"The cuts are happening everywhere you look. Solidarity among workers is all we've got."

Paul Mason, Newsnight's economics editor, on the BBC picket line.
Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

BBC strike: a dozen journalists, a homemade placard and a former Play School presenter on the picket line

By 9am when the BBC's flagship radio news programme, Today, should have been signing off in traditional style by crashing the pips, the ragged line of about a dozen National Union of Journalists pickets was bagging support from passing traffic.

There were flashing headlamps from a No 22 London bus; a tooted horn from a white catering lorry, and one small grey van which, after a chat with the striking journalists, turned back from the gates - to the pickets' surprise.

Meanwhile hundreds of BBC workers had streamed past them into the Wood Lane Television Centre, the heart of the corporation's radio and television news operation, a few looking slightly awkward, most barely registering the pickets. "I'm not in your union, but I support you guys," one man said - but went in anyway.

Helen Boaden, the director of news, smiled and said hello as she walked through, too briskly for the pickets to get out a "BBC pensions robbery" leaflet to offer her. "She's presumably in there now doing all the news programmes by herself," said Ian Pollock, chair of the NUJ London branch at the BBC. "She was very pleasant - but she's still scabbing."

They tried harder to engage with the soon-to-be-redundant deputy director Mark Byford, but he strode through. Peter Horrocks, director of the World Service, paused for long enough to assure them their cause was hopeless.

Paul Mason, Newsnight's economics editor, joined the picket line in battered jeans and pinstripe jacket, insisting: "What we're on strike for is the right to take a pay cut so we can pay more into our own pensions." It was not an issue arousing tremendous public sympathy, he agreed as passersby, clocking that his was the most famous face on offer, hurried on by. "This is not the miners' strike," he said.

The solitary homemade placard, a beautifully lettered "Lose 1/3 of my pension? Of course I'm on strike", on drawing paper nicked from his children, was carried by Ian Jolly, who works for the BBC news website. He spent his very first day as a professional journalist on strike, joining the picket outside the Eastern Daily Press in Norwich in 1978. "This [the BBC strike] has been a very hard sell," he said today. "A lot of people think, 'you're in work, what are you moaning about?' "

A group of pensioners arrived on a coach, a University of the Third Age group from St Albans booked in months ago for a studio tour. "If I was working for the BBC I'd be out on this picket line too," Peter Dodd said staunchly, after a career as an engineer and technical officer in which he was made redundant five times. "The whole state of British employment today is very worrying."

Two slightly bemused Dutch tourists, Lena and Marcel Dam, arrived to join the tour. They got to London on Tuesday, in time for the tube strike. "For us it is very interesting to find Britain like this," Marcel said, guffawing.

Chris Tranchell cheerfully introduced himself as a flying picket, a one-man delegation from Hammersmith and Fulham trades council where he represents the actors' union, Equity. But it turned out he knew the Wood Lane building very well indeed: from 1976 to 1984 he was a regular presenter on Play School. His bosses may already have had his number, since the day he whistled, while narrating a Christmas tree story, the air to O Tannenbaum - or The Red Flag, as it is better known at Labour conferences. He sealed his fate during the miners' strike, when he appeared on the front page of a trade union journal, collecting toys for strikers' children outside Hamley's in Regent Street. He was invited to an ominous lunch with his producer. "The word miner was never mentioned. She told me, 'Chris, your face is no longer coming at us through the camera,' and that was that.

"The cuts are happening everywhere you look. Solidarity among workers is all we've got."

From the Guardian Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/05/bbc-television-centre-picket-line

Firefighters in London set to strike on bonfire night

From the Guardian Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/oct/25/london-firefighers-strike-bonfire-night

Thousand of union members may refuse to work during one of fire service's busiest periods as contracts row escalates



Euston Road fire station in London: the Fire Brigades Union claims its
members face the sack if they do not accept new shift patterns.
Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Firefighters in London are planning to strike on bonfire night in an escalating row over contracts, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said tonight.

