unity!
www.communist-party.org.uk
RE-BUILD COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BY
CAROLYN JONES
T’S OFFICIAL. UK workers need a pay rise. Thank you Cameron for your belated words of wisdom. But Cameron’s outburst is no more than the Bullingdon Boy’s equivalent of
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saying, ‘let them eat cake’. Cameron is so far removed from the 99 per cent he allegedly represents that he cannot see the problems let alone the solutions. For the rest of us, the solutions are clear. Dump the Tories. Dump austerity. Dump the deregulation agenda. We need to start rebuilding our economy by investing in jobs, in skills and in the structures needed to grow us out of recession.
Workers of all lands, unite!
In short we need to re-build collective bargaining, invest in the purchasing power of workers and put trade unions at the heart of our economic recovery. Without that collective voice the balance of power swings massively in favour of the employer. The result? The growth in inequality, exploitation and bad employment practices that haunt the UK today. We know that bad practice trickles down far faster than wealth. Last month the UK was criticised for failing to protect workers against unpaid overtime, unpaid holidays, inadequate rest periods, failure to secure a decent standard of living, failure to compensate workers exposed to occupational health risks and much more. These are problems that should be dealt with by collective bargaining, setting standards at a national level across all sectors of the economy. That’s why one of our key demands must be for a Ministry of Labour at the heart of government, tasked to give a voice to the UK’s 29 million workers, both in the corridors of power and in the boardrooms of Britain. It’s not rocket science. It’s not untested. It works. But if you still need convincing, watch Keith Ewing and John Hendy* explain how and why a future government must learn from our past, invite unions to the negotiating table and start building an inclusive economy. * http://tinyurl.com/pwflctg CAROLYN JONES IS DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS
OF THE INSTITUTE
EU contempt for the people BY JOHN
FOSTER
HE GREEK election earlier this year saw a massive rejection of the Coalition parties that had enforced the austeritydemanded by the EU, the ECB and the IMF. Greece’s previously ruling parties, New Democracy and Pasok, together gained less than 32 per cent of the vote. Syriza which opposed the austerity measures while still supporting continuing membership of the Eurozone received 36 per cent, the right wing Independent Greeks opposing the EU 6.5 per cent, and the Greek Communists, who oppose both the austerity measures and EU membership, 5.5 per cent. All opposed the EU’s ‘austerity package’ which was an unparalleled attack on living standards and the public sector. The three most drastic demands were ● the closure of 52 of Greece’s 132 hospitals; ● the sacking of a quarter of all those employed in higher and technical education; ● the sacking or
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early retirement of 40,000 public servants. The list of public assets to be privatised was a speculator’s dream: all airports, all ports, the rail system, motorways, the energy system, the Greek oil company, the three biggest banks, water and sewerage and a mass of real estate including whole islands. Labour rights were to be slashed to introduce what in EU babble is described as ‘integrated flexicurity’ (the most stringent measure currently available to the EU to control workers' aspirations). Notice time and compensation for sacking were axed; pension rights cut; pay frozen or reduced and workers in many public sector services lost their right to strike. The economic consequences were catastrophic. By 2012 unemployment had risen to 25 per cent (59 per cent for youth) – with industrial production collapsing by 28 per cent in 2011. By March 2012 a tenth of the population of Athens, 400,000 people, were dependent on soup kitchens for survival. The EU bailout was 410 billion euro, but the crucial question is where did the go? Less than 4 per cent (15 billion) went
into the Greek economy while all the rest, 395 billion, went to external bank creditors in Germany, France, Britain and the US. This is what the Greek people now have to pay for and why they voted they way they did. The new coalition government tried valiantly to challenge the continuation of this austerity programme but have so far only achieved a four-month delay while they try to stay in the Eurozone. This is a stark reminder of the EU's antidemocratic character in the way it is totally ignoring the aspirations of the vast majority of the Greek electorate. Others on the Left such as the Greek Communists say that the real problem is the Eurozone and the EU’s ‘free trade’ structure which, like TTIP, exposes weaker economies to the total dominance of the big business monopolies and abrogates the democracy of smaller nations. Our concern is that, as the dominant EU powers enforce the EU's anti-working class debt regulations, many in Greece may choose to move to the right" JOHN FOSTER
IS THE
COMMUNIST PARTY’S
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY
Building an economy for the people An alternative economic and political strategy for 21st Century Britain Contributiors include Mark Baimbridge; Brian Burkitt; Mary Davis; John Foster; Marjorie Mayo; Jonathan Michie; Seumas Milne; Andrew Murray; Roger Seifert; Prem Sikka; and Philip Whyman £6.95 (+£1 p&p) ISBN 978-1907464-08-9
