Socialist Alternative

Solid and determined start to Unite bin drivers strike action in Coventry

January 14, 2022

Coventry Socialist Alternative members
‘Bring your own bottle’ scandal pushes Johnson to the edge: Drive them out!

January 12, 2022

Connor Rosoman
Yes, Corbyn should launch a new left party, but what kind?

Hugh Caffrey
Pay Justice Now! For Public Sector Wide Action!

December 21, 2021

Mike Forster, National Chair, Health Campaigns Together (personal capacity) and Socialist Alternative Political Committee
Engels’ ‘Socialism Utopian and Scientific’ – still brilliantly relevant today

December 20, 2021

Andy Ford, Merseyside Socialist Alternative
We need a socialist feminist programme for action against the spikings surge

December 19, 2021

Sarah Wrack

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Solid and determined start to Unite bin drivers strike action in Coventry

As reported in December last year, bin drivers at Coventry City Council are in dispute with their employer over demands for decent pay and changes to Christmas working arrangements.

Action took place on Wednesday and Thursday of the first week of 2022, with 4 more days of action during the week beginning 10th Jan. A further 19 more strike days are planned until the end of March. The Council should be very clear that the workers are serious about winning decent pay. Recent victories for refuse workers in places like Barnet, Bexley and Plymouth show it’s very possible and should give all workers a great deal of confidence.

Coventry Socialist Alternative have stood in total solidarity alongside striking Unite bin workers on their Whitley Depot picket line from the beginning of industrial action.

The real situation with pay

The strike is over the wages that Coventry’s Labour-controlled City Council pays its bin drivers, who can earn as little as £22,183, as the council advertise on their own website (see picture below). In real terms this means workers are £1600 worse off than a decade ago, on top of a backdrop of rising cost of living. Despicably, instead of meeting workers’ very reasonable demands, the council have continually sought to spread misinformation about wages (for example using outlandish figures in their statements and including overtime payments) in an attempt to divide workers not only from working class Coventry residents but also other low paid council workers; The council argued in a statement from the 5th of January, that no bin driver is earning ‘as little as £22,183’ and that ‘the lowest paid driver took home £28,148, with the highest earner receiving £52,163.’

A vacancy advertised on the Coventry City Council website contradicts their own arguments, as do the es wage slips from at least one of the workers involved, see pictures below.

( Advert from council website)

(One of the bin drivers’ wage slips)

DIY bin service

Another tactic employed by the council to weaken the impact of the strike (after trying to force through last minute contractual changes to rob workers of their deserved Christmas holiday) has been the attempted introduction of a temporary “DIY bin service” whereby local residents have been encouraged to drop their rubbish off at sites around the city. This badly thought out approach has been widely mocked by working class people across the city, not least because the council offered no subsequent help to elderly or disabled residents, or those without a car. It should be noted that the council has form for things like this, such as trying to recruit unpaid volunteers to work in city libraries. The Council are simultaneously undermining the strike and attacking public services – more reasons why the bin workers should be supported!

The role of the Labour Council and why we need genuine working class political organisation

Many workers on the picket lines are understandably and rightfully furious with the role of Labour in this dispute. Labour are acting like Tories, and should be condemned appropriately. Unite and other unions need to begin an organised discussion about the future of working class political representation. If you attack workers, you do not deserve the support of working class people and the trade unions!

Strong picket lines

On the picket line at Whitley Depot there was tangible anger towards the council, with many workers pointing out the abhorrent nature of a “Labour” council yet again attacking its own workforce. This was demonstrated in the fact that, despite the freezing early morning winter conditions, workers turned out in force and held placards with slogans such as “We refuse rubbish pay” and “Stick your rubbish deal in the bin”. There were many expressions of workers who no longer see the Labour Party as a genuine party of the working class and are looking for an alternative both from the unions and the Corbynite left wing of Labour.

Despite the council’s repeated attempts to divide people, there was a strong show of support for the strike from working class residents driving past who were regularly beeping their car horns in solidarity.

Coventry Socialist Alternative says solidarity with Coventry bin workers and builds support for the strike!

We have been actively building support for the strike through organising campaigning activities in the city centre before and after Xmas, and have produced two leaflets for workers on the picket lines. A Socialist Alternative member in Birmingham UCU branch helped to organise a solidarity visit to the picket line, with a £100 donation to the strike fund from his branch.

