show the government yet again the depth of opposition to their attack on pensions and the willingness of FBU members to fight back. It also gives us a great opportunity to show everyone just how angry we are. We must take the initiative at Parliament Square. Chanting, blowing whistles, waving flags, marching and sit down protests can force our fight into the headline news. We should turn Parliament Square into a carnival of resistance. We should make sure everyone knows about the pensions rip-off this government is forcing on firefighters. And we should tell them about Mordaunts lies too.
Force
For well over a year FBU members have
responded magnificently to the calls for political campaigning and strikes. But the truth is that the limited nature of our strikes has been unable to force the concessions needed to win. Instead the government has dug in and Brigade bosses have gone on the offensive. Bucks bosses sacked EC member Ricky Matthews and today theyve locked out FBU members for 36 hours. This is outrageous, but entirely predictable. The national union called the 24-hour strike to start in Bucks at 9am to coincide with the Bucks shift system in the hope this would stop Bucks locking out our members. But bosses dont respect our union leaders caution, and they stuck the boot in. Their aim is to intimidate members, break the strike and undermine the union. They know as well as we do that beyond the pensions dispute there will be more fights. They want to be best placed to force through the attacks that are coming. This is why it is so important that the union should respond with more
national strike action every time the
bosses escalate. Failing to do so gives the bosses confidence to launch further attacks as the case of Ricky Matthews shows. It also undermines our union.
Manchester
The recall conference in Manchester
backed the EC statement for increased political campaigning and more industrial action. Todays strike and demo is another opportunity to put those words into action. But we need consistent and sustained escalation of strikes to win. The limited concessions in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales came about because of strikes, or the threat of strikes. The back-to-back four day strike last summer forced Chief Officers to admit they couldnt cope and showed we could break the scabbing operation. We should be building on this. The unions over-cautious approach might suit some, but it wont secure a victory. And it will not build up the strength of the union. Labour and the Tories are committed to more austerity and more cuts. So whoever wins the election we face further attacks. Theyll be ramping up the scapegoating too. We cant let the racists divide us. Thats why everyone should be on the Stand Up to Racism demonstrations on 21 March.
Its also why we need to back the
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidates at the May elections. Our past experience has taught us that ordinary members and officials can organise themselves inside the union to facilitate a debate about the way forward, coordinate activity and solidarity and stand candidates against those officials who fail to lead properly. It was precisely through the Grassroots organisation that Matt Wrack and Andy Dark came to lead the union. We need to rebuild a similar organisation today, not just to stand candidates but to develop the fighting spirit of the rank and file, to support the leaders when they fight for the members but also to develop and organise opposition and alternative strategies when the leaders fail to lead. This is what those firefighters organising around the Fightback group are hoping to achieve. Essex is on strike next. Fightback is calling on FBU activists everywhere to organise delegations to picket lines and send messages of support.
Fightback To get involved with the Fightback group or for more information contact: Fightback@gmail.com
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