This week, SY SP branch joined the public meeting of the SY TUSC (Trade
Unionist & Socialist Coalition; an anti-cuts and socialist electoral
alliance involving the RMT transport union and Socialist Party and others).
TUSC has recently recommenced electoral activity after suspending it in 2018 so
as to not muddy the water under Corbyn’s Labour leadership.(1)
In view of developments in the Labour Party, TUSC is now holding meetings at
National, Regional and Local levels to organise the campaigning for the May
2021 elections. (2)
The online meeting was attended by around 55 people, who heard Dave Nellist
(TUSC Chair), Gaz Jackson (RMT Nat. Exec. Yorks & Lincs.), Chris Williamson
(ex-Labour MP, now representing the Resistance movement, that has affiliated to
TUSC) and the thoughts and contributions of SY Trade Unionists, Socialists and
community activists.
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Gaz Jackson (L)
with RMT Humber Shipping Branch
|
Gaz Jackson, a guard on Trans-Pennine trains, opened the discussion, with
expressions of enthusiasm. He commented that ‘it is an honour to have an
association with an organisation that wants to fight cuts’ and that having the
‘support or like-minded people is very, very important’. While praising Corbyn,
Gaz continued that despite Corbyn’s best efforts, ‘he can’t do it on his own’.
Gaz also reported that his regional areas and branches therein receive regular
news and updates about TUSC from Jared Wood (RMT Nat. Exec. representative on
TUSC steering Committee). He also went on to say that the RMT are prepared and willing
to support TUSC candidates, and he encouraged appeals for financial support
from the union, indicating that it would be forthcoming if approved at the
National Executive level.
Reporting on the specific problems facing RMT members, he warned of a ‘tsunami’
of situations where workers will be ‘scapegoated’, by being forced to pay for
the mess made by Covid with their jobs, indicating that the RMT represents not
only Rail workers, but Bus and Ferry workers, mentioning the recent
announcements about the Ferry routes from Hull being scrapped.
He warned that we all need to be prepared, and that there was more trouble in
the pipeline.
Next Dave Nellist gave his comments. Discussing the coming period in which the
government would be seeking to ‘recoup the COVID spending’ and the cuts which
would inevitably materialise, he said that this would be ‘the backbone of the
May elections’. Labour councils have been cutting and it is Labour councils
that will be filing for bankruptcy, citing Croydon and Northampton Councils
(amongst others) as examples.
 |
Dave Nellist TUSC Chair (C)
|
Dave drew attention to the fact that the Tories have and will carry out massive
cuts, and these will only deepen because they were ‘picking up on the signals’ from
the Trade Unions and the Labour that the government would receive no
opposition.
He went on to point out that after the 2008 financial crash, it was recognised
that there was a ‘crisis if Working Class political representation’, which lead
eventually to the setting up of TUSC.
Calling on the unions, he put forward the idea that the unions should call a
general conference to discuss Working Class political representation, and to
include in those discussion Socialists from both within and outside the Labour
Party, noting the mass resignations from Labour membership and where these
ex-Labour supporters might go next.
Reporting to the meeting that TUSC had decided, that very day in a steering
committee meeting earlier, to adopt policies from Corbyn's 2019 election
manifesto that can be implemented by councils if they wanted to, he urged that
no councillor, from any branch of the establishment, who is committed to cuts,
should go unopposed in local elections.
 |
Chris Williamson
|
After a few contributions from the audience, Chris Williamson of the Resistance
movement (4) was able to join the meeting. Unsurprisingly, he had little more
than scorn for the Labour Party, commenting that if the Labour Left had
strongly fought the smears and back-stabbing against the leader and other left
MPs (such as himself) then in Winter 2019 we could have had a Corbyn
premiership and a left Labour government. He likened his own suspension from
the Labour party (of which he had been a member for 44 years) as ‘a bereavement’.
He went on the suggest that with these actions and others, such as the undermining
of the grassroots membership at the national conference, Labour had lost it’s
chance to change itself into a party of it’s membership, that is, of the
Working Class. He also commented that TUSC could act as a ‘lifeboat’ for all
the disgruntled, and now politically-homeless, ex-Labour party members.
Chris then appealed for unity of the Left, saying it was essential if TUSC were
to make electoral gains, and that we should attempt to focus on those things
that we agree on and unite us. He also went on the say that TUSC should not be
about elections only: “People let you down in politics”, so we’d need strong
grassroots campaigning and a structure in TUSC that could recall wayward MPs
and councillors.
In a similar vein to Dave, Chris suggested that Trade Unions urgently need to
discuss ‘defunding and disaffiliating’ from Labour. Now, he said, after Corbyn
and the mess in the Labour Party, we have an opportunity to build something
big, to build hope and consciousness in the Working Class.
The meeting ending with announcements about the National TUSC Local Election
Conference (7
th Feb 2021), and an invitation to anyone interested in
being a candidate or being on the SY steering committee to get in touch with
TUSC or affiliated groups.
(1)
https://www.tusc.org.uk/17409/08-11-2018/tusc-suspends-electoral-activity-national-steering-committee-statement
(2)
https://www.tusc.org.uk/17410/04-09-2020/back-at-work-tusc-to-stand-in-elections-again-against-pro-austerity-politicians
(3)
https://www.rmt.org.uk/about/branch-directory/yorks-and-lincs-branch-directory/?preview=true
(4) https://www.resistmovement.org.uk/
