What could a 24 hour general strike achieve?

I’ve heard it a lot of late what can a 24 hour general strike achieve and in many ways I can understand those voices saying one day will not be enough we need more and I’d be agreeing with them. But and this is a big but we are starting from a very low level of consciousnesses we are not in the 1980’s trade union militancy is not what it was and we are having to start from a very low position. This is not to say that we cannot achieve big gains on the way back up but we have to realise and start from where we are not from where we’d like us to be. Some may say we are not doing that by calling for a one day general strike but we feel the working class and certainly the most advanced layers are ready and are at that stage now. Last year our calls for a 24 hour public sector general strike were taken up and made the property of the working class and turned into action on November the 30th. Now we are under no illusions that just by calling for something it wills just happen we are not that naive but slogans are important and how they are put across is important. A lot of work is needed to build for such an action we are under no illusions we face a huge task in front of us. But we must start now. At the 20 October anti-austerity demonstration, three trade union general secretaries - Len McCluskey of Unite, Bob Crow of the RMT and Mark Serwotka of the PCS - reflected the feelings of the majority of trade unionists in calling for a 24-hour general strike. Urgent plans must be drawn up now to give flesh to this call with an early date set for a strike to take place. However, it would be a mistake to imagine that the whole trade union movement is convinced and united in agreeing, let alone carrying out, the strike call, which was also endorsed by the last TUC Congress in September. It was noticeable that other general secretaries did not, in their speeches, either support or join in the general acclamation in Hyde Park for the general strike call. This indicates that right-wing trade union leaders will attempt to hamper and frustrate a strike taking place. They will seek to hide behind the 'difficulties' - particularly the hurdle of Thatcher's anti-union laws - in organising such a strike. Right-wing trade union leaders who habitually betray their members should take a warning from the recent splendid and heroic actions of the South African miners. Kept in the dirt by ruthless South African capitalism, their suffering was compounded by their 'leaders' in the NUM and Cosatu , who have shamefully collaborated with the bosses. Consequently, the miners have elbowed their former leaders aside. A similar fate awaits those trade union leaders in Britain who let trade unionists down at this momentous time. A mass campaign of explanation should drive home why a one-day strike is necessary to stop the government in its tracks. The trade unions have marched together; now it is necessary to strike together in one massive demonstration of the power of working people. Imagine the scene; with factories, workplaces and transport - apart from the essential means of getting to demonstrations, etc - all falling silent on one day. It would bring home that society cannot function without the working class. The same could not be said for the parasitic capitalists who, through their government - the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition - are dragging the British people into a social abyss. The British working class has not had such an experience for 86 years, since the time of the 1926 general strike. Greece has had 20 general strikes in the last two years alone. Spain, Portugal and Italy have trod a similar path, France and Belgium likewise. Britain did come close to a one-day strike at the time of the jailing of the dockers in 1972. Even the right-wing then general secretary of the TUC, Vic Feather, was compelled to threaten the Tory government of Ted Heath with a general strike unless the Dockers were released. He did this knowing he would not have to carry out his threat because the government had already indicated that the Dockers would be released through the medium of their own 'fairy godmother', the Official Solicitor, who few people had ever heard of before! This demonstrates the lengths to which the British ruling class will go to in order to avoid setting a new benchmark - a one-day general strike - for workers resisting them. It also illustrates that they can be compelled to make concessions when they are threatened with the power of the trade unions and the working class. It is no accident that the issue of the general strike is back on the agenda of the workers' movement. There are similar features in Britain today as in the early 1920s, which culminated in the 1926 general strike. The scale and the depth of the economic crisis of British and world capitalism are devastating. Like then, the capitalists want to impose the cost of this crisis onto the backs of the working class. They prepared a savage programme of cuts, outlined in the Geddes report of 1922. A similar scale of cuts has been proposed by Cameron and Osborne today, with the working class and poorest sections of the population, such as the disabled and low paid facing benefit cuts, etc, most affected. Unemployment - the most visible expression of the sclerotic state of 'modern' capitalism - stands at 200 million worldwide, according to the United Nations' International Labour Organisation. That is fully 30 million higher than before the crisis started in 2007-08. 40 million more people have also dropped out of the labour market since then. Yet by 2013 the figure of worldwide unemployment will have risen by at least seven million to 207 million. Cameron and British capitalism offer nothing different. A month ago, Cameron said the crisis would last at least until the end of this decade. Larry Elliott of the Guardian speculates that Britain may experience not one but possibly two or even three 'lost decades'. This will be characterised by economic paralysis, resulting in stagnant and falling living standards. Yet Cameron tries to hide his nakedness by triumphantly waving the latest 'growth' figures, prepared for him by the 'Department of Wild Guesses', and the 'Ministry of Thin Air'! These are just one quarter's figures. They largely arise from the Olympics, which had an effect almost solely in London. Even here they merely boosted part-time jobs and the self-employed, usually on miserable incomes, while the rest of the country outside of London still looks like an economic wasteland. In fact, the crisis is so deep and profound, the sacrifices demanded of the working class so severe, that some workers say, why just strike for one day? If we come out for one-day, why not then take it further into an all-out general strike? It is a question here of soberly estimating the stage through which the working class and the labour movement are passing. An all-out general strike is one of the most serious actions the working class can take, posing as it does sharply the question of power in society. Either the working class takes power and establishes a new socialist society or the capitalists can inflict a crushing defeat. Sometimes, as in 1926 with the Baldwin government, a general strike can be provoked by the capitalists without the working class being properly prepared, and its defeat can have lasting consequences. Therefore, before engaging in such a decisive battle it is necessary to go through a preparatory stage, maybe a number of limited strikes of one day or even longer, as in Greece. It is vital to understand the rhythm of the workers' movement at each stage. Today, a one-day strike is the most appropriate and effective action the working class can take. Even the six million workers organised in trade unions - encompassing 26% of the labour force - coming out in a one-day strike would shake this rotten government to its foundations. The trade unions should lose no time in organising the most massive display of working class power seen in generations - a colossal and effective 24-hour general strike! With extracts taken from http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/740/15596/31-10-2012/prepare-for-a-24-hour-general-strike

