London Bus Drivers Threaten To Strike During Olympics

[Left Leanings]

More possibility of industrial action, to piss Cameron et al off:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9256736/London-bus-drivers-threaten-strikes-during-the-Olympics.html

Thousands of London bus drivers are threatening strike action, if they fail to get the bonus payments that their tube and rail counterparts are getting, during the Olympics.

[Stalin Ate My Homework]

Good, I hope we cause a massive scene and embaress our bourgeois class in front of the whole world. Im fed up of hearing about the fecking olympics.

[Left Leanings]

Good, I hope we cause a massive scene and embaress our bourgeois class in front of the whole world. Im fed up of hearing about the fecking olympics.

Definitely.

The Olympics is doing my head in too.

[Geiseric]

Fucking fantastic, I hope that this spectacle will be brought to light as the insidious bourgeois nationalist plot that was formed by the same scum as the league of nations!

:laugh:

[Grenzer]

Fuck the olympics. There is nothing wrong with competitive sporting, but the bourgeoisie have turned it into a fucking nationalist circus.

Hopefully they can screw things up. I have a feeling that somehow the strike won't go through though.

[Lanky Wanker]

It'd really help Greece's economy if we kept it over there anyway. :D

[Zealot]

I really, really, really, really hope they do it. I will be very pleased.

[Railyon]

"Think of the passengers, what are they gonna do? Public transportation strikes hold them hostage for their own selfish gains"

What I hear all the fucking time, lotsa pub. transport strikes over here too but everyone's crying like someone took their lollipop.

[brigadista]

"Think of the passengers, what are they gonna do? Public transportation strikes hold them hostage for their own selfish gains"

What I hear all the fucking time, lotsa pub. transport strikes over here too but everyone's crying like someone took their lollipop.

when the olympics are on in london you wont be able to get anywhere anyway -

if i didnt have to waste work holiday i would leave the uk at the end of june....

[El Oso Rojo]

"Think of the passengers, what are they gonna do? Public transportation strikes hold them hostage for their own selfish gains"

What I hear all the fucking time, lotsa pub. transport strikes over here too but everyone's crying like someone took their lollipop.

I can understand people of our class need to go to work. Or this just upper class people crying.

[brigadista]

I can understand people of our class need to go to work. Or this just upper class people crying.

"upper class people" will be able to work flexi hours or from home - the rest of us will be expected to struggle in when the whole of london is going to be congested - esp public transport -

i support the bus drivers i should say

[MotherCossack]

there aint nuffing wrong with the idea of the olympics..... lets face it... adrenaline is the best, free, legal high going.
we should never let the bourgoise hijack this and then turn our backs on something which could motivate loads of us and keep us fit and out of trouble/depression.
sports day at primary school.....there is a lot to be said for it. and' its a knockout' that was fun too.
i hate the corporate mega-monster which the olympics has become... but also there is a lot to be said for the actual idea and it is probably very good for us, which in turn makes us feel better.
shame we cant de-shitify the olympics or put it in the water purifying machine.... de- capitalize the whole shebang.

[Die Neue Zeit]

What kind of tactics will the bus drivers use? Walking out may decrease public support, but fare strike action may maintain or increase it.

[Left Leanings]

What kind of tactics will the bus drivers use? Walking out may decrease public support, but fare strike action may maintain or increase it.

Now that is a fucking good idea.

Run the buses, but let the passengers ride for free by not collecting any fares.

Peeps would able to get to where they need to, and the bosses would lose money.

I fucking LOVE it :) :)

[Die Neue Zeit]

Now that is a fucking good idea.

Run the buses, but let the passengers ride for free by not collecting any fares.

Peeps would able to get to where they need to, and the bosses would lose money.

I fucking LOVE it :) :)

You haven't heard of it before? :confused: It's not a new tactic (but it's not a very old one, either).

[Grenzer]

You haven't heard of it before? :confused: It's not a new tactic (but it's not a very old one, either).

