UnityUnity Communists @ Trades’ Councils Conference

“The new pensions will be substantially more affordable to alternative providers… no longer requiring private, voluntary and social enterprise providers to take on the risks of defined benefit that deter many bidding for contracts in the first place” Danny Alexander, Treasury Secretary, explaining Government public sector pensions policy to Parliament.

How much clearer do we want them to be? It’s not about “affordability” or “deficit reduction”… it’s about privatisation! In order to sell off services, the government has to do a number of things: Reduce the cost of pensions to

private providers Abolish national pay rates and

promote workplace and individual pay bargaining Extend “flexibility” in

conditions, work patterns, hiring and firing etc. Undermine public sector trade

unionism. So as we develop the pensions

campaign, we must be clear amongst ourselves, and with our communities, that this is a struggle against the government’s wholesale sell-off of public services from which profit can be made.

Continued on back page

On May 3, millions of people voted against the austerity and privatisation policies of Britain’s unelected, illegitimate government. They demonstrated that they reject the idea promoted by big business and media, the banks, hedge funds and Con-Dem government that past levels of public expenditure were the main cause of the economic and financial crisis.

They reject, too, the remedy dictated by the City of London, financial institutions, the EU Commission and European Central Bank - that massive public spending cuts and a savage assault on wages and pensions of public sector workers are necessary to reduce Britain's financial deficit.

The Labour Party leadership which aligns itself with these policies and remedies - or a slightly watered down version of them - betrays the millions of workers and their families who should be able to look to them for support and solidarity. In particular, statements by Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Liam Byrne in support of deep cuts in public sector wages and pension entitlements,

welfare benefits and local social services represent a shameful capitulation to the banks, the Con-Dem regime and the right- wing mass media.

Labour's success in local elections on May 3rd and current lead in the opinion polls can be attributed more to recent government blunders than a ringing endorsement of their 'alternative' strategy. The support of the Labour movement, contrasts sharply with the refusal of the Labour Party leadership to advocate policies that would generate economic growth such as defending public services, jobs, wages and pensions and further highlights the extent to which the interests of the labour movement and ordinary working people across Britain continue to be largely unrepresented in the House of Commons. The trouncing of the Tories and Lib Dems in the local elections is very welcome, and illustrates a growing spirit of resistance. The danger is though that the current Labour leadership will interpret this support as an endorsement of their current policies – to be used against those in and outside the Labour Party Continued Overleaf

Coventry 12th & 13th May 2012

Wanted!Wanted! A political voice for working peopleA political voice for working people

by Robert Griffiths

by Moz Greenshields

Pensions: A strategy for winning

Wanted! A Political Voice for Working people cont.

demanding change. Millions of working people, in

both affiliated and non-affiliated unions need a Labour Party that defends their interests, stands up for public services, opposes the whole rotten and corrupt set-up in big business, rip-off Britain – and renounces a British foreign policy that mires us in adventurist imperialist wars, the mass slaughter of civilians, international rendition and torture and a new generation of nuclear weapons.

This, in turn, raises the need for affiliated unions to campaign in a more determined, planned and coordinated way to change the policies and if necessary the composition of the Labour Party leadership. The duty of affiliated unions to fight for progressive, left and socialist values in the Labour Party could not be clearer. At the same time, this is an important part of an even bigger question: how can the labour movement best ensure that its collective views and interests are represented in the Westminster parliament?

This challenge must be faced by the whole movement, including those unions, like PCS, the education unions and many others, not affiliated to the Labour Party. The Labour Party was founded by the trade union movement. It receives the support of over one-third of voters and , as shown by recent election results, can reach wider sections. But this support is not guaranteed, is increasingly volatile and could quickly disintegrate if the party's right-wing course is maintained. The trade union movement, and its members locally, have a duty to intervene to reclaim the party as political representatives of the interests of working people. Affiliated unions should respond

immediately to demands from their members and cease paying financial donations to the Labour Party centrally until its leaders and MPs oppose real cuts in public sector wages and express solidarity with workers fighting to defend their

pensions. Affiliation fees should be

maintained in order to step up the challenge to the Labour leadership's current policies from inside the party as well as from outside.

Affiliated unions should convene an all-Britain conference at the earliest opportunity to discuss the current crisis of political representation for workers and their families. Communists believe these actions are the most realistic and effective way of ensuring that the interests of working people are represented in the Westminster parliament. Should the Labour Party continue on a right-wing course, its future will be at risk and the trade union movement will have a duty to re-establish a mass party of labour capable of winning elections, forming a government and enacting policies in the interests of the people not the bankers.

Affiliated unions should also consider demanding that a special emergency conference of the Labour Party be held to consider a fundamental change of economic and financial policy on the capitalist crisis, public spending and investment, public sector wages and pensions, privatisation and taxation.

