Crow: General strike the only way ahead
Tuesday 01 January 2013
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EmailRMT general secretary Bob Crow urged trade unionists today to keep their eye on co-ordinated action as "the only viable response" to the Con-Dem coalition.
"Twenty-thirteen will be the year when the government steps up its attack on jobs, benefits and public services and the only viable response from the unions and the communities we represent is co-ordinated and generalised strike action and public resistance," he said.
TUC delegates voted last year to look into holding a general strike in 2013.
POA assistant general secretary Glyn Travis, whose union pushed the motion, said he was "upbeat" about the discussions so far.
He said it wasn't "going to happen overnight" but it had definitely made the government "concerned."
Unite leader Len McCluskey and civil servants' union PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka have also backed a general strike.
And Institute of Employment Rights director Carolyn Jones believes that the TUC can face down any legal challenges if it goes ahead.
"Anti-austerity protests - whether they take place in Greece, Spain, Turkey or the UK - are legitimate socially, morally and legally," Ms Jones said.
"If workers decide that a general strike is the best way to protect their living standards, then we believe laws that prevent such action are challengeable in the European Court of Human Rights.
"Twenty-thirteen will be a decisive year."
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