General strike illegal?

[Wildcat]

Well my personal policy is to try and get enough work to ensure i can pay my rent and put food on the table. I think it's an approach followed by a lot of people. So after a couple of days of comradely placard waving i think most people would go back to work rather than get evicted in defense of that lazy bloke in accounts that nobody really liked anyway who got fired.

 

Not sure why you are using an example of a strike in favour of some lazy in accounts being fired, when that was not the issue?

 

Is it because it because you feel obliged to make a counter point and you can only do so by talking about a situation not under discussion?

[andygardener]

Not sure why you are using an example of a strike in favour of some lazy in accounts being fired, when that was not the issue?

 

Is it because it because you feel obliged to make a counter point and you can only do so by talking about a situation not under discussion?

 

In a general strike situation employers would use that to get rid of those employees who they wanted to get rid of. I used an example of a lazy accountant, it could have been a bolshy binman or an unwashed salesman or a tardy secretary or an argumentative postman.

 

Regardless of the example, a general strike would get rid of people whose employers wished they did not have on their books and in general their colleagues would not risk their jobs to stand up for them.

[Nagel]

In a general strike situation employers would use that to get rid of those employees who they wanted to get rid of. I used an example of a lazy accountant, it could have been a bolshy binman or an unwashed salesman or a tardy secretary or an argumentative postman.

 

Regardless of the example, a general strike would get rid of people whose employers wished they did not have on their books and in general their colleagues would not risk their jobs to stand up for them.

 

The failed General Strike of 1926 was certainly used to get rid of unwanted employees.

 

But a successful General Strike where the strikers won and were able to dictate their conditions on a return to work would be a totally different thing.

[Wildcat]

In a general strike situation employers would use that to get rid of those employees who they wanted to get rid of. I used an example of a lazy accountant, it could have been a bolshy binman or an unwashed salesman or a tardy secretary or an argumentative postman.

 

Regardless of the example, a general strike would get rid of people whose employers wished they did not have on their books and in general their colleagues would not risk their jobs to stand up for them.

 

In the situation described by Nagel, the employers would be on strike too.

 

But then I suppose his 'everyone' was perhaps unlikely to actually include employers, even if it didn't those employers sacking their staff would not find people so easily bought out as you imagine. Even at a point merely approaching what Nagel describes any employers sacking staff would find themselves boycotted not just by their workforce but suppliers and consumers. In fact what they would probably find is that they would be locked out from their own business and the workers would run it themselves like happened in Argentina in the 2001 financial crisis.

[andygardener]

The failed General Strike of 1926 was certainly used to get rid of unwanted employees.

 

But a successful General Strike where the strikers won and were able to dictate their conditions on a return to work would be a totally different thing.

 

So what i said might happen did actually happen in the only General Strike in our history? Yes it did. That might give a clue as to what would happen now, especially given that in 1926 peoples earnings and expectations were a lot more meagre than they are these days. Back then you could just about poach your way to the same standard of living for the duration. Npower and Sky don't accept poached rabbits as payment these days.

[Wildcat]

So what i said might happen did actually happen in the only General Strike in our history? Yes it did. That might give a clue as to what would happen now, especially given that in 1926 peoples earnings and expectations were a lot more meagre than they are these days. Back then you could just about poach your way to the same standard of living for the duration. Npower and Sky don't accept poached rabbits as payment these days.

 

What is the point of paying Npower or Sky if their workers are on strike?

[andygardener]

What is the point of paying Npower or Sky if their workers are on strike?

 

In order to put the lights on and tune into whatever dreary imacelebritynoyourenotinajungleonicefactor show the people want for god knows what reason to watch. (nPower and Sky will have drafted in poles, slovaks and estonians to fill the gap so will be opperating as normal)

[Obelix]

What is the point of paying Npower or Sky if their workers are on strike?

 

So I shouldnt pay Royal Mail for postage next time they are on strike then? Or pay for the Tube when the RMT whine and have yet another strike?

[HeadingNorth]

But if there was enough reason for people to feel a general strike was necessary there would be nothing the authorities could do to prevent it. What could the government do, they can't prosecute people for not turning up to work and they can't prosecute every trade union if they don't have the support of the people.

 

Rather by definition, the elected government has the support of the people. That's how a democracy works. If we hadn't supported their plans we would not have voted them into power.

[Bigthumb]

Not if everyone was on strike they couldn't. The government wouldn't support it as they would have a revolution on their hands. The real thing.

 

Why would everyone want to go on strike. Don't imagine that just because a load of loud mouths on here and elsewhere are shouting off and a few students are causing riots that they are somehow in the majority.

I'm perfectly content and have no reason to go on strike. All I see is a government trying to clear up a financial melt down that happened under the last government. That's what the current government was elected to do and it might cause a bit of pain on the way. The alternative is to go the way of Greece and Ireland. That's the point. Folks can protest about the poll tax with some hope of change, but when the country is verging on bankrupcy the only alternatives are the folks making the cut backs, regadless of what the current opposition might want to claim.