Unity! at TUC 2017 Wed 13 September

cP Britain

cP Britain

communist-party.org.uk

wednesday 13 September 2017

EQUAL PAY

citizen – whether acting of free will or forced by poverty or unemployment – while discriminating against family members of millions of millions of people from former or present colonies. we have a home office that operates an under-resourced immigration system which fails to place human rights at its core.

Britain remains the only country that locks up asylum seekers most of whom come from war torn countries or are fleeing reactionary regimes. the state’s detention centres must be closed. hope not hate’s debate on immigration and migrant workers is to be welcomed.

anita wriGht USterity haS had a huge impact on employment, particularly in the public sector with its traditionally higher proportion of women workers, and where union organisation has been strongest. Unions have experienced a drop of 209,000 members in the public sector and 66,000 in private firms in the last year. Precarious employment practices and zero hours contracts have changed the face of the workforce.

Despite this changed economic environment, women are more likely to be a member of a union than men. in 2016 about 26% of women workers were union members compared to 21% of men, and women now constitute over half of the tUc affiliated membership. So why is equal pay not higher up the agenda? the battle to close the gender pay gap has focussed on improving equal pay legislation. not a bad thing in itself, but we all know that this is not strong enough and too many employers are finding ways to side-step their responsibilities plus a tory Government will attempt to weaken any future legislation.

The real fight has to be in the workplace, and here trade union organisation is the key. the current fight against the public sector pay cap is an excellent example of unity between men and women workers on the issue of pay. whilst ostensibly not about equal pay, it raises the flag of justice and equality in a creative and powerful way. although we know that not all firefighters are men and not all nurses are women, it has the potential to capture public support whilst subverting the gender stereotypes. the fight for equal pay is about justice. this kind of unity is reminiscent of the 1882 struggles of Bristol women working in a confectionary factory who formed a branch of the Gas workers and General Labourers Union to fight against the imposed increase in hours and subsequent sackings. the local trades union council declared that “in their opinion so righteous was the girls’ case that they decided to establish a precedent” that they agreed to support them. the women organised a series of Sunday parades to the church where the factory owner worshipped to name and shame him. they were joined by locked-out dockers who were involved in their own bitter dispute. this co-operation between the Dockers Union and women workers continued and in 1896 the Dockers Union helped organise women workers in a vinegar and pickle factory who faced a reduction in their wages. when male strike breakers were employed by the company, tom mccarthy, leader of the amalgamated Stevedores Union condemned them saying “...they were too thick headed to recognise the justice of sexual equality.” if ever there was a need for this spirit of unity between men and women workers to show itself it is now – when a growing number of women are being forced into low level, low paid jobs and when the glass ceiling has just been triple glazed. as Sarah Boston wrote in 1980 “women should no longer need to prove to the men members of the trade union movement that they are good trade unionists. the male members of that movement have yet to prove in more ways than voting for charters that they will support the women to bring about equality.”

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anita wriGht iS PreSiDent oF the nationaL aSSemBLy oF women anD a memBer oF the commUniSt Party execUtive committee

RACISM AND FASCISM tony conway BEING NON RACIST in a racist society is not enough . . . you have to be anti racist. almost every day in Britain there are protests against racist acts by British institutions, the judicial system and the home office racism is at the heart of many state policies. the Government’s latest proposals to restrict people coming to work in Britain raises many issues. For example what is a lower skilled worker? is it defined by salary? in the context of the Brexit negotiations the British government must unilaterally grant residency rights to foreign nationals living here and repeal all discriminatory immigration and nationality legislation. even in a capitalist economy it makes sense for any planning to determine the numbers of people working in a sector to be undertaken at sectoral level. and a corbyn-led Labour government will need to rein in the anarchy of the so-called ‘free market’, control capital movements, invest in manufacturing and infrastructure and boost skills and training.

A better deal for black workers motion 38 makes demands of the state. it is the state after all that has placed impediments in from of disadvantaged people. and yes its right to press for more resources to challenge discrimination – the cuts to ehrc makes it a shadow of itself and the State must commit itself to increasing resources. this tUc conference gives the movement an opportunity to take the issue of racism and Fascism in the workplace more seriously.

Black and minority ethnic citizens face a double disadvantage. Low pay and insecure work is endemic amongst black and minority ethnic peoples. Unions need to make the fight against racism central to the pressure for higher pay, the Grenfell tower fire was a disaster made possible by policy failure. it shows what happens against zero hours contract and precarious work. the facts about immigration, asylum and when people are abandoned to poverty, migrant labour are distorted by the monopoly discrimination, housing exploitation and remote media and kept at the centre of a crude political bureaucracy.

