Hundreds of workers rally to RMT public meeting in Glasgow

Lynda McEwan reports

Nearly 500 people attended a RMT Scotland public rally in Glasgow last night (August 16), with RMT general secretary Mick Lynch the headline speaker. 

Hundreds of RMT strikers attended but also council workers, self-employed gig economy delivery drivers and others eager to hear how to fight back and about trade unions. Some were at their first ever meeting. 

With standing room only, the mood was electric when Mick Lynch addressed the crowd. Other speakers included Cat Lee of Unite hospitality, Craig Anderson, CWU Scotland secretary and Roz Foyer, general secretary of the STUC. 

Cat Lee outlined the issues workers in hospitality face post-pandemic from low pay, zero hours contracts and safety. 

Craig Anderson talked about the upcoming Royal Mail strikes due to start next week amid attacks from the bosses on wages and conditions whilst paying themselves and shareholders millions in bonuses.

Roz Foyer called for public ownership of the energy companies. 

Each speaker was met with rapturous applause by the audience, but it was when Mick Lynch spoke, particularly when he talked about class issues such as the diabolical state of housing and poverty pay, that the roof was raised.

Cheers also went up when he called for unity of the working class against the divisive tactics of the Tories and the employers. And also in relation to the debate over a second independence referendum when he said the Scottish people should decide their own fate. 

When he described socialism as decent jobs, good quality council housing and security from poverty and hunger , the room erupted. 

It was great to hear Mick Lynch denounce as a national disgrace that “our people, the working class” were having to go to community centres and churches which are food banks. 

Increasing our wage packets is our way of fighting the cost of living crisis. He articulated the feelings of the last decades of neoliberalism when he said “we need to get their greedy hands off our throats”. 

Mick made correct points about rebuilding the workers’ movement when he said we need to train shop stewards to organise strikes and residents associations to organise against landlords and councils and housing associations. 

We need council housing under democratic control not housing associations linked to property developers! 

He was combative in calling for victory to the RMT and victory to the working class. However he also said that, quite rightly, we can’t rely on the capitalist politicians. Mick’s position is that only the trade unions can do it. But workers can’t only use their power industrially! 

new party needed

Socialist Party Scotland believes that the working class urgently needs the building of a mass workers’ party to fight for socialist policies on all fronts, which is why we are part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. 

We also agree with working class unity – for example building coordinated strike action across the trade unions – but at the rally, because of the popularity of Mick and the RMT, were Labour, SNP and Green politicians who are responsible for the terrible pay offer to council workers who’ll be on strike soon and the cuts we suffer.

Shouldn’t there be trade unionists and socialist candidates standing against them and the Tories? 

This huge turnout shows the impact that the RMT strikes have had on workers in Glasgow, and the potential power that lies with the organised working class. It also shows that workers are desperate for an alternative to the misery of the chaotic capitalist system. 

There was a big group of young rail workers from Carstairs, young pickets from Motherwell and working class women from Livingston who’d come along after playing bingo, they said, “for our union and for our Mick”. 

For all the strikers to really win they must now come together and build coordinated action. Roz Foyer announced a Scottish parliament pay demonstration for September 8.

On that day there are planned strikes by the CWU in Royal Mail and council workers, so this could be a large event.

But Socialist Party Scotland and the National Shop Stewards Network also say to Roz, the TUC and STUC, that if they took serious steps to organise mass coordinated action by all groups of workers currently moving into action – as a prelude to a 24-hour general strike – then the trade unions have the power to topple this hated Tory government.

This could then lay the ground work for the building of a new mass workers’ party, willing and able to fight the capitalist cuts-making parties in both Westminster and Holyrood. We could then fight for socialist nationalisation of all the main levers of the economy under democratic workers’ control. 

• Socialist Party Scotland members distributed hundreds of leaflets calling for cooridnated strike action, a new workers’ party and a fight for socialism. Almost 50 copies of our Socialist newspaper were also sold on the night.