by Oliver New,
Secretary
Ealing Trades Union Council
It’s
a very surreal time, not just because of the threat of infection. A right-wing
Tory Government has finally noticed that big Magic Money Tree growing in the
yard and they’ve flipped economic policy over from austerity to desperate
spending and borrowing, including paying wages of inactive workers.
This wasn’t just made possible by the
virus, it’s also because the trade unions and the radical leadership of the
Labour Party helped to undermine the failing right-wing orthodoxy of
neoliberalism.
Self-interest and the free market are no
longer championed as the solution. Overnight, exploited delivery workers are
recognised as key workers and previously ignored NHS staff are being extolled
(although no pay rise, something we should also demand). There are, of course,
many more vital workers who should be valued and paid more, including cleaners,
carers, refuse collectors and food workers. Perhaps they could swap places and
salaries with the City ‘trader’ parasites.
New Ways of
Organising
We
are all coming to terms with how we can organise with less meetings. Hopefully
as this crisis unfolds solidarity and group support will win over hearts and
minds. Community support groups are already springing up to support the
vulnerable across communities. Many unions are also organising practical
support for members in different ways. There are so many issues. Shop workers
and others in constant contact with the public are at risk. Vulnerable
zero-hours workers are facing poverty, little or no sick pay, limited rights at
work.
Talks with employers are under way
everywhere: schools are closed; privatised cleaners on the Underground are to
get full sick pay if they have to self-isolate; PCS, the main civil service
union, has requested a moratorium on tax office closures; talks have agreed
reduced services on rail with safety provisions. Some employers have been good,
others need to be named and shamed.
Meanwhile many union branches are starting
to organise online with activists being asked to sign up to WhatsApp and
especially to Zoom, a free app that enables video conferencing.
NHS Solidarity
Our
local hospitals have been under huge pressure (how much worse if the Shaping a Healthier Future closure plans had gone through!). NHS staff at Ealing and
elsewhere have been bravely working long hours. The main local hospital dealing
with the virus, Northwick Park, became overloaded at one point even though
we’re still in the early stages. The lack of protective clothing led to some
nurses clothing themselves with bin bags.
Solidarity and support for NHS Staff has
to be stepped up, especially the demand for all NHS staff to be tested. Please
support the Keep Our NHS Public petition online – or see the Ealing Save Our
NHS website.
There is no doubt that the weak response
in the UK is heavily down to the huge under-funding of our NHS over the last
decade. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, like all weak bosses in a crisis, is trying
to give himself draconian powers. From a quick reading, this includes powers to
lock up people for reasons of quarantine or mental health, remove the
obligation of local authorities to provide care, close ports and airports, and
shut down gatherings. He tried to obtain these arbitrary powers for a period of
two years without renewal – even longer than the anti-terrorism or wartime
powers – but under pressure from the opposition parties and some of his own MPs
it was agreed that they will be subject to review every six months.
