MARCHING AT BURSTON

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: october 2008 :: RMTnews 6 H undreds braved the pouring rain at the Burston rally in Norfolk last month to hear RMT parliamentary group chair John McDonnell MP (right) call on the government to “get rid of Thatcher’s anti-union laws”. Celebrating the 94th anniversary of the Burston school strike he declared: “If we are to protect our members, our communities, our class, we need to make sure we do not have one hand tied behind our backs”. The Burston strike began when the pupils of the Norfolk village came out on April 1 1914 in support of their sacked teachers Kate and Tom Higdon. The Higdons were dismissed on trumped up charges after they had upset the local gentry by organising villagers into the Agricultural Workers’ Union. With support from trade unionists around the country, in particular from RMT’s predecessor the National Union of Railwaymen and the miners, a strike school was set up. The school continued until 1939 – the longest strike in history. A helium-filled RMT blimp hovered 200 feet in the air as the crowd gathered on the green next to the strike school building to hear speakers and music from singer-songwriter Dick Gaughan. RMT general secretary Bob Crow was among a strong RMT contingent who joined other trade unionists and their families to march behind Easington Colliery Band – who were protected from the elements by red RMT rain capes – retracing the route taken by the pupils when they went on strike. Mr McDonnell said that British workers needed a Trade Union Freedom Act. A previous attempt to get such a bill through Parliament had been not been defeated by the Tories but talked out by government ministers. “We expect more of a Labour government. We expect Labour MPs to vote for this bill. “We have less rights now than we had in 1906 after the Taff Vale case,” he declared. He also called for council houses at affordable rents, the restoration of the link between pensions and earnings, and respect for migrant workers. Colombian TUC general secretary Tarcisio Mora Godoy explained how difficult it is to be a trade unionist in Colombia. “In our country 3,000 trade unionists have been murdered, including 41 union leaders this year,” he said. Mr Godoy called for international support for a general strike in Colombia called for in October “against injustice, hunger and poverty”. Cuban TUC deputy general secretary Reinaldo Veldés Grillo, recalled how Cuba had been fighting for 50 years against a criminal blockade which threatened people with hunger. “We respect and understand those young people fighting for justice and human rights here in Burston,” he said. National Union of Teachers president Bill Greenshields said that the Higdons had challenged the fundamental inequalities of society. “When they did that the country gentry marked their card and their sacking was guaranteed, but the children fought back,” he said. MARCHING AT BURSTON