TWENTY twenty has shown us, if nothing else, the value of belonging to a union. When our bosses and our government let us down it’s to our unions we turned. 

The most powerful tool at the disposal of organised labour is the strike. The strike serves many purposes including: demanding concessions of capital, and perhaps more importantly, realising worker power through disrupting capital through what Tronti referred to as a “refusal to work.”

Strikes develop class consciousness and by emphasising the collective power of workers they build solidarity.[[{"fid":"27025","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"2"}}]]

In the words of Lenin, “Every strike reminds the capitalists that it is the workers and not they who are the real masters — the workers who are more and more loudly proclaiming their rights.

“Every strike reminds the workers that their position is not hopeless, that they are not alone.”

We must remember the brutal repression of striking workers over the years but we shouldn’t forget that it was because of striking soldiers and sailors that the first world war ended and without industrial action we wouldn’t have things we now take for granted such as the 40-hour week, sick pay and health and safety regulations.   

Undoubtedly the government and the private sector will use the excuse of the current crisis as a reason to make redundancies, offshore jobs and cut wages.

This is nothing new of course and not limited to this crisis — in fact Lenin identified this in 1899: “When industry prospers, the factory owners make big profits but do not think of sharing them with the workers; but when a crisis breaks out, the factory owners try to push the losses on to the workers.” 

We cannot allow the working class to pay for Covid-19. 

Despite the power held by workers the amount of industrial action has significantly reduced since the early 1990s.[[{"fid":"27024","view_mode":"inlinefull","fields":{"format":"inlinefull","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlinefull","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlinefull","data-delta":"1"}}]]

In 2018 there were 273,000 working days lost due to labour disputes. Although this might sound a lot, it’s actually the sixth-lowest annual total since records began in 1891.

The reasons for this are multiple, from repressive anti-union legislation to the control over hegemony by the ruling classes. 

Strikes do happen, though, on a regular basis in this country. For example, at present the battle for Barnoldswick is currently raging over mass redundancies by Rolls-Royce.

Workers there have been on strike for over 30 days, braving the late autumn cold, fighting for their livelihoods — though you may not have heard about this if you aren’t a regular reader of the Morning Star. 

Currently there is though no record kept of the strike action that is ongoing in the UK.

We are looking to change that with Strike Map. Taking inspiration from www.strikethreats.org in the US, this map is an attempt to start to catalogue the action taking place across the country via a “worker-powered” map of the strike action that workers are involved in.

The aims of this website are simple — to document and present the levels of strike action in the country and by doing so enable others to see the levels of action and pass on solidarity to those taking action.

Striking should not be, but often is, a lonely and isolating experience.

Anti-union laws make striking extremely difficult and workers taking industrial action have been vilified by the press over the past 40 years. 

By doing so we hope to encourage other workers in their own struggles.

You can view the map and submit the details of a strike here strikemap.wordpress.com.

Henry Fowler and Robert Poole are trade union activists behind the Red for Key Workers May Day Campaign.