Next Monday (04 November)
members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will be on strike
in Royal Mail across all grades. Amazingly, for the first time
since 1979, the middle managers’ union, the CMA/part of Unite will
also be taking strike action on the same day! There will also be
strike action by CWU members across scores of Crown Post Offices
including Swiss Cottage in Camden, which is threatened with
privatisation in the new year. A rally will be held at the Queen
Elizabeth II Conference Centre, SW1 near Parliament Square (nearest
stations: St James Park, Westminster), from 12 noon. The CWU action
in the wake of the flotation of Royal Mail on the Stock Exchange
coincides with a two-hour strike by FBU members in defence of
firefighters' pensions on the Monday morning, which itself comes
soon after an evening walk-out by the FBU this Friday. On Thursday
of this week (31 October) UNISON members in Higher Education will
be joining lecturers in the UCU and other support workers belonging
to Unite in unprecedented cross-union action following the
overwhelming rejection of an abysmal 1% pay offer by the university
employers. Pickets are planned at 22 campus sites across London
including Birkbeck College, the Institute of Education, the School
of Oriental & African Studies, University College London
and the Senate House building in Camden.
George Binette. Chair Camden trades council
