Wednesday 23 July 2008

Winning is important

At the moment, working people have much to be angry about, but our confidence and organisation is only beginning to regrow.

In these circumstances, it is really important that we have some wins and that we celebrate our successes - to raise confidence and expectations and make it easier to win more.

So it's really good to see a series of wins this year. UNITE members at Ineos Grangemouth fended off attacks on their pensions. Shell tanker drivers in UNITE won a stunning victory over pay. Manchester Airport workers in UNITE won an extra 1.5% backdated on their pay after threatening strike action. CWU activist Pat Carmody who was key to unonising Pell & Bales' call centre has been reinstated after a lively campaign. And now we hear that UNITE members at Argos are considering an increased pay offer after striking.

Can you see the pattern? Where we stand up for ourselves, stick together and refuse to get knocked off course by political or media pressure - we often win.

This should be shouted from the rooftops. If we can keep building up this momentum then unions can really grow and really make a difference for working people.



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