THE inevitable reduction and withdrawal of the government’s “furlough” subsidy will lead predictably to an increasing number of employers threatening mass sackings. It is happening already, to varying degrees, with even some of those taking public money threatening to eviscerate literally thousands of jobs from their own workforce. British Airways is a prime example of so-called economic “restructuring.”
 
Let’s face it, it isn’t likely that a Tory government is going to fund private firms indefinitely and neither is it going to start seriously intervening in the decision-making of bosses. This is the political reality of our time.
 
So, when the fight for jobs begins in earnest and with Labour currently out of power, it will be left to working people and their trade unions to try and stem the tide. We can and should talk about “economic realignment,” but without agency and power there will be no real change. The policy debate will rightly rage, but in its place and at the periphery. In the fight before us, the workplace is critical.
 
Over the last 10 years Unite has developed the practice of leverage — a comprehensive, all-encompassing approach to campaigning. 

We have been doing this quietly but with considerable success. Twelve wins from twelve campaigns testifies to this fact. From saving jobs to getting blacklisted workers back to work, our campaigns have been fought in hard, difficult conditions. No easy wins here. And by doing that, taking on the big fights, we have developed our methods — from planning to implementation, to the theory of decision-making.
 
Now, we need to utilise all that we have learnt to fight the savage cuts to jobs and terms and conditions that are coming our way. Where we can fight effectively on the industrial front we should be taking action, but we also need to be creative and agile at this time and that may mean deploying multifaceted and muscular tactics. 

People and markets make the decisions and what actually moves them must be our focus, otherwise we will be left bitterly disappointed. We must remember that tactics without strategy is often the noise before defeat.
 
At British Airways, we have encountered an employer seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to slash labour costs. The fact that Covid-19 is being used as cover for their actions makes this plain enough.
 
The BA plan to “fire and rehire” 42,000 of its own employees is remarkable in its audacity, clearly hoping that we will be caught like rabbits in the headlights, unsure of our next move, too worried to rock the boat.