Acas—snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

Royal Mail workers in Camden, north London (Picture: Guy Smallman)

Faced with a seemingly intransigent employer, it can appear a sensible option for a trade union to seek talks through the Acas mediation service. But have unions ever been successful in any dispute by choosing to travel this road?

Over the last year, we’ve seen a number of major disputes where trade union leaders have chosen to engage with brutal employers through Acas. Some unions have wrongly paused strikes to allow Acas talks to take place.

And the result? Members left not knowing what is being fought for, momentum lost, disputes unnecessarily drawn out and at best, a deal that comes nowhere near the initial demands.

Some of these perhaps can be put down to the pessimism and lack of confidence among union leaders. But some can be attributed to an undemocratic vein that runs through a bureaucracy that sees its role as providing some sort of balance between boss and worker.  

Acas is dangerous territory for workers. It’s an organisation funded by the government, peopled by and large by those far removed from the shop floor and an organisation with no real executive power. 

It can allow an employer off the hook and allow trade union leaders to insist to their members that “we have to be realistic”.

Worryingly, the junior doctors’ BMA union is the latest union to turn to Acas, “to look into ways of breaking the deadlock” in their dispute. Resolve from trade union leaders, action by members and solidarity from across the trade union is how workers win. 

Not by going cap in hand to an organisation set up to find compromises and fudges that rarely, if ever, helps deliver the best outcome for any group of workers in struggle.

We should remember and continue the tradition of the Clyde Workers’ Committee. They said, “We will support the officials just so long as they represent the workers, but we will act independently immediately if they misrepresent them.” A 100 years later, nothing has really changed.

Simon O’Hara

Warwickshire

A new Man U boss will still sideline supporters

Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) is up for sale. The Glazer family, who have owned the club since 2005, have slapped a £5-6 billion price tag on the club. In their wake they leave an underperforming club where its fans have little voice and have grown tired and frustrated.

But the replacement of the Glazers with another greedy capitalist won’t solve the key issues for MUFC fans. The way football is run is symptomatic of the capitalist system, where profit is prioritised above all else. 

This means that the views of fans who want cheaper tickets, an inclusive atmosphere and games where fans come before TV contracts are often sidelined. No matter who runs football clubs the story remains the same. 

Even measures such as fan groups on club boards can only go so far before they come against the fact that football clubs survive on a commercial basis. Even clubs at the bottom of the football pyramid who try to buck the trend of football for profit are still constrained by this. 

For football fans to have their voices heard we need a total overhaul of football and the system, not just change at the top.

Nathan 

Newcastle

Defend social spaces from conservative cuts  

We spend most of our time at home or at work. But as social creatures, third spaces—away from home and work—are really important. 

This was clearly displayed during the pandemic as restrictions on socialising had a big impact on our mental health. But not only are our third spaces threatened by the pandemic—they have suffered decades of cuts. 

It’s an attack on working class people when funding is cut for after school clubs, community centres are closed and police stop “loitering” in parks. As we fight to defend these public spaces we mustn’t stop fighting to improve our first and second space.

We need higher pay and less hours at work. We also need affordable and safe housing. Achieving this means working class people will have the time to utilise and defend third spaces. 

Jonathan Sanchi

South London

An indefinite teachers strike can win

It was a missed opportunity that the NEU union at its conference didn’t vote to genuinely escalate strike action.

Over the last year we have learnt the lessons from the post and rail strikes. Low-level action spread over many months doesn’t bring the victories on pay we desperately need. 

And even in the face of multiple day strikes by junior doctors the government has simply shrugged its shoulders. However, the government couldn’t simply shrug-off an indefinite strike by teachers. 

Such action would mean millions of children not being able to go school and having no prospect of doing so. It would mean millions of parents not being able to go to work as they instead had to look after their children.

It would present the government with a massive crisis. An indefinite strike is the way to win. 

And after 98 percent of NEU members rejected the government’s latest terrible offer we know that there is a huge audience for this strategy. But teachers and other workers will only be won to indefinite strikes, if we consistently put forward arguments for it.  

Terry Sullivan

Islington Teacher

Keir Hardie over Keir Starmer

Surely the time has come for Keir Starmer to change his first name. His namesake Keir Hardie would not even be allowed to join the Labour Party today. 

Ramsay would be a much more appropriate first name in honour of the man who did his best to look after the rich at the expense of the workers in the early 1930s. Of course when Ramsay Macdonald actually defected to the Tories in 1931 only a handful of Labour MPs went with him. Today the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs have quite happily embraced Tory policies. 

Ramsay Starmer it is.

John Newsinger

Brighton

Labour Party shows its colours

Nick Clark writes, Keir Starmer “took to the pages of the Daily Mail” (Socialist Worker, 12 April). If there was ever any doubt that the Labour Party is no longer the party is used to be, that little sentence there says it all.

Rachel Grant

On Facebook

Are union leaders failing us?

If you take a step back from all the gushing over Dave Ward and Mick Lynch, you’ve got to ask yourself, what have they done to make the lives of ordinary people better? 

They’re great wordsmiths and their interviews with the media have been enjoyable to watch.  But other than being good with words, what exactly have they done? If they’re not leading then they’re holding us back.

Dobbie Adobe

On Facebook