Bordeaux is burning… as are the French cities of Paris, Nantes, Marseilles and Brest. Across France, millions of people have been out on the streets since January to demonstrate against the raising of the pensionable age from 62 to 64, forcing King Charles to cancel what would have been the first state visit of his reign at the end of March. The hugely unpopular reforms were forced through by the government of Emmanuel Macron using a constitutional mechanism to bypass a vote in the National Assembly. The refusal of President Macron to back down in the face of rising popular anger resulted in the torching of the City Hall of Bordeaux on 23 March.
As we go to press, the strike wave that began last autumn is beginning to ebb as trade unions start to agree settlements to their pay disputes. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) agreed a below-inflation pay increase in early March; the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has settled with Network Rail although its dispute with 14 train operating companies continues; the health services unions have received an offer which has led them to suspend strike action and the University and Colleges Union (UCU) are currently in negotiations through ACAS, the arbitration and conciliation service. Civil service and teachers’ unions remain in dispute.
Although levels of strike action are at their highest level for over 30 years, trade union campaigns remain under tight leadership control. 2.47 million working days were lost through strikes between June and December 2022, according to the Department for Business and Trade, while December saw the highest recorded monthly total since November 2011 (846,000 days). However, there is as yet little pressure from workers to go beyond the two or three days’ of walkouts that are or have been planned each month by civil service, education, health or transport unions. Trade union leaders have yet to face any real challenge over their willingness to compromise with employers, suspend strike action or negotiate pay deals below the inflation rate.
One of the first unions to settle their pay dispute was the FBU. Members voted 88% for strike action at the end of January in the face of an offer of 2%. It followed a study published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine in January that revealed that firefighters are three times more likely to die from certain cancers than the general population. However the strike threat was sufficient for an increased offer of 7% backdated to July 2022 with a further 5% in July 2023. 96% of FBU members decided to take the offer, with an 84% turnout. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said ‘Our internal discussions will be honest and sober. While the offer is improved from last year, it still amounts to a real terms pay cut.’
The RMT union called off strike action at Network Rail and all other industrial action, including an overtime ban, having agreed an offer of 14.4% for the lowest paid to 9.2% for the highest paid, with an additional 1.1% on basic earnings and increased back-pay. The RMT also suspended strikes in the 14 train operating companies scheduled for the end of March and beginning of April for negotiations with the companies based on the Network Rail offer.
Meanwhile the GMB, Unite and Unison suspended strikes involving up to 13,000 ambulance staff without a deal on the table, after what they described as a ‘huge shift’ in the government’s position. Unite’s head of operations said that following assurances from the government, strikes have been paused ‘in good faith’. The Nursing Times reports that the Royal College of Nursing has urged its members to accept a new pay deal put forward by the government in return for an end to all industrial action. The deal falls significantly below inflation and is nowhere near the 19% increase health workers demanded made up as it is by a 2% non-consolidated pay rise, a 4% ‘Covid-recovery bonus’ for the current financial year and a rise to 5% for most staff in 2023-2024. As we go to press, the government has not said whether any agreement will involve a contribution from existing NHS budgets, and there is significant opposition to the deal from union members.
Finally, the UCU called off seven days of strikes planned for late February and early March to create ‘a period of calm’ (UCU General Secretary, Jo Grady). Grady has now confirmed that while walk outs will continue, there has been ‘a breakthrough’ in negotiations. This will leave junior doctors – demanding 35% – and civil servants as the only major sectors committed to continued national strike action.
The absence of any significant opposition to the trade union leadership is in part down to the effect of incremental pay structures in place across the public sector particularly in health and education. Many employees in the public sector receive regular salary increases based on experience and years of service. Pay progression, especially for those with long service, can be substantial compared to the effect of a pay settlement. Annual increments in the NHS in 2022 were worth between 5% and 17%. This means that while last year’s NHS pay deal is equivalent to an average of 5.2% for staff on ‘Agenda for Change’, factoring in these annual increments means that the basic pay of existing staff by March 2023 will be an estimated 6.4% higher than the year before.
Although the incremental pay system provides compensation at the individual level for the effects of inflation, the real-terms fall in public sector pay bands shows that capitalism is increasingly unable to support a privileged layer of the working class let alone the mass of the working class. The impact is felt most by new entrants to the workforce, that is, younger workers.
Ellie Mack
Minimum Service Levels Bill
The Minimum Service Levels Bill is at the Committee stage in the House of Lords, a bill designed, according to the government, to ‘protect the public’ from strike disruption. It is no more than a concession to small capitalists with a visceral hatred for strikes but will allow the government to force a minimum number of employees, in essential services, to work during industrial action. Workers who refuse to cross picket lines could be lawfully sacked if they are named as part of meeting minimum service levels.
Bordeaux is burning… as are the French cities of Paris, Nantes, Marseilles and Brest. Across France, millions of people have been out on the streets since January to demonstrate against the raising of the pensionable age from 62 to 64, forcing King Charles to cancel what would have been the first state visit of his reign at the end of March. The hugely unpopular reforms were forced through by the government of Emmanuel Macron using a constitutional mechanism to bypass a vote in the National Assembly. The refusal of President Macron to back down in the face of rising popular anger resulted in the torching of the City Hall of Bordeaux on 23 March.
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 293 April/May 2023
