Unite to end racism
A United Nations (UN) committee has “expressed its concern” about racism in Britain. Its report is a long list of all of the horrific consequences of a system built on exploitation and division.
As well as police racism and extremist far-right violence, it also points the finger at the “xenophobic rhetoric” from “political and public figures”. That would include the previous Tory ministers spending months and years talking exclusively about people on small boats while we all suffered a devastating cost-of-living crisis.
Farage fraud
No doubt Nigel Farage is another one of those that they are referring to, the man who is earning more than a million pounds a year in addition to his MPs salary, all the while peddling the fraud that he is an anti-establishment ‘man of the people’.
Labour too
But it’s not just him and the Tories. Labour is promising to reopen two immigration detention centres, locking up vulnerable people fleeing war and oppression to wait in a growing queue to find out their fate. Already short-staffed and underfunded by the Tories, Labour is promising more cuts to the civil service.
Racist police
The UN report calls for the government “to set up an independent complaint mechanism to investigate allegations of racial profiling, stop-and-search practices, strip searches, and excessive use of force by police”. Meanwhile, ten black Metropolitan Police officers told the BBC that racism is getting worse, not better.
The Socialist Party calls for working-class democratic control of policing, to give control over policies and priorities, including firing and hiring, to our communities.
Unite and fight the bosses
The UN is right, Britain has huge problems that need addressing. But we can’t rely on the UN to do anything about it. Instead, workers of all backgrounds need to fight together against our common enemy – the super-rich bosses – for decent public services, council homes, a well-paid secure job, and everything we all need.
To bring an end to racism for good means standing firm against it whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head. It also means fighting to end the exploitative capitalist system that has racism baked in, and bring about the socialist transformation of society.
Winning support in Brighton trades council
Socialist Party member Bill North explains what happened when he put the following motion to Brighton, Hove & District Trades Union Council.
Brighton Trades Council had decided not to have a meeting in August – traditionally a difficult month to get people together. But that changed after the horrific events in Southport on 29 July, and the violent protests that followed.
A few hours before the meeting, I emailed a copy of our model trade union motion – which had just been published on the Socialist Party website – to the trades council secretary, with the comment: “I’d like to propose that the trades council circulates the following model resolution – which is supported by the Socialist Party – to delegates, affiliates, and the wider movement, as part of our discussion on how to combat the threat from the far right”.
This proposal became the main item discussed at the meeting. No one at the meeting opposed any part of the motion. The meeting agreed that we’d vote on it to become trades council policy, not just circulate it to branches etc.
In moving the motion, I emphasized that racism is not just a ‘wrong idea’. It is a weapon used by the bosses to divide workers by blaming ‘others’ for the very real problems that workers face.
That is why it is absolutely necessary to combat the far right with socialist policies – summed up in the slogan ‘jobs, homes and services not racism’.
There’ll be another trades union council meeting in early September. And I’ll propose that we produce a leaflet with a clear ‘jobs and homes, not racism’ position.
Model motion
- This union branch/trades council condemns the violent protests called by far-right and fascist groups
- They have sought to exploit the horrific incident in Southport on 29th July
- We send support and solidarity to all those affected by that attack, especially the families of those killed or injured
- With absolutely no evidence and on the basis of deliberate misinformation, the far-right have targeted refugees, migrant workers and the Black and Asian and Muslim communities
This union branch/trades council believes:
- That it is essential that the trade union movement plays the leading role in building a united movement against the far right. This is especially the case as history has shown the far-right and fascist forces have targeted unions and striking workers
- With 6.5 million members, across all working-class communities, the unions can unite workers against racist division which weakens our movement and only assists the bosses
- But this requires a militant industrial and political programme
- The strike wave over the last few years has shown that workers and their unions are prepared and able to fight to defend jobs and living standards, and when they do so, they become a pole of attraction for all those suffering from austerity
- The vote for Reform is a warning of how vital it is to build a working-class political voice that fights for socialist policies. The new Starmer-led Labour government has announced cuts affecting parents and pensioners, showing its intention of continuing austerity. A party based on the organised working class that fought for anti-racist, anti-war, socialist policies – for the pay, jobs, homes and services we all need in order to prevent the far-right harnessing growing anger of working-class people with Starmer’s Labour
- It is therefore necessary that such a movement fights for the policies that can transform the lives of working-class people, including on jobs, pay, housing, the NHS and education, after decades of neoliberal policies of successive governments. Motion 44 passed at TUC Congress in 2018 launched a “Jobs, Homes, Not Racism campaign to unite the wider trade union movement and to campaign effectively against the far right.”
This union branch/trades council demands:
- That the TUC and the unions call an emergency national Saturday demonstration on the theme: ‘Workers unity not division – jobs and homes not racism’
- That where the far right call protests in localities, the trade union movement – including unions, regional TUCs, local union branches and trades councils – takes the lead in organising counter-protests, linking up with migrant, refugees and any targeted communities as well as anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations
- That all such protests are well stewarded by trade unions to guard against any threat from far-right groups
- That the unions fight to compel the Labour Government to implement pro-worker policies and if it does not do so, the unions will call a conference to discuss the building of a political vehicle for workers
If your union branch/trades council passes this motion – let us know. [email protected]