(Pic: UCU Birmingham branch bring solidarity to the picket line)

We are speaking with residents and are coming across different reactions; some initially oppose the strike as a result of the deliberate misinformation spread by the council. However through using a printed screenshot of the council vacancy advertisement we have helped in convincing them to support the strikers rather than the council. We also came across a significant number of people, young and old, who instinctively support the strike based on their experience with the council and as workers exploited by their own employer.

Getting the truth out there and organising solidarity

We can step up such solidarity to build support for the strike through coordinated action. The truth about the shocking conditions of bin drivers needs to get to everyone across Coventry. Unite and the local trade union movement could produce leaflets and undertake public campaigning activities with the help of other trade unions in spreading the truth about what’s really going on, to fight the council’s deliberate misinformation! The other unions in the council can come to the aid of Unite by loudly stating support for their action, balloting their members who are bin drivers, showing solidarity and help with spreading Unite’s arguments about the strike . This could galvanise all union members for what is coming down the line in terms of attacks and help to increase the pressure on the council that attempts to divide and turn workers against one another. A victory for bin workers will be a victory for all workers in the council and beyond!

[Pic: Socialist Alternative building support for the strike in Coventry City Centre 08/01/22]

Show solidarity with the #covbinstrike!

Messages of support to:

Pete.Randle@unitetheunion.org

Donations to the local branch of Unite:

Unity Trust Bank

Name of Account – Unite WM/7116 Branch Coventry Local GOVERNMENT

Account number 20302665

Sort code 608301

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‘Bring your own bottle’ scandal pushes Johnson to the edge: Drive them out!

In recent weeks, Boris Johnson’s government has faced a mounting crisis, with public support crumbling amid a series of devastating scandals over government ministers breaching their own COVID-19 regulations.

These scandals have come at the same time as COVID-19 case numbers have skyrocketed, and the cost of living crisis threatens a bleak 2022 for working class households.

Last month, Socialist Alternative commented on the revelation of the Tory Christmas party in 2020. At the same time as Johnson himself personally hosted a Christmas quiz at 10 Downing Street, the rest of the country was forced to stay at home as the pandemic surged – itself the result of Tory incompetence, cronyism and profiteering.

But if they thought the resignation of then-Press Secretary, Allegra Stratton, would prove a useful scapegoat, they have been utterly mistaken. It has become clear that breaches of restrictions such as this were frequent occurrences, rather than one-off events.

Most recently, a leaked email has emerged showing over 100 people invited by Martin Reynolds, head of Johnson’s office at no.10, to a “bring your own booze” garden party at Downing Street in May 2020. More than 40 people are reported to have attended, including Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock, to celebrate “beating back the virus”. Boris Johnson has since admitted that he attended this party.

That this party took place directly after a press conference where the government restated that social mixing was still to be limited to one person outdoors, only reinforces the sentiment of many working class people that there has been “one rule for us, another for them”. Only two days later, Dominic Cummings sparked mass outrage after his own flouting of Covid restrictions.

Will Boris Johnson last?

The Prime Minister’s approval ratings have plummeted, with polls ranging from 56-66% support for his resignation.

There are already reports that Tory MPs have begun submitting letters of no confidence to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee – 55 are needed for a formal vote of no confidence to take place.

But while many people, socialists included, would be glad to see the back of Johnson, we should not rely on the thoroughly rotten Tory party to deliver any change. The seeds for the government’s catastrophic handling of the pandemic have been sown by successive Conservative and Blairite governments grinding down health and social care services and presiding over declining standards of living for working class people for more than a decade.

This goes far beyond any individual leader. For Tory MPs, looking to replace Johnson would be seen as a way to extend the lifespan of their disastrous government. But to win a real way out of this crisis, we should not stop with just him.

