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Monday 22 August 2022

Strikes - Now The Lawyers Are Out

Not many outside the North West will have noticed, but bus drivers in the area employed by Arriva have just returned to work after a strike lasting just over four weeks. The pay demand was for 11%; the offer went from 3% to 8% with strings, before Arriva caved in. That Stagecoach, who compete directly with them in Liverpool, had already settled may have focused minds.

 

Some strikes only enter the consciousness of our free and fearless press when it affects them - people who work in London. The Arriva North West example shows that it’s not just rail workers, dockers (Felixstowe has just seen a walkout), London’s bus and tube workers, and maybe other groups waiting in the wings. Strikes are widespread, and spreading yet wider.

So it should have come as no surprise to see today’s Ballot Announcement from the Criminal Bar Association, which represents barristers who deal with the progression of cases where defendants stand accused of committing one or more crimes. 79.5% of those balloted voted for the current campaign of intermittent industrial action to become an indefinite all-out strike.

Following another extensive period of consultation with ordinary members and leaders of the Criminal Bar, the third ballot which opened on 8th August has now closed. Over the course of these past 14 days 2273 of you cast your vote. The turnout exceeded that on the second ballot in June (2,055) and was significantly higher than that witnessed in the first ballot in March (1,908)” told the Criminal Bar Association announcement, suggesting increasing support.

There was more. “Given that many members have been away during this month, the increased level of participation in this latest ballot speaks volumes about the strength of feeling amongst colleagues across all six Circuits”, adding “We take great pride in the fact that our members have so consistently demonstrated such a deep commitment to the democratic process”.

Just in case anyone in Government wants to try the old Not Enough Of Them Voted To Make It Properly Democratic ploy. And there was this coda: “It reflects an unshakeable underlying belief in the power of collective action and a demand to be heard”. The demands made are of the non-trivial variety.

As the BBC has reported, “Barristers have voted to go on an indefinite, uninterrupted strike in England and Wales from next month … The walkout … will begin on 5 September …The strikes are expected to delay thousands of cases, leaving victims and the accused waiting longer for justice”.


And the numbers? “The CBA is asking for a 25% rise in pay for legal aid work, representing defendants who could not otherwise afford lawyers … Members have rejected the government's 15% pay offer, saying it would not kick in immediately or apply to existing cases”. It has been claimed that criminal barristers’ income has fallen 28% since 2006. There was more.

Michelle Heeley, a criminal barrister, told BBC's Five Live the justice system was ‘crumbling’ because of a lack of increase in pay. Responding to comments that criminal lawyers were perceived to be well paid, she admitted those high up the pay scale were ‘very fortunate’. But she said the median pay for a junior barrister was £12,700 per year. ‘That's why they cannot survive doing criminal work, and that's why they're walking away.’

Worse for the Government, the next week of on-off industrial action comes immediately before the start date for all-out strike. Hence “members' last working day will be on Friday” (August 26th). So what does the most vocal, and, indeed, most anti-strike part of the press make of all this? Ah well.

One of the most vocal strike bashing papers has been the Daily Brexit, still called the Express. But this member of the Reach plc stable has a problem: as Press Gazette has told, “National and regional journalists at Reach have voted to strike starting this month over a ‘meagre’ 3% pay rise offer … Strike action is currently planned to take place all day on Friday 26 August and Wednesday 31 August, and for 48 hours on 14 and 15 September”.

Yes, strike action is now so widespread that it includes some of the most vocal strike bashers. There’s a message in there somewhere.


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Strike action always FOLLOWS a bad economic condition. It is the only effective mass defensive measure available to working class citizens.

The measure is only deployed when there is no other way out. It is always taken reluctantly because it disrupts lives and communities.

This country is now into its fifth decade of organised thievery of national assets and resources by its Establishment. The thievery has intensified each day, all of it supported and instigated by rotten--to-the-core politicians (a clear majority on all sides of a corrupt Parliament) and media infested with cowards and surrender monkeys.

This is a country with a broken socioeconomic and political system and a seedy far right culture. It reeks of decay and a loss of collective and individual pride.

Even if a start was made tomorrow it would take decades to reverse the deliberately inflicted misery and wilful ignorance. Even if all the wishes of all those in dispute were met immediately. The evil roots of this era are deep in Britain's historical and philosophical soil.

Which is why there is no sign of improvement now or in the near future. Achieving fair pay and conditions is desirable, but it won't rid Britain of toxic capitalism.

Maybe it's all we deserve if people who relish decency, fairness and democracy are such a diminishing band.

Arnold said...

Daily Express journalist to take short time away from calling striking workers ‘dinosaurs’ to join colleagues striking over pay

https://newsthump.com/2022/08/22/daily-express-journalist-to-take-short-time-away-from-calling-striking-workers-dinosaurs-to-join-colleagues-striking-over-pay/

Daphne Parkin said...

Well said and spot on. When was there a time when the govt, ie. the civil servants at the top, actually served the people to build a system that benefits everyone? The 1940s?

David Lindsay said...

The Criminal Bar is going on strike indefinitely. The Criminal Bar.

Popular uprisings are one thing, but Jefferson, Robespierre and Lenin were all lawyers.

This is when revolutions get real. I am not joking.