Thousands of members would refuse to work shifts from 10am on 5 November to 9am on 7 November, covering one of the fire service's busiest periods.

The threat was greeted by claims from the London Fire Brigade commissioner Ron Dobson that emergency fire crews had faced "harassment, intimidation and violence" from "a small minority" of staff determined to sabotage their efforts during the first stoppage on Saturday.

Another eight-hour strike is due to take place next Monday, with the union claiming firefighters face the sack if they do not accept new shift patterns.

Matt Wrack, the FBU's general secretary, said: "We do not want to take this action but we have no choice. The alternative is to allow London's firefighters to become doormats for their employers to walk on. "The long-term safety of Londoners depends on a well-trained, self-confident firefighting force. The chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Brian Coleman, issues calculated insults and says he's relaxed and sacking all of them.

"He and the Commissioner, Ron Dobson, want to run the London Fire Brigade as though it were a Victorian mill. They want a frightened and obedient firefighting force. We simply cannot accept that." Wrack said the London Fire Brigade "should show a little respect" and hammer out a compromise rather than "bullying" staff.
Last Saturday, contract staff crewed 27 fire engines across the capital instead of the usual 150. They responded to 49 incidents during the strike including several fires in homes, according to the brigade.

The brigade alleged there were a number of incidents in which working firefighters were threatened or intimidated, including three motorbikes surrounding one fire engine.

Tim Montgomerie, of the influential Conservativehome website, urged the coalition government to rush through new legislation curbing unions' rights to organise strikes. He said there should be compulsory arbitration in essential public services. "Certain key public sector workers should give up their right to strike and in return the government would accept the arbitration of an independent body - something like Acas - on issues of pay and conditions."

Montgomerie also backed London mayor Boris Johnson's recent call for a ballot threshold of 50% participation in a vote before strike action could be called. The FBU's ballot would have passed this hurdle.

Reports from today's picket lines...

From Socialist Worker

Fire strikers' mass pickets stop the scabs



Firefighters' picket line in Stratford (Pic: Roddy Slorach)


by Tom Walker

Striking London firefighters scored a huge victory against management's scabbing operation today (Saturday). Militant mass pickets all but destroyed bosses' operation to break the strike.

And, in a glimpse of what coordinated action could mean, many London tube workers refused to work on safety grounds during the strike, shutting down the entire Jubilee line for much of the day and causing major problems on other lines.

The strikers in the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), walked out for eight hours from 10am this morning. They had voted by 79 percent to strikes over a management order to either sign new contracts with shifts that would put fire cover at risk, or face the sack.

The bosses bought in a scab fire force from private firm AssetCo to try to break the firefighters' strike.
But the scabs were kept out of all the capital's fire stations by mass pickets, including up to 400 in Poplar, where the picket was joined by firefighters who'd come from across Kent to support them, and 200 in Dagenham, with a big delegation from Essex FBU.

Graham Beers, FBU rep for Dagenham, told Socialist Worker, "It was great to see the big groups turn up from Essex—the strikers walked out this morning to a big round of applause.

"This is the first time I've ever been on strike. Members of the public have come with boxes of chocolates and things like that. The support we've had has been incredible."

There were also reports of pickets of as many as 50 firefighters at Homerton, Woodford Green and Shoreditch in east London and Kensington in west London, boosted by large groups of off-duty firefighters, and many more stations where pickets were much bigger than expected.

Delegations of firefighters also joined today's anti-cuts protest in central London. There, FBU general secretary Matt Wrack told the crowd, "AssetCo's scabs have not got into a single fire station today.

And he added, "I have reports that two of the 27 fire engines they're using have already crashed."

Firefighters listening in on the brigade's radios told Socialist Worker that one scab fire engine drove into a wall, while another managed to crash into a lamp post. Ironically, fire bosses have previously admitted that the scabs can't cover traffic accidents.

In the morning, most scabs didn't even dare show their faces at fire stations—and the few who did were quickly driven away.

