THE WORKERS UNITED
WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED

WHERE NEXT?

JJ fast foods
arnaouti bakers

WORKERS DISPUTES


Local government workers' strike, 16/17 July 2008

The strike was in response to a management offer of a 2.45% pay rise - well below any measure of inflation and so, effectively, a pay cut.

Haringey Solidarity Group members turned up to support the various pickets around the borough. On the Wednesday, the Ashley Road depot was well picketed by Unite members, with around 30-40 bodies present. Over at the Wood Green council offices, about 50 Unison picketers were spread out over several buildings. One or two managers came out to monitor the picket line, and even asked some of those present to report on strike breakers having a sneaky fag out the back!

HSG and workplace disputes gone by

Over the years Haringey Solidarity Group (HSG) has supported a number of workers who have been in dispute, in one way or another, with their bosses. Apart from the rare exception, most of these disputes have ended with the workers generally not getting what they demanded. In most cases, even though the final outcome may been seen as a failure, there have been a number of successes along the way and some very good lessons which we should learn from.

The links on the left give summaries of two disputes we were heavily involved with. These are the J.J. Fast Food workers who were sacked by their boss for trying to unionise the workforce, and the Arnaouti bakery workers who went on strike for better pay and conditions. Even though neither dispute got the workers what they demanded and left a number of those who took action without jobs, the two reports on these actions give us valuable information for future struggles - both in the workplace and beyond.