On 18th June large numbers of trade unionists, socialists & a wide range of activists marched in Central London under the slogan ‘we demand better’. Better that is on pay, the cost of living, public services and many other issues.
Not much tends to happen directly as a result of such protests. Rather its a case of how much they reflect the mood down below across the movement in workplaces and communities.
Here things look promising. The RMT is set to take strike action on the rails and tube next week. The CWU is balloting for strikes in both the post and telecoms. It might be the most promising period for working people to push back against employers since the first half of the 1970s.
The ruling class at least grasps the point. The FT (18.6) quotes a Cabinet Minister that the Tories could face a de facto General Strike with pressure for 8-9% pay rises threatening to increase inflation in a replay of the 1970s. Brian Reading who advised Heath’s Tory Government in the 70s has argued that while unions may be weaker such is the scarcity of skills workers are in a good place to make employers pay up
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