Something's happening......

This week we had a civil servants' strike against attacks on redundancy pay. Next week Sussex University lecturers will strike against massive cuts in jobs which will seriously damage higher education. Track maintenance workers on the railways have also just voted for action to stop cuts in track maintenance, cuts which threaten the safety of travellers. And we also have the prospect of a strike by BA workers. We have also seen a hugely spirited campaign by Sussex students to protect education in the face of huge intimidation by an arrogant university administration.

What all of these events show is that, increasingly, people are fed up with being the fall-guys for capitalism's cock-ups.

Hopefully it also shows that workers are also fed up with the attempts of politicians, bosses and right-wing pundits to set workers against each other, whether it be on the basis of whether they work in the public or private sector, whether they might get a paltry pay rise or none, whether they still have some pension rights, or whether they have a job or are unemployed. One of the best things about the civil service strike was the sight of claimants on the picketlines alongside Jobcentre workers.

After the March for Jobs last weekend, and with a rejuvenated Trades Council locally, we are in a position to build real solidarity with these struggles.