Two months into the new Labour government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC – which brings together 5.5 million workers in trade unions across the public and private sector) held its annual Congress.
At a time when the gap between rich and poor is at its widest, with estimates that some health workers have lost the equivalent of a year’s salary while profits are at record levels, Keir Starmer and his backers presented to Congress the mirage of reasonable employers who increasingly recognise “shared interests” and want “fairness” and “workers’ rights”!
Partnership or prepare for struggle?
Congress reflected the two major trends in the trade union movement: the trend that has signed up to Starmer’s agenda of partnership with the bosses; and the trend, which the Socialist Party is part of, that is ready to face up to the reality of Starmer’s pro-capitalist government and to prepare workers for the struggles now and to come.
Important debates took place on the first day of Congress. The motion ‘End the Hostile Environment for Workers’ included an amendment from civil service union PCS, drafted by its National Executive Committee majority. It demanded that if the New Deal for Workers isn’t delivered in the first 100 days of Starmer’s government, there should be a special congress of the TUC.
The composite motion was passed and so it is now official TUC policy – it is up to activists to make that a reality.
This shows the importance of an organised left within a trade union. The PCS speech was made by national president Martin Cavanagh, who, alongside the general secretary, is in a struggle to block the fighting strategy of the majority of the PCS’s NEC. But because he is under pressure from an organised left, including the Socialist Party, he was forced on this occasion to stand against the partnership trend.
The next motion was from the Prison Officers Association (POA) on restoring their right to strike. A militant speech by national chair Mark Fairhurst reminded Congress that, while the original ban was made in 1994 by the Tories, the previous New Labour government under Blair and Brown had also removed the right of prison officers to strike. Even though promises had been made to the POA, this commitment to restore their rights was not in Labour’s manifesto. Mark warned Congress that this would be a test of whether the new Labour government will deliver for working-class people. Again, this was passed and is now TUC policy.
The tone of these vital debates contrasted sharply with the speech that preceded them by TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. He clearly set out his rationale for undeclared partnership with the government. While saying they won’t always agree, not once did he raise the need to take action, instead saying the unions need to be prepared to “roll up our sleeves” and work with the government.
And when Starmer addressed Congress the next morning it couldn’t have been clearer.
Blair Starmer
Echoing Tony Blair in 1997, who said ‘We won as New Labour and we’ll govern as New Labour’, Keir Starmer was explicit: “We wouldn’t have won the election if we hadn’t changed. We won as a changed Labour Party and we’ll govern as a changed Labour Party”.
That was a repudiation of the left manifesto on which Jeremy Corbyn stood in 2017 – winning three million more votes than Starmer! Corbyn’s programme was pro-worker, anti-austerity. Starmer is clear: he accepts the limitations of the sick state of British capitalism, including Tory spending plans, and is trying to neuter the workers’ movement by advocating partnership between unions and rabid big-business bosses.
Warning of austerity to come, outlining yet again the so-called “black hole” in public finances, he declared: “I have to make it clear that this government won’t risk economic stability – and with the tough decisions on the horizon, pay will be inevitably shaped by that.” There was a heckle in the hall: “tax the rich!”
Arguing for “compromise”, he said: “I call for the politics of partnership – business and workers, public and private.”
In the preceding debate on ‘Building a fairer economy’, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham opposed any Labour austerity, saying we need to tax the super-rich. RMT rail union general secretary Mick Lynch warned Labour against limiting themselves to Tory spending plans, saying we need a fairer distribution of wealth.
These criticisms and demands to go further are important. But they need to be backed up with preparations for action to ensure workers don’t continue to pay for capitalist crisis, and steps by the trade unions towards an independent working class-based political voice that fights for them.
REPORT | National Shop Stewards Network at the TUC
What should the trade unions do now? This was the key question raised by the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) rally and lobby, in which Socialist Party members participated, held as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) gathered for its annual Congress.
As delegates arrived, they were met by a lobby of over 100 trade unionists, from seasoned reps to young workers. They called on the TUC to prepare to fight: Make the rich pay, not the workers!
The lobby was preceded by a rally at which general secretaries, elected national executive members and reps discussed what the trade unions should be doing in this new situation.
Rob Williams, NSSN chair, opened the debate:
We welcome the defeat of the Tories – the smashing of the most successful bosses’ party in western Europe is a victory for the working class and the trade union movement.
