United we Fall

I put the blame fairly and squarely on the rather large, extremely militant and irritating shoulders of Bob Crow and his ilk. Because of the over use of strike action for what appear to be extremely trivial matters, mass industrial action no longer has the power it used to. Add to this the legislation of successive governments to erode the powers of the unions and what have we got. Is this the return to Victorian Values we were promised by the Tories all those years ago? Next they'll be sending the disaffected youth up chimneys and to work in t'mill instead of giving 'em all ASBOs and banning them from Bluewater. (try having the energy to get up to mischief after a 12 hour shift shovelling stuff) Or is this more of Tony's rhetoric? (Tough on X*, Tough on the causes of X*)

So what can we do when we are genuinely disaffected and being ill-treated by our employers now? As far as I can see there is no appeal to any kind of authority for arbitration (this latest dispute over pensions has been caused by the Chancellor and his successive raids on the pension funds). Strike action is no longer effective because of the misuse of this sanction by the RMT and others so that only leaves civil disobedience as an option - and in a society where more and more employers are checking criminal records this could leave you unemployable....and the Chief War Criminal himself claims that we live in a democratic society.

So come election time do the right thing - Vote Green or for an Independent who will represent your interests at a local level and if you can't spoil your papers in protest. Don't let labour get control of your council, they'll screw your community just like they've screwed the country.

*Substitute manifesto promise of your choice - not that it matters- they'll break it anyway