After the elections... back to the fight!

Like many Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Candidates, I suspect, I was happy to put the election work behind us this week and get back to the main arena for fighting the cuts - the trade union struggle. Today, around 400,000 members of UNITE, UCU, PCS, RMT and NIPSA took action over their pensions and reminded the government that the pensions struggle is far from over. They were joined in an unofficial walkout by POA members, for whom the last Labour government made striking illegal.

Refusing to cross a picket line of my UCU comrades at the College where I work, I joined other Socialist Party members and fellow delegates to the Trades Council, in visiting a number of picket lines. Everywhere we went there was a determined mood to see this fight through no matter what it takes. Most of those on strike today have laready begun to see the effect of increased pension contributions in their pay packets. The other thing common to every picket line, was the desire to see the other public sector unions commit to the fight, in particular my own union, UNISON.

Today was not a day for the half-hearted picket as the Swansea weather seemed determined to throw everything at us - rain, hail, howling winds. The strike rally has to be moved from Castle Square to the Unitarian Church. Nonetheless it was well-attended and everybody was in fighting mood. Visteon pensioners, fighting Ford for the pensions they've had stolen for 3 years now, reminded anybody that might have forgotten that this struggle is about all pensions - public, private and state pensions too.

Everybody at the meeting was determined to rebuild the unity of November 30 and to fight not just on pensions but against regional pay, in defence of our health sevice and in opposition to all cuts. It is in these struggles that TUSC will be built.

Support May 10 strike action. Defend all pensions.

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition urges everybody who voted for us last week and all trade unionists to do what they can to support the strike action tomorrow. Upto 500,000 trade unionists in PCS, UNITE, RMT, UCU. NIPSA will be taking co-ordinated strike action. Visit picket lines to offer solidarity and join the rally in Castle Square at 12:30pm.

Defend pensions - public, private and state pensions.

Welsh Labour's £290 million NHS cuts

Now that the council elections are over, the level of cuts planned by Welsh Labour begins to be revealed. During the elections, the First Minister was adamant that there were no cuts to the NHS in Wales, repeated by Welsh trade union officials ranting against cuts in England. And, while nobody seems to be using the word 'cuts', it appears NHS boards have to meet 'tough savings targets' of £290 million in the coming year and an average of 5% a year for the next 3 years.

This annual saving of the best part of £300 million is roughly the amount that Welsh Labour says is stolen from Wales through the Barnett Formula funding mechanism. Socialist Party members have consistently demanded that the Assembly set a 'needs budget' and mobilise trade unionists and working class people around a campaign for the return of this money, urgently needed for services in Wales.

This demand needs to be linked to the fight to overturn Welsh Labour's NHS cuts, inscribed on the TUSC banner in Wales and taken into the unions representing health workers. Saving NHS services is too important to allow the link between the leadership of the likes of UNISON Cymru and Welsh Labour to derail it. Fail to defeat these cuts and the NHS in Wales will look very different in 3 years' time. But health workers and users of NHS services will have no choice but to fight and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has an important role to play in that struggle.


Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Election analysis - video with Pater Taaffe

Peter Taaffe, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, analyses the election results and outlines a perspective for the development of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition: http://youtu.be/6u9_GHdoDUA

Swansea TUSC - let's build on this start!

In yesterday's elections, around 550 people in Swansea voted for the 4 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates in the 3 wards where we stood, Castle, Sketty and Gowerton. Even though Labour had not been in power in Swansea for 8 years before last night, leaving it able to portray itself as the anti-cuts party, already trade unionists and campaigners are drawing the conclusion that in order to fight the cuts they need an alternative. These hundreds of votes are the music of the future; Labour now has a dominant majority in Swansea and in councils across Wales; they have nowhere to hide from the key question: will they fight for their working class and trade unionist voters or will they pass on Tory cuts?

You only have to look at the 2 councils that were under Labour control in Wales before last night to see the likely answer to that question. Neath Port Talbot (NPT) and Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) were the pioneers of the threat and, in RCT's case, use of, the 188 notice to tear up national agreements on terms and conditions for local authority workers. Neighbouring NPT implemented a pay cut for its staff, scrapped a raft of allowances, in some case leading to cuts to take home pay for some of the lowest paid of upto 40% and, despite these savings from their own workforce, out-sourced and cut services.