With the Tories gone, there may be some who will ask: ‘So why do we need to lobby the TUC now? Isn’t Labour talking to us? Aren’t they bringing in policies for us?’
We welcome any policy and concession that benefits workers. It is correct to celebrate the promised repeal of some of the most recent Tory anti-union laws. Although the minimum service levels were rendered inoperable by Aslef train drivers’ union, and (Tory prime minister) Sunak was unable to use those laws. But it is essential that unions demand the repeal of all the Tory anti-union legislation, going all the way back to Thatcher.
Some will point to the pay offers to public sector unions, in the range upwards from 5%, as proof that Starmer is listening. While these are above the current rate of inflation, they go nowhere near recovering the vast amount lost during 14 years of savage real-terms pay cuts by the Tories, and pay freezes by New Labour before them. And some are not fully funded and will lead to cuts.
Unions should fight for more, and for all pay increases to be fully funded.
Alongside taking strike action to defend jobs and services, unions should call on Labour councils to refuse to implement cuts, and demand that Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves guarantee full funding.
The most fatal error is to have wishful thinking.
In the strike wave, Starmer wasn’t in the trenches with us, he was sacking shadow cabinet members who joined picket lines. The cut to pensioners’ heating allowance and refusal to lift the two-child benefit cap, and his disgraceful position on Gaza, should caution our movement.
The trailing of Reeves’ autumn budget with warnings of public sector cuts, is a blunt warning to those who will argue that we have to give Starmer more time. We have to prepare for Labour austerity.
The role of the union movement is to state clearly what is, not to prettify the situation. Starmer is in the press saying he might have to make ‘difficult choices’. There are no difficult choices, there are class choices – you’re either with us or against us!
The PCS civil service union has an amendment arguing that if Starmer hasn’t delivered on the key workers’ rights promised in his New Deal for Workers within the first 100 days, a special TUC congress should be called to discuss next steps.
Because of the strike wave and because of the political vacuum, the unions have become a pole of attraction. That’s why its even more necessary that alongside being prepared to take action, the unions also put forward a political programme – a workers’ manifesto, the socialist policies that workers need. For jobs, pay and pensions – and link them to the demands needed to defend workers and their communities, including nationalising the oil and gas companies, Royal Mail and BT, and Tata Steel.
That’s in contrast to the racists trying to exploit the political vacuum. Imagine if the trade unions had implemented the policy passed at TUC congress in 2018 for a ‘Jobs and homes, not racism’ programme.
The defeat of the Tories has ushered in a new period for our movement. But it isn’t the end of our fight, it’s only the beginning.
Prepare to fight now – or in the future?
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, was clear, particularly in relation to the anti-trade union laws: “I’m glad we’ve not got a Tory government, but we’ve got to fight for whatever we want.”
Sarah Woolley, general secretary of the BFAWU bakers’ union, rightly described this as a critical moment after 14 years of austerity. She outlined the demands in the union’s ‘Bakers’ Dozen’ manifesto and said: “Too many people in our movement will want to wait, give them a chance and see what happens. But we’ve not got time to wait. We demand real change. If that means marching outside parliament because the manifesto commitments have not been upheld, we must march outside parliament”. She said: “If the Labour Party doesn’t support the working class, we must treat it like any other party that doesn’t support the working class.”
Ian Lawrence, general secretary of the probation officers union Napo argued that the Labour government could start by going after the unpaid tax of the rich. “We need a rescue package for prisons and probation, and a holistic approach to sentencing. There are too many people in prisons.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, pointed out that the Tories left 4.3 million children in poverty and a schools’ funding crisis that meant crumbling buildings and a recruitment and retention crisis. He highlighted the campaign for universal free school meals and to increase education funding. He said: “We’ll get things, but Starmer’s going to need a push. There’ll be times in the future we have to fight again.”
Train drivers’ union Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan celebrated the defeat of the Tory “bastards”.
While saying that unions will “never be content” and that “we can campaign, we can protest, we can articulate the voices of the people that we represent”, he also said “I’m not too worried about the ‘what if’ moment, because even if we only got 40% of what’s being promised, we’re 40% better than we’ve been in the past.”
While arguing for the need to “bang on the doors for all workers everywhere”, insisting that you can afford to rebuild public services, Mick said: “I don’t expect it overnight, but I do expect it.”
