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Strike to beat

Mordaunts lies
www.socialistworker.co.uk

odays 24 hour strike and demo will


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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Firefighters 24/02/15

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