Mark Best, Socialist Party national committee
After the announcement that inflation in March fell to 2.6%, chancellor Rachel Reeves described it as “encouraging” and showing that Labour’s economic plans are working. But, as BBC news put it, “it won’t last long”.
As Trump’s tariffs cause chaos and uncertainty across world financial markets and disrupt supply chains, big business bosses will try and protect their profits. That means they’ll try to increase prices, drive down our wages and make us pay the price while they keep getting richer. ‘Awful April’ has come to an end but we’re all living with the hikes in our bills, council tax and other costs.
The lesson of the strike wave of 2022-23 against the cost-of-living crisis was clear. Across the public and private sectors, when workers collectively acted and took strike action their pay offers were improved.
As inflation bites again and Labour, serving the same bosses as the Tories, repeatedly stress the need for us all to tighten our belts, strike action is posed again.
So it’s no wonder then that big business representatives haven’t stopped lobbying the government and House of Lords to water down Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, promised to make it easier for us to organise in trade unions and to take action.
Workers’ rights: still waiting
It’s been ten months since Keir Starmer’s Labour won the general election, and the Tory anti-union laws are still in effect. Reeves, Starmer and the bosses hope that, by kicking the can down the road, those laws can be used to act as a barrier to working-class action.
Instead of dragging their feet, the Labour government could act now. Scunthorpe steelworks was taken over in a day – a Saturday! The Tory anti-union laws, which include the undemocratic 50% turnout thresholds which hold back strike action, could be turfed out just as quickly. And Starmer could remove all the anti-democratic, anti-union laws, including those introduced by Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher. Unions, including the TUC (Trades Union Congress) union federation, should demand that Starmer’s government scraps all anti-union laws, sooner rather than a diluted version later.
Socialist Party members are fighting within unions and workplaces for the action we need, and for a lead to help give workers confidence to fight back and win.
