Some features of Strikes in 196 continued Principal Cause No. of strikes No. of men involved No. of days Iost Claims for increase 540 - 293,400 786,000 Other wage disputes 668 111,300 - 267,000 Hours of work 23 12,500 37,000 Demarcation disputes 61 17,400 56,000 Disputes concerning 263 61,900 285,000 employment or sacking Other personnel questions 80 19,900 77,000 Other working arrangements 765 145,000 321,000 Trade Union status 98 18, 500. 174,000 Sympathetic action 26 21,300 27,000
What these figures reveal about demarcation disputes is especially interesting. Despite all the stories in the press, all the sneering remarks from Tory M.P.s, demarcation disputes account for 2.4% of all strikes, just over 2% of the workers involved and about 23% of all working days lost. These figures are far less than those for strikes to enforce trade union status, the number being 50% more, and they accounted for nearly five times as many working days lost. The inference from this is obvious: if the papers and the Tories (and, for that matter, Mr. Gunter) are so concerned to stop "unnecessary" strikes, they should turn their fire upon those employers who have to be forced to recognise unions.
The above table shows something else very clearly too: over half of the strikes were of a semi-workers! control category. Perhaps the most significant total in the table is that for working days lost through disputes over working arrangements, this being the highest total apart from that of claims for increases. The number of disputes in this category is the highest of all, and if we add this figure to that concerning employment and sacking we find that over 1,000 strikes took place in a struggle to limit the power of the management.
Socialists can draw the following conclusions from a study of these figures:
(1) any move to limit or restrict the right to take lightning strike action would be a severe attack on very important sections of the working class who, because of the nature of their industry, need this weapon both to defend and improve their living standards;
(2) in the present situation the importance of the long-drawn-out strike is likely to increase. The Government will be sorely tempted to have a show-down with some section of the working class in order to impose its incomes policy. Also employers will seek to take advantage of the general political and industrial situation (and the pronouncements of Mr. Gunter) to "make a stand". This will be all the more likely when the effects of the credit squeeze ease the labour shortage.
The left must resist by all means any move to restrict the right to strike. It must also build up a network capable of organising rapid solidarity with strikers engaging a stubborn employer. Not only trade union branches, but Labour Parties and Young Socialist branches must be brought into this. The workers! control movement must find the way of transforming the present largely empirical struggle in the work-places to limit the power of management into a conscious movement to impose workers! self= managemente