A hardening mood developing?

On October the 20th TUC demonstration in London I noticed a hardening of the mood of workers. The demo was a smaller march yes but those on the demo had a better understanding as to what will be required. On the run up to last year’s demonstration we’d been swamped for 6 months or so on mobilising for the march. This time with sell outs from the right wing trade union leaders and many feeling marches won’t get us anywhere the number attending was well down. This can be explained by the fact that the march was near enough finished by 5 pm whereas it was still strong and coming this time last year. People I spoke to had a realisation that the government won’t listen to protests, march’s or petitions and that more sustained action is needed and more often than every 18 months. It’s clear that the mood has changed since last year more are realising labour will not fight the cuts. The mood for an alternative is still there and many still want to fight. The take up of our material on the day of NSSN and socialist party materials was a clear sign of this. The thing now is to transform this change in mood into action. Passing motions in local trades councils, union branches and community groups is essential. I posted the NSSN’s latest bulletin and list of public meetings coming up on this blog yesterday. Pressure from below must be built on We may well have to be demanding another general strike next year as there is no grantee this will end this gov. But we must try a 24 hour general strike will be a step forward uniting public and private sector disputes, getting the students, unemployed onboard is key. Unions are not well organised in the private sector, our more militant unions are now in the public sector which is good but unfortunate as these cannot cause as much disrupting as the private sector where we are poorly organised. A strike involving our IT sector which serves local government and government records would have a devastating effect as would the RMT taking action on the underground in London. The TUC’s passing of the motion 5 to consider the practicalities of a general strike must be taken up seriously now. Let’s hear no excuses of illegal wrangling or having to win the public argument the 99% are under a barrage of attacks its fight now or see the rest of the cuts through unchallenged which must not happen. The unions must be making every opportunity they get to explain why we need a 24 hour general strike. More unions are coming on board now with the ideas so with the NSSN and our support let’s name the day!