At some point either at the initiative of the TUC or some other body must result in a special conference of all labour movement organisations to discuss the political representation of the labour movement in the House of Commons.

In the face of the current ruling class offensive, the labour movement needs to develop the maximum clarity and unity.

For its part, the Communist Party will continue to develop its Marxist analysis, project an alternative economic and political strategy for the working class and its allies and strengthen non-sectarian left unity. Robert Griffiths is General Secretary of the Communist Party

When a major recession hit Britain in the earlyit was Communists who coined the slogan ‘Stop thretreat’, campaigning alongside others against theshameful treatment of the unemployed.

In 1931, the final betrayal of the working class bLabour Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald saw thcreation of a coalition government and a savage awelfare benefits. History is repeating itself.

Every section in society is affected, but more so others. Women make up more than 65% of publicworkers and the TUC is predicting that at least 75jobs will be lost because of cuts in health, welfare education.

Public sector cuts affect voluntary sector organiwhere the majority of workers and those they supwomen. Most local authorities have already had tovoluntary sector grants by 25%.

Women and young people are also victims of thefrom the economic crisis in other ways - domestic is on the rise and despite this 60% of refuge servic72% of outreach services having received no gover funding since April 2011.

Unemployment amongst women is reaching re

Time for action on

The role of the EU in this period of capitalist economic crisis has clearly demonstrated that the notion of a ‘social’ Europe is a myth.

The only way to recover democratic control of our economy, save manufacturing, restore employment rights and rescue our welfare state is to fight for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

The EU serves the interests of big business and the banks. It’s little wonder that Cameron, Clegg and Cable support it as the City continues to dominate European finance and banking.

Even Obama’s limited economic stimulus package which has created some jobs in the productive economy would be illegal in any EU member state and Britain’s membership inhibited government intervention to save Bombardier.

The anti-democratic and pro-big business character of the EU is now fully exposed as it replaces elected governments and the European Central Bank - with its partners in crime the International Monetary Fund and the World Central Bank - impose drastically damaging economic policies on one country after another.

Britathe hato defeto the unionienoug

The the ETTreatyGoverdeflatiabroga

Lasta motiTUC cdeflaticallingpowerproduservice

Mosta new similagenerarespecbut dito demturninattitudAnitaof the

The European Union: Timby Anita Halpin

The People’s Charter puts forward a clear and specific set of policies not only as an antidote to ConDem cuts, but also for the expansion of the economy through a programme of directed investment, control over the export of capital, public ownership, the development of sustainable industries, a reduction in working hours, and a program of skills training and retraining.

Impossible? Far from it! The Charter shows how these could be brought about and as part of a fundamental shift in wealth and power in favour of the working class…clearly a context that this millionaire’s government would fight every step of the way, but one which any political party purporting to represent working people should be proud to put forward.

So what can we do about it, apart from arguing the case?

The People’s Charter is proposing joint activity with Trades Union Councils up and down the country on these issues – and this has been endorsed by the TUCJCC as part of the Trades Union Councils’ Plan of Work.

As the recession deepens both globally and in Britain, contractions and closures in

industry and services are the order of the day. Unemployment is planned to be a central plank in the Government war on workers. Trades Councils are in a position to identify these attacks on working people, and mobilise whole communities around them – to build a movement for jobs, skills, industry and services.

We are proposing that these campaigns should be co-ordinated, probably in the Autumn, and that we build from them a sustained and vibrant movement against the ConDems and all others that project unemployment as “inevitable” or a painful necessity. We are also asking Trades Union Councils to consider setting up Unemployed Workers’ Association locally, with representation on the Trades Councils.

The motions to this conference referring to the People’s Charter are very welcome. Now’s the time to get into action! In the words of a delegate from Birmingham to a joint Trades Councils/People’s Charter Conference at the very end of 2011: “We need a movement that involves people around the country in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and which is there day-in, day-out – sustained and active and refusing to go away. Such a movement would be unstoppable.”

y 1920s, he e

by he ttack on

for c sector 50,000 and

isations, port are o cut

e fall-out violence

ces and rnment

ecord

heights, well over a million by last August. Since women are more likely than men to work part time, particularly if they are carers it makes them much more vulnerable to unemployment. Ethnic minority women are more likely to be in temporary jobs so they are at an even greater risk of becoming unemployed.

Over the past 30 years ‘peripheral’ - part-time, temporary and all forms of insecure employment - has become the mainstay for vast sections of the population, as industry has been destroyed or shipped overseas creating mass unemployment in former industrial in Scotland, Wales, the Midlands and the North of England. Any industry and services that remained have been, and are being re-organised and ‘MacJobs’ are on the rise.

A substantial proportion of employment in Britain today is now precarious. Agency and temporary work has become the norm particularly amongst young people, women and most migrant workers—with at least a fifth of the labour force employed in this manner.