With Labour in power and implementing the cuts it will be TUSC supporters that will be organising the fight back at a workplace, union branch and community level. TUSC is sinking deep roots in the trade union movement, across the UK and here in Wales; amongst the 14 TUSC candidates in Cardiff, Swansea and RCT that contested these elections, were elected representatives and activists from GMB, UNISON, UNITE and PCS, including the national Remploy trade union convenor, an organiser of the 'sparks' rank and file movement that defeated the employers plans to do away with national agreement on wages and conditions and the secretary of Swansea Trades Council. RMT branches in Wales voted to officially back TUSC in this election and. TUSC was backed in a personal capacity by 3 trade union general secretaries.

Trade unionists need a new mass party to represent us, the working class needs a new mass party to fight with us; the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is helping to bring that about. The near 1,500 votes our candidates achieved in South Wales show there is a potential waiting to be tapped and the ability of our supporters to overcome obstacles to reach working class people with our programme. Before the next elections in Wales there will be major trade union struggles against the cuts, beginning with the strike action in defence of public sector pensions on May 10. TUSC supporters will be playing our part in organising for victory in those struggles and all the time we will be pointing to the need for a political party to fight alongside us. We've taken a big step forward in the last few weeks - let's build on that in the fight to oppose all cuts!

Remember to vote TUSC today

Thank you to everybody who has worked hard in the last few weeks to build support for TUSC. Hopefully our vote in Swansea will reflect the work we've done but regardless of the result tonight, our work has helped in further establishing the reputation of TUSC as the alternative to the cuts consensus of all the main parties.

The work of TUSC in Swansea doesn't stop today. This campaign has made clear the need for a new workers' party, based on the trade unions and opposing all cuts. That also means supporting all trade unionists fighting back against the cuts. If you're voting TUSC today in Swansea then please make every effort to support the strike next Thursday, May 10, by visiting picket lines or attending the rally in Castle Square at 12:30pm. Please also continue to support the fight of Remplo workers to save their factories.

TUSC is backed officially by one major union - RMT - and has personal support from 3 union general secretaries - RMT, FBU and POA. More importantly, TUSC is backed by leading activists in many trade unions at national and local levels.

In South Wales, TUSC candidates, standing in a personal capacity, include a UNITE electrician, involved in the rank and file movement that thwarted attempts to undermine national terms and conditions, a GMB shop steward, Les Woodward, who is also the national trade union convenor for Remploy, PCS and UNISON activists, the secretary of Swansea Trades Council and many more.

If, as is fairly likely, Labour wins control of Swansea and begins to implement cuts, more and more trade unionists and working class people will draw the same conclusion - that we need a party committed to fighting all cuts. As this idea gains ground we need to make sure that TUSC challenges for more seats at future elections of all kinds, to offer more people the chance to vote for a genuine alternative.

Thank you once again and don't forget to vote today for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

TUSC supports Police march against cuts

600 police officers from South Wales will be amongst those demanding an end to government cuts to their pay and conditions, when they march through London next Thursday. According to the Evening Post, police officers are in militant mood.

Picking the same day as thousands of public sector workers in PCS, RMT, UCU, UNITE and NIPSA are striking seems like a clear signal that police officers identify with other public sector workers fighting cuts. The Police Federation is also balloting its members to gauge support for fighting for trade union rights, including the right to strike.

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is fully supportive of this demand. On Saturday (April 28) trade unionists were assisted by the police in marching through the city centre in Swansea to mark May Day - perhaps next year we will march together and maybe before too long we might strike together as well?

Support Strike Action and Rally on May 10

On Thursday, May 10 a number of unionis will be involved in strike action, including PCS, UNITE Health, UCU, RMT, NIPSA. The PCS union is holding a rally in Castle Square at 12:30pm on the day. This is an opportunity for other trade unionists to show support and solidarity for those taking action. Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates in Swansea call on all trade unionists and members of the public to make every effort to show their support by attending with placards and banners.

Victory to the striking trade unionists on May 10! Oppose all cuts - to public sector workers' jobs, terms and pensions and to the services they provide.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Bulletin No.41 Tuesday 1 May 2012

Welcome to our new readers – please distribute this bulletin to your e-mail lists

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To get involved with TUSC campaigns go here: http://www.tusc.org.uk/support.php

 

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Bulletin No.41

Tuesday 1 May  2012

 

Good Luck to all Trade Unionist and Socialist candidates and election teams in the 3 May elections from TUSC Bulletin – resisting the cuts and building a mass socialist party of the working class -

 

Standing in the elections? – then tell us your vote as soon as you know it!

