Blog.. sparks council workers' walkout? Really?

[ls]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8332616.stm

Dunno what to say really, good stuff, let's hope they speak out and act in solidarity with the postal workers.

[Patchd]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8332616.stm

Dunno what to say really, good stuff, let's hope they speak out and act in solidarity with the postal workers.
Hmm, I'm afraid they're not council workers, but councillors, don't think we'll be seeing solidarity for the strikes from them. These are the people who are usually voting against the introduction of free bus passes for the elderly etc...

[ls]

Mate, they mass resigned as opposed to just striked
Councillors in a rural town have staged a mass resignation .

I don't think it's fair to just call them pieces of shit, a lot of working-class people run as a cllrs to be fair, if they resign then really they are pretty likely to be workers just like you and me.

[Patchd]

Mate, they mass resigned as opposed to just striked .

I don't think it's fair to just call them pieces of shit, a lot of working-class people run as a cllrs to be fair, if they resign then really they are pretty likely to be workers just like you and me.
Would you support politicians, as in, MPs, if some resigned en masse? There are many working class people who aspire to become (and some do succeed) MPs and big whig politicians. Also, I probably misunderstood you, but are you suggesting that the ability to resign from a position makes someone working-class?

[ls]

Would you support politicians, as in, MPs, if some resigned en masse? There are many working class people who aspire to become (and some do succeed) MPs and big whig politicians. Also, I probably misunderstood you, but are you suggesting that the ability to resign from a position makes someone working-class?

Nah, MPs are different, if they resign I couldn't give a fuck, they are still scum. And no I'm not saying resigning purely makes someone working-class, that's kind of a silly thing to assume I said.

It's just in this context of cllrs mate, quite a lot of them are working-class and if they resign, I don't think it's fair to just disregard them.

[Saorsa]

They resigned cos some random blogger was criticising them. They couldn't handle the jandal and threw a hissy fit about it. What's so progressive about that? And why on earth would it suddenly lead them to supporting the posties?

[ls]

Err, it wasn't "some random blogger". Please read the story properly.

[Saorsa]

I read the article you linked to. You've entitled this thread 'council workers' walkout' when as far as I can see from that article (I'd be happy to be proven wrong by further information) a group of sitting councillors resigned from their seats in response to criticisms by a blogger. There's nothing in the article to prove me wrong regardless of how properly I read it, I think your the one who's totally misunderstanding the story.

Councillors in a rural town have staged a mass resignation after becoming tired of criticism from a blogger.

These were not council workers. 11 out of 15 councillors resigned, there's no mention of a single council worker 'walking out'. I think you should read it a bit more carefully.


Businessman Mr Canvin, 61, said: "I'm not going to tolerate it when I'm working for the town.
"I said, 'I've had enough' and handed in my resignation."
A motion was then proposed at the meeting that members leave due to "impossible working conditions".


These people are not workers. They are politicians. There is a difference. This doesn't belong in workers struggles.

[ls]

I read the article you linked to. You've entitled this thread 'council workers' walkout' when as far as I can see from that article (I'd be happy to be proven wrong by further information) a group of sitting councillors resigned from their seats in response to criticisms by a blogger. There's nothing in the article to prove me wrong regardless of how properly I read it, I think your the one who's totally misunderstanding the story.

They are the lowest level of 'politicians' and they do work for the council, I don't think you understand how councils work over here really.


Councillors in a rural town have staged a mass resignation after becoming tired of criticism from a blogger.

The blogger is not just 'some random person', he's a big businessman.


These were not council workers. 11 out of 15 councillors resigned, there's no mention of a single council worker 'walking out'. I think you should read it a bit more carefully.

These people are not workers. They are politicians. There is a difference. This doesn't belong in workers struggles.

It's very odd how you think participation in government is ok, but when cllrs resign even if they are working-class, they are still scum.

[Saorsa]

I didn't say they were scum, I pointed out that they're elected councillors, not wage-workers employed by a boss. Your right that I don't know how councils work over in the UK so I may well be wrong with my analysis, but all I got from that article was that a blogger has been consistently making negative posts about these councillors and that they decided they couldn't handle the pressure anymore and resigned en masse.

I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, I just genuinely don't see why this is either progressive or that big a deal.

[Patchd]

The blogger is not just 'some random person', he's a big businessman.

So is, at least, one of the councillors:


Businessman Mr Canvin, 61, said: "I'm not going to tolerate it when I'm working for the town.
"I said, 'I've had enough' and handed in my resignation."
A motion was then proposed at the meeting that members leave due to "impossible working conditions".

[ls]

I didn't say they were scum, I pointed out that they're elected councillors, not wage-workers employed by a boss. Your right that I don't know how councils work over in the UK so I may well be wrong with my analysis, but all I got from that article was that a blogger has been consistently making negative posts about these councillors and that they decided they couldn't handle the pressure anymore and resigned en masse.

I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, I just genuinely don't see why this is either progressive or that big a deal.

It's not "that" big of a deal, but I thought it was something to talk over and could raise some interesting points.

It's important to remember that revolutionary left groups are quite often happy to run councillos themselves, the independent working-class association for example, they justify that by saying it simply measures the work they've done to help people out in the community. I don't agree with it myself, but I think it points to the fact that there are other people that definitely run as a councillor so they can help out purely with local issues in their community.

And let's be fair, if someone like that resigns, someone who is working-class, there is a high likelihood they are just going to get a normal workers' job.


So is, at least, one of the councillors:

True, not all of them are working-class and yeah, of course some of them are pretty reactionary in any case, my local ones for instance are extremely pro-Zionist and it is rumoured, quite racist against Muslims.

Still, I do not think disregarding all resigned councillors is fair by any means, it doesn't represent all of them. I'd say about half of all councillors if they quit, would be normal working-class workers without particularly reactionary views.