Produced by

CoalItIon of FesIstance
Clasgow


corglasgow@gmaIl.com
TwItter: @CDFClasgow



Songs and Chants
for a Picket Line


November 30
th
2011

Three million workers,
Twenty six unions,
One message

HANDS OFF
OUR PENSIONS

Produced by
Coalition of Resistance, Glasgow

%en Facts about PubIic Sector Pensions
1. The cost of public sector pensions is falling. Public sector pensions
cost 1.9% of GDP today, but will fall to 1.4% by 2060.
(Source: Hutton Report)

2. Two reports in the last 12 months have concluded that public sector
pensions are both affordable and sustainable
(Source National Audit Office & Public Accounts Committee)

3. The average public sector pension is around 5,000 per year. For a
woman in local government the average is 2,600: hardly "gold plated
(Source Local Government Pensions Scheme)

4. Private sector pension schemes received 37.6bn in tax reliefs in
2007/08 but paid out pensions worth only 35bn.
(Source - Making Pensions Work, TUC Report)

5. The cost of providing means tested benefits to pensioners will
(13.5bn this year) will rise if pensions are eroded.

6. Private sector pensions for ordinary workers are often poor or non-
existent.

7. Some private sector pensions are very generous. n 2009,the average
value of a FTSE 100 director's pension was 3.4m
(Source: TUC Research)

8. Only in Cyprus, Latvia and Estonia is there higher pensioner poverty
than in the UK.
(Source: European Commission Statistics)

9. An average 65 year old man in Kensington and Chelsea can expect to
live a further 23 years, while in Glasgow it is only 14 years. Raising the
pension age has a disproportionate impact on low earners.

10. Changing pension indexation from RP to CP would save the private
sector 100 billion over the lifetime of existing schemes
(Source: Pension Capital Strategies)
About GIasgow CoaIition of Resistance
Coalition of Resistance is a UK-wide anti-austerity umbrella organisation
founded by Tony Benn, which seeks to build a broad alliance of anti-cuts
groups and trade unions.

CoR Glasgow seeks to link together community groups fighting the withdrawal
of services, students challenging cuts to education provision and the
introduction of 9K fees to students in the Rest of the UK and workers fighting
to save their jobs, pay, conditions and pensions. We recognise the links
between all of our fights and seek to facilitate and provide support to
communities, students and workers taking action, as well as putting people in
touch with one another so that they can co-ordinate actions
We are primarily an activist group, and our meetings are usually conducted by
breaking into small groups based on interest to organise concrete solidarity
actions. Since establishing ourselves earlier this year, some of the actions we
have supported have included

Save the Accord Centre
Supported the campaign and march through the East End of Glasgow

Oppose the JB Agreement
Solidarity actions with Sparks protesting at deskilling and 35% paycuts
RUKidding - Oppose 9K fees
Supported feeder marches and occupations opposing the 9K fees
J30 PCS Strike Action
Provided tea, coffee and hot food to pickets in Glasgow on J30

On N30, we will drive a bus around the picket lines in Glasgow, again bringing
hot food and drinks to the pickets, as well as songs and chants, solidarity and
support.
Our next meeting is at the S%UC on WoodIands Road at
7pm - 7
th
December
%he InternationaIe

Arise ye starvelings from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change forthwith the old conditions
And spurn the dust to win the prize.

Chorus
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

Chorus

No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty
And give to all a happier lot.
Each at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

SoIidarity Forever

When the union's inspiration through the workers blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.

Chorus
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.

All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
t is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.

Chorus
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.

Chorus
We're the women of the union in the forefront of the fight,
We fight for women's issues, we fight for women's rights,
A woman's work is never done from morning until night,
Women make the union strong.

