Third Camp Marxism

Migrant work­­ers are being forced to work without access to the same PPE (personal protective equipment) and paid leave for isolation and shielding that their British born colleagues are receiving in at least one Tesco distribution centre.

Managers are refusing to take the time to explain the changes in policy and what they mean for the staff in a way that can be understood despite the language barrier, and telling them to work above their usual pick rates despite the fact monitoring has been suspended for the duration of pandemic.

Protective screens have been put up between till operators in most supermarkets, in order to enable them to open twice as many tills while ostensibly adhering to social distancing guidelines, but many staff feel like they just don’t go far enough.

According to a senior USDAW official, the union approved their use in Tesco (where I work) without even seeing the screens, and upon seeing them doubts were raised about why they had been approved in the first place.

Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, and France have all announced measures to ease their pandemic lockdowns.

Several other countries in Europe look as if they are at or past a pandemic peak. The UK may be around a peak.

In Lambeth, our union, Unison, has been able to press the council on its response to the pandemic, and with results.

Early on, we won full isolation pay for all workers in the council, including agency workers and zero-hours workers.

In the week up to 10 April, according to the Office of National Statistics, 1,043 care home residents died as a result of Covid-19 – leaping from 217 the week before. Then over the Easter weekend (11-15 April), according to the Care Quality Commission, that may have doubled again to about 2,000.

Maria Exall, an activist in the Communication Workers’ Union’s Greater London Combined telecoms branch and Vice-Chair of Labour Unions (the Labour Party-union link organisation), spoke to Sacha Ismail.

How should the labour movement be responding to the Covid-19 crisis?

We have reported on many other examples, but here are some sent to us by a transport worker and RMT activist.

UK transport workers

BA cabin crew, Covid-19, 2020

Crossrail, 2019

Parliament is set to reopen virtually on 21 April, as Labour leader Keir Starmer among others has demanded.

That’s a good: it will subject the Tories to more, badly needed, scrutiny. But if Parliament can meet, why can’t the Labour Party start having meetings again too?

We’re in negotiations with the civil service to secure a national agreement on what should happen if there’s a confirmed case of Covid-19 in a workplace.

Obviously that individual worker needs to immediately go home, with full pay, and our demand is that their immediate team is also sent home on full pay. We’re further demanding that their immediate work space, if it can be isolated, be shut down and deep cleaned, and if it can’t, that the entire building be closed.

While I waited for my train into work I heard three separate automated announcements.

One from a member of staff, one from an NHS paramedic and one from the child of an NHS worker. They had one message in common “Do not travel unless you are a critical worker making an absolutely essential journey”.