Kick out Johnson and the Tories

That he has stayed in power this long is testament to the failure of Labour under Keir Starmer to offer any serious opposition to this government, and their refusal to mount a genuine challenge to the status quo. As the ground has disappeared underneath Johnson, Starmer and Labour have managed to gain a lead in the polls. But there are already signs that this may be slipping, going from a 9% lead one month ago to only 4% today. The total inaction of Starmer, summed up in the vapid slogan “Security, Prosperity, Respect” offering more of the same as millions seek out radical solutions, provides an easy recipe for the Tories to recover. Unlike Starmer, we need to build a movement that will never let the Tories off the hook so easily. Reports that Jeremy Corbyn is finally considering launching a new political party are encouraging and point the way forward for the building of a real political alternative to the Tories (see our article here).

The last 2 years of ongoing crisis has generated a huge amount of anger, not just against Johnson, but also this government and the system as a whole. In response, we have seen an inspiring upsurge in trade union militancy in a wave of industrial disputes, reflected as well in the election of a more fighting leadership of Unite the union with the victory of Sharon Graham as general secretary. This has come alongside huge social struggles under the pandemic against racism, gender based violence, and massive environmental protests at COP26 in November.

The best guarantee to remove Johnson from office will be by building pressure from below by channeling this anger into demonstrations, protests and co-ordinated struggle against this government and this system as a whole.

This should include demands for an independent investigation made up of healthcare workers, trade unions and the families of victims into breaches of Covid restrictions by government ministers as well as their handling of the pandemic as a whole. Alongside this, we need to fight for full public ownership and democratic control of health services, including testing and vaccine production to begin to address the catastrophic covid response that the Tories have overseen, with the highest death toll in all of Europe.

At the same time, we need to fight for a real living wage of £15/hr, bringing the privatised utilities back into public ownership along with the banks and financial institutions in order to plan the economy in the interests of working class people as part of a socialist green new deal that can tackle rising costs of living.

The market and the capitalist system the Tories uphold has been totally exposed by this pandemic as a system that at best, works in the interests of the super-rich, and at worst barely works at all, as evidenced by the supply chain crisis still gripping Britain. Only by building the struggle against this system itself, and to replace it with a democratically-planned, socialist economy can we begin to plot a way out of the endless crises we are faced with today.

Want to build a movement to do this? Join Socialist Alternative today!
Yes, Corbyn should launch a new left party, but what kind?

Socialist Alternative welcomes the news that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn may be considering establishing a new left party, on behalf of which he would stand at the next general election as Labour will stand against him.

There is no shortage of support for left-wing ideas. Up to half a million people joined the Labour party under his leadership, around half of which have left since Starmer took his place. Labour gained 2 million votes in 2017 and would have won the election if the campaign had continued longer, or started sooner.

New party

Socialist Alternative believes that founding a new party should have been done already. Some people fear ‘splitting the anti-Tory vote’, but while a new party should definitely be about defending Corbyn’s seat and could be an important starting point for developing an electoral alternative to the mainstream capitalist parties, it should not be only, or even primarily, about standing candidates. It should be a means to organise, discuss, mobilise, and bring together the hundreds of thousands who see themselves as socialists with the numerous recent movements against the effects of capitalism on working-class and young people.

The next general election is scheduled for May 2024 but could come sooner if the Tories implode. No time can be lost in preparing to defend Corbyn’s seat, which means no time should be wasted in founding the political vehicle to do that. ‘Peace and Justice Party’ isn’t the best name, but the name isn’t the most important thing. What matters is what kind of party it is, and on this there has to be a total break with the worst aspects of Labour old and new. A genuine socialist party is a vehicle for mass struggle.

Democracy

That means it has to be open and democratic, based on mass meetings, elected organisers and leaders, a democratic voice for trade unions, and clear socialist principles. What’s more, such an organisation would need tobe present on every demonstration and picket line, active in every struggle of working-class, young and oppressed people. Obviously Corbyn would be the natural choice for leader, but there can be no repeat of the Momentum experience, which was an organisation set up as a limited company run by a secretive and largely self-appointed clique.

Clear policies are needed. After the 2017 general election we had the fog of Brexit. Then we have had the pandemic and the attempts by the right-wing to whip up fear and reactionary attitudes. We have also had the huge resurgence of the climate movement, massive protests against gender-based violence, and a new resurgence in strikes. Reacting to multiple crises, the Tories have had to massively increase state spending wholly in the interests of big business.

