London has been subjected to industrial action on at least three fronts this week. Earlier the RMT action lead to fairly comprehensive disruption to the London Underground, and today both fire fighters and journalists at the BBC are scheduled to down tools.
First off, I must declare something of a vested interest in that latter strike, as a BBC pension member.
But overall, one thing that has to be noted is that technology rather than legislation is having a nullifying impact on the power and impact of strikes. In a world where working from home is becoming an increasingly common event for many, and one where the internet is both giving access to the old media and generating entirely new channels, two of the three strikes this week are having a substantially lower impact than they would have done even three years ago. The firemen withdrawing labour on bonfire night is maybe slightly more impactful.
For many years I've regarded those who are most vociferous against strikers as in some ways being jealous of others who have working lives that are just much more important than their own. How much impact would the average accountant or business analyst have by withdrawing their labour in comparison to the average nurse or bus driver? (then think about their average pay cheques…)
It's not necessarily going to be a better world when none of our jobs actually make a difference…
mmitII 