He argued that the New Deal for Working People could be “revolutionary”, a “building block”, from which to “change Labour and its policies”. “We’ve got to build the movement back to where we were in the ’70s and ’80s. If this is a stepping stone towards doing that, I think we’re in the right place.”
From the floor, an RMT member argued that it is correct to put our demands on a Labour government, but we have to build a force prepared to act. That’s not an academic question about what to do in a few years’ time: we’re facing attacks now.
Marion Lloyd, a member of the NEC majority in the PCS civil service union, spoke in a personal capacity – saying “I hope this time next year it will be in an official capacity”.
She argued that this TUC is at a vital stage in taking forward the aspirations of working people. She said “The situation is clear: the austerity we suffered for decades under the Tories isn’t going away.” Starmer and Rachel ‘cutting’ Reeves will act in the interests of British capitalism not working people, and so the role of the trade union movement is crucial. The trade unions have a duty to explain what is possible if we unite around a programme that protects jobs and pay.
“There are two strands of opinion at the top of the trade union movement – those who want to wait and see and hope, and those who want to take the opportunity to build the fight now.” That is the struggle at the top of PCS. “Don’t sow illusions in a government that is intending ruthless austerity”.
Taking on the far right
Sarah Woolley, BFAWU bakers’ union general secretary, argued that, with “people disconnected from politics and not looking to the trade unions”, the riots and votes for Reform “should be of more concern to us right now than what Starmer’s going to do in the first 100 days.”
This point was taken up by April Ashley, Black members’ rep on the Unison NEC, speaking in a personal capacity. April explained that Unison had a motion to the TUC arguing for unions to support anti-racist campaigns and mobilise for demos, but she argued that the unions should go further: the trade unions should be central to the fight. The unions can unite all sections of the working class against the bosses, and need to fight urgently against austerity.
The TUC needs to urgently enact the decision agreed in 2018 of a ‘Jobs and homes, not racism’ campaign – not just leave it as a “nice shiny resolution on the shelf”! Her Unison branch had passed a resolution that the TUC should call a national demo. “Too often the trade unions put the role of fighting racism out to other organisations” instead of playing the central role. “We have to link the fight on social conditions to the fight against racism – that’s how you undermine the far right and racism.”
Trade union rights
While pleased to see the New Deal for Workers, Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said: “We need to get rid of the whole raft of Thatcher’s legislation” – and that includes the ban on prison officers taking action, brought in 30 years ago.
He called on the whole trade union movement to stand with them, not just to vote for their motion but to mount a concerted campaign.
Illustrating why trade union rights are so important, he said: “Prisons are in a terrible state. If we’d had the right to strike, the prisons wouldn’t be in this state”. The POA action in 1994 that led to the ban was about overcrowding – fighting for the “health and safety of our members and those in our care”. Then the prison population was 40,000; now it’s 88,000, with less staff.
How do we organise our political voice?
Hugo Pierre, a member of Unison’s local government service group executive, in a personal capacity, raised the vital question of how, in addition to using our industrial muscle, do we use our political muscle? He argued for a strategy that puts councils under pressure not to make cuts, including standing candidates; and he called for unions to put demands on the independent and suspended Labour MPs (who rebelled against the cap on child benefit) to fight for socialist policies.
Thanking the NSSN for its support for the struggle at Barts Health Trust, Len Hockey, Unite secretary at Barts hospital in London, described their recent victory over Covid bonus payments and called on “health union leaders to replicate that”. He said that the 5.5% NHS pay award is “totally inadequate. The fight on pay is a fight for the NHS itself”. Endorsing Hugo’s points, he said that Starmer’s stamping on the ‘suspended seven’ is “the voice of the ruling class”.
Housing and Grenfell
Suzanne Muna, Executive member of Unite the Union, speaking as a representative of the Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) said “Grenfell shows the extent to which landlords are allowed to gamble with people’s lives”. Rachel Reeves has agreed to let social landlords increase rents by 1% on top of inflation – “It shows who’s side this Labour government is on, and it’s not ours.”
Linda Taaffe, former secretary of the NSSN and long-term housing campaigner, said the Grenfell report is “damning of the whole system – it puts capitalism in the dock”. Saying “We cannot let the survivors struggle on their own” she called for the TUC to meet with them and take action.
Nigeria
Deji Olayinka, CWU communications union member, highlighted the appalling repression of trade unionists in Nigeria and urged urgent solidarity.