Socialist policies needed

A new alternative can cut through the confusion and appeal to young and working-class people. Clear policies are needed, such as a £15 minimum wage, secure tenancies and affordable rents, secure contracts at work, an end to misogyny and racism, rebuilding the NHS with funds and a reversal of all cut-backs and sell-offs, rebuilding social care by taking it into public ownership and increasing funding and wages for workers, full public ownership of all privatised services starting with the energy sector, and a socialist Green New Deal to safeguard the climate.

Defend Corbyn’s seat

Corbyn should call an online rally in a matter of weeks to declare that he will be launching a new party, appeal to movements and unions for support and involvement, and appeal to individuals to register as active supporters. Follow-up organising meetings of those who want to get more involved can bring movements on board, organise locally, and so on. A new party needs to be an organised force on every strike and every protest, with leaflets to build support for left policies and defending Corbyn at the next election.

In Islington, the strongest possible ‘ground game’ will be needed to counter the media and Labour machine which will go all out to defeat Corbyn. Starting now, organisation needs to be built in every corner of the constituency, holding public meetings at the level of council wards, housing estates, and large workplaces, about building campaigns to win victories on the immediate issues and connecting that with holding Corbyn’s seat.

Drawing this together with a mass meeting in the constituency in a few months would be the springboard for launching regular mass campaigning activities through which huge support can be built and mass canvassing developed well before the general election.

Mass approach

Founding a new party now would enable Corbyn to harness colossal support outside of his constituency, which could be mobilised for regular canvassing drives in Islington as the election approaches. After winning the seat, Corbyn could call a national conference to cohere his support into a large and potentially powerful new left party.

These are ways in which our political co-thinkers in the United States, also named Socialist Alternative, have just secured Kshama Sawant as city councillor in Seattle again, in her fourth popular vote. Kshama’s council position represents a similar number of voters as many British parliamentary constituencies.

SA weren’t just up against ‘normal’ corporate media and politicians. They were facing Jeff Bezos and Amazon, the capitalist titans of the 21^st century, and they won! Mass organisation and clear left policies with an uncompromising commitment to struggle can cut through the most vicious right-wing campaigns.

Potential

But there is scope to build a new left party that goes well beyond Corbyn’s own constituency. Hundreds of thousands were prepared to actively support Corbyn against the right in Labour when he faced a coup attempt. The forces exist in society for building a new mass left party of struggle, and Corbyn retains the authority to be a central catalyst in cohering one.

Were a new party to be established around Corbyn, it would make sense for the few genuine left MPs who remain in Starmer’s Labour to join it. Nonetheless, it could be the case that, at the next election, some will want to stand candidates against the worst Blairites and Tories. Some will want to support left Labour candidates in other seats. A friendly approach to genuine Labour lefts and supporters is important but the left needs to be outward-looking, concerned mainly with struggle rather than the minutiae of Labour’s internal structures which are dominated nationally by the right-wing.

A crucial task of a new party is to secure Corbyn’s re-election. The strategic task is to build a new mass party rooted in struggle and organising to fight for change. Socialist Alternative will take part in any serious discussions and steps toward building a viable mass left alternative. We will put forward Marxist ideas on policies, strategy and tactics within that process. If you agree with us, join us!

Find more events local to you on our branches' Facebook pages

Solid and determined start to Unite bin drivers strike action in Coventry

‘Bring your own bottle’ scandal pushes Johnson to the edge: Drive them out!

Yes, Corbyn should launch a new left party, but what kind?

Pay Justice Now! For Public Sector Wide Action!

Engels’ ‘Socialism Utopian and Scientific’ – still brilliantly relevant today

We need a socialist feminist programme for action against the spikings surge

GET INVOLVED!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Solid and determined start to Unite bin drivers strike action in Coventry

The real situation with pay

DIY bin service

The role of the Labour Council and why we need genuine working class political organisation

Strong picket lines

Coventry Socialist Alternative says solidarity with Coventry bin workers and builds support for the strike!

Getting the truth out there and organising solidarity

Show solidarity with the #covbinstrike!

‘Bring your own bottle’ scandal pushes Johnson to the edge: Drive them out!

Yes, Corbyn should launch a new left party, but what kind?

New party

Democracy

Socialist policies needed

Defend Corbyn’s seat

Mass approach

Potential