This is a historic meeting today. I know historic has become an over-used word in our union.
But that’s the way it is when creating something as vital for the future as Unite, this great instrument for social advance that we have come together to build
Today is the first attempt to bring together the left on a Unite basis
Reaching out past T&G and Amicus
The Left you are starting to create today
A left that I am personally proud to be associated with
A left which must go outward from this meeting
Has a vital, indispensable role to play in realising the hopes so many people have placed in Unite
Let me remind you of something I said when moving the resolution for the merger at the special BDC of the T&G
I pledged that “Our new union has to be a PROGRESSIVE union”
It has to stand in the best traditions of our political past
Socialist
Internationalist
Democratic
Campaigning for social justice, equality and peace
These are words that trip easy off the tongue
But making sure we live up to them is not so easy
Particularly in the circumstances we are facing today
But making those words a part of the daily life and the fabric of Unite is the job
Yes, of the general secretary
Yes, of the Executive Council
But above all it is the job of those of you here and those you represent in the regions and the industrial sectors
Creating a broad left which must reach into every corner of our multi-industry, multi-sector union which is just about as broad as the working population of Britain and Ireland itself
That is the best – ultimately the only – guarantee that Unite will stay progressive
***
But make no mistake, powerful forces in the world would like to see this union either fail, or be handed over to the right-wing
The antics of Rupert Murdoch’s Times are the proof of that
They feel that such a takeover is a possibility
For us it must be a warning
And it should motivate everyone here to build a broad left which cannot be overcome or dislodged
Because its roots run deep in our organisation
And deep in the aspirations of the membership
So what we are about creating here is an open, democratic, strong Broad Left rooted in the membership in the workplaces
And rooted in the 350 plus lay committees we are going to be setting up over the next few months, the democratic core of our union
Today’s meeting is of course just the vital first step
We know that there are good comrades on the left not represented here
Not yet in the room with us
That is not a result of any political disagreement
Or any split on principle
It is a consequence of the difficulties we have had in bringing Unite together, with its multitude of different industrial and democratic cultures, over the last eighteen months
I believe that the great bulk of those problems are behind us
So I hope that the Broad Left will take the opportunity to reach out to other left comrades
Who share our values and our vision in all essentials
And build a still stronger fighting, political, left organisation in Unite
***
You hardly need to tell me how important that is right now
If we have left most of the problems of the merger behind us
We – Unite and indeed the movement as a whole – face still more serious problems all around us and stretching ahead of us
Real world problems
With what looks like the biggest capitalist crisis any of us have ever seen
You all know what is going on, because you live and work in the midst of it
Job losses by the bucketful day in day out
Closures and cutbacks
Pressure on wages and conditions
And the perspective that none of this is going away anytime soon
This is, as the old saying goes, both a problem and an opportunity for this Broad Left, as it is for all socialists and progressives
The problems are obvious
Our union is going to face enormous financial pressures in the next year and beyond
Even running fast to stand still in terms of membership will be unattainable, this year at least
We are going to have to fight to maintain and develop our forward-looking organising agenda –
Bringing forward the next generation of activists, those thousands of shop stewards, fighting back, progressive comrades, the lifeblood of our union. Organising is the down payment on our future and we cannot and must not let it wither
It remains the only way/the best way we can secure the future of trade unionism for reasons you have heard me spell out many times
More importantly still, we have to give strong leadership at a time of difficulty for millions of working people, including most of our members
We are going to have to prove the industrial and political worth of fighting back trade unionism in the depths of recession
Our greatest enemies are despair and fatalism
The sense that nothing can be done – we can’t accept that
While the lives of working people are in the grip of blind forces over which we can have no control
To challenge this we need a clear political strategy
Lively campaigning
And a willingness – always – to back up our members when they fight to save their jobs or for justice in the workplace
***
But what about the opportunities?
For a Broad Left
For all us who call ourselves socialists this SHOULD be our time
And we need to make it so
Capitalism is displaying its ugliest face for more than a generation
We hear a lot – rightly – about the need for an apology from the bankers, the spivs and speculators, who have brought the world to the point of ruin by their greed
But there is another apology we need
From all of those in our movement – yes, including the Prime Minister, not to mention his unlamented predecessor – who sold us this dud bill of goods:
Let the market decide
Light touch regulation
Seriously relaxed about getting filthy rich
And all the rest of the neo-liberal claptrap
Some of them have still not got the message even now
Prattling about the benefits of globalisation when everyone can see that the benefits of international economic integration have overwhelmingly gone to the top of the political agenda
Ministers are still casting around for a way to refloat the failed Thatcher-Blair model of society including the attack on the poorest and neediest in society with their despicable work-for-your-benefits scheme
It’s time to stop flogging the dead horse
And time for our movement to tell the government
Get a grip without any more dithering
Stop shovelling money at the bankers
Who are not doing anything useful with it beyond paying themselves bonuses as if nothing had happened
If the existing banks won’t do the job, then let’s back the idea of a Peoples Bank based on the Post Office that will
And Labour must start acting to save real jobs for real people, with a strategic plan for manufacturing
And nationalisation if necessary
Government should launch a real public works programme for construction, transport and other key infrastructure industries
Do the things that will stop a disaster made in the City turn into a catastrophe for millions of people
Never mind criticising solidarity action they should repeal those Thatcher laws
That is what Unite needs to be fighting for
And give direct subsidy for people on short-time working/Fighting to keep people in jobs
And if we don’t get those changes made then the only certainty is
That Labour will lose the next election and our people, in the midst of a vast crisis, will be left to the tender mercies of Toryism
***
What should the agenda of the Broad Left be
It’s for you, the lay members, to decide…
Incidentally, I’ll be a lay member soon
(but won’t be able to hold office…. Since at long last I will no longer be an accountable representative of workers)
And of course your statement of aims makes your general position clear and I warmly welcome it
But if I may make a general suggestion
It is that any left organisation needs to be mainly focussed on
Politics and policy
Not the internal agenda, fascinating as it undoubtedly is
Peace – in Iraq, Afghanistan
Justice for the Palestinian people
Solidarity with Cuba and freedom of the Miami Five
Backing for trade unionists in Colombia
Public ownership – an idea whose time has surely come again
Tackling racism– how do we stop the BNP exploiting the crisis
These are the issues the left needs to be talking about
And Socialism
If we can’t campaign for it now, we never can
How do we get our members and the working class as a whole
To see that there IS an alternative
As your founding statement calls for
A different way of running the economy in the interests of ordinary people
Of putting social aims above profit
Of subordinating the market to public, democratic priorities
Comrades,
Socialism is not about the next union election or the next committee post
It is not even about winning better wages and conditions for our members
Or about repealing the anti-union laws
Important as all of those things obviously are
It is about power in our society and the world
About challenging the divine right to rule assumed by the bankers and bosses
Unite our union has the capacity to start to alter the balance of power in our society
If we use that capacity with determination and vision
So I am not here to ask for your support for the leadership of the union
Or to endorse any plan for running Unite
Today, I only want to pledge my own support for your efforts
And my commitment to working in unity with the Broad Left
In the spirit of Tom Mann
A founder of the dockers’ union and the Workers Union as well as a General Secretary of the AEU
Perhaps the first Unite member of all
Who said more than one hundred years ago
“the trade unions are the instrument by which the working class must achieve its ends. So we must all work within them to ensure that they develop along the right lines.”
That is our still our challenge today
Let’s ensure that Unite develops along the right lines
So that in turn we can make sure
That this is the LAST capitalist crisis our members and their families have to endure
Thank you – Have a good conference
Posts
