by LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR in Manchester
Tuesday September 23, 2008
The Morning Star
ACTIVISTS at the Convention of the Left agreed on Tuesday that privatisation of public services was the most important issue facing the movement.
Convention organiser Norma Turner, chairing the meeting, said: "By fighting back against privatisation, we can deliver a direct attack on the capitalist system."
She stressed that the task of the British left was to convince the public of the argument for publicly owned services such as housing, education and transport.
"We must win the ideological battle that public is better, cheaper and fairer than private," she said.
"The government has cynically trashed public workers and services in order to promote privatisation and many ordinary people pay for private health care and their children's schooling because they believe they get a better service. These are the people we must try to win over," she emphasised.
Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said that the government's piecemeal privatisation of public services through measures was "poisoning" the public sector.
Though the government has made massive investments in health and education, Mr Corbyn pointed out that much of the money has gone to subsidising private-sector involvement in public services.
"This kind of approach gives the impression that publicly owned services are inefficient, expensive and unattractive," he argued.
Mr Corbyn also slammed new Labour's housing policies and reiterated the movement's demand for "massive and unconditional" investment in council housing.
Alan Walter of Defend Council Housing called on trade unions and left groups to "step up pressure on the government for additional funding for the local authorities to renew existing council housing and to build more homes."
During a workshop on transport, activists demanded a fully integrated and publicly owned rail and bus system.
Scottish Socialist Voice editor Ken Ferguson went further, arguing that a free public transport system was the "biggest anti-poverty and pro-social inclusion policy any government can adopt."
He highlighted a recent report by the Scottish Tourist Board arguing that free transport would be an important measure in the fight against global warming.
Winding up the meeting, Mr Corbyn reminded conference that a mass campaign against water privatisation in Bolivia three years ago had led to the election of socialist President Evo Morales.
"The fight begins here!" he declared.
Battling against anti-union laws
LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR hears the activists voicing their anger at the restrictions on the right to strike.
Monday September 22, 2008)
The Morning Star
Trade union activists are defying the anti-union laws by organising joint committees in the workplaces and linking up locally to co-ordinate action against spiralling wage cuts and job losses resulting from the economic crisis.
During an inspiring session on Where Now for the Unions? on Sunday, activists expressed anger and frustration at the legal restrictions on their right to take action to defend themselves.
Labour Representation Committee member Pete Firmin complained that strikes were organised in an "extremely regimented" fashion and often did not have the impact that they should.
As well as the anti-union laws, he blamed "trade union bureaucracy" for this.
Institute for Employment Rights director Carolyn Jones urged the convention to back the Trade Union Freedom Bill to repeal the anti-union laws, warning: "Otherwise, union membership will continue to decline.
"The Bill, although mild, modest and moderate, will put the collective back into our legal rights," she said.
PCS vice-president Sue Bond put forward key proposals on how to strengthen the role of unions in the workplace and minimise the impact of the economic crisis on working people.
"Unions must encourage joint workplace meetings and link up locally to strengthen rank-and-file organisation and unity," she stressed.
"It is also important to have political discussions about why there are cuts in the public services when billions are spent on war and why workers are forced to take a pay cut when their companies make massive profits."
Ms Bond described the co-ordinated action by public-sector unions in recent months as the "first small green shoots of unity in action and there is potential for much more."
In the first 11 months of Gordon Brown's premiership, there were 900,000 strike dates, even excluding the massive strikes in July and August, conference heard.
"In some unions, the bureaucracy don't like to come out of their comfort zone, but all unions are subject to pressure from below and this is where the left can play a vital role," Ms Bond added.
In addition to the anti-union laws, campaigners discussed electoral and organisational issues, with some calling for a break with Labour in favour of a new workers' party.
Others argued that this ran the risk of creating a divided movement.
Labour MP John McDonnell said: "I believe that this will be resolved through organisation and unity around key issues. To try and jump that fence will only split the movement and set us back."
He added: "We need to agree a common manifesto that we can take back to our communities and develop creative and effective strategies for co-ordinated action in the workplaces and in politics."
CWU delegate to the Labour conference Maria Exall told the convention that the left must offer a "working-class solution" to the economic crisis.
Speaking in a personal capacity, she said: "This is the time to make the argument for collective ownership when the US and Britain are breaking their own 'no state intervention' rule to rescue the bankers.
"It is tax-dodging big business that must pay for the crisis they have created, not the tax-paying working class."
Monday September 22, 2008)
The Morning Star
Trade union activists are defying the anti-union laws by organising joint committees in the workplaces and linking up locally to co-ordinate action against spiralling wage cuts and job losses resulting from the economic crisis.
During an inspiring session on Where Now for the Unions? on Sunday, activists expressed anger and frustration at the legal restrictions on their right to take action to defend themselves.
Labour Representation Committee member Pete Firmin complained that strikes were organised in an "extremely regimented" fashion and often did not have the impact that they should.
As well as the anti-union laws, he blamed "trade union bureaucracy" for this.