Chorus
n our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

Chorus
They say our day is over; they say our time is through,
They say you need no union if your collar isn't blue,
Well that is just another lie the boss is telling you,
For the Union makes us strong!
%he PicketIine Song

My mother never told me what was right or what was wrong
never taught me to play guitar never taught me to write songs
but one thing that she taught me 'll remember for all time
and that's that you should never walk across a picket line
Chorus
Oh i would never walk across a picket line
solidarity forever don't mean just sometimes
so long live the union cross my heart and hope to die
if I should ever walk across a picket line
She took me to a factory where the workers were on strike
the company had called in scabs to break the union's might
my mum went to the front and addressed those greedy swine
sayin' "i dare any of you men to walk across this picket line!'
Chorus
Well one of them came forward and he had something to say:
"no woman will stand between me and one day's pay!
i don't care 'bout the others am taking what is mine'
and with that he tried to walk across our picket line
Chorus
Mum called him a dirty scab, gave him two pieces of her mind
she picked up and she threw every rock that she could find
and when he called the cops on her she kicked his behind
saying' "that's what you get when you walk across a picket line!'
Chorus
Well to this day can remember what my mother used to say:
"we're fighting for a better world, not just for better pay
and if we stick together then we'll win this fight in time
so long as we don't walk across each other's picket lines'

Nine to Five
Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen;
pour myself a cup of ambition,
and yawn, and stretch, and try to come to life.
Jump in the shower, and the blood starts pumping;
out on the street, the traffic starts jumping,
with folks like me on the job from nine to five.

Working nine to five, what a way to make a living;
barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving.
They just use your mind, and they never give you credit;
it's enough to drive you crazy, if you let it.

Nine to five, for service and devotion;
you would think that I would deserve a fair promotion;
want to move ahead, but the boss won't seem to let me.
I swear sometimes, that man is out to get me.

They let you dream just to watch them shatter;
You're just a step on the boss man's ladder,
But you've got dreams he'll never take away.
n the same boat with a lot of your friends;
Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in,
And the tide's gonna turn, and it's all gonna roll your way.

Working nine to five, what a way to make a living;
barely getting by,it's all taking and no giving.
They just use your mind, and they never give you credit;
it's enough to drive you crazy, if you let it.
Nine to five, they've got you where they want you;
There's a better life, and you dream about it, don't you?
It's a rich man's game, no matter what they call it;
And you spend your life putting money in his wallet.

Our Union

Our union's story is there to be seen,
We've won many victories and we've suffered defeats,
But as turn through the pages and look back through time,
There's one single question stands out in my mind -
Today we may prosper, today we live free,
But if it weren't for the union, where would we be?
Chorus:
It's our union, our union that defends our rights,
But our union's as strong as our own will to fight,
For the union is you and the union is me,
So stand up and stand by our union.
From it's humble beginnings our union has grown,
So no working person need struggle alone.
But no gain that's been made has been made without cost,
And together we'll see that no gain's ever lost;
Take a look at those countries where workers aren't free -
f it weren't for the union, where would we be?
Chorus
Would you choose to go back, working twelve hours a day,
Would you choose to toil more and a pittance be paid?
Will you stand in the union against the new right,
Or do you think on your own you can withstand their might?
The answer is written in our history,
f it weren't for the union, where would we be?
Chorus
They say we've got problems, and the unions they blame,
Well, Franco and Pinochet they said the same.
f our union they weaken, if our union they break,
Then where's our defence from becoming enslaved?
So would you choose bondage above liberty?
And if it weren't for the union, where would we be?

Which Side Are You On?
Come all you good workers
Good news to you 'll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell

Chorus
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner,
And 'm a miner's son,
And 'll stick with the union
'Til every battle's won.

Chorus

Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Chorus

Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Poor folks ain't got a chance
Unless they organize

%he Union Maid
There once was a union maid
She never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks
And the deputy sheriffs who made the raids
She went to the union hall
When a meeting it was called
Company boys came round, but she stood her ground
Never prepared to take a fall

Chorus
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union
I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union
I'm sticking to the union till the day I die
This union maid was wise
To the tricks of company spies
She couldn't be fooled by a company stools
She'd always organize the guys
She'd always get her way
When she asked for higher pay
She'd show her card to Scotland Yard
And this is what she'd say
Chorus
You women who want to be free
Just take a little tip from me
Break out of that mold we've all been sold
You got a fighting history
The fight for women's rights
With workers must unite
Like Mother Jones, bestir them bones
To the front of every fight

