in the Trade Unions
www.socialistparty.org.uk | Socialist Party Trade Union Bulletin
BUILD FOR
ACTION AGAINST
THE CUTS NOW!
T
he TUC conference this week has an
opportunity to give a clear lead to
the trade union movement against
the government’s massive attack on the
public sector.
The cuts have already begun even before
the formal announcements that will be
made in the comprehensive spending
review due on October 20th.
There is already massive anger at the
breathtaking proposals to cut between
25% and 40% of spending on the majority
of government departments from the Civil
Service to Local Government.
Unfortunately, despite the many speeches
by some union leaders, there is a fear
that the TUC are leaving it to late to begin
the anti-cuts campaign. And are not yet
reflecting the massive anger there is in the
ranks of the trade union movement.
Brendan Barber was absolutely correct
to say last week that the anger against
the cuts could turn into another Poll Tax
rebellion, but what he didn’t say was that
the massive anti-Poll Tax campaign of non
payment - with 18 million people either
refusing to pay the Poll Tax or not being
able to pay it - was led and organised from
below. It wasn’t down to the MPs as Barber
seemed to be saying, but down to the
willingness of ordinary people to organise
against the barbarous unfairness of a tax
that meant “the duke pays the same as
the dustman,” to quote the saying at the
time.
The campaign against the Poll Tax was
organised through anti-Poll Tax Unions
at local regional and all Britain level with
Militant, the predecessor of the Socialist
Party, in the lead at that time.
National Demonstration
The proposal to organise a national
| TUC 2010
demonstration in the main composite
on defending the public sector is a step
forward, but this would not have happened
without the pressure of the left unions
like PCS and the RMT and a number
of others as well. But to postpone the
national demonstration till March 2011
is totally inadequate. Six months after the
Comprehensive Spending Review is too
long to wait. We need a demo this year,
as a step towards a one day public sector
general strike.
Whenever the demo takes place, we need
to make sure it is a massive success. In
preparation for it, the TUC and the whole
trade union movement must ensure
that in the week of the comprehensive
spending review of October 20 regional
demonstrations and other activities are
organised in every major city in Britain.
Some in the trade unions seem to think
that the cuts proposals are supported by
the wider population because at this stage
no alternative has been posed.
But as the French workers demonstrated
last week, with 2.5 million public sector
workers on strike and on the streets in
a series of massive demonstrations,
they weren’t prepared to wait until
Sarkozy’s proposals to cut pensions was
implemented. Instead they acted now to
stop it happening later.
Right-wing
Some right wing union leaders fear that
taking action against the government,
whether this is a national demonstration
or, ‘even worse’ to them, being seen to
coordinate industrial action across the
unions over jobs and services, would be
electorally unpopular and jeopardise the
chances of getting a Labour government
re elected. Even if this is nearly five years
away.
This hesitancy is inextricably linked with the
ongoing election process for the New Labour
leader. The right wing want a continuation
of the type of policies implemented by Tony
Blair and Gordon Brown. There was no
fundamental difference anyway between
the two of them. For example in one of
the main composites at the conference
the TUC has included the sentence from
the GMB’s resolution: “Congress deplores
the coalition government’s demolition of
the public services it took years of Labour
investment to rebuild”.
continued over...
 www.socialistparty.org.uk
T
he Labour government might have
overseen an increase in public
spending prior to the banking crisis
- through the introduction of extra stealth
taxes on the working class in the main and
the rising economy. This was based on the
increase in private debt, as a result of the
housing price bubble. But this spending
was primarily to boost the profits of big
business.
Privatisation & PFI
The privatisation of the public sector
continued at a relentless level under New
Labour. One of the greatest scandals is the
Private Finance Initiative (PFI), introduced
by Gordon Brown as chancellor. Now the
public sector is lumbered with making
huge repayments to the private sector
investors.
The cost to the public purse is way above
what it would have cost if the projects had
been financed directly by the government
borrowing the money at much lower rates
of interest than the private sector was able
to do.
TUC leader Brendan Barber has being
trying to persuade the union leaders to
support the main composite on the cuts by
references to the willingness of the TUC to
organise “activities” around the country in
the autumn. A statement will be issued to
Congress next week saying that there will
be a national demonstration against the
cuts in March next year “with the date to
be fixed later”.
The argument against an earlier demo is
that the unions need time to mobilise their
members. They argue that motions from
the PCS and the RMT which call for action
by the TUC sooner rather than later are too
early and that people do not yet know of
the precise nature of the cuts to come.
The details of all the cuts are not yet clear
but that is not the point. The key role of a
leadership worthy of the name is to raise
the level of consciousness by a campaign
of explanation of what is being proposed
by the government. At the same time
building up support for a fightback by
giving the average trade union members
confidence that the leadership knows
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| Socialist Party Trade Union Bulletin | TUC 2010
what it is doing.
The other main reason for action sooner
rather than later, at least in the form of a
demonstration, would be as a warning shot
to the government that they will be in for a
fight if they go ahead with their programme
of cuts. There is one sure thing – if there
is not action to oppose the cuts, the Tories
will proceed with a free hand.
Local Demonstrations
As part of the preparation for a national
demo the TUC regions should be
pressurised to at least organise regional
demos in their areas in the week of the
comprehensive spending review, this is
what was talked about at meetings of the
general council but other than Scotland
nowhere else has yet said they will organise
regional demonstrations’ in the week of
the spending review in October. Where it
has been raised by some of the left unions
then the right have opposed even these
measures
The same thing has happened in other
Events around the South East region of the regions. For example the south west TUC
TUC (SERTUC) have shown the desperate showed no enthusiasm for a regional
measures being used to stop a regional demo either. The left in that region have
demo. SERTUC met last week and the now organised their own demo with a
PCS had a proposal to organise a regional coalition of left unions in Bristol, led by the
demonstration on 23 October in London, PCS and the NUT organised in an anti-cuts
involving the whole of the south east from committee.
Brighton to Norwich, including London.
Other regions should do the same thing;
But this was totally opposed by Unison organise demos from below and call on
in particular, so instead a compromise the unions in the regions to support them.
position was adopted to have a regional
Whatever happens there will be mass
rally.
opposition to the government’s cuts.
The actions of the right wing trade union
The lobby of the TUC organised by the
leaders are effectively blocking a campaign
National Shop Stewards Network is an
against cuts. The logic of their position is:
important early step in organising against
“bring back Labour, we can live with their
the cuts and gives an indication of what
cuts. Demos and strikes will only make us
can be built over the coming months.
unpopular with the electorate”.
National Shop Stewards Network TUC Fringe Meeting:
TUC MUST CALL DEMO
5:30pm, Wednesday 15th September, Friends
Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester
(5 mins walk from conference venue)
Speakers include Bob Crow, RMT Gen Sec