N30 and after: was that it? A debate on the public sector strikes Gregor Gall analyses the 30 November strikes. With a response by Heather Wakefield 30 November in Lancashire. Photo: Andy O'Donnell Was that it? Well, maybe. While France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain have been rocked by numerous general and public sector-wide strikes over the past few years, in Britain we have had just the two one-day strikes over pensions reform, on 30 June and 30 November last year. Apart from these, large-scale resistance to job losses, pay freezes and cuts in services has been notable by its absence. Slogans such as 'We won't pay for their crisis' ring hollow; the reality is that 'we' are paying for their crisis and 'they' are getting away with it. Punching above its weight All of this may be true, but it is also the case that N30 packed a punch well in excess of its weight as a one-day strike. In this sense, it was far more of a protest than an orthodox strike – and not just because it was only a day long. Any strike in the public sector is necessarily more of a political action because the government is the ultimate employer and it responds to political pressure, as opposed to the pressure of a strike as an economic action against a profit-seeking organisation in the private sector. ... To read the rest and think about subscribing to Red Pepper - they now do a trade union subscription rate - go here: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/n30-and-after-was-that-it/