Why a new workers party is not just needed in Britain, it’s needed internationally

We are often accused of just wanting a new workers party to fulfil our own ambitions and interests not true as Marxists we don’t hold personal ambitions or targets in that sense. We in the socialist party CWI call for new mass workers parties all over the globe. There are countries where this call can gain more of an echo than others. In Britain we still feel a long way away from such a reality but during this new period of revolution and counter revolution and heightened class struggle a pole of attraction can quickly can gain a traction in the workers movement if armed with the correct slogans and programme for winning over the best layers of workers.

In Ireland our comrades are part of the ULA United Left Alliance with other forces on the left whilst not a new mass workers party it is an electoral focus in Ireland and provides workers with an alternative to vote for. But with the taking off of the household tax in Ireland and our comrades out in Ireland leading a mass movement despite their small numbers could if taken forward onto the political plain could lead to the formations of a new workers party if the correct conclusions are drawn.

One of the mistakes of the poll tax campaign many in the socialist party feel we made was to not stand candidates off the back of that victory. The landscape in Britain certainly would look a lot different today with us having MP3’s and councillors possibly even in majority in some councils as our stock was high at that point after leading a successful struggle against Margaret Thatcher and her vicious poll tax.

We see across the planet a huge vacuum of workers leadership from America wheel the two party capitalist systems still prevails and other nations where there’re small forces but not mass workers party anywhere to be found.
Only the circus’s of old social democratic parties who have moved fully to the right and have openly embraced capitalism much like the labour party today in Britain and the Socialist party in France.

Of course in other nations such as Germany there are left formations with workers support such as Die Linked which is translated as the left party which may play some part in the coming months if Germany begins to faulter but at present it hasn’t really made its mark on the political plain thus far.

As Marxists we take a flexible approach to working inside mass organisations much like our work in the labour party up to the late 80’s we drew the correct conclusions that work inside the labour party as a entrist organisation was not producing much success and our roads to winning over workers lay outside the labour party and have done till this day.
Other parties who stuck inside the labour party and took the dogmatic approach of labour or nothing have been left behind and are now no bigger than some of the sects on the outside. Left in a past era still fighting the same battles and tired arguments.

The socialist party CWI I believe doesn’t just react to situations it looks to see where we have come from and the perspectives for the coming period.
Clearly our work in the trade unions will always be key but our work among youth and young workers can really bear out some big gains I feel during this time.
Across the world we must look towards young workers and the youth to lead the way in opening up new areas of work for us.

Where a mass battle breaks out we can’t be shouting from the side lines we must be in among the workers and I feel confident we are so. Right across the world nation to nation, continent to continent the same problem exists take Greece for example 15 general strikes in the last year alone. The working class could have taken power several times over if there was a mass workers party with a revolutionary element based on the principles of Marxism explaining to workers and more militant sections of the class the tasks that face us and the strategy we must take. In Greece the need for a new party of the working class is more urgent than ever to give the class hope and belief that there is a way out of the hell they re living through under this rotten capitalist system.

All of our sections across the world in the CWI point out that there is no solution to the financial crisis on a capitalist basis and only a democratic working class lead socialist transformation of society can show the light out of this period.

So as the CWI we are part of an international group of workers, revolutionary looking outside the boundaries of bourgeois society and beyond to a new society and world that will benefit the many not just the few. We don’t see it just as a question of creating a new left force in Britain we don’t see it ending there. As Trotsky argued in his excellent contribution to Marxism the permanent revolution the mass working class parties must form an international and revolution must sweep across each continent and eventually the world. As socialism cannot be a single nation system that would not work and would quickly come undone unless spread to other nations. Although big gains can be made from having a socialist government only real lasting gains will start to be found once the revolution really takes off worldwide.

Of course we look at each nation and each section of our international on an individual basis and the struggles affecting them at the time but always look to link up the struggles and point towards the transformation of society on a mass global scale not just in one nation as explained above.

Change will not come from above it can only come from below by being part of one of the strongest workers based internationals the CWI is perfectly placed to lead struggles across the world leading to the eventual overthrow of global capitalism.