The Third Grand Old Duke
of York Demo:
TU leaders must fight for “needs budgets”!
Enough of the bogus “protecting frontline services”, “caring
cuts”, “dented shields” and “cuts too far too fast”!
WE have seen only a fraction of the cuts to come first planned by
Chancellor George Osborne in 2010—the total is almost £600 billion, and that is
without the readjustments necessitated by the shrinkage of the economy and tax
take due to these deflationary policies. So far less than 15% has been
implemented.
What are the prospects of the official Labour movement leading a
fightback against these vicious cuts? Even if Labour wins in 2015 it will
continue these cuts without let-up. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls told the
Guardian, “The public want to know that we are going to be ruthless and
disciplined in how we go about public spending”. And at the Labour Conference,
“we cannot make any commitments now that the next Labour government will be
able to reverse particular tax rises or spending cuts.”
And what are the intentions of the trade unions and Labour council
leaders, surely they will lead a fightback? They have no intention of doing so.
At a meeting with about fifty of its Councillors, including
Council leaders and Labour group leaders, on 12 November 2010 in Leeds Unite
newly elected Gen Sec Len McCluskey got Gail Cartmell to instruct them to carry
out all the cuts by setting legal budgets whilst hypocritically protesting. Not
one balked at this disgraceful instruction. Not a single Labour councillor
voted against the cuts imposed in April 2010, despite panic and soul-searching
in Lambeth and Hackney. There was no question of setting ‘needs budgets’ to
protect the vulnerable against the cuts. Len McCluskey made his usual anti-cuts
speech at this year’s TUC but meekly acquiesced to the cuts agenda at the
Labour party conference.
Back at the first 500, 000-strong ‘Grand Old Duke of York’ demo on
26 March 2011, just to make sure that he did not whip the troops into a
revolutionary frenzy, McCluskey had Unite’s stewards sporting the Ed Miliband
slogan “cuts too far too fast” on their hi viz vests. What are the mobilising
marching chants appropriate to this inspiring idea; “An injury to one is an
injury to one and that’s all, and that’s all”, “cut some not all, cut some not
all” and, "cut their jobs, not our jobs, cut their jobs, not our jobs, do
dah, dah do dah”? Bureaucrats save their fiery speeches for the big occasion to
hide their sell-outs when no one is on the streets.
On 30 November 2011 we had the ‘Grand Old Duke of York’ one day
Public Sector Pensions Strike. This saw a series of strikes over the whole of
the UK. 60% of schools in England were closed and 6,000 hospital operations
cancelled as up to two million public sector workers went on strike. Again a
tokenistic series of protests, with no follow up to build the movement just as
the Socialist party’s “one day general strike” would become if not developed
into an indefinite one.
The strangle-hold the TU bureaucracy has on the rank and file of
the movement is stronger now than ever. They actively foster the two tier
workforce to split and divide us. We saw this in Ellesmere Port, in the London
buses and in countless other workplaces; new starters are second class TU
members, with lower pay rates and far worse conditions. Almost all left groups
do not fight this in any serious way, thus they do not prepare for this
impending catastrophe. The National Shop Stewards Network, Unite the Resistance
and the Coalition of Resistance cosy up to bureaucrats, left and right, with
Len McCluskey’s treachery alibied and excused by all.
To begin the real fightback we must build a genuine rank and file
movement in the trade unions, which fights ALL the sell-out bureaucrats by the
united front method; ‘with them where possible, without and against them where
necessary’. This is the task the Grass Roots Left has set itself. From the
foregoing it is clear that we must also bring that fight into the Labour party
to being to prepare for the 85% cuts to come and the inevitable political
consequences of a Labour government viciously attacking its core supporters as
Ramsey McDonald did in 1931.
Labour makes no promise to tax the rich, Balls has not even promised
to reinstate the tokenistic 50p rate of tax. He was booed at the TUC promising
to continuing the attack on the public sector. Given the dire consequences of
the 15% cuts we have already seen the effect of the remaining 85% amount to the
total destruction of the welfare state built up since 1945—the NHS privatised
and local council no more than paymasters for privatised and decimated
services. This will inevitably split the Labour party, despite the apparent
weakness of the left there and in TUs right now.
Stop marching us up to the top of the hill, only to be marched back down [Or left up there]!
We must prepare for this by renewing the Labour movement, linking
up with those within and outside the Labour party who want to fight. We begin
with the core organised working class movement, the trade unions, and from
there we must take the struggle into the Labour party. To do this we promote
the principles and practices of the R+F in all our areas of work. These
principles should include,
a) Democratise the unions!
b) elections of all union officials!
c) Officials to be paid no more than the average skilled worker’s
wage!
d) Defiance of the anti-union laws!
e) A steeply progressive wealth tax!
f) Public works at TU rates of pay to give work to the unemployed!
