2020 Indian General Strike

The biggest protest in Human history is currently happening in India, and when I say biggest I mean that this strike makes up one in thirty of the entire world population. 

So big. 

Very big. 

That’s 250 Million people on strike, to put that in perspective that’s as if every single person in the USA were on strike or even more clear, nearly four times as many people as live in the entire UK are currently on strike in India. 

Strikes have become ever more common in India in recent years with Modi’s far right government putting in place ever harsher restrictions on workers right, indeed the only major unions not to have gone on strike in India are those aligned with the ruling BJP. Modi has never been particularly popular with workers across India, and with the Government taking advantage of the Covid Crisis to push even more anti worker legislation into place a confrontation was inevitable. 

What has made these protests in particular grow in size has been the large contingent of farmers unions that have also used the same day to March on the Indian capital city of Delhi to protest the government’s policies that threaten to bring Neoliberalism out from the cities and into into the farming communities that still form a major part of the Indian economy. 

Unlike the worker’s from the city, which predominantly are from the poorer working class the farmers union protests appear to have drawn in agricultural workers from all stratas, and the protesters seem prepared to push for their demands with tenacity, with some farmers union representatives saying the group surrounding Delhi have come with months of food to wait out the government. 

This cross class movement isn’t the only united front forming in India with the myriad of communist parties of the region forming anti BJP coalitions, including the CPM and CPI, and even the Naxalite linked CPI(ML) Liberation. To those not familiar with Indian Leftist politics (we won’t shame you here but you should feel ashamed all the same) this might be confusing and just appear to be a stream of letters I threw at you but this is a bigger deal than you might first think.

India, despite being a region forced to through the horrors of imperialism and now the gruelling gears of global capitalism (or perhaps because of this) is a place where not only are communists more popular than in the west, they’ve also shown themselves as to be able to govern. Kerala, one of the richest states in India has largely been run by a moderate communist party and ran well. A reputation communist don’t enjoy in most of Europe, except perhaps in local elections in France. 

What does this mean in the context of the current strike action? Perhaps not much but the communists parties new found warmth to anti BJP coalitions, the worker’s unions ability to organize and agitate and now with new found support from both rural poor, and even rural landowners (groups typically not found in unity with Marxists) it is possible this movement could form into something that can effectively oppose the ruling far right Indian Government. 

There are hurdles in place and a difficult road in front of the nascent movement and the battle is not even won yet, to speak nothing of the class war but I for one am optimistic. To end our article we would like to leave you with words of Actor Deep Sindu, who has come out in support of this recent wave of protests and industrial action. 

“This is a revolution, sir”

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Who was Joe Hill

If you’re a member of the IWW you no doubt already know of Joe Hill thanks to his contributions to the Little Red Song Book (and if you’re not, we would encourage you to join). Most famous for his song “The Preacher and the Slave” Joe was a travelling musician that became a folk hero for the radical work he carried out in the trade union movement; for his beautiful songs that cut right to the heart of the pains of being a worker in early twentieth century America and for his tragic death at the hands of the American state. As it is the hundred and fifth anniversary of his untimely death we at the ACU thought we would explore a little about the man’s life and work, and remember this martyr for the trade union movement. 

Joe Hill, originally named Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, was born on October 7th 1879 in Gävle, Sweden to a conservative Protestant Family. Despite his family being from a more traditionalist worldview, Joe’s early life was one filled with song. Both of his parents were musicians and while a young man Hill wrote songs about his family, and even went to concerts at the workers’ association hall in his hometown. Tragedy struck the happy family in 1887 when Hill’s father died from an injury at his job as a train conductor, and soon Joe and his 5 other siblings were forced to quit school to support themselves. The 9-year-old Hill found himself working in a rope factory rather than attending school but this too wasn’t to last. In 1900 Joe caught TB and at the age of 21 moved to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm both for work and to get treatment for his condition. It was during this treatment that the radiation therapy would leave the young joe with facial disfigurements. Two years after these treatments Joe’s mother would pass away, while herself under medical treatment. With this final tragedy the family sold their home and each went their separate ways; four of Joe’s siblings settled in different parts of Sweden but Joe and his younger brother Paul instead set off for America.

