Around 150 delegates, about half of them firefighters, attended the FBU solidarity conference organised by the London Region FBU in London on March Ist. This was smaller than planned, since it came at a time when FBU strike action is suspended for negotiations at ACAS, but provided a very good forum for a discussion on the unions and New Labour.
The conference opened with a session introduced by FBU general secretary Andy Gilchrist and PCS (civil service union) general secretary Mark Serwotka on the FBU dispute and the current situation of the unions, and ended with a debate between John McDonnell of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs and Matt Wrack of London FBU (author of the Socialist Alliance pamphlet on the political fund) on the future of trade union politics.
Andy Gilchrist gave a lengthy report on the negotiations at ACAS, but gave little away as to what the outcome of the negaCampbell Macgregor & Paul Wilcox report from the Scottish Socialist Party annual conference, held in Glasgow on 22nd and 23rd February
The Scottish Socialist Party has tics in just four years. They have fought to put a vision of an independent socialist Scotland in the limelight and, despite being almost ignored by the press at times, have gone from strength to strength.
The SSP is now seen as the party of resistance and the alternative to the politics of big business. SSP members are involved in campaigns for social, environmental and economic justice across Scotland.
The conference was reasonably constructive, good-natured, and well organised, with no business lost through lack of time There was near-total agreement on some issues.
Nobody disputed that we should oppose military action against Iraq, even if a motion is passed by the United Nations.
In the political situation at present, there were important areas of agreement on tactions, which have only a few more days to run, is likely to be.
He said that if there was "not an acceptable deal," the FBU executive would be considering further strike action either by decision of the EC or a delegate conference
Firefighters who pressed from the floor, for a stronger commitment that there would be no deal which accepted cuts or closures, and that the full claim was defended, did not get anything more specific.
In a powerful analysis of the situation of the unions, Mark Serwotka argued that Labour/trade union relations were now at the cross roads.
He stressed crucial importance of building solidarity with the FBU. If the FBU was defeated, he said, other unions would soon be in the sights of the government:
"When the government leaks that they are prepared to take away the right to strike from firefighters, we know the scale of the attack that is coming." show way forward tics to build the SSP and in the fight for socialism, and that it should be done in the struggle in the factories, housing schemes, and amongst fire fighters. The work of the SSP in the Fire fighters strike and the close work with the FBU in Scotland have opened the door to possible affiliations from the trade union movement.
The war in Iraq was a central topic of debates, and the SSP has been one of the main driving forces in the Scottish anti-war movement. This has been achieved by building a strong campaigning organization, which has built roots amongst the working class.
The SSP is expected to make gains at the Scottish elections; some opinion polls predict it could win as many as 7 seats. For the past 18 months the SSP has polled an average 7 per cent for list vote in the Glasgow Herald's monthly System 3 opinion poll. Amongst young people, this rises to 12 per cent across Scotland.
The press and television were there to cover the conference. Conference adopted a 24-page manifesto, and also continued to develop new policy.
Some young ethnic minority comrades
He went on to say that Blair had been far worse than Thatcher on privatisation, and was now poised to reject union demands for the abolition of the right of employers to sack strikers (the eight week rule) and for the restoration of the right of workers to join a union where the work force was less than 20.
He called for unions to be fully involved in opposition to a war in which the government had no mandate, and for anti-war protests in the workplaces on the day that the war is launched. This he said was being called for by unions representing 750,000 members.
He concluded by insisting that politically the trade unions must aspire to more than the choice of Tory of new Labour. There has to be something new.
"H look at the SSP in Scotland. It would be inconceivable for us not to support it. What do we say to people in Scotland - 'go back to the Labour Party?"
He said his union was planning to set up a (an area where the SSP has been weak up to now made a significant intervention; we had a very entertaining speech from a retired miner calling for trade union control of pension funds; and the Western Isles branch sent a delegate to move a motion on Road Equivalent Tarif.
There was a vibrant debate on work on the Trade Unions and on the debate on Palestine. The SSP adopted a position on a two-state solution in Palestine. Even though we disagreed with this approach, it shows the SSP is taking international politics seriously, an issue over which that others outside the SSP have been critical.
With over 400 delegates at the conference and over branches across Scotland, the decision to form the SSP has been a great step forward fro the Socialist movement and can be a beacon to Socialists in England and Wales and internationally.
Scottish Socialist Voice reported the attendance at the conference of Francois Vercammen, the European co-ordinator for the socialist Fourth International organisation, and John Percy General Secretary of the DSP to initiate the Socialist Alliance in political fund "and we will put it to the members how it will be used."
In the afternoon session Matt Wrack spelled out the position of the Socialist Alliance on the political fund - which he stressed goes to the heart of the relationship between new Labour and the unions.
Affiliation, he said, was now a tactical question. At the moment the call should be for the democratisation of the political fund, and the ending of the Labour Party monopoly on it.
The London FBU will be withholding all money to the Labour Party until the FBU conference has discussed and decided on it:
"Simply going on the same old way will not do," he said. "How can the unions continue to be asked to give large sums of money to a party which routinely attacks them and supports the employers against them?"
He said that some Scottish FBU members are planning to stand against Labour in elections and others are joining the SSP the Democratic Socialist Party in Australia.
