Organise a trade union-led weekend demo against Starmer’s austerity
Editorial of the Socialist issue 1334
Trades Union Congress (TUC) meets in Brighton (7-10 September) at a critical stage. The first year of Keir Starmer’s government – his New Labour Mark 2 – has shown itself to take its starting point as representing the interests of the bosses and the capitalist establishment, both at home and abroad. The employers’ profits come first, while working-class people have had to face the first onslaught of Labour austerity, with Rachel Reeves’s second Budget due this autumn, promising a gearing up of the cuts offensive.
This has opened up a political vacuum in society that the populist and far-right are rushing to try and fill with their racist divide and rule that wants to pit worker against worker, directing them away from the reality of decades of vicious Thatcherism.
But the huge response to the announcement by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana of a new left party, with over 700,000 signing up to give their support, shows that the workers’ movement has an opportunity to put its stamp on events, and give an alternative to workers and working-class communities, both politically and industrially. This is the role that TUC Congress must play.
Overall, the motions are far from sufficient in exposing the pro-capitalist character of Starmer’s Labour government and setting out the militant strategy that is needed. But there are motions that do point the way forward that must be supported and built upon.
Experience of past year
A year ago, newly elected Starmer strode into Brighton to lay down his mode of rule to the unions, peppering his speech with the word: “partnership”. He called for partnership between his government, the unions and so-called ‘progressive’ employers.
But the experience of the last year has proved once and for all that there are no common interests between workers and their unions and the bosses. And this includes when the boss is Starmer and his cutting Labour councils, as Unite and its members on the Birmingham bins have found out. They have spent much of this year on the picket line, facing down a brutal assault on their income, including up to £8,000 a year cut in wages. The Labour council has resorted to the most brutal strike-breaking measures to try and force through these vicious attacks.
Yet the ending of fire and rehire and the beginning of scrapping the Tory anti-union laws were supposed to be the centrepiece of Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, much heralded by most of the union leaderships. But the Birmingham bin workers know full well that fire and rehire is very much alive and being rolled out by Labour!
Unite’s ‘Fair funding for local authorities’ motion 48 calls “on the TUC to campaign urgently for: restructuring or cancellation of local government debt to future-proof local authorities; an end to imposed pay cuts by local authorities and unequivocal support for the Birmingham bin workers.”
In addition, scandalously, the undemocratic 50% strike ballot turnout thresholds have still not been scrapped, a deliberate step to attempt to undermine national action, especially in the public sector as Starmer and Reeves continue to peg back pay after 14 years of Tory wage cuts.
The POA and BFAWU unions have powerful motions exposing the duplicity of Starmer’s promises. The POA motion 17 calls for support from Congress in its fight for union rights as disgracefully “since a Labour government have been in power they have informed the POA that they do not intend to restore the right to strike for prison officers in England/Wales or Northern Ireland and they are prepared to defend Tory legislation in the European courts.”
The BFAWU’s motion 18 ‘Strengthening the Employment Rights Bill’ criticises the “loopholes” around fire and rehire and zero-hour contracts, demands the “immediate repeal of all anti-union laws” calling out the delays in “implementing even the limited reforms promised.” The union calls on Congress to “implement 2024 TUC policy by convening a special Congress to review and push for a strengthened Bill” and “coordinate a national campaign, including opposition to austerity and industrial action if necessary.”
Pass motions
This call for action is clearly expressed in the motions from the TUC Disabled Workers (motion 38) and Trades Councils (motion 39) conferences on opposing Labour’s disability benefit cuts, demanding the organisation of “a demonstration and lobby of parliament in support of disabled workers as a launchpad for sustained trade union action in defence of workers and young people” and “a weekend demonstration against Labour austerity as a launchpad for sustained trade union action in defence of workers and young people.” An NEU amendment to NASUWT’s motion 29 on the crucial issue of capital spending for public services also calls for a national demonstration.
These calls for action must be the main debates at Congress, drawing out the views of those union leaders who are covering up for Starmer and Reeves, and forcing a real discission about the way forward for the unions. Better that than voting for militant motions in order to bury them.
Union reps and activists should come to the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) rally before the start of TUC Congress to lobby union leaders and delegates to vote for the strategy outlined in these motions.
Then fight for them to be implemented
But passing these motions would only be the starting point. They would then have to be backed up by a campaign across the unions to demand the implementation of the action points agreed – particularly the calling of a national Saturday demonstration against Starmer’s austerity and preparing for industrial action.
The last year has seen workers’ action continue from the strike wave that escalated during the last period of the Tories. But key disputes such as the Birmingham bin strike have also shown that it is essential that workers build a political alternative that can strengthen their industrial action, that stands up to Starmer, and gives workers an alternative to Farage’s Reform.
The BFAWU’s motion calls on the TUC to “work with the Socialist Campaign Group, Independent Alliance and suspended Labour MPs”. How will any union leaders argue against this? Will they counterpose the need to support those Labour MPs who have dutifully voted against scrapping the two-child benefit cap or for the removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance or the disability welfare cuts, as well as standing by Starmer’s outrageous support for the brutal Israeli regime and being a faithful apologist for Trump?
The motion brings out into the Congress, and therefore the whole trade union movement, the need for the unions to debate the need for a political alternative. That this would take place just as Corbyn and Sultana launch a new party, makes this a concrete discussion. And its means that it is an opportunity to argue the need for the unions to be central to what is needed – a new workers’ party on a socialist programme.
