Dean Young, Liverpool South Socialist Party and trades council delegate
Liverpool Trades Council held a public meeting to show solidarity with striking bin workers in Birmingham, with a striker speaking. There were at least 60 people in the room, including Liverpool Community Independent councillor Alan Gibbons and also Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby. This meeting was of a different scale to others – numerically and in the content of discussion.
There were contributions with messages of solidarity and the need to support the bin workers and workers on strike in Knowsley against Livv Housing. The meeting discussed the need to escalate the support that the wider working-class movement can give to these workers.
However, most notable was the political mood. Speaker after speaker got up and attacked the Labour government, demanding that something new be built that can champion the working class across the country. Some of these contributions came from people in existing left-wing organisations (such as the Community Independents) but also many former members of the Labour Party and those unaffiliated. Socialist Party members made the point that any new formation to the left of the Labour Party should have links to the organised working class through their fighting organisations: the trade unions.
When I contributed, I referenced Ian Byrne being in attendance and said that while there are members of the Labour Party that workers respect, they must help build an organisation that defends workers against the injustices of capitalism. The Labour government is on the side of big business and the billionaires. This went down well, we sold copies of the Socialist and several people came up to me after the meeting agreeing with our points.
What lessons can be learned from this meeting? Evidently the Birmingham strike, due to its national profile, was a pole of attraction which explains the larger than usual turnout. More and more people are agreeing with the Socialist Party that we need a new mass workers’ party armed with a socialist programme. However, there are things that must be ironed out regarding any new formation. It must have healthy democratic structures, a mass base in the working class through active trade union support, so it is not just another ‘new left-wing party’ that fades away. And finally it must be a national party capable of leading and supporting the workers’ struggles across the country. Socialist Party members will fight for such an organisation and for a socialist programme.
