GUEST POST: Workers and Students – Unite and Fight!

“For years, people have called for an end to student apathy,” says one of the organisers of the 10-day occupation at Edinburgh University, “but now, look: it’s really happened. And we hope the student occupations will inspire trade unions to use their power and resources to support the anti-cuts movement.”
More than sixty students had been occupying the Appleton Tower in the centre of Edinburgh University’s campus. When they began the action, only they and the UCL students were in occupation, but the movement quickly snowballed until hundreds of students were involved, on scores of campuses around the UK.
“We never felt alone,” says the Edinburgh activist, “670 lecturers signed a petition supporting our action, we had messages of solidarity from all over the world and trade unionists from around Edinburgh gave us practical help and advice.”
The students ended their occupation on Friday night. It was a positive decision, taken because the university administration had agreed to meet them to discuss their demands (including no compulsory redundancies among staff and no victimisation of activists) and also because the Appleton Tower is scheduled to be used for a slew of end-of-term exams from next week.
But this is only the beginning.
Tens of thousands of students and university staff will be back on the streets next week for the Commons vote on tuition fees. It is time now for trade unions urgently to fix a detailed timetable of action to take the anti-cuts and anti-austerity campaign well into next year.
The student occupations have lit a fire under the whole movement – they have shown all of us the power of resistance.
The cuts are not inevitable - now is the time for all of us to get off our knees.
By Pete Murray, President, National Union of Journalists

Pilots union close to winning recognition at Jet2.com airline

The pilots union will today (November 3) try to persuade a hearing in London that it should be granted the right to represent workers at Jet2.com - without the need for a ballot.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is following the UK’s statutory procedure for union recognition introduced by Labour in 2000.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) – the quango responsible – has already established that 62 percent of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit are members of the association.
BALPA wants to negotiate pay and conditions for 247 “flight deck pilots” of whom 174 are union members.
Jet2.com is a low cost airline with bases at Newcastle, Edinburgh, Belfast, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, East Midlands, Blackpool and Exeter airports. It employs more than 1.000 people.
Today’s hearing will decide if BALPA can be granted recognition without a ballot.
Under the law a union needs a membership level of 50 percent plus one person to secure recognition – but employers are allowed to argue for a ballot.
Firms that are hostile to unions hope they can pressurise their employees into voting "no" during the balloting period.
But it would be unusual for the CAC to demand a ballot when a union has more than 60 percent membership.
Today’s hearing is at 10.30am in the Hilton London Euston Hotel, Upper Woburn Place, WC1H 0HT. It is open to the public.
The CAC website has a detailed report of the acceptance decision and the bargaining unit decision for BALPA’s application for recognition at Jet2.com.

Preparations underway for national protest against cuts before Christmas

Plans are being made to hold a national demonstration against the UK cuts before Christmas - even though the leaders of the trade union movement rejected the idea earlier this month.
The general council of the Trades Union Congress decided to organise a protest in March next year.
Some members of the council wanted a quicker response - as reported on The Workers United.
And the executive of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) met on October 26 and agreed to push ahead with plans for a national demo.
A briefing from PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka and president Janice Godrich posted on the union's website says they will be asking the TUC public sector liaison group meeting on Monday November 8 to organise a protest within six weeks.
I understand the call will be for a national demonstration outside London.
It follows protests across the country last weekend - which were particularly successful in Edinburgh and Belfast.
If the TUC public services group does not endorse the plan I understand the demonstration will be organised by the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group (TUCG).
The TUCG is an alliance of eight unions who work together, primarily on parliamentary lobbying through the office of left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell.
The members of the co-ordinating group are the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), PCS, the Prison Officers Association (POA), the Rail Martime and Transport union (RMT) and the United Road Transport Union (URTU).
The Trade Union Co-ordinating Group doesn't have a website - but here's a blog post about its launch.