Lobby the TUC General council on 22 October
Paula Mitchell, Socialist Party Executive Committee
At its annual congress in September, the TUC (Trades Union Congress) voted unanimously to call a national weekend demonstration “against Labour austerity, as a launchpad for sustained trade union action in defence of workers and young people”.
The TUC has tremendous potential power. Six and a half million workers are organised in trade unions, and the TUC brings most of those together. A serious campaign could mobilise hundreds of thousands of workers and their families and supporters onto the streets, applying pressure to this unpopular Labour government, and giving confidence to workers to fight for their unions to take the next steps towards national strike action in defence of jobs, pay and services.
So it is official policy – and we must now fight to make it a reality. A demo on Saturday 22 November would be the ideal day, just before Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s Budget on 26 November.
The decision about what to call was deferred to the next meeting of the TUC General Council, which meets on 22 October. The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) has called a lobby to demand the TUC names the date.
This lobby is an important step in mobilising the pressure of trade union members on their leaders to build the industrial and political fight necessary to defend workers from Labour’s attacks.
Lobby the TUC General Council – 9am Wednesday 22 October at TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