Preserve lay democracy UNITE IS A left progressive and democratic union. Though the long process of merger had its moments, the lay and official national leadership of the union is in good and safe hands. The last thing the union now needs – especially at this juncture of political and economic history – is an over-zealous attention to navelgazing during July’s rules conference. It is absolutely correct that the union's structures rest on lay member democracy, utilising the expertise of progressive paid officials. If there have ever been any problems of growing pains with Unite, they have only ever arisen when some tried to deviate from this course. Unite is fundamentally about the people who labour at work. But the workforce in modern Britain is much changed and the union needs to be sure it is always relevant in the modern world. The union can’t always be sure it can operate within the law and legitimate trade union activity doesn’t any longer always have to be in a workplace as we know it, or by workers as we know them. That’s why it is right to clarify how membership category defines relationships in the union, which means working out a new settlement for unemployed, student, and retired members in the context of lay membership control rooted in the world of work. And, as we look forward there are, of course, areas for improvement. We need to tighten up the way regional – and for that matter national – constitutional bodies perform. We need to get a more effective relationship between the equalities and industrial parts of the union. Area Activist Committees are not being properly utilised by the union. Too many paid officials are not encouraging campaigns in the community. The whole of Unite needs to engage in organising activities, linking up with trades union councils and local Labour councillors. Political Committees need not be restricted just to members of the Labour Party. All Political Fund levy payers who have consented to the union paying their Labour Party affiliation, should have rights. The focus of Political Committees should be to co-ordinate Unite’s campaigning work on a wider basis in civil society, working to the direction of the Policy Conference. Separately and additionally, for the purpose of managing the union’s affiliation to the Labour Party, there should be Regional and National Labour Party Affiliation Committees composed of individual members of the Labour Party acting to the direction of the EC.
Lead on equality BY
ANITA WRIGHT
OR A LONG TIME politicians have tried to sell us the 'trickle-down' theory of economics. That by giving tax breaks and other economic benefits to businesses and high earners the rest of us will be raised up as the economy grows. Even now Cameron and Osborne, like dodgy car salesmen, are trying to persuade us that the tiny glimpse of economic growth is paying off for everyone at a time when the gap between rich and poor has accelerated every year since they formed their unholy alliance. The huge rise in food banks and the HSBC Swiss bank scandal clearly puts the lie to this fact. There are now five families in Britain who between them have more wealth than 12.6 million people, the richest 10 per cent of households hold 40 per cent of the wealth. But it’s not just tax dodging that is fuelling wealth accumulation, it is the enormous income differential that is exacerbating inequality. The huge bonuses for bosses set against rising unemployment and wage freezes for the lower paid is a scandal and does little to regenerate the economy. 1.4 million people are now on zero hours contracts, 55 pr cent are women. The gender pay gap persists with
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women earning on average 82p for every £1 earned by men. 740,000 16-24 year olds are unemployed and many in work are being paid under the minimum wage. To add insult to injury Cameron says if elected he will cut benefits and expect young people to work for nothing. University of Manchester research, soon to be presented to the House of Lords, shows that despite greater educational attainment, unemployment amongst ethnic minorities is rising. Perhaps this is why the government has decided not to issue the Office for National Statistics report, ‘Households Below the Average Income’, until after the election. The deliberate savaging of the public sector; cuts in the welfare and benefit system; privatisation of the NHS and education, and attacks on trade union rights were designed to reduce wages and has been accompanied by a culture of divide and rule. The increase in anti-immigrant propaganda, homophobia, racism, and other forms of discrimination are an inevitable consequence of the austerity agenda. This is why it has never been more important than ever for the campaign for equality to be top of the agenda in our movement. ANITA WRIGHT IS SECRETARY ASSEMBLY OF WOMEN
OF THE
NATIONAL
Je suis Charlie? BY
NICK WRIGHT
A TELLING PHOTOGRAPH, shown on French television reveals that the ‘world leaders’ gathered in Paris supposedly in honour of Charlie Hebdo, its journalists and the fallen actually stood separately from the many millions, who throughout France, rallied in defence of the freedom of the press. These hypocrites sanctioned the US and NATO bombing of Serbian and Al-Jazeera television stations during the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, killing many dozens of media workers. On the surface unity. Behind, an empty space and a profound difference in values. What was it that made this collection of liars, thieves, murderers and despots stage a faked photo op in memory of Wolinski the comrade of French communists, partisan of the Soviet Union and Cuba; Stephan Charbonnier, who stood in honour of Stalingrad and of Bernard Maris the critic of the European
Workers are fighting back BY
GRAHAM STEVENSON
