Weekly Worker 424 (21/3/02) - SA Trade Union Fractions Needed

Weekly Worker 424 - Towards a Socialist Alliance Party!

In this week's Weekly Worker, paper of the Communist Party of Great Britain;


Democratise the Political Funds

Last weekend?s Socialist Alliance-sponsored trade union conference marked a 
clear step forward - both for the SA itself and for the building of a 
fighting movement within the unions.

The March 16 conference - ?The political fund - where should it go?? - was 
attended by almost 1,000 trade unionists - most, but not all, members or 
supporters of the alliance. The biggest single grouping, inevitably, 
consisted of Socialist Workers Party comrades, but speakers from all the 
principal supporting SA organisations were heard from the conference floor.

The event was significant in cementing the excellent position adopted by the 
SA - democratising the unions? political fund and ending subsidies to Labour 
Party candidates who refuse to support union policies. It was, however, 
equally important in taking the first steps in the formation of SA union 
fractions. Indeed both railworkers and PCSU members, meeting in separate 
workshops, decided that such fractions should be set up for their own 
industries, while other groupings agreed to exchange  email contacts and 
meet again.

It is true that the event was, for the most part, more of a rally than a 
conference. With few exceptions the ?delegates? represented nobody but 
themselves. But that does not lead us to characterise the occasion as a 
?complete waste of time?, as did one comrade from the Alliance for Workers? 
Liberty, writing on the Socialist Alliance discussion e-list (Jim Denham, 
March 19).

In no small measure thanks to the efforts of Matt Wrack of the Fire Brigades 
Union, the SA has pulled back from making the premature and adventurist call 
for the unions to ?break the link? with the Labour Party - a position 
previously voiced by the SWP. If the unions simply broke their affiliation 
and cut off all funding right now, in the absence of a working class party, 
that would in all probability simply result in their depoliticisation. This 
position now seems to be widely understood and accepted in the alliance.

Comrade Wrack, a member of the Socialist Party - no longer an SA supporting 
organisation - was the first to address the Camden Centre gathering. In a 
measured speech, he outlined some of the points contained in his new SA 
pamphlet Whose money is it anyway? Quite simply, he said, the party 
?traditionally supported by working class people is now attacking those 
working class people?. Yet they still need political representation.

The answer, then, did not lie in the trade unions ?walking away from 
politics?. Instead of automatically writing a blank cheque for the New 
Labour privatisers, they should seek out their own ?best value? for the 
political fund. It was a good thing, he went on, that unions should assert 
their right to stop funds going to Millbank and end the automatic backing of 
New Labour candidates in elections. But they should also be able to redirect 
funding and support to organisations and candidates who were willing to 
support union policy, including the Socialist Alliance.

Greg Tucker, perhaps the best known SA trade union activist as a result of 
his role in recent RMT disputes, spoke of what is now a common reaction on 
the picket line, when workers in struggle find they are coming up against 
the government as well as their direct employer: ?Why are we paying money to 
Labour?? Comrade Tucker, a member of the International Socialist Group, 
referred to the ?change of mood? amongst trade unionists, as witnessed by 
the election of Bob Crow and Mark Serwotka.

He pointed out that comrade Crow - who was unable to attend the conference, 
but sent his apologies - was elected on a platform which included a 
commitment to review the RMT?s funding of its sponsored MPs - a policy he 
was now implementing. Comrade Tucker stressed that there was ?no basis? for 
fearing that democratised union funds would go in the direction of the 
Liberal Democrats or Greens.

SWP member Yunus Bakhsh, a former candidate for general secretary of Unison 
and a member of its NEC, gave a trenchant speech. The current campaign, he 
pointed out, was not about the setting up of a ?rival political fund?. It 
was about ?engaging in debate with the millions of workers who support 
Labour?. Absolutely correct. And even more pertinent was his assertion of 
what was really needed: ?a political organisation of the working class that 
fights for working people?.

Another speaker was comrade Serwotka himself, who, like comrade Tucker, was 
?rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous men in the country?. He was down 
to speak on ?Supporting the strikes, stopping privatisation?, but he too had 
strong views on funding the Labour Party from union funds: ?It is absolute 
madness that a single penny should go to a party and government that attacks 
working people,? he said.

More than 100 comrades put in a speaker?s slip, but only around 15 in total 
were called to give their three-minute contributions in the two sessions 
either side of the workshops. However, with Mark Hoskisson of Workers Power 
primarily responsible for arranging the order of speeches, a representative 
selection was ensured, and comrades from the CPGB, AWL and WP all made 
useful points in the short time available to them.

Alison Higgins from WP emphasised that democratisation was necessary in 
order to open up the political fund to ?our control? - ie, that of the rank 
and file. However, a parallel task for the SA was the setting up of a 
political alternative to Labour - ?the Socialist Alliance is not just an 
electoral front?.

Lee Rock of the CPGB made specific points regarding our long-term strategy 
of breaking workers from Labour and winning them over to a genuine party of 
the class. Hand in hand with the insistence that Labour should earn its 
money by accepting union policies was the need to place demands on the 
party?s candidates at election time. Just as the unions should agree to 
recommend a Labour vote if its candidates met certain conditions, so the SA 
itself should offer to stand down in their favour if they dare accept a 
minimum platform of pro-working class demands. That was how, in comrade 
Bakhsh?s words, we could ?engage in debate? with Labour voters.