It is vital that the details of the actual results are relayed to TUSC nationally as soon as they are known, so that we can produce an accurate overall picture of the TUSC campaign as rapidly as possible. The information we need for each ward where there is a TUSC candidate is:

 

The ward name in which the TUSC candidate stood;

The votes for every party/candidate (including independents) in the ward;

The total number of votes cast in the ward (if it is possible to provide this as some councils do not publish this information, although the returning officer will have it).

 

Some wards that TUSC is contesting are in councils with ‘all-seat elections’, where two or three seats are up for election.  If that is the case we still need to know the votes of every candidate in the ward (and which party they represented) to be able to work out the TUSC percentage.  

 

Many councils are not beginning their counts until Friday, so the first national overview report we will produce is unlikely to be posted on the TUSC website until Saturday.  But it all depends on how soon the information comes in.  Although the campaign to win votes finishes as the polls close at 10pm on Thursday, the campaign to build a vehicle for working class representation continues afterwards, not least in the immediate task of reporting the election results – to my e-mail address below – as soon as possible!      

In solidarity, Clive Heemskerk: cliveheemskerk@socialistparty.org.uk   TUSC National Agent/Nominating Officer  

 

Campaign News

 

TUSC breaks through the national media silence on BBC Question Time here http://bit.ly/InKGXA

and in The Guardian here: http://bit.ly/InKRSL and on the BBC here: http://bbc.in/IKndwQ

 

TUSC challenge is Southampton is covered in the Guardian here: http://bit.ly/IHLMrG 

 

Support for TUSC from London Turks and Kurds

Nick Wrack spoke on behalf of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) at the 4th GIK-DER Culture and Art Festival in Edmonton on Friday 27 April: http://bit.ly/IjTiJL

 

Jimmy McGovern endorses Tony Mulhearn for Liverpool mayor
Multi-award winning Liverpool writer Jimmy McGovern has endorsed Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Liverpool mayor candidate Tony Mulhearn: http://bit.ly/IujNhc

 

Camden TUSC campaigners manned a picket line outside the Royal Free Hospital to protest about privatisation of the NHS, cuts in services and charging for essential healthcare and got in the local press: http://bit.ly/IHQ6tu

 

Carlisle TUSC election meeting gets good local press even though the attendance was poor as it did clash with the a football game that recently took place in Manchester: http://bit.ly/IpbGDo   

 

TUSC candidate is quoted in defence migrants: http://bit.ly/Jweyjh

 

Four-way battle to persuade electorate in estuary ward
TUSC covered in the welsh press here: http://bit.ly/Kt4nJe and here: http://bit.ly/Ihu2Zy

Local Newspaper in Rugby reports that "TUSC would fight all budget cuts"- http://bit.ly/HqaK3E

and Rugby TUSC ups its campaigning in last minute push http://bit.ly/HqaK3E

 

And TUSC even gets a mentions in Winchester: http://bit.ly/InMhww

 

Letter of complaint sent today by TUSC to the BBC News producer
Dear Sir/Madam,. I am writing as the national...: www.tusc.org.uk/press260412a.php

 

 

Upcoming TUSC Events

 

If you are holding a TUSC meeting to debate what the election results mean let us know and we will advertise it here in the next bulletin on 10 May the bulletin will also conatin a comprehensive round-up of the election results.

 

Building a new Left in the UK – public meeting in Milton Keynes

“Building a new Left in the UK” – TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) what it is and how it works. Tuesday 5 June 7pm at Madcap Arts Centre Wolverton: http://bit.ly/IiCyIZ  

 

Independent Socialist? Want to build a new mass socialist party? Come and discuss how at the TUSC Independent Socialist Network meeting in London on Saturday 19 May starting 12 noon. For more details see here: http://bit.ly/KG5l9z   

 

From the Unions

 

Defend public sector pensions  Take Action - 10 May 2012

Defend your pensions - join an action near you

Unite reports that over 94 per cent of the union's NHS members voted for a second time to reject the government's great pensions’ robbery. They will be joined by members from the MoD and government departments sector, along with fellow trade unionists from PCS and UCU, and they all say:  We won’t: Work longer; Pay more; Get less” http://bit.ly/pFrMdp

 

RMT Royal announces Royal Fleet Auxiliary pensions strike on 10th May. http://bit.ly/IFGwrg

 

Transport department workers vote to strike over cuts

Civil servants working for the Department for Transport (DfT) have voted for strike action to defend jobs, pay and services. http://bit.ly/Kqddrh

 

Remploy workers take the fight to Parliament and continue campaign to win http://bit.ly/HXLdfN

 

600m Gallons Reservoirs Closed

GMB claims that closing reservoirs in the south east while not diverting water from the Severn, as rainfall runs into the sea, is serious mismanagement http://bit.ly/K00MoG