Vercammen described the SSP as one of the main successes of socialist regroupment in Europe, which include the Red Green Alliance in Demark, Left Bloc in Portugal and on another level the LCR in France. The LCR have a similar aim to these others but more difficulty in achieving it.
"The SSP is among the most influential groups although Scotland is quite a small country. If the SSP makes a breakthrough in May it will be a huge example. Especially in England socialists have the same potential to deal with the crisis of the left and learn lessons.
"On another level in the European elections in 2004 perhaps there should be a vast regroupment of anti-capitalist groups to begin to challenge the hegemony of the social democracy of the Labour movement."
John Percy said that the SSP had inspired
John McDonnell, who is the chair of the FBU support group in the Commons (the work of which spelled out in some detail). urged LP members to stay in the party and others to join it.
He said that the Blairites were a thin layer in the party, and that it was perfectly possible to oust them and win the party back.
He insisted the left was winning in this. He said that LP membership was now so low the realistic figure being something like 100,000) that if those on the left joined, they could control local constituencies in a short period of time and build up a challenge to Blair:
Matt Wrack replied saying that the problem with the Labour Party was not leftwingers like John McDonnell.
There was no problem in supporting and voting for them. The problem was in places like Lewisham where the Labour MP is Nick Rainsford, who has led the attacks on the FBU - how do we ask FBU members to vote there? Australia two years ago. It wasn't just copying the tactic, but we do think that the SSP is a positive step forward, and that a similar step could be possible in Australia
"Since 1998 in Australia there has been an upsurge in specific struggles, for example against the racism of the Pauline Hanson One Nation party, especially among High School students.
"The issue of East Timor brought 30,000 out on a demo against Indonesian oppression. We thought that we could pull people together in a similar way that the SSP has done.
"In Australia a number of different left groups started the Socialist Alliance but now 2,500 people have joined, most of who are not members of any other organisation.
"Then last year we proposed that the DSP, who are the biggest force in the SA, become a platform within the SA and dedicate the majority of our resources to build- ing the SA."
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Socialist Alliance Women International Women's Day was established as a socialist festival to celebrate women's resolute opposition to oppression. Women's struggles have led to many reforms but discrimination and oppression are deeply rooted in capitalism.
More than 30 years after the Equal Pay Act, women still earn less than men. The pay gap for part-timers actually widened for the first time last year. Job segregation means 75% of women work in five low-paid sectors.
One in three women experience domestic violence and campaigns in recent years have shown that women are determined to force the legal system to recognise domestic violence is a crime and to provide more support.
To ensure that women's oppression is central to the Socialist Alliance from the outset, and not an optional extra, the Socialist Alliance women's officers organised the first Alliance women's meeting in January this year.
Internationalism was a major theme of the day and we print below extracts from the inspiring speeches made by women from Palestine, Tanzania and Western Sahara.
We also discussed ways of ensuring that the traditional male domination of the labour and socialist movement wasn't continued Naheeda
movement. next month. • • women have no choice but to be the Palestinian in the Socialist Alliance. For over a century women socialists have been told that if they build up their self confidence and educate themselves, women will gradually break through at all levels of the
But it hasn't happened. Tokenism still flourishes. So the day school discussed other methods to achieve a movement which is clearly representative of the diversity of the working class in its policies, membership, spokespeople and leadership.
Socialist Resistance will be carrying a contribution to this debate Involving young women in socialist politics was discussed. A lot of young women are put off formal politics although they are very prominent in direct action around globalisation and the war. They don't necessarily see what happens in meetings and conferences as relevant to them. Yet in everyday life they oppose gender stereotyping in social atti tudes, education and at work. Special young people's events like the proposed Socialist Alliance New Internationalism event are important as well as local activities in ensuring a new generation finds a place for itself in the socialist movement.
campaign on behalf of her people. Spanish colony but in 1975 King Hassan of Morocco invaded and occupied. In 1991 a ceasefire was declared by the UN, and since then the UN has been trying to negotiate peace through a referendum for selfdetermination. "Moroccan delaying tactics and obstruction have meant that the referendum has still not taken place. Incidents in the last few weeks show Moroccan claims that they are observing human rights are false. "My brother was a human rights activist and was forbidden to leave Morocco a few weeks ago on a human rights delegation to France. 526 activists have disappeared. half a million. 200,000 live in refugee camps in Algeria in the desert. Morocco won't let people in or out. Women have a strong position in the camp. 92% of them are literate. They are responsible for hygiene and the education of children. "Before 1975, Western Sahara was a
continue my education. ple's respect or trust. in danger. "Western Sahara has a population of
children. brother has been detained for 4 years. I managed to complete high school. There are no universities in Western Sahara. I had to travel to Morocco to
"Being female in a society which doesn't recognise women, and being Saharawi, we are regarded as second- yourself. class citizens. We don't receive peo"To avoid attracting people's attention I was not even able to wear national dress. My contacts with human rights activists and involvement in student demonstrations put my life
"Although I had one year left to finish my degree, I decided I had to flee Morocco in July last year. I arrived in the UK with the intention of applying for political asylum. I have been refused but have one last appeal. The British authorities lack any awareness of human rights and conditions in Morocco and the occupied territories.
"I am working hard to correct this situation although I do not have much time. I believe it is about a whole tance March 2003 |
countries still cannot afford it. Many