Bourgeois Media strikes again!
national |
miscellaneous |
news report 
Thursday December 12, 2002 15:56
by Karen - Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation
anarcho_syndicalist_federation at hotmail dot com
0044 77 59598798
Complete lies in the press and TV about the FBU dispute
After what I read and saw in the media over here (NI) last night and today, I had to get that confirmed: has the strike been called off? What about those silly 2 days strike in mid January? Was the FBU membership informed?
I had to call Jim Quinn, the NI FBU Chair. And it is what I suspected: it's all balls. It couldn't happened anyway without a membership vote and this didn't happened.
The fire fighters are still going ahead and it is NOW that they need all of our support.
For the people who can make it and live in Belfast, the ASF Radio Show ("Agitate!" on Northern Visions 100.6 FM) will bring live on air the march from 2 of our reporters from the Shankill and the Falls.
The Media are all lies, the politicians are all liars. Support the fire fighters for better wages for all!
Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 1 2No the media was right, the strike has been cancelled by the leadership, I saw Jim Quinn being interviewed on the TV about it. I can smeel a sell out in the air.
The FBU exec are a disgrace and are making a mistake. The membership are confident and willing to struggle, wider layers of workers are also willing to back the firefighters. Meanwhile the government are not giving an inch. Why postpone the strike??!!
The strike wasn't called off cos they had to go through the membership first. It is postponed. Aye it does suck cos it is the same story again with the union bureaucrats. The reason why they had to suspend it was because they are going to have a "congress" with the membership to talk about the new offer.
The fact is a lot of fire men/women want the dispute to be resolved quickly and Labour could play with the xmas thing as well, which they did. Now, for the official of the FBU they do not see it as an attempt from the government to tired the strike ( it is very effective in the US for example). But I do see it this way.
Now, when I called Jim, he said (cos he still wan to make sure the support will remain) that it is not over.
The craic is, if the fire men/women think that they have no other option but to go with what the leadership offer them, they will go for it. And it is why we must be there to give them the strength to push as far as they can because they can still push the leadership the other way ( or, ideally, break with the leadership)
Other thing, they ( the officials) know they won't get the 40% so it is their responsability if the dispute doesn't meet the revendication of the membership.
The problem is always the same with trade unionism: no democracy for the membership.
We'll see but I have to repeat myself again: it is only if we are here and spread our ideas and show them massive support that they can find the strength to control their union themselves.
I do know there are desagreement among the FBU because some of them came to see us during May Day 2002 and ask not only for support but also what we meant by revolutionary syndicalism.
At least something good come out of it if we do our job properly.
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