London Bridge RMT and Aslef picket line. Photo: Unjum Mirza
On the second day of the RMT’s National Rail strike that’s bringing the Tory government to its knees, Vladimir Unkovski-Korica reports from the Glasgow Central picket line
It’s often said that strikes reveal the power of workers which is usually hidden from them in their everyday jobs. And you can see that emerging in this RMT dispute. Compared with Tuesday’s excellent turnout, the picket was even bigger and livelier today at Glasgow Central Station.
Not only were RMT members out in force, but Aslef members on Greater Anglia trains were also on strike and out on the picket lines. In Glasgow and all over the country representatives of other unions, including Unite, Unison, GMB and UCU joined picket lines and brought solidarity. There were also members of other campaigns, like the People’s Assembly, Living Rent, and a variety of socialist groups.
The chants and songs were sung with a sense of determination. Rightly so. The strike looks solid. As the BBC put it the other day, there were more seagulls than trains at Glasgow Central. In chatting to people, I heard Mick Lynch mentioned a lot. The union leader’s media performances over the preceding two days have put a spring in the step of working class people across the country and it’s palpable. Everyone can see that companies are reaping massive profits while ordinary people are seeing below-inflation pay rises even as they face significant price increases.
The mood on the picket lines is that enough is enough. A victory for the RMT is a victory for us all. The bosses know it. But the workers know it too. This time, we can turn things around for our class and we should do all we can to do so.
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Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
Vladimir Unkovski-Korica is a member of Marks21 in Serbia and a supporter of Counterfire. He is on the editorial board of LeftEast and teaches at the University of Glasgow.