Comrade Rock, London regional organiser of the PCSU, also called on the 
alliance to ?organise SA members in the unions?. The unity we had built up 
in contesting elections should be extended into other fields, not least 
through the ?establishment of SA fractions in each separate union and 
industry?. These should not in any way cut across the work of existing broad 
lefts and rank and file groupings, he said. Indeed SA fractions would 
strengthen that work.

His fellow CPGB comrade, Peter Grant, chair of Manchester Piccadilly Aslef, 
also insisted on ?Socialist Alliance organisation in the unions?. SA 
fractions would not only give extra bite to current industrial struggles, 
but would be able to lead a movement to defy the anti-union laws and provide 
an alternative political pole of attraction.

Janine Booth (AWL) stressed that the election of Bob Crow to the position of 
general secretary of the RMT was a vote for militancy. However, she said, 
?even left trade union leaders can let you down?. That is why we must 
organise ourselves. While the SA could play a useful role in that, rank and 
file organisation within the unions must go beyond the alliance, she said.

Richie Venton of the Scottish Socialist Party addressed the conference on 
behalf of his party?s executive. While he backed up the call to democratise 
the fund, comrade Venton also inadvertently exposed the weakness of the 
SSP?s ?Make the break? campaign, which calls on the unions to disaffiliate 
immediately from the Labour Party. This can apparently be justified, since 
the ?political situations in Scotland and the rest of Britain are 
substantially different? (SSP leaflet: ?Make the break from Blair?s New 
Tories?).

Therefore the SSP calls for union political funds to be available to ?a 
multiple choice of parties?, with ?autonomy for each branch of the union?. 
It also calls on union organisations such as stewards committees to 
?directly affiliate to the SSP?. All this is based on the belief of the SSP 
leadership majority, shared with their former comrades of the Socialist 
Party in England and Wales, that New Labour is now a ?nakedly capitalist 
party? - ie, it has ceased to be a bourgeois party of the working class. 
Because both the SSP and SPEW hold that Labour is no longer a workers? party 
of any kind, they completely fail to understand the need for a sophisticated 
strategy to win over Labour workers by the million; instead they stand on 
the basis of a blanket ultimatum: either vote for us or you are with the 
bosses. Nevertheless, it was useful to hear the point of view of our SSP 
comrades.

The organisers seemed to have no clear purpose in mind in breaking 
conference up into workshops based on industrial union groupings - apart 
from the vague notion that it would be a good idea if comrades got together 
for an hour. The CPGB?s proposal for the establishment of union fractions 
had been overwhelmingly rejected by the SA national executive. However, it 
seemed perfectly obvious to most comrades that, since they were all in the 
same room exchanging views and making plans, they ought to take the 
opportunity to organise too So, almost despite itself, the SWP has been 
drawn into the logic of SA fractions.

All in all, the conference can certainly be regarded as a success. There is 
almost unanimity within the SA on our approach to the political fund and 
this augurs well for continued campaigning on the question. And the small 
step taken towards the establishment of SA industrial and trade union 
fractions has boosted the development of the Socialist Alliance in a 
partyist direction.

Peter Manson

Also in this issue;

'Airbrushed Out' - Hackney Socialist Alliance has blocked Anne Mc Shane's 
describing herself as a member of the CPGB in her election publicity. She 
calls on democrats to defend her rights.

'Welcome to Planet Taaffe' - Frank Lore takes a swipe at the Socialist Party 
in England and Wales.

'Consitutional and Class Struggles' - Should communists be indifferent to 
constitutions under capitalism? Examining the examples of the EU and the 
USA, Jack Conrad argues that they should actively intervene.

'Barcelona Summit: Our Alliance Against Theirs' - James Mallory reports on 
the anti-capitalist demonstrations in Catalan capital.

'Voice for Workers' - Danny Hammill reviews Matt Wrack's Whose money is it 
anyway? - the case for democratising the trade union political funds.

'Socialist Alliance Trade Union Conference' - One of the notable features of 
Saturday?s Socialist Alliance trade union conference lay in the organisation 
of a series of workshops. Here could be seen our weaknesses and lack of 
direction, but also our enormous potential - if we begin to organise trade 
union fractions.

Rail: Vote for fraction
Unison: Strategy absent
Education: Motivate rank and file worker
PCSU: Not too formal
TGWU: Socialist caucus
Amicus: First steps on a long march

''Proletarian' Pedantry and Self-Contradiction' - The unity of nations can 
only come about voluntarily, argues Ian Donovan.

'Refusenik Testimony' - Asaf Oron, a sergeant major in the Giv?ati Brigade, 
is one of the original 53 Israeli soldiers who signed the ?Fighters? 
letter?, declaring their refusal to serve in the occupied territories. This 
is an edited version of his statement to an often hostile Israeli public, 
which was translated by Ami Kronfeld of Jewish Peace News.

'Workers Move on to the Offensive' - Eddie Ford reports on Zimbabwe's trade 
unions general strike call.


And Letters (Soiled Symbols, Construction Worker's Victory, Beds SA, StW 
Demo, ISO (Zimbabwe), SWP), Fighting Fund, and Action.

This edition can be read at http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/424/index.html
For more information and sub details, go to http://www.cpgb.org.uk , email 
office@xxxxxxxxxxx , phone 020 8965 0659, or write to CPGB, BCM Box 928, 
London, WC1N 3XX, quoting 'e-ad'.

The Communist Party of Great Britain is a supporting organisation of the 
Socialist Alliances in England and Wales and the Scottish Socialist Party. 
Please visit
http://www.socialistalliance.net
http://www.welshsocialistalliance.org.uk and
http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org

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