Fire Brigades Union calls for mass 'campaign of resistance'
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has led calls for a mass union campaign of non-compliance against the anti-strikes legislation being brought in by the government.
In a letter to union leaders across the country, Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the FBU has called on unions to unite in a collective show of defiance against the bill when it becomes law.
Wrack referred to the bill as, ‘one of the worst assaults on the rights of working people in Postwar Britain’ and said unions had ‘no choice’ but to build mass opposition, ‘including developing a strategy of non-compliance and non-cooperation to make it unworkable’.
The union has called for a conference between unions to be held in autumn to put the plan into action. Wrack hoped that a mass union alliance would help defeat the law ‘in the streets and in the workplace’.
The First Minister of Scotland has stated the Scottish government will not issue a single work notice under the legislation, which Wrack refers to as a sign of what can be achieved by building mass opposition.
Wrack wrote: “This campaign cannot be won by any union acting alone. We must act together to build a movement to defy and defeat this law.
“We want to work with your union and others to build such a conference in the autumn, bringing together trade union activists and branches with a view to building a campaign of resistance.
“With a national demonstration and a mass movement of non-compliance, we can build an alliance that can defeat this law in the streets and in the workplace.”
National protests against the bill have been called for October by the RMT union. At the train workers’ union’s AGM, general secretary Mick Lynch said there shoudl be a, ‘national mobilisation of the entire organised working class.’
Lynch added: “We will fight this in the courts, the media and the workplace.”
The Strike (Minimum Service Levels) Bill would give employers the ability to sack workers who voted to take strike action. Key elements of the Bill were rejected in the House of Lords, however the government has promised to overturn them.
The bill is currently in its final stages during the House of Commons consideration of amendments.
Hannah Davenport is trade union reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward’s trade union reporting is supported by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust
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