Workplace occupations: the way forward!

As it is now easy to see, the recession, the historic crisis of capitalism (the bosses’ system) is well underway. There are now over 2 million people unemployed in the UK, which is due to rise by another million by Xmas. This is coupled with massive job massacres all over the economy, in the car industry, retail and banking sectors most markedly. However, the millions of workers and families affected are not lying down and taking these attacks lightly. The slogan “WE WON’T PAY FOR THE BOSSES’ CRISIS!” is beginning to gain sway in reality through the everyday struggles of workers against the bosses’ attacks.

Recently, many threatened or fully closed workplaces have taken militant action against unfair redundancy terms (and even to get the most basic government level) and against the axing of their jobs and livelihoods. This happened in the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago (link), the Prisme packaging factory in Dundee (link) and most recently at the Visteon car parts plants in Belfast and Enfield (link). Bosses at these plants sacked 565 jobs without any notice at all, and have offered only the measly government level of redundancy pay. Apparently the fat cats have not money to pay the workers. Really they are cutting and running while the going’s good to save their precious profits. Unite covenor John Maguire said in response: “We have been left with no choice but to occupy the factory to save our jobs and to defend jobs for the people of Belfast.” Too right! They make the workers pay for the crisis when it is their creation. An occupation shows that workers can run the workplace in the absence of parasitic bosses creaming off the profits, paying us poverty wages, wholesale sacking us, with the help of their management lackeys.

Many jobs have not yet been lost at McD’s, but many of us suffer underhand attacks everyday. Take for the example ‘flexible’ working practices which are portrayed in Crew Room propaganda as great for young people and students with lives to attend to, but are in reality only a way of playing us against each other, cutting our hours on a whim and telling us how many hours we should work; in short, being told when to work rather than choosing ourselves with a high level of insecurity. Coupled with this trickery there is the blatant youth discrimination inherent in the minimum wage, which varies according to age. There is no reason young people should be paid less than other workers, especially if we are doing the same work. Young people are not worth less. If we are the future, why are we treated like second-class citizens. If we’re not already shackled to massive student debt, we’re expected to stay dependent on our parents, or both. We should not stand for this. Plenty of heroic struggles have been won by McD’s workers all over the world already.

NEW ZEALAND – SUPERSIZE MY PAY!

Thousands of McWorkers in New Zealand, many in the Unite union, recently won a collective agreement on decent pay after 50 strikes!! That’s determination! There is a new clause to give employees shift security -if hours have to be reduced then as much as possible the reduction should be shared by all staff. In many restaurants, a lower minimum wage for young workers was scrapped and raised the same level of older employees that were doing the same job after all! Full details here.

PARIS McOCCUPATION

Workers in a Paris restaurant occupied for over 6 months (!) over low pay, insecurity and the right the organise in trade unions. There is little information available as to the outcome of this action, but the event itself says something about what can happen when workers organise themselves in trade unions and in committees on the shop floor – they chucked the managers out!! See the video here.

TRADE UNIONS

Trade unions are vital and already existing organs of struggle. The problem is that many workers, especially young workers in temp. jobs and in low-paid retail work, are let down by the union officials and bureacracies who refuse to organise workers that aren’t in well-paid and secure employment. We are some of the most desperate workers around; for decent pay, conditions and the right to organise against attacks by management.

Despite this inaction, we cannot disregard the unions, we need to fight within them for our demands, for the union officials to fight for us, to come into our workplaces and help organise. If we know our rights and stand together, we cannot be defeated. From this lawful basis we can then push forward to much, much more – workers control. It pose the question of who runs society and in whose interests. The answer is it should be the working class. We are the vast majority in society. Running the world for profit bleeds us dry and leaves us with only poverty and misery, while the fat cats at the top get fatter.

WE WON’T PAY FOR THEIR CRISIS! BEGIN THE FIGHTBACK!

Occupations at Visteon and other workplaces have shown the way forward to achieving our demands and showing the power of a united, coordinated workers movement. We can do the same in our workplace, with the formation of Crew Room committees to organise struggles, to fight within the unions for our representation, to know our basic rights at work and to push the movement forward and, learning from our comrades in New Zealand and Paris, to strike and win!

We have nothing to lose but our chains.
McWORKERS (and all other workers, for that matter) OF THE WORLD UNITE!