Unions must take the lead in campaigning for debate by reactionary elements in political parties and the state. this feeds a narrative – anti discriminatory policies.the FBU motion stressing the causes and impact of Grenfell and – including within the working class – that all asylum seekers are bogus, that jobs are been above all – who is responsible is welcome as is the USDaw motion and the Unison amendment stolen and the lack of housing is down to migrant workers. on organising against racism in the workplace.

But patterns of migration are not the product The real fight is in the workplace. of a ‘free market’. they are driven by Unions cannot contract out their role in government and eU policies, by combatting workplace racism and harassment and our key role in ensuring that the deindustrialisation and the destruction of working class and its organisations are central to productive economies in countries in which combating racism and fascism in the communities socialism has been dismantled. they are driven by neo-liberal economic policies imposed by the in which we live. eU, the european central Bank, the world Bank and the imF, by the consequences of colonialism, opposition to the free market in labour is shaped by anti working class policies imposed by conflated in the minds of some with racism. the european court of Justice. the reality of the indeed, a number of motions up for debate ‘free’ market is forced labour for many. argued for ‘free’ movement. there is, however, no free movement of people into or out of Britain. what we have is an tony conway iS a nationaL traDe Union immigration system which discriminates in favour oFFicer anD conveneS the commUniSt Party of the wealthy from all countries and any eU anti-raciSm anti-FaSciSm commiSSion

Stop the marketisation of education EDUCATION Gawain LittLe the creation of the national education Union marks a huge step forward in terms of professional unity in the education sector. and not before time. For far too long, education unions have been divided and, where a multiplicity of organisational structures exists, so will a multiplicity of tactics. this has significantly weakened the response of education unions to the neoliberal policies of successive governments.

But, if this new-found unity is to mean anything, it needs to be focused clearly on the many challenges facing the education sector and education professionals. the crisis in school

funding impacts not only on teachers and other education professionals, in terms of restricted pay and increased workload, but also on the students they teach. this is a crucial issue for all education unions to work together to mobilise their members, parents and the wider community. however, funding is not the only key issue facing the education sector. the marketisation and commoditisation of education over the past three decades has witnessed the growth of an out of control assessment and accountability system, where education is treated as the industrial production of ‘human capital’ and children and students are reduced to numbers – data to be manipulated and accounted for. this crucial question involves challenging the current assessment and accountability regime,

including oFSteD, Progress 8 and primary school Sats. this cannot be done by education professionals alone. it needs all trades unionists, especially those who are also parents, to work together to challenge a system which devalues our children’s education and is designed to prepare them for future exploitation in the workplace. our answers to these questions will determine the success, or otherwise, of growing unity with education trades unionism and the extent to which education workers can regain professional control of their working lives.

Gawain LittLe iS a memBer oF the nUt Section execUtive anD Joint execUtive coUnciL nationaL eDUcation Union

‘Free movement’ means forced labour moz GreenShieLDS a SharP DeBate at the tUc’s trade Union councils conference this June, resulted in a call for a campaign for the “free movement of Labour” being overwhelmingly defeated. the proposers argued that “…immigration is good for workers, whether migrants or not. the nhS would collapse without migrant labour, as would a lot of the food industry and other sectors” arguing against the motion, it was pointed out that migration had to be considered in the context of the real world not as part of an idealist “wish list”. our movement wants a world of equality, of free and equal nations, of democratic economic and political power for the good of the people, of workers covered by nationally agreed collective agreements on pay and conditions, of mutual respect and solidarity. in such a world, the “free movement of labour” across the world – not just “Fortress europe” - certainly could be managed to be “good for workers, migrants or not”.

But we do not live in such a world. it remains a wish list, and we need to fight for it. we live in a profit-driven capitalist world of ruthless exploitation of resources, including human resources. workers – whose labour power is the source of profit – are regarded by capitalists as just another necessity of production to be exported and imported en

masse from where they are surplus to requirements, and imported to where their cheaper labour power is in demand. in fact forced labour is a real life aspect of the eU’s “free movement of labour” the economies of eastern european states have been long undermined by deindustrialisation, privatisation and asset stripping, and most recently subjected to devastating austerity (the conditions for entry to the eU). this has created instability, misery and unemployment – and a big pool of potential migrants. as those migrants are imported by other capitalists abroad, their domestic economies are further asset stripped of their skills, causing deeper problems. they are imported by governments and private employers in order to provide cheap, largely unorganised, super-exploited labour – eU Directives and ecJ rulings support this – and to work in conditions unacceptable to others. Governments and employers act as “people-traffickers”, no better than the rip off gang masters. of course, we need to build and show our solidarity as workers in Britain regardless of origin. no-one asks to be super-exploited… it is the employers, not the migrants who are culpable. our common ground is the need to recruit all workers into “strong, well organised trade unions” as the motion put it. But, it was argued, we need to recognise that all policies in the capitalist system are rooted in class

