[Marxism] Re: Class Struggle Now

[David Amis <daveamis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The introduction from Chris Brady and the article, 'A Recovery for Profits,
but Not for Workers' by Louis Uchitelle Raises some interesting and valid
points that are worth expanding upon. Chris's point "class war is waged and
it is happening now" may seem to some to be melodramatic but taking a step
back and looking at various trends in employment and the economy, it can be
seen that a form of class war is taking place.

Living in the UK, most of my comments relate to trends in Britain but should
have some application to other major western economies. When the phrase
"class war" is mentioned, most people think back to the 1980s when the then
Tory Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, led a sustained assault on the
working class.

The long and protracted coal miners strike in protest at pit closures in
1984/5 was the most high profile with the police being used on a nationwide
basis in a paramilitary style operation to break union pickets in the mining
areas. There was also open intimidation by the police in a number of mining
villages and towns aimed at breaking the morale of people in these
communities.

As we all, know the strike was defeated and many pits were closed with huge
job losses. Those that remained were sold off to private owners with many of
these now closed. The result was the mining industry being decimated and
whole communities blighted by unemployment.

The miners strike was the trigger for a raft of anti-union legislation which
effectively made it impossible for unions to organise an effective long term
strike. From the mid 1980s onwards, the union movement, imperfect though it
was, went into a long decline with union membership falling away rapidly.
Workers were increasingly forced to seek more individuated solutions to the
problems they faced in the workplace as collective action lost both its
effectiveness and appeal.

Now I realise that the role of unions in the UK has always been to act as a
mediator between workers and management and only a few union leaders and
activists ever made any serious attempts to fight on behalf of their
workers. However, the role of unions has changed from a pretence at
representing the interests of workers to merely offering them a list of
services such as insurance and workplace counselling.

The result is a workforce that is increasingly atomised and individuated.
With changes in the economy manifesting themselves in the trend to
're-engineer" and "downsize" companies, more workers are on short term
contracts or work on a self employed basis. There is more fluidity in the
workplace with workers on the move and not having the time to establish
bonds with other workers. There is a growing trend to a new dichotomy in the
workplace between the relatively privileged core workers (they have long
term job contracts) and a constantly fluctuating periphery of freelance and
short term contract workers.

A form of class war is being waged but it comes more in the form of death by
a thousand cuts than a full frontal assault with set piece battles between
union pickets and the police. My own anecdotal experience offers some
insights into how this almost hidden war is being waged.

I work for a small graphics company employing twelve people. Due to drastic
changes in the way the company worked for its biggest clients (companies in
the retail sector who were engaged in aggressive cost cutting to maintain
profitability), the income was virtually halved overnight. The choice was to
either close the company or make drastic changes to the terms and conditions
of employment - the latter choice was made.

The result is that I have been on a pay freeze for almost three years and
all overtime is now worked unpaid. I am working longer and harder for less
money as my employers frantically try to improve the cash flow situation,
worsened by large clients with-holding payment for as long as possible. The
large clients in question also take the attitude that we have to work
overtime on urgent projects at the drop of a hat regardless of what other
committments we may have. There is a growing arrogance and disdain shown to
the needs of workers in supplier companies.

In some ways, my employers are also the victims as the large retail clients
they work for put on the squeeze to maintain shareholder value. In the
industry I work in, this is happening right across the board. We are all
experiencing pressure to work longer for less money. Yet, as many of us work
for small companies that do have a "family feel" to them, there is the sense
that everyone is in the same boat so confrontations over pay and working
hours are largely absent.

Looking at it objectively, many small companies in the current economic
climate are the victims of ruthless cost cutting by their much larger
clients and customers whose only concern is their share price. So although
working conditions are worsening, it doesn't feel like a class war in the
conventional sense as many of the problems are casued by large companies
externalising their problems.

Yet despite the situation having the appearance of being a dog eat dog one
of larger companies screwing smaller ones, it is effectively a class war
with the enemy being a few stages away. As stated above, large companies are
concerned with their share value and the effect that has on incomes. They
are effectively owned by the major financial institutions that invest money
on behalf of people's saving, investment and pension funds. Financial
capital is the dominant force in the economy. So for those of us who have
invested in a pension fund, if you follow events through to their logical
conclusion, it is those pension funds that are biting us up the backside!

The problem is in trying to organise workers in an atomised climate where
the factors responsible for your oppression may well be a few stages removed
from your immediate boss. A first step is dropping the jargon we all tend to
use and being able to explain coherrently what is happening and why so
people have an idea of where to target their anger.

So on that happy note...regards and happy holidays!
Dave A
http://www.geocities.com/leftoutlook/index.html


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