Don't Be %oo PoIite, GirIs
We're really on the way, girls, really on the way,
Hooray for equal pay, girls, hooray for equal pay,
They're going to give it to most of us, in spite of all their fears
But why did they have to make us wait for all those years
on't be too polite girls, don't be too polite,
Show a little fight girls, show a little fight,
on't be fearful of offending, in case you get the sack
Just recognise your value and we won't look back.
They say a man needs more to feed his children and his wife,
Well, what are the needs of a woman who leads a double working life?
When the whistle blows for knock-off it's not her time for fun
She goes home to start the job that's not paid and never done.
on't be too afraid girls, don't be too afraid,
We're clearly underpaid girls, clearly underpaid,
Tho' equal pay in principle is every woman's right
To turn that into practice, we must show a little fight.
We can't afford to pay you, say the masters in their wrath
But woman says "Just cut your coat according to the cloth"
f the economy won't stand then here's the answer boys,
"Cut out the wild extravagance on the new war toys".
All among the bull girls, all among the bull,
Keep your hearts full girls, keep your hearts full
What good is a man as a doormat, or following at heel?
It's not their balls we're after, it's just a fair deal.

Are you Union Made?

was standing on a picket line
A man walked over he was tall and fine
he had the deepest of deep blue eyes
The kind of eyes that mesmerize
Chorus
Are you union made?
Are you union made?
I really got to know right now
'cos its not too late for me to walk away
Before got lost in his baby blues
looked him over from his head to his shoes
He looked at me and gave me a smile
A smile that could take a girl a million miles
Chorus
He looked at me and nodded his head
"'m a union organiser he said
"And these workers are in distress
got to help them out got to do my best
Chorus
Walked over to the barbeque
Started helping to cook the food
He turned around and stared at me
He said "Listen my friend can you tell me

Chorus
Are you a union maid?
Are you a union maid?
I really got to know right now
'cos its not too late for me to walk away
%he Workers Song

This one's for the workers who toil night and day
By hand and by brain to earn your pay
Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread
Have bled for your countries and counted your dead

Chorus
We're the first ones to starve, we're the first ones to die
The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky
But we're always the last when the cream is shared out
For the worker is working when the fat cat's about

n the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines
We've often been told to keep up with the times
For our skills are not needed, they've streamlined the job
And with sliderule and stopwatch our pride they have robbed

Chorus

And when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
Who's given a gun and then pushed to the fore
And expected to die for the land of our birth
Though we've never owned one lousy handful of earth?

Chorus

All of these things the worker has done
From tilling the fields to carrying the gun
We've been yoked to the plough since time first began
And always expected to carry the can


Chants
What do we want?
Proper pensions!
When do we want them?
When we retire!
**********
Students workers and the sick, did not cause the deficit,
Bullshit. Come off it! The enemy is profit!
************
No ifs, no buts, no fees, no cuts
No rotten politican's gonna speak for us
No ifs, no buts, no fees, no cuts
No surrender, no retreat, not me, not us
************
When you say cutback we say fightback
Cutback; fightback
Cutback; fightback
Cut, cut, cutback; fight, fight fightback
***********

Nick Clegg, we know you
You're a just a Tory too.
**********
(Tune: My Old Man's A ustman)
Ohhhhhh, Cameron is a Tory, he's got a big fat cat,
They taken all our money, and now we want it back,
They're cutting on the left side, they're cutting on the right,
But now we're all together, and we're up for a fight!
More Chants

Bankers, bailouts, ConDems too,
None of us voted for you
**********

(Tune: You are my Sunshine)
They are the Condems, they want our pensions,
They want our hospitals and nurseries too,
But we're together, they won't divide us,
They will not take our pensions away

*********

(Tune: You've got to roll with us)
You've got to strike with us,
you've got to march with us,
you've got to stand up and say
there ain't nothing gonna get in our way
cos these cuts are just too much to take

Not going to stand aside
Not gonna be denied
We're gonna stop all their cuts
There ain't nothing going to get in our way
Those Tory pricks have had their day
********
Tories out, Tories out
We know what you're all about
Cuts, job losses
Money for the bosses