I've never heard of it, but it sounds absolutely brilliant. Just by refusing to work, you're right they will probably decrease support for themselves(something that is often not considered by strike fetishists). Refusing to collect fares seem like a good way of maintaining popular support while hurting the bosses.

[Die Neue Zeit]

I've never heard of it, but it sounds absolutely brilliant. Just by refusing to work, you're right they will probably decrease support for themselves(something that is often not considered by strike fetishists). Refusing to collect fares seem like a good way of maintaining popular support while hurting the bosses.

FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fare_strike

[Whatever mass political strikes or mere general strikes come about, the tactics that "hurt the bosses" the most while keeping the services and other things running are the most effective ones. Withdrawing labour because of "point of production" arguments isn't a real solution.]

[Left Leanings]

You haven't heard of it before? :confused: It's not a new tactic (but it's not a very old one, either).

I had never come across it, no. But then due to my ongoing health problems, I have never been in been in permanent employment, or in a trade union, so the ins and outs of industrial action, I am not familiar with.

In my locality, when the buses go on strike, they tend to call one day or half-day 'lightening' strikes. They certainly don't run a service, but refuse to collect fares :) :star:

[Die Neue Zeit]

I had never come across it, no. But then due to my ongoing health problems, I have never been in been in permanent employment, or in a trade union, so the ins and outs of industrial action, I am not familiar with.

I'm in a similar situation to you, yet I'm acquainted enough with the tactic, having read enough online literature. :confused:

[Left Leanings]

I'm in a similar situation to you, yet I'm acquainted enough with the tactic, having read enough online literature. :confused:

Fair enough.

But my re-engagement with politics after a long, long period of absence, is very recent.

When I got well again, I got involved with the 'service-user' movement, of mental health rights activists. I am still involved with this, and have worked hard in this arena. One of the things we seek, is those who are in reovery and/or recovered, to run services for their peers, having the 'lived experience' of mental illness, and an ability to empathize more readily.

This will require a transfer of funds from NHS and Social Services bureaucracy, which are, of cos, part of the bourgeois state apparatus. It isn't ever going to happen under capital.

Hence my re-engagement with revolutionary politics. Fighting, campaigning and organizing on two fronts, if you like :)

[dodger]

RMT backs public meeting with Olympic legend and equal rights activist John Carlos from the 1968 games


RMT ACTIVISTS from London Underground are proud to have initiated a public meeting “Resistance – the Best Olympic Spirit” with one of the two athletes who featured in arguably the most iconic image from the modern history of the games, John Carlos who raised a gloved fist along with his comrade Tommie Smith on the podium in Mexico in 1968.

The meeting, also supported by the Fire Brigades Union, will give people a chance to hear direct from John Carlos who will be joined on the platform by Doreen Lawrence and Janet Alder whose brother Christopher died in Hull police station in 1998.

John Carlos said:


"Coming to the UK on the eve of the Olympics is a very exciting opportunity for me to talk with the new generation about why we did what we did back in 1968. When Tommie Smith and I raised our fists on that medal platform at the Olympics, we knew that we would catch hell but we didn't care. We didn't care because we wanted the coming generations to live and breathe as full citizens with equal rights. I was just concerned with right and wrong. We went out there for humanity. We are here 43 years later because the fight is still to be won."


RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“You cannot divorce sport from the continuing struggle for economic and social justice and we are delighted that RMT activists have been instrumental in bringing John Carlos to Britain for this important meeting in the run up to the London Olympics. It will send a message to young people that those who excel in the sporting arena can also play a pivotal and active role in the fight for equality and progress.”

[bricolage]

two new strike dates announced. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18631338) as of yet none during the actual olympics but still bus drivers don't look like backing down. this comes after the wildcat (http://libcom.org/news/wildcat-london-bus-action-complete-blockades-28062012) earlier this week.

[bricolage]

update: after the last strike was called off at the last minute, unite has agreed a deal with bus bosses and are asking drivers to accept it, don't know if there's been a reply yet.