The scabs were forced to find somewhere else to lurk until they got orders over the fire engines' radios.

In Leytonstone and Dagenham, they were found hiding out in Tesco car parks.

Graham, the Dagenham rep, said, "When we found out they were in the car park, we sent a greeting party to go and see them and tell them what they're doing is wrong."

At several other stations groups of firefighters set off in their cars to track scab fire engines that drove past.

In Poplar the pickets ran down the road after the scab engine, waving a huge FBU banner.

And in Kensington they twice managed to stop fire engines and confront the scab crews inside. After the second time, the scabs said they were giving up and taking the fire engine off duty.

Union activists believe that by 3pm there were as few as 11 of the scab crews left working, trying to cover the whole of London—and failing.

---

Public support



Firefighters' picket line in Chelsea (Pic: Matt Grabham)


There was a high level of public support for firefighters on the picket lines.

Strikers at Hornsey Road fire station were joined by council workers, post workers, teachers, college lecturers and others from Islington trades council, as well as local students and left wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn told the strikers, "This is my local fire station. This is about an employer trying to unilaterally change contracts—but it is part of a bigger agenda of cuts and job losses."

Paul Carpen, FBU rep for Holloway, told Socialist Worker, "This strike is about the mass sacking of firefighters. Their attitude is take it or go."

Lucy, a firefighter, added, "I spent sleepless nights deciding what to do. But we have no choice—if we don't stand up now they will come for us again and again."

The bosses sent private security guards employed by Mitie to "guard" the fire stations for the duration of the strike. But at Hornsey Road, the security guard told Socialist Worker, "I support the strike—I'm here to guard the station if they leave, not to interfere. I work at Homerton hospital—we would strike if we were treated like they have been."

At all the pickets, people in cars honked in support as they drove past and passers-by stopped to chat and take leaflets. The firefighters explained to them what their dispute was about.

At Homerton fire station, FBU rep Karl Haider said, "We don't want to be on strike, but management need to withdraw the threat to sack us all. We have got to make a stand."

At Woodford Green, FBU branch secretary Paul Davis said he was "very pleased" with the turnout. But he was worried about the fire authority's attitude.

"The bosses' strike-cover plans in the advent of a chemical, biological or nuclear incident are completely inadequate," he told Socialist Worker. "They are putting Londoners' lives at risk."

His concerns were echoed by firefighter Charlie. "This dispute is about defending a vital public service.
"Look at the way the fire authority are using untrained staff as scabs today. That about sums up their attitude. They only care about budgets.

"But firefighters are totally united and committed to winning this battle—you can see that in the scale of our strike vote and the numbers on the picket line.

"Our attitude is, if we don't fight today, the service will be gone tomorrow."

In North Kensington, firefighter Lee Homer said, "This isn't about money—the bottom line is public safety. The fire authority says it's about a few hours' shift change, but we know it's really about cutting fire engines and closing fire stations.

"People are aiming their anger at the scabs—but they knew what they were coming into. I hope it makes them think twice. Playing with people's lives like this is just not on."

Jack, also from Kensington, added, "Today has been a victory for us. Now, if the fire authority don't back down, we'll have to escalate—step up the strikes and make it even more of a problem for them."

---

Shutting down the Tube



Firefighters' picket line in Homerton (Pic: Socialist Worker)


The firefighters' next strike on Monday 1 November has the power to shut down London for the day, as tube workers plan to step up their refusals to work over safety.

One key tube activist told Socialist Worker, "Today we were focusing on shutting down the Jubilee line—and we did that. So we've shown what we can do.

"The next strike will be on a weekday—and we will spread the action further."

The firefighters today fired the opening shot in the battle against the Tories' massive cuts. Now everyone needs to get behind them—just like the tube workers are, and like many other workers did on the picket lines today.

With solidarity from across the movement, the firefighters can score a huge victory for all of us.

Thanks to everyone who sent in reports from the picket lines

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original. http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=22820