ORKERS ARE fighting back. Official data don't include strikes involving fewer than 10 workers, stoppages of less than one day nor actions short of a strike. Nonetheless, in the first half of last year over 800,000 workers took action. In 2014, some unions had a significant increase (as much as 25%) in settlements as a result of official disputes. Full marks to London bus drivers for their challenge to the lack of sector-wide collective bargaining, directly caused by the under-cutting tendering regime, which promotes a drive to the bottom. Most workers today face an insecure world of neverending attacks on pay and conditions, which sees the very structure of work increasingly move towards even more low-skilled, low-paid jobs. Unison’s Care UK workers at Doncaster stood out for 90 days until they gained a settlement and a range of other workers, we wouldn't think of as being militant, are standing up to be counted. workers across the spectrum are including homeless charity workers, Royal Opera House cleaners, Greenwich library workers and staff at the National Gallery. Our call today, as in the economic downturn of 1919-21, is for the movement to go ‘back to the unions’ to reclaim the working class for united class action. Key to this will be linking
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workplaces across employers and across unions in communities. Unions must organise workers, regardless of the size of the workforce, and there is no place in this for battles between unions for membership. Communists have long been known as being the best organisers and recruiters for trade unions. In the 1930s, party members were frequent winners of the TUC’s Tolpuddle Medal for recruitment! We pledge to play our part in the battle for working class unity by reaching out to all workers, organised and unorganised. The current political situation in Britain requires a stronger Communist Party. Trades unionists are often not only the most class conscious of working people but many activists are also those most likely to be receptive to the policies, strategy, and ethos of our Party. We ask many more workers,
trade unionists, women, youth, and black and ethnic minorities to take that vital step and join our Party as a vital step in the recovery of the working class movement. The battle of ideas is crucial and our commitment to the Morning Star, the daily paper of the left is undimmed, and we call on activists to read and buy the paper and ask trade union bodies to take out or expand shareholdings in the Peoples Press Printing Society. The party is planning increased publication of Unity!, so look out for it especially at union conferences. For more info or offers of help, email us a: tradeunion@communistparty.org.uk GRAHAM STEVENSON IS THE COMMUNIST PARTY’S TRADE UNION ORGANISER
Join Britain’s revolutionary party of working class power and liberation 1 want to join the Communist Party ❍ more info ❍ Young Communists ❍ Name Address Post Code
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single currency. Not their politics. For all its eccentricities and perversities Charlie Hebdo was staffed by women and men of the left; secular critics of the church and all organised religion, of bourgeois power, morality and taste – whose singular take on press freedom made them the targets of deluded young men. To go beyond the essentially hypocritical condemnation of these murderers by our rulers it is necessary to understand what motivated these young men. We can take their own words as a start. It was the succession of Western assaults on the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries. Or as Communist Party leader Rob Griffiths put it: ‘The seeds of Islamist terrorism were sown by the US, British and NATO interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, beginning with Western and Saudi Arabian backing for the mujahideen and Osama Bin Laden against progressive, pro-women regimes in Kabul.’ NICK WRIGHT
IS THE
COMMUNIST PARTY’S FRANCE
MEDIA OFFICER
AND REPORTS HERE FROM
Our stand BY
LIZ PAYNE
OMMUNISTS HOLD that capitalism is a system of exploitation that generates crisis, inequality, corruption, environmental degradation and war through the relentless pursuit of profits by fewer and fewer individuals at the expense of the majority of people. Capitalism cannot be reformed as it can never solve the problems of poverty, insecurity and misery which it causes. Communist candidates are standing in May’s general election to give people a chance to hear about and vote for clearly articulated left policies that, if implemented, would not only put an end to austerity, privatisation and deepening exploitation but would set Britain on the path to a more just and equitable future which it is impossible for capitalism to bring. Our candidates are arguing not for fewer cuts taken more slowly but for a progressive alternative in which people benefit fully from what their work has created. That’s why we support public ownership of utilities, public transport, post and the City. Keeping the NHS public and free at the point of delivery is at the top of the list. Our programme includes big increases in wages, pensions and benefits; investment in public services, manufacturing and construction; abolition of nuclear weapons and a switch from military to civilian production and taxation of the rich and big business. The Communist Party is for a broadening and deepening of democracy in Britain, with greater economic and financial powers for the Scottish and Welsh legislatures and powerful English regional assemblies, where local demand exists, and mechanisms to secure the redistribution of wealth. Fundamental rights and freedoms must be restored, guaranteed and extended including through a Trade Union Freedom Act. We says no to the EU and NATO and yes to genuine internationalism which will end Britain’s exploitation of other parts of the world and the human tragedy it brings and allow relations between this country and others to be conducted on the basis of contracts between genuinely free and sovereign states. Our candidates say it’s time for a change – a people’s change!
C
LIZ PAYNE
IS
COMMUNIST PARTY
CHAIRPERSON