Polyflor strike ends with concessions—but limited by union leaders

Polyflor workers—sheltering from rain—could soon unleash a torrent of strikes

Workers in Polyflor in Whitefield, Greater Manchester went back to work on Wednesday of last week after being on strike since 1 September. The members of the GMB union have accepted a pay increase of just over 9 percent over 17 months and a lump sum of just over £1,300.

They made the decision after GMB officials threatened to cut their strike pay. The overall settlement is a small improvement on the 8 percent they were originally offered.

And bosses have also withdrawn most of their threatened attacks on terms and conditions. Polyflor management said that the original offer was “take it or leave it”, but the strike forced them to make concessions.

Strikers showed impressive solidarity and determination during the dispute. Every morning more than 80 out of just over 100 strikers were on the picket line.

But the deal is lower than the current rate of inflation—making it a real terms pay cut. And it is a lot less than what could have been won given the strength of the strike and the support it had.

Union officials argued that this latest deal was the best deal that could be delivered from negotiations. But Polyflor workers were not happy with the deal and rejected it by a narrow majority in a ballot.

Yet in a following mass meeting a GMB union official said that the strike pay would be halved. With Christmas coming up, and with no strategy for escalating the dispute, workers accepted the deal in a second ballot.

Activists in the GMB and other unions should learn some important lessons from the Polyflor dispute. First, that strike pay can be used as a stick to discipline workers.

The GMB should have backed the Polyflor workers with strike pay for as long as it took to win. But union officials, who wanted to end the dispute quickly, decided to take it away.

Second, if strikers stay within the bounds of union leaders’ strategy, it can waste the fantastic potential shown by this wave of strikes and lead to unnecessary compromises.