An Essay...

The government’s intent to destroy our social fabric poses major challenges to the Labour movement. What key steps should the trade unions take?

“History Ought Never to be confused with Nostalgia, it’s written not to revere the dead but to inspire the living” – Simon Schama

To clarify, the Labour/Trade Union movement is not just any movement (I’ll try to avoid the Marks and Spencer cliché…) – It represents the hope and aspirations of every working generation. You may have noticed that our hopes and aspirations have come under attack. Not for the first time. The key difference between OUR movement and this ConDem government is that they have just over a year’s history – Ours goes back centuries.

Peasants Revolt, Peterloo, Tolpuddle, Match Girls, Miners Strikes, March 26^th 2011. The common struggle for the rights of working people is nothing new. It’s embedded in to the history, the culture, OUR social fabric. Heavy stuff? Not really. My memories of the 1980s are limited to a smattering of Thomas the Tank Engine and Teenage Mutant Ninja (Sorry ‘Hero’ declared Thatcher) Turtles. I was born in 1986 – Just. But the 1980’s were not all about green mutants and some old rat, well apart from the Thatcher Government. For me the 80s symbolised the solidarity of our movement and the strength of our beliefs, we seemed to have a defined cause and for most part – a defined outcome. Most of ‘Thatcher’s children’ were made redundant so young - Milk monitors!

Something seems to have changed. For some reason, we don’t seem to be as strong, although ask any Labour or Trade Unionist to admit to this and you may get a mixed response. Quite what has changed depends on your perspective. Some say the attack on the Unions in the 80s, some say 13 years of a Labour government that didn’t do quite enough, some say the TUC, many whispers of what has happened. The truth may be frighteningly straightforward – Three things – Short Contracts, low unemployment up until the ‘crunch’ and the Tories in the wilderness for so long.

Let’s call this next bit, not the ‘crash’ but the ‘shock’. For the most part, the UK was going OK from 1997 to 2008, with the exception of a few we didn’t see the crash coming. We blinked and an election saw a coalition of the outright bizarre. May 5^th 2010, can you honestly tell me that you weren’t stunned? I was. Amazed even. But here we have it, a right wing government hell bent on destroying everything we have fought for. Equalities Act, Minimum Wage, Age Discrimination act. The list goes on. Don’t get bitter, get better.

The Labour and Trade Union movement are one of the same family. One gave birth to the other. From this we know that we are great at reacting and fighting when it gets tough – yet forward planning we find slightly more difficult. Throw in to this short term contracts and political apathy, that planning and organising becomes slightly more difficult. Does it?

Short Term staff must be reminded that, jobs may come and go, but our Union and Labour movement ARE here to stay and we will welcome them to our family, we WILL fight for them. Political apathy is difficult though. So many comments of ‘there all the same’, well we are not! Within our movement, we seem to have developed a bit of a reputation though. When you ask the person on the street, What do we stand for? You generally find the response summed up as ‘miners’, ‘strikes’, ‘ballots’, but is this really who we are? I suppose me and you see those words and can think of that fond memory or a victory? After all, we seem to own these words.

So when Mr Cameron spouts out his new ‘big society’, we ARE and were there first. Bigger. This is nothing new, are we not sat in the Disciplinaries, tribunals, marches, pay talks, negotiations? Do we not engage with our members and non-members? Aren’t most of our reps, stewards, activists all volunteers? We MUST get this message out there. We are the public conscience and the public voice, not them BASTARDS that are trying to destroy our welfare state, NHS and pensions.

What do we do? This isn’t a manual, if you find one let me have it. All I can say to you is keep fighting, get out on the march – Organise a march! Don’t be silenced by those who say ‘it cant be done’ – it will NEVER be done if you don’t at least try. But most of all, remember, that our supporters and members must be heard and we can only do this by listening. You know, I know that the Tories and their Liberal lapdogs have an agenda to destroy all that we have fought for, to privatise and gentrify welfare! I mean Christ, look above your head and there’s a pound sign! They are fighting a class war!

Agitate, Organise Act.

We are mostly from a generation whose parents (and Grandparents) fought for our rights, literally. Now, some families have had nothing for so long, that to have something is worth NOT rocking the boat. My Mum once told me, “Gone are the days when the community would come together to help a family suffering the loss of the bread winner. Now the community just doesn’t exist.” She said “A very long time ago, (albeit still in her early forties) at junior school, we had a food collection for someone in our school, Dad had died and the Mother had no job. This was a way of helping the Mum out. Can you honestly imagine such solidarity happening now?” Solidarity, yes! But we MUST become that community!

Orwell said…“For the ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle [home life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics] he feels himself master of his fate. But against major events he is as helpless as against the elements. So far from endeavouring to influence the future, he simply lies down and lets things happen to him.”

We must be the dealers of hope.