From Unity, 7 February 2009

Unity needed

The most recent conflict in Britain regarding Total giving a £200 million contract to an Italian company has proved to be the spark to light a flame.
     There are three main issues to consider here. Firstly, there are those of us who rightly see the slogan “British jobs for British workers” as reflecting racist and right-wing views, giving the BNP the ammunition that they need. (It also bolsters up Sammy Wilson, giving him the justification he needs for the racist comments that he made). On this issue Phil Whitehurst, a plater and a member of the strike committee, said that the protesters were convinced of their case but insisted that they had nothing against the Italian workers. He said: “People have said it’s racist. It’s not. We’re not part of the BNP. I’ve shunned the BNP away from here.”
     Secondly, there is the question of the wages and conditions of the three hundred Italian and Portuguese workers. Even if they are getting the same wages, will they have sickness pay and holiday pay? Will they have a right to collective bargaining and trade union action? Does living on a “floating hotel” away from their families constitute a lower social wage for these workers?
     The Labour MP John McDonnell said: “This system has created a class of nomads who are forced to travel vast distances simply to gain employment.”
     Brian Denny said recently in the Morning Star: “Total is exploiting EU law, which demands the free movement of capital, goods, services, and labour, a neo-liberal model which facilitates a race to the bottom in wages and conditions.” There is no doubt that it is the employers who will profit from the free movement of capital, goods, services, and labour.
     We saw this process at work in the Irish Ferries dispute in 2006, when Irish seafarers were displaced by sweated Latvian and Polish labour, being paid a third of the wages. The Gate Gourmet strike of 2005 also saw low-paid Polish workers displace local staff, mainly British Asian women. In Denmark, Polish construction workers were paid €2 an hour and were not allowed to join a union.
     Thirdly, it is about whether or not people living in Britain—British or otherwise—should be able to apply for jobs that are available in Britain.
     As John McDonnell said, “this dispute reflects the insecurity that the capitalist system has created and the anger that people feel.”
     Finally, we have a right to be cautious in a situation that has potential for the right wing to use; and it would be useful if communists, trade unionists and progressive forces in Europe united together to provide action and analysis around this dispute.

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