Some 1,400 electricians, members of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU), struck unofficially for one day in cities across the United Kingdom that day, including in London, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Manchester. Another one-day strike on September 29 saw the action spread to workers in more cities, including Hull and Sellafield, as well as Grangemouth and Peterhead in Scotland.

Strikers attending the London demonstration came from some of the largest construction projects in the country, including the Millennium Dome entertainment complex, the Royal Opera House, and the Jubilee Line underground (subway) extension, where last year workers for Drake and Scull contractors fought a successful battle to defend health and safety.

A pay deal has been offered by the Electrical Contracting Association for a £1.50 rise per hour over a period of two years (£1=US$1.50). Currently, the electricians' wages average £7.42 per hour. But the pay raise would be offset by cuts in weekend overtime rates and abolition of travel allowances. Temporary layoffs would also mean that workers could be laid off if materials don't arrive.

Rank and file union leaders are urging workers to vote against the offer to defend the basic wage of electricians across the industry. Workers are demanding £15 per hour without conditions.

Gary Beaumont, an approved electrician on the Jubilee Line Extension at the Westminster site, reflected the views of many strikers when he said that the deal "is basically about cheap labor." Beaumont said two years ago the company tried to introduce a job category called Skilled Mechanical Assembler (SMA), with training levels of only a few months, instead of the normal four-year apprenticeship required for qualification as an electrician. Workers voted against SMA's. Now the bosses are trying to introduce the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) which is a similar type of training.

Beaumont said that of past 20 years, the last two to three have been the first time he has seen such unity in the industry, with joint strikes by electricians from various building projects across the United Kingdom. Several other workers made the same point.

Ian Bell, who traveled to the demonstration on September 29 from a worksite in Hull, said that as well as fighting for a decent basic wage, "We've got to look at a shorter working week."

George Witherington, an approved electrician at the Royal Opera House site, described how 14 months ago the AEEU won the right for agency and self-employed workers to be hired as permanent workers, thus increasing the unity of workers on the site.

Some 60 to 70 percent of the workers on the sites in London are from outside the capital. Many are from Scotland and the Northeast. Witherington said that the company initially thought that due to high unemployment, workers from the North would be unwilling to fight and would accept a job for a lower basic wage. But workers from London and the North learned from each other and the union was stronger, Witherington said.

The strike was not supported by the AEEU general secretary Sir Kenneth Jackson, who called for "a strike-free Britain" one week earlier at the Trades Union Congress. Within 24 hours of Jackson's comments, 430 toolmakers at the Ford car plant at Dagenham struck over bonus pay reductions. Jackson said that the electricians demands were "bloody stupid." Many of the handwritten placards on the demonstration were directed at the union leadership, and strikers chanted, "Jackson Out! Jackson Out!"

Big-business newspapers have tried to isolate these workers by claiming that they are a greedy, elite group. A Financial Times editorial September 22 said, "The most disruptive workers were often the best paid." The Times reported Jackson claimed "workers were earning up to £1,800 per week." But workers told the Militant the maximum for a 70-hour week before deductions is £800. Outside London, £400 for a 50 hour week is the norm.

The strike was organized through rank-and-file union members. The first demonstration took 10 days to organize, mostly through word of mouth and telephone calls. It was the first time in recent years that supervisors came out as well.

Stephen Shaw, a 17-year-old student, watched the march pass and said he had never seen a union march in Sidcup before. He thought the workers had a right to strike as long as they did not cause disruption. A number of retail workers from the main shopping street in Sidcup came out to see the demonstration pass and exchanged friendly comments. The electricians are planning further actions.

James Neil is a member of the Young Socialists.  
 
 
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