interests - and the central purpose of “free movement” in the bosses eU is precisely to maintain super-exploitation and create division. the defeated motion argued that the nhS would collapse without migrant labour, as would much of the food industry and other sectors. those opposing, pointed out that low pay, insecure contracts, overwork, lack of respect and poor pay are the causes of the shortage of labour in these areas – and that migrant workers are callously super-exploited to sustain this position. our movement needs to fight for collective agreements to underpin proper training, proper contracts, good pay and working conditions in all industries and services… there would be no shortage of workers seeking such work! ending super exploitation of migrant workers would strengthen our fight for an economy for the people, not the few.

Summing up for a vote against so-called “free movement”, delegates argued, “we should not be standing alongside capitalist people-traffickers, but working to build international solidarity to prevent superexploitation, and demanding and fighting for economic justice in all the countries of europe” moz GreenShieLDS iS a memBer oF the tUc’S traDeS Union coUnciL committee anD the commUniSt Party’S traDe Union commiSSion

international conference 1917 - 2017 Russian Revolution Centenary Marking 100 Years Since the October Revolution 4 november 2017 the russian revolution of 1917 changed the course of human history. From the tsar’s fall in February to the overthrow of the provisional government in october, ordinary russians took centre stage in one of the great political dramas of the modern world. this autumn, the russian revolution centenary committee marks these momentous events 100 years on. the conference will take place at tUc congress house in London on Saturday november 4. Speakers from across Britain and around the world will gather to discuss the political, historical and cultural legacy of 1917.

Book tickets at http://tinyurl.com/y73o5kjy Dialectical and Historical Materialism Understanding why change happens Communist Party Communist Renewal series £2

Hot autumn in France as unions prepare to fight President Macron’s anti working class labour law. Macron is committed to weakening labour protection as part of his and Merkel’s plans to strengthen their domination of the EU. This include creating a budget for the nineteenmember euro zone, to be overseen by an EU finance minister and a new parliament. http://www.people.i e/news/PN-173.pdf

3 An introductory course on Marxism £2 this publication is dedicated to the memory of Kevin halpin (1927-2017), the outstanding workers' leader, chair of the militant Liaison committee for the Defence of trade Unions

Now is the time

way to further socialist advance. if not defeat is certain. we back these processes because SOCIALISM communists believe that socialist revolution and the construction of a fundamentally new type of roBert GriFFithS society to replace capitalism is essential for the future of humanity and our planet.

DUrinG conFerence a Labour comrade in all three countries of Britain, capitalism is a asked me why belong to the communist Party when the Labour Party is changing and offers the barrier to balanced economic development, environmental security, social justice and chance of forming a government? meaningful democracy. the big business profit it is a good question. corbyn’s victory and system has to be replaced by a new system – the massive growth in Labour’s support and socialism – based on mass participation in membership offers the real prospect of an decision making, social ownership of the electoral opening to a Labour government of a economy, democratic planning and solidarity. new type. the communist Party has always argued that the neo-liberal class collaborationist But fundamental change will also require a transfer of political power, taking it out of the direction taken by new Labour could be hands of a small number of monopoly capitalists reversed and that the key to this would be the whose interests dominate our society. Such a mass movement and the trade unions. Labour revolutionary process will have to be led by the right wingers feared this prospect and most of working class – the producers of society’s wealth the sectarian left denied its possibility.

– at the head of an alliance of forces representing thus we welcome the new direction taken

by Labour, do what we can to sustain the forces the interests of the people as a whole. the communist Party is the party of the that make it possible, back, as we always have, working class and liberation, not because the Morning Star as the daily voice of the left.

I want to join the Communist Party/Young Communists workers as a whole support it at present but the party is convinced that millions of because its aim is working class political power. working people can be won to back a name the question which each class conscious and government of genuine change but that such a government will face enormous resistance from politically active worker must ask themselves is: address “where best can i make a contribution to this the ruling class, the mass media, the big goal?” For many this will be in their union or the corporations and banks, the state apparatus, Labour Party. But for the success of our nato and the defence and intelligence sectors common project many more must join with the and that the most dangerous fascist and racist post code communists. elements will be mobilised. if not you, who? if not now, when? how a Labour government deals with this age if under 28 email will be decisive. if it mobilises the people, H TUC 2017 return to Communist Party roB GriFFithS iS GeneraL Secretary presses home the attack on the power that Ruskin House 23 Coombe Road Croydon CR0 1BD wealth confers on our rulers, it can open the oF the commUniSt Party e mail office@communist-party.org.uk or call 02086861659

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