We are trade unionist…
Felicity Dowling – a trade union activist of many years’ standing – outlines a proposed policy for the Left Party Platform on trade unions.
1. We are socialist, feminist, environmentalist, trade unionist, internationalist and against oppression of targeted groups.
2. Left Unity is inseparable from trade unionism. For many, conditions both of work and at work, are unacceptable. The drop in buying power for UK workers since the financial crisis is the fourth worst in Europe. Women especially are in the firing line.
3. Getting a union started in some places of employment is difficult, especially when employers are using poor pay and zero hours contracts. Left Unity supports everyone’s rights to be in a union, to set up the union in their place of work and to campaign for effective unions.
4. Private sector unionisation has seen a slight growth in the last few years but too many have no organisation or ineffective representation. Trade unions are still the biggest organisation in Civil Society and, on recent polling, the most trusted.
5. Teachers, Nurses, Civil Servants, Local Government and University workers have had increased workload, pension cuts and increased pension contributions, changed pay structures and worsened conditions. Their unions are essential to protect not only the union members but also the services they provide.
6. People at work need strong, effective, democratic trade unions to fight for better wages and salaries, to fight for improved living standards, better working conditions and stronger, more favourable, contracts of employment.
7. Left Unity believes the strength of the union is the people in the workplace, not those far away in an office (useful though the organising offices can be). What each person does at work matters. What each person does to make the job better, make the service provided more effective, to persuade workers to combine for greater strength, all matter.
8. People seeking work, those retired, those people with impairments that make employment impossible (see sections 11 and 20 below) and those with caring responsibilities, all need effective, democratic representation at work, collective bargaining at work and united action to defend pensions and benefits.
9. Safe work places are unionised workplaces, here and across the world.
10. The most restrictive anti-union laws in Europe stayed on the books during Labour’s term of office and are still on the statute book now. Trade union attempts to redress inequalities and to gain more for workers whilst Labour was in government were strenuously opposed. Employers and the state colluded in Blacklisting industrial militants. Benefits systems were developed to allow employers to pay poverty wages.
11. Women as workers, as parents, and as carers have lost much through the recent policies of bosses and governments. Women are now a majority of trade unionists, but greater efforts to unionise women and men are still needed.
12. Trade unions have good anti-discrimination policies for people who have impairments and for groups facing oppression. Left Unity wants to promote and build on these and insist on the right of people to work with effective support in the workplace.
13. Left Unity works to recruit thousands into political opposition to Austerity. Some will already be active trade unionists others will be fresh to the resistance.
14. Left Unity welcomes the formation of community TU branches, allowing people to work with the trade union movement even when they are unemployed, have impairments such that they are not now able to take up employment, have caring responsibilities, or are working in non-unionised workplaces.
15. Left Unity hopes also to recruit thousands into active organisation in the workplaces and in the union branches; our struggle has three (inseparable) strands: political, industrial and community. Left Unity supports a huge recruitment drive into the unions including the unionisation of young workers.
16. In the 19th century a wave of unionisation by unskilled workers, lead to the formation of the labour movement as we understand it, and to its period of greatest strength. We hope for a similar wave of unionisation in this decade and will work to build it.
17. Globalisation has made international trade union links ever more important.
18. Trade unions need political ideas, organisation and methods of political representation. Left Unity will offer full support to trade unions.
19. Campaigns to defend our services and communities need links with trade unions and these campaigns need political representation.
20. Effective resistance to cuts, bad wages, bad jobs and pension cuts will need nothing short of a mass movement of people at work.
8 comments
8 responses to “We are trade unionist…”
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I very much welcome this contribution. I’m a supporter of the Socialist Platform but I think there will be cross-platform support for this. A big issue is revitalising the trade union movement. A large proportion of those who work in the private sector are not trade union members. Our movement is based on the labour movement and an important aspect of our work has to be rebuilding trade union membership and organisation. It is easy to agree with this in principle – the difficult part is making is happen – we need to rebuild oragnisaed labour where is doesn’t exist and invigorate it where it does exist. This requires a concerted effort and hard work. It needs to be a priority for Left Unity. We need much more discussion on this!
It’s absolutely right that we should declare our commitment to trade unionism but th we also need to phone our proposals for how trade unions can advance the struggle against austerity. They have a huge part to play and yet their existing leaderships sold out the fight over pensions in 2011 and the talk of the much-needed general strike has remained talk. What positive proposal can we make for resolvig this situation? What can trade unionists in left unity work towards? The creation of a rank and file movement in Britain that organises workers to take democratic control of their unions – to control their own strikes and negotiations and to force the cowardlyTUC to call a general strike. Mos union leaders are so desperate to maintain the link with Labour that they choose this over the interests of their own members. Left Unity can be the solution – a party on the side of the workers not the bosses – but we need to make sure we are independent of those leaders who currently kow tow to Labour.
Thank you for producing this statement Felicity. So far there is a large hole in the policy commissions with workplace issues only being raised indirectly under other policy headings. It is not the intention but the appearance is given of the preparation of an electoral manifesto, as opposed to the development of transitional demands which people can mobilise around and fight for in the workplace and, in part, in the community.
I would like to suggest that this post should be the start of another commission – yet another I hear people shout! – specifically on workplace and trade union organisation and how this relates to social and political change.
Achieving a socialist transformation and successfully challenging capital can only come about through the collective direct action of the working class – self activity – linked to forms of political challenge, one of which is electoral representation. Historically it has been very difficult for socialist organisations and parties to achieve an effective balance between these tactics, most often direct action playing second fiddle to electoral popularity, perhaps signs of this already emerging in Syriza. Left Unity offers the really exciting prospect of tackling this issue again but only if it is worked at.
I agree with both comments above.I think the idea of a workplace organisation discussion would be a good commission though probably we are too late for Manchester this month.Could we all have think about this and post some proposals? Felicity
This is an important initiative and should really be on the front page of the site as its quite distinct from the bulk of the platform debate and as Dave Parks suggests can be supported even by those who support other platforms ( or no platform in my case) But two comments:
1. There is no reference to casualisation/zero-hours contracts etc as both inherently insecure and obstacles to unionisation. This is an issue receiving a lot of attention at last and we must address it ( I’m sure we will also say something in the employment policy section of the Economics commission)
2. On rank and file organisation there is a difficulty about who really controls such groups and whether they are genuinely inclusive. That would be the case for UCU left of which I was an active member before retirement last year. It might not be the case for all such groups. We will need to try to form caucuses of Left Unity supporters in relevant unions who are in the best position to decide on such matters
I love this contribution. I think it is the best one submitted thus far!
Thanks for this contribution Felicity, it was something that the Left Party Platform badly needed. Can I suggest strengthening up item ’10’ concerning anti-union laws. You have shown the lack of any move by Labour to redress the situation during their term in office, but you haven’t said that Left Unity commits to work towards repealing the legislation – an important point I feel.
good points raised here. work in the trsde unions is essential to building a left organisation. there are many left orgs in the unions already. i think left unity members should have caucus meetings in the different unions and debate what to do. i think left unity should adopt a resolution at national conference. over all left unity should seek to play a role in solidarity with workers in struggle, work with others to take the initiative in unionisation campaigns and debate experiences of building rank and file initiatives in the unions, promoting best practice and building new rank and file groups.
i think left unity debate on unions should invite key activists not in left unity to participate, people like jerry hicks, people around unite community branches, the iww trade union activists, and others.
the participant groups in left unity that operate union fractions could consider combining their union work into joint union fractions with the rest of left unity trade unionists.
could be a real step forward!
peteb