Fightback

NIPSA ballot result: All out on the 30th

Created on Monday, 07 November 2011 20:06 Written by Fightback

But even more so, the fact that 43% of workers voted in the ballot is a sign that the mood is solid and determined also. Here are the official ballot results:

The General Council also made clear the reasons why they were unimpressed with the Tory/Lib Dem coalitions so called amended proposals:

• There was no withdrawal or alternative to the plans to significantly increase employee contributions at a time when salaries were effectively frozen.
• The government would not restore the inflation mechanism for uprating public service pensions in payment from the Consumer Price Index to the Retail Price Index.
• The government still expect public servants to work until 66 (with effect from 2020) before they receive their public service pension.

NIPSA General Council 7^th November 2011

As we reported over the weekend the strike action on November 30^th will be on a scale unprecedented for decades. The political implications in the North of the economic crisis are still playing themselves out. One thing is for certain, neither Sinn Féin nor the DUP have any answer to what is the deepest crisis in world capitalism for generations.

An eruption of the class struggle in the North would demonstrate the potential that exists to fight for a better future. Unity in struggle is the basis for genuine workers unity, workers unity is a concrete question not a mere slogan. The Tories attack on pensions affects Catholic Workers and Protestant workers also. One thing is for certain a public sector general strike will affect the consciousness of all classes in the North. As James Connolly said in relation to the struggle for the eight hour day in Belfast in 1913 “the forces of Labour generally seem to be gathering for a battle of battles for the things that really matter.”