by a PCS member
Dozens of trade unionists met on 10 December to discuss coordinating anti-racist and anti-far right campaigning across London and the South East. The meeting was initiated by civil service union PCS London and South East regional committee, though it did not receive official PCS support.
Photo: Ian Pattison
The invitation to the meeting said it was being called because of “the duty of the trade union movement to fight back.” It said: “We have not yet risen to the challenge… for decades we have relied on external organisations… We need to produce our own materials to oppose far-right lies; and to mobilise seriously and safely for counter-demonstrations with our own defensive stewarding.”
In the meeting, trade union activists raised concerns about right-wing marches and the attacks being made on our class and communities. Everyone who spoke expressed the urgent need for trade unions to lead the struggle against the right and for a bold, fighting socialist political programme to cut across the division created by organisations such as Reform.
The meeting also took place shortly after the announcement of the Together Alliance, which continues the approach of Stand Up to Racism on a broader scale. The right-populist Nigel Farage and far-right figures like Tommy Robinson try to exploit people’s despair as a result of years of austerity and the soaring cost of living. But the demands of Together do nothing to address that, while continuing to enable trade union leaders to avoid leading a struggle.
The trade unions organise 6.5 million workers with huge potential to mobilise a movement that can defeat the right. Socialist Party members at this meeting put forward the need for trade unions to be at the head of any movement against the right, and for such a movement to have a pro-worker programme. We argued for a democratic and accountable movement rather than top-down.
The meeting also discussed forming an organising committee made up of delegates from union branches, trades councils and community groups, and that this could aim to produce material, help coordinate responses to far-right activity, and put pressure on the TUC (Trades Union Congress) to carry out its 2018 Congress policy to launch a campaign on ‘jobs and homes, not racism’.
This meeting was a positive step towards that — trade union activists on the ground coming together to discuss how the workers’ movement can defend our class against far-right attacks. It agreed to meet again in the new year.