After Collins TIME FOR A NEW PARtY FOR TRADE UNIONS

PUBLIC MEETING

Model motion:This branch notes the passing of the Collins Review by the Labour Party special conference on 1 March We believe that it further dilutes the ability of affiliated unions to act collectively within Labour and effectively put forward a political agenda in the interests of our members We believe that this cannot be separated from the Labour leadership accepting Tory austerity and Labour councils passing on brutal cuts from the Con-Dem coalition We therefore believe that our NEC must begin a debate within our union and the wider trade union movement about political representation for working people We also believe that our branches should now be able to support candidates to the left of Labour who support the anti-austerity and pro-trade union rights policies of our union

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he Collins Review, which is likely to be passed at the special Labour Party conference on 1 March, is a red-line event for the relationship between the trade unions and Labour, and now poses the need for a real political alternative for the unions and working class people. Miliband and the Blairites are trying to argue that this opens up some kind of exciting opportunity for hundreds of thousands of new members. Actually, this step is far more about finally winding up the last vestiges of the trade unions and the left having any ability to influence the direction and policies of a future Labour government, which is now committed to Tory austerity. Many council workers and residents are also very aware that Labour councillors and councils have meekly passed on eye-watering Con-Dem cuts. The few Labour councillors in Southampton, Hull, Warrington and Lambeth who have been prepared to vote against cuts have actually been disciplined by Labour! Members of the affiliated unions, particularly in Unite, Unison, GMB and the CWU will be disappointed that those unions have signed up to this change. Unite members will know that the authors of Collins were the same people who shamefully called in the police against the union in the Falkirk MP selection process, precisely because Unite had successfully recruited people to Labour in order to have a chance of selecting a candidate that actually supported the unions policies! Disgracefully, the constituency chair, Stevie Deans was later sacked from his job in Grangemouth by Ineos because of charges that originated in Falkirk. Fellow convenor Mark Lyonss recent dismissal was confirmed on the very day that Labours investigation into Unite in Falkirk was leaked to the press! Therefore, after this sequence of events, inevitably union members will ask, how on earth can these proposals be in their interests? Regrettably, by going along with Milibands changes and even glossing over their significance, some union leaders have left their members disorientated and confused. Then again, anyone would be confused if they saw a boxing match when only one of the fighters throws punches, while the other winks at his corner and says Hes playing into my hands! By merely accepting Collins, the Labour leadership will only be emboldened by the lack of opposition from the unions. In many respects, this is a key issue for how the unions and the organised working class can fight politically for a programme in our interests against the brutal cuts agenda of the mainstream parties and for trade union rights. The Socialist Party has long disagreed with the view that Labour can be reclaimed for working people from the Blairites grip. For us, Miliband is now completing the work of Kinnock, Smith, Blair and Brown in diluting the ability of the unions to act collectively within Labour. We believe that Labour has fundamentally changed from the period of the early 1980s when rank and file members were able to conduct a struggle in Labour to open up the democratic structures of the party, allowing a whole number of left MPs to be selected. But despite our belief that the unions efforts to change New Labour were fruitless, we gave critical support when the Unite leadership argued to fight to maintain the unions collective voice and remaining power in the Labour Party. But after the special conference, there will have to be an immediate debate and discussion throughout the trade union and anti-cuts movements on the need to build a new mass party that can stand up for the interests of working class people and the vast majority in society crying out for real change. The Socialist Party, along with others, such as the RMT, have been pioneering the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which will this year be standing hundreds of candidates in the local elections in the biggest left of Labour electoral challenge for a generation. Imagine the impact TUSC would have with a fraction of the millions of pounds given to Labour by the unions! TUSC supporters would have every right to argue that affiliated unions should be able to support candidates outside of Labour if Collins is passed. Such a party or formation with these resources standing on a clear pro-working class and anti-austerity programme would totally transform the political agenda in Britain. At least as a short-term by-product, it could also act as a left check on Labour and be far more effective than the present strategy of the union leaders. In such a party, we would argue and campaign for a socialist programme that is necessary to confront the brutal reality of capitalist crisis.

tusc.org.uk
Text JOIN with your name & postcode to 07761 818206
@Socialist_party

E-mail join@socialistparty.org.uk; phone 020 8988 8777; write to Socialist Party, PO Box 24697, London, E11 1YD

www.socialistparty.org.uk