The elections for the General Council of the TUC in 2002 also saw a significant step forward for the Left. Newly elected members included Andy Gilchrist (FBU), Billy Hayes (CWU), Derek Simpson (AEEU/Amicus), Mark Serwotka (PCS), Paul Mackney (NATFHE) and Jeremy Dear (NUJ). While Mick Rix (ASLEF) retained his seat, Bob Crow (RMT) narrowly missed out on election to the General Council, but replaced Rix the following year. This left block was in evidence as soon as the firefighters’ dispute was raised at the General Council. While Monks presented a “neutral” report on the dispute, it fell to the Left, starting with Mick Rix, to persuade the General Council to give whole-hearted backing to the FBU, which was subsequently endorsed unanimously.

The 2003 Congress was no less radical. It began with trade unions clashing with ministers after the TUC voted unanimously for the right to take secondary action and for better protection for strikers, as part of a package of new employment rights. The call for the right to take secondary action was led by Bob Crow, who urged workers to protest on the streets over employment laws. He accused Stagecoach of using “scabs” from depots around Britain during a recent pay dispute in Devon. “If it is good enough for the bosses to understand what solidarity is then it should be good enough for us to bring in laws that create secondary action that is legitimate as well.” Over the pensions scandal, the Congress unanimously approved a motion calling for a national demonstration. Some unions are even demanding continental-style “days of action.”

Unlike the previous year, the conference unanimously approved a resolution condemning British and US governments’ unilateral decision to wage war against Iraq. It opposed any future US attacks on states such as Iran, Syria, North Korea and Cuba, and demanded a speedy withdrawal of coalition troops and the restoration of control of Iraq to the Iraqis. Despite the illusions in the UN, it marked a positive stance.

Tony Woodley went as far as to call for Blair’s resignation over the issue. Gordon Brown addressed the TUC Congress and spelled out the Blairite agenda facing the working class:

I tell honestly there can be no return to inflationary pay rises, no return to loss-making subsidies that prevent the best long-term decisions for Britain, no resort to legislation from Europe or elsewhere which would risk jobs, no retreat from a pro-enterprise, pro-industry agenda and no retreat from demanding efficiency and value for money as well as equity as we renew and reform each of our public services.

Blair further antagonised the unions with his so-called undelivered speech, released to the press but altered for the General Council dinner to avoid a full frontal attack on the Left. But in the one for public consumption he bluntly stated:

“The idea of a left-wing Labour government as the alternative to a moderate and progressive one is the abiding delusion of 100 years of our party. We aren’t going to fall for it again.” He continued that opposing public sector service reform would be “as big a mistake as when the 1970s Labour government rejected council house sales.” He then called for the defeat of the Left: “Sensible trade unions, and most Labour party members, know this government is doing its best for working people. Despite their criticisms and disappointments, they know that there is much to be proud of in our six years of government and that they have to unite and defeat those on the far left who have learnt nothing and those on the far right who have forgotten nothing.”

These attacks, aimed at mass consumption, again show clearly where the Blairites stand. They are totally out of touch with ordinary trade unionists. Storeman John Davis, sacked from Friction Dynamics after 33 years, and Labour Party member, listened to the conference debates from the balcony. “We’re amazed that a Labour government elected by the people to look after the people has done nothing to help us”, he said. “I will still vote Labour but Blair needs kicking up the arse if not kicking out.”

This new mood reflected in the TUC nevertheless still lags behind the angry mood in the workplaces. However, the mounting pressure from below is beginning to force the TUC into open opposition to the pro-business policies of the Blair government. Big battles are on the order of the day. Enormous distrust had now been built up between the unions and the Blair government on a whole range of questions. The firefighters’ dispute has served to dramatically sour relations with the trade unions, especially after John Prescott’s restoration of the 1947 Fire Services Act and the threat of legal sanctions.

The advance of the Left, now reinforced by the victory of Tony Woodley, is a reflection of the pressure from below. It will encourage the militant elements in the rank and file who are pushing for a change of course. It will feed the growing mood of opposition within the Labour movement and act as a catalyst for the growing discontent. But opposition is not enough. It is necessary to give the movement a fighting programme and a perspective. Under conditions of capitalist crisis the fight for higher wages, jobs and better conditions will come up against the ferocious resistance of the bosses. Even where the trade unions succeed in wresting concessions from the employers – which is only possible through militant action – the gains that are made will only be of a temporary and partial character. What is “given” with the left hand will be taken away with the right – through price increases, factory closures, increased taxes and insurance contributions, etc.

In the last analysis, the only way to achieve what the unions want is by a fundamental change in society. That is why in the Rule Book of every major union there is a clause about changing society. The whole history of trade unionism over 200 years or more is summed up by a single conclusion: the trade union struggle is not enough. It is necessary to engage in political struggle. That is why the unions created the Labour Party in the first place. The struggle to transform the unions into genuine fighting organisations of the working class therefore inevitably poses the need to carry this struggle over into the Labour Party. At a certain stage the same process that we have witnessed in the unions will be reflected inside the Labour Party. Indeed, the process has already begun with the backbench revolts over the Iraq war, tuition fees, foundation hospitals and the Fire Service Bill. Opposition to Blair will grow to a crescendo. The trade unions must not and cannot remain aloof from this struggle: they must be a key moving force in it.

The trade unions long ago created the Labour Party as its political voice. Given the historic links between the unions and the Labour Party, the radicalised unions can and must provide the key to the defeat of Blairism. If it is to succeed, the Left must go beyond the narrow limits of trade unionism and pose the question of reclaiming the Labour Party from the Blairite carpetbaggers. It is necessary to mobilise the rank and file trade unionists to transform the Labour Party. The Party must reaffirm its identity as the political expression of the interests of the working class. It must break all links to big business and inscribe on its banner the aim of the socialist transformation of society. In the words of Karl Marx, “they must convince the whole world that their efforts are far from narrow and egotistic, but on the contrary, are directed towards the emancipation of the down-trodden masses.”[8] There is no other road.

Shortly before his death, Frederick Engels, Marx’s lifelong companion, wrote: “things are moving nonetheless. The only thing is that the ‘practical’ English will be the last to arrive, but when they do arrive their contribution will weigh quite heavy in the scale.” That was after a very long period of quiescence of the British working class. In June 2003, the banner headline of The Times read: “Public Sector Union Prepares Ground for General Strike”. After a long period of stagnation, the ground is beginning to shake. Events are serving to transform the industrial and political climate. The pendulum is swinging back towards the left. In the historic struggles that lie ahead, workers will come to see the need not only to elect left leaders, but to directly participate in the mass organisations – industrial and political – to reshape them into organs of militant struggle and socialist change.

  1. Resolution of the IWA on trade unions, Geneva, 1866

    ↩