 

RMT confirms that it is to begin balloting tube cleaners working for ISS and Initial for strike action in disputes over pay, pensions and benefits http://bit.ly/IC2I8t

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

Argentina - Kirchner nationalises YPF petrol: http://bit.ly/I9pCOR

 

Tamil Solidarity – Report from last weeks meeting: http://bit.ly/JO5g3E 

 

Information burst

 

Legal aid cuts threaten thousands of children  

Campaigners have warned thousands of children could be hit by restrictions on legal aid in housing cases: http://bit.ly/K2mw0n

 

The greater class divide
Teachers have warned that schools are facing an increase in segregation `along class lines' with the poorest children being the ones to suffer most: http://ind.pn/JLV7Re

 

Black graduates pay price in jobs crisis as majority fail to find work
Black graduates are 30 per cent less likely to be employed than their white counterparts after leaving university: http://ind.pn/IFnpyr      

 

After 13 years of New Labour and two years of the Coalition, nearly 4 million children are living in poverty
Guardian reporter Alexandra Topping reports, nearly 4 million children are living in poverty. The article explores what can be done to improve the life chances of young people who are poor: http://bit.ly/HfmLde 

 

Events

 

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY CELEBRATIONS

 

Cardiff            5th May           12.00  Callaghan Square

Coventry         5th May           11am Speakers Corner, Council House

Dundee          5th May           12.00  Hilltown Park

Edinburgh      5th May           11.00  Johnston Terrace

Glasgow         5th May           11.00  George Square

Ipswich           1st May           11.00  Giles Circus

Irvine               5th May           10.30  Woodlands Centre

Redbridge      5thMay            16:00  Rally outside Ilford Town Hall

Manchester    7th May           11.00  Bexley Square, Salford

Newcastle      5th May           11.00  Times Square

Nottingham    5th May           10.00  Forest Recreation Ground

 

Documentary: August Riots, UK

The August 'Riots' 2011
Seminar and film screening of 'Rebellion in Tottenham 2011'
Speaker Roger Ball (Co-founder of the Bristol Radical History Group)
6:30 pm - 8:30pm  Wednesday 2nd May 2012 126 Mount Pleasant (opposite Catholic Cathedral), Liverpool, UK

 

North Somerset Unison Save Our NHS May Day Demonstration and Rally 

Saturday 5 May 2012, 11:00am

College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR http://bit.ly/gtSegv

 

March and rally against pension and public service attacks in London

Thursday, 10 May March: St Thomas’s Hospital, SE1 from 12 noon

Rally: Methodist Central Hall, SW1 from 1pm http://bit.ly/IkE0Wy

 

Forthcoming Conference: Netpol ‘Total Policing’

Following the success of the Standing Up To Surveillance conference last year, Netpol’s second conference will take place on the 20th May 2012, starting at 10.30am.  This time the focus of the conference is Total Policing – the new London-based policing initiative with an elusive definition. Are we seeing Total Policing? Or a Total Lockdown?: http://bit.ly/IpeAYK
 

 

TUSC information
You can find out more about TUSC at: http://www.tusc.org.uk/index.php

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TUSC aims to bring trade unionists, socialists and anti-cuts campaigners together to stand candidates at elections who are committed to representing working-class interests. Resistance to the cuts is vital, but we also need a political alternative to the policies of cuts and privatisation. TUSC believes that a new working-class party is needed that campaigns for a democratic socialist society run in the interests of the milli

Food bank users double, while the rich get richer. Vote TUSC on May 3rd for a real future

Today was 'bring a tin to work' day - a day when canned and dried foods are collected for distribution by the local food bank. What a comment it is on austerity Britain that the number of people who have to rely on these sorts of hand outs has doubled under the Tory/Lib Dem coalition.

Britain is not a poor country though. The weekend saw the publication of the rich list - a celebration of the obscene wealth of the richest 1%. While the rest of us, the 99%, continue to struggle to make ends meet, the rich have continued to get richer, their profits boosted by our wage freezes, cut services and tax handouts from their millionaire friends in the cabinet.

When you see these enormous excess - far more than any person could reasonably spend and enough to end overnight the sort of poverty that leaves people dependent on donated food - it proves there is absolutely no justification for cuts at all. Labour's "cuts are too deep, too soon" mantra is still aimed at preserving the system that creates such inequality and hardship.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) supporters want something more than this. Only a socialist society can eradicate poverty and want.

Vote TUSC on Thursday for a society run for the needs of the millions and not in the interests of the millionaires.