Principles of Democratic Trade Unionism

This motion was adopted at the Public Sector Trade Union meeting held in London in September 2014. It is intended as a contribution to a wider discussion on this issue.

1. Left Unity is a broad, democratic party of the left, as such these are only suggested as a rough outline of how we think that socialists and left wing people in the trade unions can help to make their unions more democratic and to be more effective at leading the fight back against austerity, neoliberalism and social inequality.
Scrapping the anti trade union laws.

2. As long as the anti union laws are used against us, we will not be able to win any significant industrial disputes in Britain. The laws are designed to frustrate and prevent serious trade union action through bureaucracy, legal challenges and depoliticisation of our struggles.

3. If we want effective trade unionism in Britain we have to overthrow the laws that govern how the trade unions can fight. We support any and all efforts by workers to break the anti-union laws. To really smash the legal chains around us will take a combination of efforts, using both official and unofficial means, utilising the law courts as well as the picket line.

4. Workers actually break the anti union laws all the time – but without a proper campaign to generalise this and make it a point of principle then the vast majority of our disputes will be lost because we are always fighting with both hands behind our backs.
Social movement Trade Unionism

5. Trade Union struggles today are stronger when they involve more than just the workers in any particular work place. With the cuts falling on public services, it is essential as a strategy to forge a close alliance with service users and the wider public in support of industrial action.

6. Some people on the right of the union movement like to talk about social movement trade unionism because they would prefer to use popular coalitions as a replacement for working class action, such as strikes. We see it as a powerful way of supporting and strengthening workers actions by building an alliance with the local community and people beyond the workplace. This was the approach of the Chicago Teachers Union in 2012 which was a very successful defensive strike.

7. Trade Unions should not just see themselves as organisations to defend their own members – they have a vital role to play in mobilising wider resistance to austerity and neoliberalism, for instance on other social issues or economic attacks like benefit cuts.
Importance of democratic networks across the unions

8. We believe it is important that union members should be able to discuss among each other, not just in their unions but across unions. Unions that only have communication through the centre or even actively prevent union members talking to each other between branches are antithetical to the essential principle of democracy and self emancipation.

9. we need to organise among the rank and file to hold the officials to account, push them into launching stronger action (more sustained, more frequent, harder hitting) and to launch action without them where necessary.

Local control of disputes, workers in struggle organise the struggle

10. Far too many times now, local disputes have not won often because they have been interfered with by regional or national officials. We support a basic principle of trade unionism that the workers in the struggle must be the ones to organise the struggle themselves. Decisions to call off strikes must always rest with the strikers themselves.

11. Decisions about strikes should be made in meetings of the strikers themselves.

Immediate issues to organise around

12. We need a plan of action that includes the most important issues of the working class against the Government and the bureaucracy.
Demands include:

• A wage increase based on what was lost since 2008 through inflation
• A living wage of £10
• End zero hours contracts
• 35 hour working week
• End the anti-trade union laws