Louise Cuffaro, National Education Union Executive Committee member, personal capacity
Backed by all the trade unions and with a lot of funding from our own union, the ‘Together’ march should be an opportunity for trade union members, ordinary workers and their families, alongside community organisations and socialists, to demonstrate against austerity and racism.
It should be a rallying cry for all of us to call for candidates in local (and future general) elections, and support those who are coming forward to stand, who pledge not to carry out any further austerity cuts, to actively campaign to return the NHS, education and social services from all forms of privatisation (including academisation, supply agencies, private SEND schools and so on) to the public sector.
We must fight Starmer’s austerity through action, and we need to fight for our own political representatives – people who stand for workers, from the ranks of the trade unions and ordinary community organisations.
That is how trade unions stand together against austerity, wars and racism.
However, as the biggest education union, we are donating thousands to set up a new alliance called ‘Together’, along with individual celebrities and charitable organisations, marching in the name of ‘Love, hope and unity’, rather than demanding the TUC and all the unions take a lead.
‘Homes, jobs and services, not racism!’
Our messaging, on banners and leaflets, flags and merchandise should be ‘Homes, jobs and services, not racism!’
Posters, hoardings and press releases in the names of our unions and the TUC can explain that it is not migrants and asylum seekers, homeless people, or disabled people, that are underfunding our NHS, our education and social care systems. It is past Tory and Lib Dem governments and the current Labour government that enrich big business and more and more billionaires, by continuing to let them run our once-nationalised public utilities: transport, water, gas and electricity, many aspects of the NHS, education and ‘social’ housing.
It is important for empowering the ordinary workers and their families that we lead in our trade union names and put forward positive and clear political demands that answer the needs of all.
Trade unions can also help take security on counter-demonstrations seriously, with trade union stewarding. Many NEU and other trade union members have vast experience to share and train others. The unions which are funding and supporting demonstrations can organise and publicise that, which would be enormously reassuring when people have concerns about the far right and their demos. Maybe each union could design day-glo jackets with the name of their union loud and proud, and slogans about strength in unity!
This is not about ‘hate and love’, ‘some people are nice and kind and others are not’. Especially at times of war and austerity, the bosses and those with power want to divide us so that those who are suffering blame each other instead of those who have the power and money!
It is about governments that support billionaires and big business, and wage war or support those that do, to the detriment of ordinary working-class people everywhere who are worried for the future, for themselves, their children and grandchildren.
It is about the main political parties that do nothing but prop up a world in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and millions across the world suffer tyranny, war, poverty and starvation.
I have raised several times as an NEU Executive member that the vast amounts of money being donated by our union (£450,000 so far) should be under our control, as the elected leaders of our members.
Of course campaign organisations and famous individuals like Sir Lenny Henry and Paloma Faith should be there and are welcome alongside the trade unions, but the trade union movement should not be handing over our members’ money and authority in exchange for only non-political messaging.
In the NEU we are balloting on teacher pay, funding and workload, to ‘Save Education’. For most of our members this has not been clearly linked to the demo. We are in danger of not leading our members, or people more generally, and especially the young people that we teach.
The demo must uphold the traditions of the working class. We want our demands on the banners and posters; yes, music and speeches by famous people, but also ordinary trade union reps and community campaigners who stand for a fightback.
We want collective action with other unions, to inspire and lead politically in action, to win back jobs, homes, public services!
NSSN conference 2026
- Saturday 27 June 11am-4.30pm
- Workers fight back – 20th anniversary conference: ‘We won’t pay for the crisis!’
- Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL, £10 attendance fee
- shopstewards.net – email us: info@shopstewards.net
Workers unity against the far right
The far right are again trying to whip up racist division by scapegoating refugees and migrants. The National Shop Stewards Network calls for the unions to play a leading role in opposing this offensive, which will only weaken our movement in the interests of the employers.
We call on the TUC to implement the policy passed at its 2018 Congress, to launch a campaign of ‘Jobs and homes not racism.’
