'Our fight starts here and now'

Louise Nousratpour in Eastbourne
Wednesday March 9, 2011
The Morning Star

TUC women's conference chair Lesley Mercer opened this year's event with a rallying call for delegates to take leadership of the fight against the cuts in their communities.

Women trade unionists from across the country gathered in Eastbourne for their 81st annual parliament - aptly dubbed Women Against The Cuts - for three days of debates on cuts to jobs, services, benefits and resources for domestic violence victims.

They will also show solidarity with their sisters across the world with a series of motions on international issues.

"The timing of the conference couldn't be better," Ms Mercer told over 300 delegates.

"We have got three days of quality time to develop a shared view of what is going on and what we are going to do about it."

"Women are at the sharp end of these cuts and motion after motion tabled this week demonstrates that.

"The attacks are on so many of the ingredients that make up a decent, civilised society."

A TUC report launched at the conference warned ministers of a "crisis" in female unemployment after it found that the number of women out of work rose by 71,000 last year.

The congress's analysis also showed that in some parts of the country as many as one in five women aged between 16 and 24 are currently unemployed.

Ms Mercer called on delegates to ensure women are "out in force" for the TUC March 26 rally, expressing confidence that hundreds of thousands would descend on London to show support for TUC's alternative to the cuts.

"The TUC has laid out a better way forward through the introduction of a Robin Hood tax, closing tax havens and investing in growth," she said.

The Robin Hood tax, a 0.05 per cent tax on bank transactions, would raise £20 billion on its own, more than enough to cover the welfare cuts.

One delegate summed up the mood of the conference during a debate on public-sector cutbacks: "These boots are made for marching and one day these boots - men's, women's, blacks', whites', lesbians', gays', disabled or not - will walk all over you."