We are living at a
potential critical moment in the history. The bankers brought the world to the
precipice, but neoliberalism managed to put the brakes on before it
fell into the abyss. But it was very very close.
I think we are certainly
here in the UK at a pivotal moment whereby we could finally dump austerity and
the enforced misery and brutality it has brought to millions in this country.
I want to give a massive show of
respect and solidarity to a group of activists who have shown the trade unions just
what is needed to highlight the serious harm being done through austerity policies
to people with disabilities and their families and carers. The anti-austerity social
movement now taking place simply would not have been here without the actions
of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). I am proud that our Barnet UNISON branch
took strike action and then joined DPAC outside the House of Commons on 8 July
2015 in response to George Osborne’s emergency budget. I can report that some
of our unison members were shocked as to how the Police were handling people in
wheelchairs. I know there are some who want to distance themselves from direct
action DPAC take, but you have got to understand that DPAC have been providing
countless evidence that people with disabilities are dying as a direct result of
austerity. At the end of last year
the UK became the first country in
the world to be investigated by the
United Nations for grave and systematic violations of Disabled people’s rights.
This statement makes sobering reading but in my opinion we have DPAC to
thank for helping expose the brutal reality of austerity for people with
disabilities.
I’ve had enough of
Austerity, I don’t know about anyone else but if I hear another politician
trying to sell cuts as a way to improve services my head is going to
spontaneously explode.
This is why I am taking
personal responsibility for my actions.
There is an opportunity
for change for millions if Jeremy is elected on 24 September.
Jeremy and his heroic team
of MPs have kept anti austerity in the mainstream
media despite the efforts of the 172 MPs. Their selfish actions which became
public after Brexit have reinforced negative opinions of MPS as self-serving, out of touch and arrogant BUT they have also reinforced and
enhanced the grassroots support for the politics being promoted by Jeremy and
his team of MP’s.
Instead of the Labour
Party disappearing into obscurity, it is rapidly growing and every time they
attack Jeremy, more new members appear.
The time for the gravy train politicians and trade
unions are over if we are
truly to deal with the growing inequalities that are decimating our
communities. This social movement is a massive wake up call for the
establishment and that does include trade unions.
The establishment have responded by attacking Jeremy and his supporters
relentlessly, but it appears to be backfiring.
There are three things I would like to see happen in the next
three weeks.
The first is that Jeremy
is given a standing ovation at TUC conference this September. The TUC has under
performed for
decades, it needs to grasp this opportunity and tap
into the energy being generated by Jeremy Corbyns campaign to reinvigorate
the trade union movement. It needs to be a real leader of the labour movement.
For decades it has presided over the dismantling of the trade union movement in
the workplace. The rights of workers have eroded, collective bargaining almost
all gone, membership down from 12 million to just over 6 million and the direction it takes now will
define the trade union movement for a generation. It must surely be a wake-up
call for everyone when trade unions try to defend themselves by claiming we
don’t take much strike action especially after the last six years of austerity.
The Trade Unions need to
recognise Jeremy's message is resonating with workers. All of the
general secretaries should go back to the roots of trade unionism and offer
real solidarity to Jeremy and his team. The must now actively, publicly stand by him to
rebut the heinous attacks being perpetrated by the establishment. Now is
not the time to be a on the side-lines as a spectator, there is a war being
waged against our members and public services. Jeremy is facing it and we as
good union members need to stand should to shoulder with him and his team.
Second, the TUC needs to
give unequivocal support for the junior doctors strike. More than that, they need to use
all of their social media outlets to defend and publicise why we the public
need to support the junior doctors. The junior
doctors strike reminds me so
much of the 1984/5
Miners Strike. We know what
happened back then. The TUC turned their backs on the Miners. The consequences
of that betrayal are being felt even now. Thatcher moved on from the Miners and took
out many of the other big unions, anti-union laws were implemented, and
collective bargaining was destroyed. Now we have low membership levels , zero
hours, increased inequality, union reps targeted, blacklisting the list is
pitiful. This must not be allowed to happen again. I want to hear speaker after
speaker at TUC conference finds a way to bring the junior doctors strike onto
the agenda. What I don’t want to hear is that if junior doctors turn up a TUC
conference and for some bureaucratic reason they are not allowed in or address
conference. But this is not enough all
the trade unions that
represent NHS workers which includes my union UNISON, must now organise a
planning meeting with grassroots reps in the NHS whereby they can discuss how
they can coordinate strike action with the junior doctors. NHS workers all know
they are next, I am confident they would rather fight with the doctors than
without them. Organising is not rocket science, you just need to listen and trust
and resource the grassroots reps and membership.
Lastly, on 24 September I want to hear that Jeremy has won
leadership election. I am not complacent, so I am ignoring polls and will do
everything I can to help ensure enough members vote for Jeremy. What happens
next is critical. We need to mobilise immediately all those who have joined
into an army of activists ready to work on the doorstep to elect Jeremy as
Prime Minister. It is going to mean hard work, but we have an unstoppable
social movement that has had enough of the spin and slick men or women in
expensive designer suits. We
have a massive job to dismantle austerity but we have 10 pledges with which to
work on in discussions with family, friends, workplaces.
Often people, members,
reps ask me where I get my energy to keep going, I don’t know but there has
been a fire burning within me for a long time but for a brief while this year it almost
burnt out. However the embers were still warm and the prospect of being able to
be part of an anti-austerity social movement have reignited that flame within
me , I'm even thinking of getting out the drum again even though it put my back
out for a few days.
I’m so up for this chance
to be a small part of the history of our Labour movement.
Are you?
Solidarity
