Scottish TUSC conference launches council election campaign

Matt Dobson

The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (Scottish TUSC) online conference on Saturday 19 February saw trade unionists, socialists, community activists and young socialists from across Scotland gather to launch our council election campaign.

Ingrid Bain, Glasgow City Unison Steward and Equal Pay striker, was the first speaker (in a personal capacity). Ingrid outlined the “Don’t Dump the Deal” campaign aimed at Glasgow’s SNP-led council. 9,000 Unison members, alongside their GMB and Unite colleagues, are now being balloted for strike action as the SNP administration is trying to reverse the 2019 deal they signed up to after a mass 48-hour strike by the unions.

Ingrid explained how scandalously the council have further delayed, amidst a cost of living crisis, a new pay and grading scheme until 2024. They also are ripping up the compensation deal for future payments and have halted interim payments.

They are trying to now exclude job roles that were previously paid out such as admin, social care, and nurseries. Ingrid highlighted the SNP administration is playing divide and rule with its workforce. Glasgow council workers and trade unions are demanding that the council apply the 2019 arrangements to those claimants who have yet to receive payments and also use the 2019 arrangements to calculate a new round of interim payments for all eligible workers. Ingrid gave personal support to Scottish TUSC’s campaign and thanked us for our support during the dispute.

All Britain TUSC chair and former Labour MP Dave Nellist then addressed the conference, via a pre-recorded video, as he is campaigning as the socialist candidate in the Birmingham Erdington by election. In the context of right wing UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s dismissive attitude and attacks on striking Coventry bin workers and newly elected Unite leader Sharon Graham’s withdrawal of union funding for Labour, Dave’s campaign is mobilising support.

Dave, as a Unite member, pointed to the shift towards industrial militancy with the union involved in 111 disputes currently, and praised their policy of supporting a no cuts budget position in local government. Dave outlined the key missing ingredient is a trade union backed mass political force that can represent working-class people and their families come election time. Especially in the context of 54% rises in energy bills while £200 billion is shared out by energy company fat cats. That’s why TUSC is standing in hundreds of wards across Scotland, England and Wales in May to campaign for such a voice.

Lynda McEwan, a Scottish TUSC candidate for Dumbarton ward, spoke on behalf of Socialist Party Scotland who are a constituent Scottish TUSC organisation. She explained working-class people face austerity inflation. Scottish TUSC has been standing alongside workers on strike such as the printers in Dalkeith, UCU members and Glasgow GMB bin workers. Its not workers’ wage rises that cause inflation but the madness of the capitalist market.

Lynda outlined how the SNP, Greens and Labour are tied to the capitalist model. Shown by the SNP’s sham “Green ports” policy, in reality almost the same as Tory “free ports”, which will see private corporations allowed freedom for a race to the bottom. Both the SNP and the Greens supported selling off the crown estates to energy multinationals through the Scotwind project.

Scottish TUSC, Lynda highlighted, has been alone in electorally challenging the SNP on a socialist basis while Labour has moved to the right. Scottish TUSC is standing in West Dunbartonshire against the backdrop of £7 million in council cuts which will worsen the social crisis following the pandemic. Lynda called for no cuts/needs budgets and the bringing of the major levers of the economy, infrastructure and transport under public ownership. As well as a mass working-class campaign for indyref2 and an independent socialist Scotland.

Michael Hogg, RMT Scottish regional organiser sent a message of solidarity to the conference. Scottish TUSC gives full support to the RMT (a constituent organisation of TUSC) in its current battles against the cuts and attacks on terms and conditions by the SNP Scottish government and against cuts to ferry services.

The second part of the conference saw Philip Stott from the Scottish TUSC steering committee introduce our core policy platform, unanimously agreed by those present after a full democratic discussion, as the minimum policy on which all Scottish TUSC candidates stand.

Philip explained that TUSC was set up by the late RMT leader Bob Crow alongside organisations like Socialist Party Scotland to stand against pro-cuts capitalist parties on a principled socialist basis. 

inclusive

Scottish TUSC is an inclusive umbrella alliance, enabling fighting trade unionists, working-class community campaigners, social movement activists, and socialists in different parties or none, to stand together in elections under a common name and logo on the ballot paper, while preserving their own identities and ability to highlight any particular policies and issues that they may wish to campaign on.

The only times TUSC has stood aside since 2010 was to support Jeremy Corbyn’s radical left manifesto in the Westminster elections of 2017 and 2019. Now a fighting policy for a socialist recovery is needed, our core policy platform includes fighting for a £15 an hour minimum wage and pay to rise with inflation, support for industrial struggles, workers unity against oppression, a mass eco council house building programs, climate emergency plans that create jobs and lower emissions, and opposition to council tax rises and privatisation. 

Scottish TUSC stands for councils to utilise all financial mechanisms including borrowing, debt management and reserves to set no cuts budgets. Scottish TUSC councillors would vote against all cuts and demand the setting of deficit budgets that demanded funding from central government that meets the needs of our communities.

Philip pointed out that any opposition to cuts from SNP or Labour councillors has meant them being expelled from the party. Scottish TUSC councillors would also refuse to cooperate with commissioners sent by central government to implement cuts on communities.

Our candidates also fight for the democratic right to indyref2. These are our core council election policies and many more will be published with our leaflets and local manifestos. 

A number of shop stewards and trade union reps spoke in the discussion. Gary Clark, secretary of CWU Scotland No. 2 branch highlighted how his branch committee had voted to support Scottish TUSC candidate Jimmy Haddow in East Lothian. Gary is campaigning in his union for disaffiliation from Labour to aid the process of building a new workers’ party.

Jim McFarlane, a Unison NEC member and secretary of Dundee City Unison, pointed out the importance of Scottish TUSC’s support for renationalising the entire care sector and for fair pay. Wayne Scott, a Dundee factory worker and candidate in Coldside ward, reported that Scottish TUSC is going to stand in a number of seats across the city.

Chris Sermanni, Glasgow Unison social work convenor, exposed how Labour and the SNP had betrayed the equal pay women in the city and successive administrations have taken the axe to services despite the trade union outlining how a no cuts budget could be implemented, making TUSC candidates vital in the city.

Ronnie Stevenson, a long-standing socialist and trade union activist, spoke as Scottish TUSC’s candidate in Langside ward Glasgow. He lacerated the four councillors in Langside, SNP, Labour, Greens and Tories, for making cut after cut. The Glasgow SNP leader Susan Aitken represents Langside. Scottish TUSC will be standing in number of working-class areas across the city.

Young retail worker and Aberdeen University student Lucas Grant spoke on how the Tories and Labour had got together to make cuts in Aberdeen, and now there is the scandal of workers walking out for being unpaid on a waste incinerator construction site. Lucas is standing in Northfield and Marstrick North.

Policy suggestions made from Scottish TUSC candidates were also agreed to be incorporated into the core policy platform. Sean Robertson, standing in Inverness Central, highlighted the demand for wiping out of of council’s historic debt.

Ian Kerr, standing in Irvine South, North Ayrshire, called for a much needed low cost nationalised broadband network.

Lynda, Ingrid and Philip summed up the lively determined discussion highlighting the mass anger building up over the cost of living crisis, job insecurity and fuel poverty, as well as the need to promote socialist ideas for the future of the young generation as capitalism is an utterly failed system.

Over the coming week Scottish TUSC will announce a full list of candidates. If you want to stand or get involved in the campaign please contact us at scottishtusc@gmail.com