Strike Follow

THE ALL-OUT strike by 199 workers at LTI (London Taxis International) in Coventry began its third week on Tuesday-and the mood "is as hard, no, harder than ever", one striker told Socialist Worker. The workers, members of the TGWU and Amicus unions, make taxis. They began the strike after months of tortuous negotiations over pay.

OVER 90,000 civil servants in the PCS union are set to strike on Monday and Tuesday. The strike will hit job centres, benefit offices, pension centres and the Child Support Agency, all part of the government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

IT IS almost 20 years since the start of the miners' strike of 1984-5. I worked as a miner for 25 years and I was out picketing all through the Great Strike. Two TV programmes screened recently brought the memories flooding back. They are not the first such programmes-a small flurry came out on the tenth anniversary of the strike. The usual approach taken by such films goes along these lines:

PRODUCTION workers at London Taxis International (LTI), manufacturers of the "London Taxi" in Coventry, walked out on all-out indefinite strike on Tuesday of last week. They are sick of year on year below-inflation pay deals and dragged-out pay negotiations. The strikers are in the TGWU and Amicus unions.

STRIKE ACTION by workers at Sainsbury's distribution depot in Haydock forced the company to increase its pay offer. The workers, members of the Usdaw union, voted to accept the deal which brings their pay up to £7.60 an hour, with shift allowances on top. The vote was 426 for the deal, and 218 against.

LAND ROVER workers are due to hold their second one-day strike on Monday of next week in protest at the company's pay offer and the strings attached to it. The 8,000 workers at Solihull and those at Gaydon in Warwickshire are taking on Ford, a multinational with a reputation for ruthlessly exploiting workers. That's why other car workers are hoping the Land Rover strikers get a victory.

LECTURERS AT Leicester College began an indefinite strike on Monday against management's introduction of an unnegotiated contract. This contract removes four days holiday and introduces the possibility of unlimited Saturday working. Management claimed they had more people who had signed the contract than voted for strike action and that the college would run as normal with no classes needing to be cancelled.

MORE THAN 100 workers at the Beagle aircraft firm in Christchurch, Dorset, staged a one-day strike on Friday of last week in support of their pay claim.

JOURNALISTS working at the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph have begun balloting for strike action over pay.

WORKERS AT Stagecoach buses in Worthing, near Brighton, were set to strike on Friday of this week for better pay.

TUBE maintenance workers employed by Metronet Rail SSL are to be balloted on strike action from 12 February.

THE government is deeply worried about the civil servants' strike. That's why on Tuesday of this week it appealed for more talks with the union's biggest section set to strike.