"It did cause the government to drop that policy after all"
It did sod all to stop an illegal war, despite the fact that one million people came out on the streets prior to in invasion of Iraq, and it led to a banning of all demostrations within one mile of Westminster.
The petrol price protests only had some effect because lorry drivers, who were in a position to bring militant pressure on the transport system, played a major part.
If we are going to have the same people who got the world into the mess it is now in, remain in positions of authority and influence, as appears to be inevitable, and if they are going to continue to help themselves to taxpayers money in the form of enormous bonuses, as they continue to do unchecked at the present time, then those of us who have no other voice than our Trades Unions are simply going to have to leave it to their discretion to do what they see fit. I'm sure the T.U. leadership is as aware as anybody with experience of trades union activity, that nobody comes out on strike unless they are left with no other alternative. Removing the option to call a strike is throwing away the only weapon working people have (sending our representitives naked to the conference table I think is the apposite term)
As I said earlier, often the threat of a strike is enough.
Jim Carroll