One of Britain's most militant unions is establishing a crossunion organisation for shop stewards.
On July 7th, the RMT is sponsoring the founding conference for the national shop stewards network.
The conference has been called by a steering committee elected by a conference of 250 delegates held in October.
It aims to address the crisis of political representation created by the march to the right of new Labour. It hopes to help trade unions to better fight neo-liberal offensive and the relentless attack on the public sector.
The timing of the event is highly significant, coming at the end of Blair's premiership.
Key figures in the trade unions, on the left and in the Labour Party have taken part in a series of conferences and discussions about what initiatives might be taken to remobilise the progressive movement.
Socialist Resistance strongly supports the conference. A national meeting of our supporters in the trade unions, on January 20, discussed how the new network can play a major role in helping solidarity to develop more rapidly, and more strongly. It can also help to regenerate our unions by building an independent and pluralist class-struggle Viewpoint on how to rebuild trade union strength and organisation.
However, the unions are currently weak. The Shop Steward Network will succeed only it is greatly expands its reach.
First, it needs to connect with the new generation of trade unionists that will probably not be at the founding conference. Second, the network also needs to champion the political and social struggles going on today - many of which start outside the unions.
For example, campaigners supporting the Labour Movement Conference on Climate Change should be welcomed at the event, as should members of RESPECT.
That won't be easy. Some RMT leaders fight shy of political questions, such as how to build an alternative to Labour.
But, because of the low level of trade union struggle, the Shop Stewards' Conference will only grow if it encourages trade unionists to open up to broader political and social issues. bution on June 24, after their national comrades rejected any such publication at national level.
Here we have the bizarre spectacle of an organisation that has been deliberately confined to the level of a "coalition" rather than a party to keep it broad, but is now rejected as insufficiently broad to fly its own banner and speak in its own name at a national demonstration.
We can of course be sure that the much narrower SWP will be present with its newspaper and profile proudly on display at the Stop the War march: only Respect is to be kept under wraps. But it gets worse: while Respect's national officers dialogue, and no vehicle to promote the extensive policy alternatives it has developed.
As we go to press the Morning Star has also convened another major discussion event on politics after Blair, this time with a much more working class and trade union-based audience, but again within the Star's continued framework of "reclaim Labour" - but again with no intervention or challenge from Respect.
Yet these are the type of forces that must be won towards the building of a new political alternative: shirking that political fight simply allows a regroupment of the old left, and does nothing to politically strengthen Respect or build