex Xezonakis contributed to this article.
http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7328/732805.html