Weekend update part 1

The first weekend of the campaign proper was a busy one. On Saturday, I attended the demo to “Defend Public Services” in central London. Then on Sunday, I addressed a 750 strong public meeting of the Ibero-American Alliance in the Elephant & Castle.

I’ll tell you about the demo first. 

The march in defence of public services was both noisy and colourful. I marched alongside students in the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, who kept up a constant stream of chants, like, “No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts" and “Education is a right – when they say cut, we say fight". The RMT rail union assembled a brass band to lead the protest. Between 5,000 and 10,000 participated in all.

As the BBC reported, Unison General Secretary Mr Prentis said:

"There has never been a more urgent time to show our support, as the current economic recession shows that we cannot rely on the private sector to provide our essential needs. The result of the failure of the private sector is that ordinary people are paying the price, while the bankers retire to their guarded homes with their multi-million pound pensions."

Unfortunately, the party Mr Prentis supports, Labour, is wedded to privatisation. Even after the failure of the railways, PFI hospitals and Academy schools, Labour’s manifesto promises more of the same. Only the Anticapitalists and other trade unionist and socialist candidates demand public investment and working class control of our services.

Given the enormous attack on our public services that is coming – no matter who wins the election – the demo deserved a bigger turnout, 50,000 or more. But it seems that many of the national trade union leaders failed to mobilise their members for the protest. Why? Because they know that many of us are angry at Labour and they don’t want to embarrass the party on the eve of an election. Yet more proof of the fact that we need a new party.

Trade unionists

I spoke to a number of marchers from around the country. There were banners from Sheffield, Nottingham, Leeds and Bristol, as well as dozens from London. Among the most prominent unions were Unison, the public services union, general unions, the GMB and Unite, the civil servants in the PCS and the NUT teachers.

I had a good chat with Jerry Hicks, who was a Socialist Alliance candidate in the early noughties and is now standing for general secretary in Britain’s largest trade union, Unite. We exchanged leaflets and pledged support for each other.

Jerry wants to democratise the union and supports rank and file members’ control of their disputes, which is vital if workers, like the BA cabin crews, are to win their battles against the employers and defy the courts, should they again try to outlaw their strikes.

I recognised a number of Unison members, including my own branch secretary, Jon Rogers. Unison full timer Stuart Barber has advised Lambeth branch committee that we cannot organise a union hustings to question the candidates about their policies. Apparently this would be tantamount to “supporting parties other than Labour”! What bureaucratic nonsense. I will continue to fight for a proper meeting so Lambeth trade unionists can meet the candidates and hear their views.

One of the best speeches from the platform came from Matt Wrack of the Fire brigades Union. He said:

“It wasn’t our people who caused the crisis. We won’t accept cuts now or after the election.”

Most everyone I spoke to on Saturday agreed with this message. Let’s spread the idea of forcing the bankers and the bosses to pay for the crisis – by taking strike action and linking up our struggles at local and national level. And after the election, let’s draw all the campaigns together and discuss the immediarte formation of a new working class party.

To read the leaflet the Anticapitalists gave out to the demo, visit workerspower.com