Institute for Employment Rights director Carolyn Jones urged the convention to back the Trade Union Freedom Bill to repeal the anti-union laws, warning: "Otherwise, union membership will continue to decline.
"The Bill, although mild, modest and moderate, will put the collective back into our legal rights," she said.
PCS vice-president Sue Bond put forward key proposals on how to strengthen the role of unions in the workplace and minimise the impact of the economic crisis on working people.
"Unions must encourage joint workplace meetings and link up locally to strengthen rank-and-file organisation and unity," she stressed.
"It is also important to have political discussions about why there are cuts in the public services when billions are spent on war and why workers are forced to take a pay cut when their companies make massive profits."
Ms Bond described the co-ordinated action by public-sector unions in recent months as the "first small green shoots of unity in action and there is potential for much more."
In the first 11 months of Gordon Brown's premiership, there were 900,000 strike dates, even excluding the massive strikes in July and August, conference heard.
"In some unions, the bureaucracy don't like to come out of their comfort zone, but all unions are subject to pressure from below and this is where the left can play a vital role," Ms Bond added.
In addition to the anti-union laws, campaigners discussed electoral and organisational issues, with some calling for a break with Labour in favour of a new workers' party.
Others argued that this ran the risk of creating a divided movement.
Labour MP John McDonnell said: "I believe that this will be resolved through organisation and unity around key issues. To try and jump that fence will only split the movement and set us back."
He added: "We need to agree a common manifesto that we can take back to our communities and develop creative and effective strategies for co-ordinated action in the workplaces and in politics."
CWU delegate to the Labour conference Maria Exall told the convention that the left must offer a "working-class solution" to the economic crisis.
Speaking in a personal capacity, she said: "This is the time to make the argument for collective ownership when the US and Britain are breaking their own 'no state intervention' rule to rescue the bankers.
"It is tax-dodging big business that must pay for the crisis they have created, not the tax-paying working class."
Women campaigners issue inequality warning
by LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR in Manchester
Monday September 22, 2008
The Morning Star
Convention of the Left:WOMEN campaigners called on the Convention of the Left conference in Manchester on Sunday to fight the "feminisation of poverty" and expose the ideologies that are used to perpetuate gender inequality.
During a lively debate, activists argued that women's key demands for equal pay, fair pension and affordable child care were all part and parcel of the wider class struggle and must be given the attention that they deserve.
Margaret Boyle of the National Assembly of Women urged the left to unite around the Charter for Women, which is a campaigning programme backed by most unions and some left groups.
Ms Boyle condemned new Labour's "deeply shameful" record on gender equality, noting that, over the past decade, the gender pay gap had widened and women representation at top levels had, at best, stagnated.
"This is a government that is supposedly on our side, but it has allowed bosses a veto on mandatory pay audits and has rejected our demand for permitting group action," she told the convention. "Labour's attack on lone parents, mostly women, is also disgraceful."
From November, the government will stop child benefits for lone parents with children aged 12 and over to force them back to work.
"Starved of cash, they will have to settle for shitty, low-paid jobs that have no future," Ms Boyle warned. "Another scandal is ministers' refusal to raise the state pension in line with earnings."
Socialist Review editor and trade unionist Judith Orr warned against dividing the movement along gender lines by "guilt-tripping" men.
"It is about class struggle, not gender," she stressed, adding: "Is Condoleezza Rice our sister? I don't think so."
The convention also criticised the trade union movement's failure to remedy its "male, pale and stale" image and called for more "women-friendly" structures to boost female representation.
Monday September 22, 2008
The Morning Star
Convention of the Left:WOMEN campaigners called on the Convention of the Left conference in Manchester on Sunday to fight the "feminisation of poverty" and expose the ideologies that are used to perpetuate gender inequality.
During a lively debate, activists argued that women's key demands for equal pay, fair pension and affordable child care were all part and parcel of the wider class struggle and must be given the attention that they deserve.
Margaret Boyle of the National Assembly of Women urged the left to unite around the Charter for Women, which is a campaigning programme backed by most unions and some left groups.
Ms Boyle condemned new Labour's "deeply shameful" record on gender equality, noting that, over the past decade, the gender pay gap had widened and women representation at top levels had, at best, stagnated.
"This is a government that is supposedly on our side, but it has allowed bosses a veto on mandatory pay audits and has rejected our demand for permitting group action," she told the convention. "Labour's attack on lone parents, mostly women, is also disgraceful."
From November, the government will stop child benefits for lone parents with children aged 12 and over to force them back to work.
"Starved of cash, they will have to settle for shitty, low-paid jobs that have no future," Ms Boyle warned. "Another scandal is ministers' refusal to raise the state pension in line with earnings."
Socialist Review editor and trade unionist Judith Orr warned against dividing the movement along gender lines by "guilt-tripping" men.
"It is about class struggle, not gender," she stressed, adding: "Is Condoleezza Rice our sister? I don't think so."
The convention also criticised the trade union movement's failure to remedy its "male, pale and stale" image and called for more "women-friendly" structures to boost female representation.
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