For the next 12 years Joe travelled America, working odd jobs, living in tent cities and writing songs about his experiences. In 1910 he joined the IWW and served as the secretary for the San Pedro local branch. During his time here he wrote many of his most famous songs, including “Pie in The Sky” and the famous “The Preacher and the Slave” that would make its way into the IWW songbook. When legendary folk singer Utah Philips performed Joe Hills songs in concert he would explain why so many were written to the tune of the hymn songs that the salvation army would sing – “Joe liked to steal, the Wobblies generally liked to steal the hymn tunes because they were pretty and everybody knew them and then changed the words so they made more sense”. 

In 1911 he put his revolutionary words into action and, along with an army of homeless radicals, joined up as part of a socialist army that invaded Mexico in hopes of over throwing the dictator of Mexico at the time, Porfirio Diaz, as well as hoping to take over Baja California and turn it into a worker’s free state. The invasion was a disaster and soon the better trained and equipped Mexican Army, still at that time loyal to Diaz, routed the revolutionary army six months after it had crossed the border. In 1912, Hill was apparently active in a Free Speech coalition of Wobblies, back when being pro free speech actually meant standing up to authority, and protested a San Diego police decision to put a stop to street meetings. During this time he was also spotted at sites of industrial action, offering kind words and zealous songs to lift the spirits of workers across America. 

It was in 1913 that Joe’s work supporting strikers would first bring him into conflict with the police. He was arrested for the first time and held for thirty days, charged for what he says in his own words as being “a little too active to suit the chief of the burg”. 

After this Joe was on the police’s watch list and in 1914 when a grocer and his son turned up dead after a botched robbery and Joe turned up the same day at a hospital with gunshot wounds the police pinned the murders on Joe. This was held up on shaky ground, with the only evidence being circumstantial eye witness accounts that did not identify Joe, only a young assailant that escaped with gunshot wounds. Joe, for his part, said he got his gunshot wounds in a feud over the love of a young woman, but refused to give up the name of the young woman or rival on worries that he would only incriminate them. 

The identity of the woman and the rival that caused Hill’s injury was a well kept secret, one that Joe thought he took to the grave with him, though a 2011 biography of Hill presents information about a possible alibi which was never introduced at the trial. Hill and his friend Otto Appelquist were rivals for the attention of 20-year-old Hilda Erickson, a member of the family with whom the two men were lodging. In a recently discovered letter, Erickson confirmed her relationship with the two men and the rivalry between them. The letter indicates that when she first discovered Hill was injured, he explained to her that Appelquist had shot him out of jealousy over their shared love for Hilda. 

During the trail and on the lead up to his execution Joe managed to draw in support from all across America. His supporters included a daughter of a former Mormon church president, radicals that he had worked with during his striking days, and even senior politicians like the Swedish minister to the United States and President Woodrow Wilson. Despite all of these appeals to justice on November 19th 1915 Joe was brutally and unjustly executed by firing squad. His last recorded words were to Bill Haywood, a well known and loved leader of the IWW, and it’s with those words we will leave you now.

“I die like a true rebel. Don’t waste any time mourning, organize!”

University Strikes: Staff and Students against Management

Across the country, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK, universities are being hit by a 14-day strike, with staff at over 74 universities taking part and thousands joining in support, both workers and students. Universities state they will attempt to keep services unaffected by the industrial action but this statement is looking increasingly hollow as classes are cancelled, and with many students actively supporting the strikers, the universities are increasingly looking like the weaker side. 

The University and College Union, the group that organised this wave of industrial action are taking issue with the way in which treatment of staff is continuing to deteriorate. Increasingly, consultation has set into the industry, with an increase in zero-hour contracts, an unresolved gender pay gap and worsening contract terms. The straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of staff appears to have been changes to pension schemes meaning staff were paying more without the University increasing payments into the pot in kind. 

