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Union muscle needs honing
NIGEL FLANAGAN argues that to built on the modest success of the recent wave of strikes it is indispensable to arrest the continuing decline of membership
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: NEU picket line at Regent High School in north west London in July 2023, General Secretary Elect of the NEU, Daniel Kebede (third from right)

THE huge surge of national and many local strikes has relit the union pilot light. For the first time since the miners’ strike of 1984/85 the union movement has risen back into the consciousness of many workplaces and sectors, prompting debate about what happens next. 

There was no knock-out victory, no emphatic change in the balance of power, rather a pause as many compromise settlements were accepted. 

Thus, the RCN, CWU, UCU and others have accepted a return to their various corners, like boxers waiting for the points verdicts.

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