Sparks protest against pay attack in London and Leeds

Electricians and their supporters gathered at a site near St Pancras station in central London on Friday morning of last week.

It was the second protest targeting construction giant Crown House, which is trying to pull out of the JIB national pay agreement for a second time. This would mean a 35 percent pay cut for electricians.

One electrician on the protest told Socialist Worker, “A lot of people don’t realise this attack by Crown House affects them. But if it goes through here it will give the bosses a foothold to roll it out elsewhere.”

The electricians’ rank and file committee is planning to build up the pressure. It has called a protest for 7am on Friday of this week, at the substation in Limeburner Lane, near St Paul’s station in London.

Meanwhile in Leeds, rank and file activists have been leafleting sites with union membership forms and leaflets about the attack.

One Leeds activist told Socialist Worker, “The union is ‘gathering information’ but it needs to move to a ballot and show it is serious about defending the national pay agreement.”

The electricians’ national rank and file committee is demanding a ballot for industrial action. Electricians must organise to make sure this attack is met with the same resistance that won a magnificent victory for them last winter.