This will be the third time that uni staff have gone on strike, the last time happening just before Christmas and negotiations are still not landing at a reasonable result. During this time however support from students, according to the BBC is around 47% among students Keeping in mind this might be the third time some of these students have gone through a strike nearly one in two students still supporting the strike is both surprising and good news for staff. The strikes have also got the support from some politicians, notably including Labour leader candidate Rebecca long Bailey and Labour education shadow secretary Angela Rayner. Support from other parties is a bit quieter, not surprising since in previous strikes in Scotland SNP cuts were directly called out as a reason for industrial action, with Staff and union members warning as early as September last year about SNP policy making strike action more, not less likely. 

Support in Glasgow’s institutes remains high, and many students continuing to join staff at picket lines. The reasons behind the Scottish strikes are a little different than the strikes taking place elsewhere in the UK; as mentioned earlier, the cuts to education in Scotland were a driving cause, as was a reduction in real wages, with union representatives saying that some lecturers have had a reduction in pay of 20% over the last decade. 

One interesting form of protest that has emerged during these strikes is that staff are simply following their contracts to the letter without carrying out any of the additional duties they were doing outside of the role they were hired for. The effectiveness of this strategy is shocking, and cuts to the heart of the issue of casualisation in education. The fact that these institutes are crawling to a halt simply because people are only doing what they are paid to do exemplifies how much of a burden is being pushed on to staff without compensation. By forcing employees to burn the wick at both ends without even fairly compensating them for the additional work they are relied upon for, it was only a matter of time before workers took to defending their livelihoods against a deal that is tightening the screws on them. 

Although students continue to show their support, this has not been without consequences. Some universities have dealt students suspensions and expulsions for supporting staff, aiming to drive a wedge between teachers and students. This policy has put people’s educations at risk and at Stirling University, students that supported the strikes earlier last year were threatened with homelessness as they would be banned from university accommodation. The fact that university management is treating the support for staff with such an iron fist, threatening teenagers with homelessness is deeply chilling. The idea that universities are a place that young people can grow, learn but also develop a voice is not lining up with the reality, where you can now be kicked out on the streets for piping up. 

As the strike continues it’s important we all pay attention to what is going on: our centres of education are putting the squeeze on educators and support staff, and at the same time dealing out draconian punishments to dissenters. If you’re able I would ask you to support the strike in any way you can, or else the next generation will be taught about the world from underpaid, overworked educators and reminded constantly to keep their mouths shut.

Postal Strike

The Communication Worker’s Union, which represents over 110,000 workers within the postal service, voted on whether or not to go on strike. This passed with an incredible majority, with 97% voting yes. With a turnout of around 76% this makes it the most powerful democratic mandate in recent British history. To put that in context, the last time a general election drew a turnout percentage that high was in 1992, before my lifetime.

This strike will be the first of its kind in nearly 10 years, and with numbers like these it’s clear to see that there is a lot of passion behind the vote and a motivated union membership. The strikes come after the CWU said an agreement reached with the Royal Mail to raise pay, reform pensions and reduce weekly working hours from 39 to 35 per week by 2022 was being disregarded, and that management were trying to get out of holding up their end of the bargain. Worse still, there are worries that new CEO Rico Back- who has a reputation for treating workers poorly- will try and turn the tide of reforms back even further.

These concerns are troubling for anyone who works within the postal service, but could also mean a reduced quality of service for those who rely on the Royal Mail as standards are dropped to push for profits. The majority of parcels across the country are delivered via the Royal Mail service, with rural post offices representing vital community hubs. Further privatisation and selling off of assets could cut older or vulnerable people off from the rest of the world as well as hurt the economy. The general secretary of the CWU, Dave Ward, has said that they will “fight the board’s asset stirpping plans” and build the postal service into something that “supports local communities and [in] growing the economy.”

