Unions & politics

Trade Unions and politics

Who Speaks for Workers?

120 people attended the RMT-organised meeting to discuss the 'crisis in working-class political representation’ in January. The meeting agreed unanimously that workers need a new political voice, but could not agree on when or how we might create one.

Most present were from socialist groups and...

SEIU: Smoke without fire

In May of 2006, readers of Voice: AIGA Journal of Design were offered an unusual glimpse into current lib-lab thinking. The online publication for "the professional association for design" finds an audience largely among American commercial artists, art-directors, and "brand consultants," an ambitious crowd unlikely to humble itself anywhere near a picket-line (except perhaps when crossing one). It is therefore revealing that contributing writer David Barringer's "New U? Unions have an Image Problem"—the title itself a giveaway—should figure so inconspicuously as just another case study in its...

Workers need a political voice today!

120 people attended the RMT-organised meeting ‘to discuss the crisis in working-class political representation’, held in London on 10 January. The meeting agreed unanimously that workers need a new political voice, but could not agree on when — or, at least, on the next steps to create one. Debate centred on 1. whether we should stand working-class candidates in elections soon; 2. the role of a charter in organising working-class representation – alternative to standing candidates, or a way to support them? Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said he wanted a new working-class party, but could...

The left and the housing crisis

Arch capitalists from the Financial Times to the Council of Mortgage Lenders all now agree that we are in a housing crisis. Mortgage approvals in December have fallen to less than a 5th of what they where 18 months ago and all signs point to a mounting wave of repossessions. This crisis in home...

What’s wrong with the Green “New Deal”?

In recent months the idea of a “Green New Deal” has become an ubiquitous answer to the current economic and environmental crises. Barack Obama has alluded to it. The TUC has backed the idea. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has come out for it, endorsed by UK Environment Minister Hilary Benn. A self-selected Green New Deal Group includes Caroline Lucas MEP, Guardian economics editor Larry Elliott, Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper and others. In July this year the group published its first report. According to its proponents, the Green New Deal consists of two main...

Programme needs a political voice

The November National Executive of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) carried a motion on the “Impact of the Economic Crisis”. The motion was written and submitted by two left-wing Executive members, Ian Murch of the Campaign for a Democratic and Fighting Union (CDFU) and Kevin Courtney of the Socialist Teachers Alliance (STA). The central idea behind the motion is a positive one — a call for the development of demands to be debated in each trades union and then decided on at a recalled TUC Conference and this to form a labour movement response to the economic crisis. It’s an attempt to...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.