The economy is more and more reliant on ‘precarious work’. Part time employment, self employment, fixed-term work, on-call work, home working, and telecommuting all depart from the standard of full-time,

continuous work with a single employer (with which a trade union can negotiate). Precarious work provides low wages, few benefits, a lack of collective representation to exercise control over working conditions, and little-to-no job security. More than a third of workers are forced into this form of employment and it’s only increasing.

This makes it even more important for women and young people to join the fightback and make their voice heard in the battle against these vicious attacks. It is for trades union activists like yourselves to make them welcome to local anti-cuts activities. Kevin Donnelly is vice secretary of Leeds TUC and a vice chair of Yorkshire & Humberside TUC

unemployment by Kevin Donnelly

ain’s withdrawal would strengthen and of people across Europe fighting end their democracies and halt a race bottom. That is why trades ists have a duty to say enough is h: we want to get out. message is getting across. In March TUC unequivocally condemned the y on Stability, Coordination and rnance , which imposes even more ionary budget controls and directly ates the democracy of debtor states. t month, the STUC conference passed ion from Kilmarnock and Loudon condemning the anti-democratic and ionary character of the EU and g for national governments to have rs, to once again, invest in the ctive economy and provide public es. t significant was the call to negotiate relationship with the EU on a r basis to that of Norway. The STUC al council supported the motion in all cts, except the call for withdrawal, d stress the critical threat now posed

mocracy and trade union rights. A ng point in the Labour movements de to the EU is now being reached.

a Halpin is Trade Union Organiser e Communist Party

me to go Putting the People’s Charter into action by Bill Greenshields

Pensions: A Strategy for winning cont.

Services that cannot be used to make profit will be abandoned to “Big Society” volunteers in the name of “deficit reduction”. We already have MacJobs. Now we’ll see B&Q services… do it yourself!

Most unions’ pensions strategy fails to embed industrial action into a broader political campaign against privatisation. This would, through our Trades Union Councils, put us at the heart of communities already struggling against spending cuts and shoddy private providers. It would provide fertile ground for us to promote an alternative economic strategy as agreed at TUC Congress, and enable unions to work more effectively with the People’s Charter to build a real movement at local and national levels.

What would such a campaign look like? A hard hitting joint union statement

identifying the privatisation strategy of the government as the political context behind the pensions struggle. An open challenge the legitimacy of

the ConDem Coalition – an unelected millionaires’ government made up of two parties that each lost the general election. The identification of the alternative

economic and political strategy, promoting the People’s Charter - demanding that it form the basis of the manifesto of any political party

that claims to represent working people A sustained high profile campaign for

public services at local level involving Trades Union Councils, Regional TUCs, People’s Charter groups etc An approach from TUC Public

Sector Liaison Group to private sector unions and the National Pensioners Convention for co-ordinated campaigning on public sector, private sector and State Retirement pensions. Further co-ordinated “guerrilla”

industrial action as part of building the broader movement against privatisation. The Institute of Employment Rights

has shown that the UK Human Rights Act obliges British courts to give effect to European Court of Human Rights ruling that its convention on “freedom

of assembly and

association” requires states to permit protests and strikes against government policy…. including General Strike action. Could this explain the attempts by the ConDems to discredit the ECHR, and repeal the Human Rights Act?

Well, we may not be at the stage of General Strike… yet! But we need to up the stakes. The ConDems think they can beat us by presenting their full-on political attack as just another dispute… and then set about “dividing and ruling” us. Our response has to be much more than continued sporadic industrial action. This is a matter for the whole working class – and our strategy needs to be firmly based on mobilising that immense force. Moz Greenshields is Secretary of Derby Area TUC and a member of Unison’s NEC

21st Century Marxism 21 & 22 July 2012 Bishopsgate Institute, London

discussions, debates, education, rallies, food, drink and music with leading national and international

speakers from the labour and anti-imperialist movements

www.communist-party.org.uk

Commenting on last week's council elections Anita Wright, NUT delegate to Lambeth trades council, said: 'The results confirm that the majority of voters have had enough of job losses and cuts to public services. However, the low turnout indicates that many people have already given up voting in the belief that all politicians are the same. That is why it is crucial that Labour councillors act as champions of their communities, working alongside local trade unionists and community groups. 'If Ed Milliband is serious about fighting for the rights of ordinary working class families and winning back trust he must act quickly and imaginatively to ensure that all of the Labour controlled councils get the support they need and act in the interests of those that elected them. 'It is also vital that Labour councillors and Labour authorities maintain a dialogue with their local trade union movement, no matter how tough the conversation. To strengthen this link, each Labour Party constituency needs to appoint a trade union liaison officer to link with their local trades council.'