While this is a national vote, Ayrshire is playing a key role: with a ballot turnout higher than the national average, as well as holding gate meetings and demonstrations before the ballot papers even arrived, the Kilmarnock office is a centre of activity and planning. Tam Dewar, the CWU divisional representative for Scotland and Northern Ireland, gave us the following statement:

“Royal Mail Group and Communications Workers Union concluded a groundbreaking agreement in 2017. This tied the Board of the newly privatised Royal Mail to grow rather than contract as a business, to maintain the separate functions as a Group, protected terms and conditions in the face of ‘gig economy’ terms – zero hours contracts with no annual leave or sick pay and no pension entitlements – and agreed a strategy to negotiate changes required through automation, a changing workload and increased consumer demand for next day parcel delivery.

This agreement, “The Four Pillars” was groundbreaking since the privatisations of the past had resulted in asset stripping, wage cutting and job slashing in pursuit of the bottom dollar. And important aspect was an agreed shorter working week to 35 hours as full time employment. Many commentators questioned what RM got in return but the main benefit was a good stood of industrial stability and agreed Agenda for reform.

Within a year of the Agreement being signed RMG gave the CEO Moyà Green a golden parachute of several millions and hefty pension to leave the Board, quickly followed by the Chief Operating Manager and Department heads who had signed the deal. A new CEO was recruited through a £6m buy out from an RMG subsidiary GLS. This was a European based parcels business operated by German National Rico Back, a Swiss based multi millionaire who made his money through atrocious working practised described by a German TV documentary as “verging in slavery”. Mr Back made it plain that he had no international of honouring the 4 Pillars Agreement.

Following reports from throughout the UK that relationships had broken down the CWU notified the RMG Board of our intent to ballot 110,000 members pending a period of external mediation.
The strength of our small Trades Union lies in the fact that we have workplace Reps elected in every Delivery Office. This grass roots organisation of how we communicate in a two way conversation with the National Leadership. Kilmarnock Delivery Office is a case in point. Over 100 Postal delivery workers organised by two elected Reps. While most Offices would have one gate meeting over the 7 week ballot period Kilmarnock held a weekly gate meeting as part of meal relief. In many communities like Kilmarnock a job with Royal Mail provides secure employment with a pension in retirement, sick pay and benefits and annual leave pay. This is especially true in small and remote communities throughout Ayrshire. These terms and conditions were won through the efforts of past generations and this generation has been called upon to defend them and we will.

Our Union is organised from Lands End to Orkney including Northern Ireland. We are organised from the bottom up so no Area is forgotten but there are more Postal Delivery Workers in London than in the whole of Scotland. I hold the post which coordinates Union activity in Scotland and Northern Ireland and have a voice equal to any other part of the UK.
Rural and small town communities like Ayrshire enjoy a six day delivery of one price goes anywhere Postal delivery service. This is at threat both from the Board of Royal Mail Group who want to cut service to maximise profit and from the Postal Regulator Ofcom whose main remit is to encourage competition rather than quality of service. The Isle of Man service has just reduced deliveries to five days and our suspicion is that Ofcom plan a similar attack.
CWU members deliver to every address in the UK. Our golden rule is ‘Never Cross a Picket Line” in respect of the fact that any group of workers going on strike a losing pay must have a genuine grievance. In return many other Trades Unions repay that respect through support at times like these.

Our Union does not want to strike, we want our employer to honour the Agreement made, if not the picket line calls.”

We at the ACU wish the postal workers and the CWU the best of luck in the coming months, and would also encourage our readers to show their support. We would also like to remind anyone upset by the disrupted service not to direct their anger to the hardworking and burned out workers, but the people that have put them in this position, namely Royal Mail Group, who have demonstrated they have no qualms with reneging on a previously established agreement. If we continue to allow private entities to do this, it won’t be long until you face a similar situation with your own employer. Maybe you already have. As this and previous strike action demonstrates, without strong unions we’re at the mercy of empty corporate promises and platitudes.