Conference boosts debate over union political funds
Over 1,000 trade unionists attended the Socialist Alliance trade union conference on Saturday March 16, making it the most significant meeting of trade union activists for many years.
The conference came at exactly the right time to be able to address the linked issues of the fight democratise the trade union political fund and the struggle against the privatisation agenda of Blair’s second term. The conference was also able to link up with current strikes and disputes over pay and other questions.
The first session was chaired by Christine Blower – ex-president of the NUT – who pointed to the one day strike and huge demonstration of London teachers which had taken place two days earlier on March 14 as an important part of the back-drop to the conference.
The debate on the political fund was opened by Matt Wrack, FBU member and author of the Socialist Alliance pamphlet on the political fund ( click here for review ).
He argued that the time had come to end the situation where the unions were paying large sums of money to the Labour Party which in government was pursuing a privatisation agenda against the very unions donating the money.
He was not calling for disaffiliation but for the democratisation of the political funds with trade union members having the right to decide how their own money was spent. This theme was emphasised by the slogan behind the platform which asked: "Whose money is it anyway?"
Greg Tucker spoke on the disputes on rail and refuted the idea that Railtrack was the subject of any kind of renationalisation, since the profits were simply being passed on to the operating companies. On the political fund, he stressed that the democratisation and diversification of the fund did not mean that we are in favour of giving money to the Tories or the Lib Dems, as was being reported in some quarters.
The Tories had called for strikes to be banned on rail and the Lib Dems had called for the ending of all immunities and a return the conditions before the 1906 Taff Vale judgement.
Yunus Bakhsh, from the UNISON executive pointed to the alliance taking place at the European summit in Barcelona (as the conference was in session) between Blair, Berlusconi, and the Spanish right-wing Prime Minister Anzar to attack workers rights across Europe.
How, he asked, can we give money to the Labour Party when Blair is now the leader of the European right against the trade unions and in alliance with people with fascists in their government?
After discussion from the floor the conference broke up into 10 sector/union workshops: Rail, Education, Media, FBU, GMB, PCS, T&G, UNISON, banking and AMICUS. There was no CWU workshop, despite a high number of registrations, since CWU members had gone onto the demonstration called against the deregulation of the post office at short notice and at the same time as the conference.
Discussions in the workshops centred on how to pursue the conference’s themes in the individual unions (and at their own conferences) and, in some cases, how to maintain co-ordination between SA members within the union.
At the start of the second session on privatisation a large delegation of postal workers arrived from the demonstration. They were given a huge welcome as they entered the hall.
The second session was opened by guest speaker Luciano Muhlbauer from Rifondazione Comunista. Luciano is also a member of the independent union S. in COBAS and of Bandiera Rossa, the Italian section of the Fourth International.
He talked about opposition in Italy to both neo-liberal globalisation and the war. These two strands had merged into a powerful movement since Genoa and the bombing of Afghanistan.
He urged the conference to ensure that there would be a big participation from Britain in the European Social Forum which will be held in Italy in the autumn.
He was followed by a representative of the Dudley Hospital strikers who argued that whilst the strike had not in the end been successful it had been a beacon of struggle against privatisation and had therefore played an important role.
Richie Venton, a guest speaker from the Scottish Socialist Party, reported on the campaign against privatisation in Scotland. On the political fund, he said that whilst he agreed that in England and Wales it was right to call for the democratisation of the fund, in Scotland the SSP was in a position to present itself as an alternative to new Labour and therefore to call for the break to be made.
Mark Serwotka, the new general secretary of the PCS, made an outstanding speech to the conference. He reminded people that Blair and new Labour had taken privatisation into areas where the Tories had feared to tread.
He again pointed to the alliance between Blair and Berlusconi and went on to note that this had even prompted John Monks to call Blair "bloody stupid".
Several postal workers spoke in the debate stressing the strength of feeling amongst the membership of the union and the need to turn that strength of feeling into action against the deregulation agenda.
In similar vein, Gill Lee from Lewisham NUT spoke of the speed with which the London teachers action had gathered strength once the decision for strike action had been taken.
At her school it had been difficult to get NUT members to vote in the ballot, but when the call came there were 24 teachers on the picket line out of 80 and solid action. The mail delivery van turned away at the request of the pickets.
Priyantha Wickramsinghe, leader of the electricity workers union in Sri Lanka currently visiting Europe added to the international dimension by giving a graphic description a strike of 14,000 electricity workers which he had led against the privatisation of electricity which had totally shut Sri Lanka down for four days.
Wickramsinghe, a member of the NSSP, Sri Lankan section of the Fourth International, said "There was a total blackout. Nothing functioned, transport, water, toilets, computers, nothing. The strike was ended by the use of the military and the arrest of the strike leaders".
A weakness of the conference was the lack of women speakers on the platform. This had always been a problem, but the problem was compounded by two advertised women speakers being unable to attend at the last minute.
However it was a highly successful conference, reflecting the current situation in the unions, and making a real contributions to the debates both on the political fund and the struggle against privatisation.
As the final speaker from the floor Nick Wrack, from the Socialist Alliance Executive, spoke about the need to use the pamphlet, of which 10,000 copies were available at the conference, to continue the debate at every level in the unions.
In a powerful summing-up speech Mark Serwotka said that the excellent discussions at the conference now had to be turned into action – and that meant in particular ensuring that they are reflected in this years trade union conferences.
He also said that the unions had to mobilise on the streets against privatisation. He needed 100,000 people of the streets against privatisation he said.
He had written to the General Secretaries of every union facing privatisation to form an alliance and support such a demonstration – he was still waiting for their replies.