Wildcat strike action has spread across the UK in support of a strike by construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire over an Italian firm getting a contract for part of the refitting work on the refinery. The Italian firm will use its permanent workforce of Italian workers.
Part of the background to the strike is increased use of sub-contracting on construction jobs, using EU rulings which allow contractors to undercut union-negotiated agreements by employing sub-contractors from other EU countries.
On Monday 2 February the Lindsey strikers adopted a series of positive trade-union demands. But socialists have faced the paradox that the most inspiring working-class movement for many years takes place under a central slogan, "British Jobs For British Workers", which cannot conceivably answer the needs which spur the action. What should our attitude be?
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