By Maria Exall
Coordinated industrial action on 30 November to challenge the threats to public sector pensions was announced at this year's Trades Union Congress. The trade union movement is more united now (with big unions like GMB and Unison recently agreeing on the need for action) than on 30 June, and that means this action can be the basis for a political fightback against Tory cuts.
The action on 30 November will bring the trade union movement into conflict with the Labour Party leader Ed Milliband who, speaking at the Congress on Tuesday, reiterated his view that the 30 June action had been unjustified. He was heckled by delegates as a consequence.
The effect of the cuts was another focus of debate at the Congress, with motions from the TUC Equality Conferences highlighting the particular effects of Tory-Lib Dem austerity on women, disabled people and BME and LGBT communities.
In the debate on an alternative economic strategy, Congress passed a composite suggesting that more consideration should be given to public ownership. Though the composite's original wording had been watered down, it was passed overwhelmingly and indicates a shift to the left in TUC economic policy.
At the joint Institute of Employment Rights/United Campaign [for the Repeal of the Anti-Trade Union Laws] fringe meeting, Unite leader Len McCluskey committed to prioritising the case for trade union rights within the Labour Party. This issue could become a key focus for struggle in the coming months with industrial struggle on the agenda. We should be prepared to fight for the right to take effective industrial action
Other issues considered by Congress as emergencies were the recent attack on abortion rights, the threat from the EDL and the implementation of the agency workers directive. The TUC also issued a response to the recent riots, and Congress passed an emergency motion from the POA on this topic.
The Labour-affiliated unions are under pressure to keep quiet at this year's Labour Party conference, with Ed Milliband facing accusations from a hostile media and the Labour hard-right of being in the pocket of the unions. Non-affiliated Unions do not articulate a coherent political strategy either, despite the work of the Trade union Coordinating Group led by John McDonnell MP.
After the success of the 26 March “March for the Alternative”, the organised labour movement should lead further broad-based protests and campaigns to put forward working-class demands. To challenge this government, we need a political trade union movement.