Friday 25 November 2011

The November 30th (N30) Strikes

Under law British trade unions are no longer allowed to call sympathetic strikes or general strikes against government policy. So on November 30th 2011 (30/11/11) over twenty of Britain's largest unions representing public sector workers will strike against government plans to introduce a second income tax for public sector workers and cut their pensions - a specific government policy that directly affects their pay and conditions.

Although it is hard to predict how large these strikes will be they are expected to significantly affect all levels of the civil service, schools, universities, courts, prisons, hospitals and border and immigration controls. It is though likely to be one of the largest strikes held in Britain since the General Strikes of the 1920's. It will also be the first time health care workers have gone on strike since 1988.

Obviously this strike action will also coincide with the third day of the COP17/CMP7 Summit. However I see no reason why the strikers should hold off on account of that. In fact a strong display of how little support the British delegation have at home may actually improve the situation.

In other news the Court date for my grandmother's case has come up at the Family division of the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday December 2nd. The attended but secret hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:30 and last for a period of one hour. So arrest warrants in this case can safely be executed that evening. I must stress though that for this case and this case only.

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