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www.socialistparty.org.uk | Socialist Party UCU Bulletin | March 2011
UniteD CAMPAiGnneeDeD to DeFenDjoBS AnD PenSionS
T
heConDem coalition has made
clear that it intends to butcher
many of the historic gains wonby trade unionists using the excuse
of nancial necessity. Health,
education and social security are
all under threat, while bankers
bonuses remain untouchable and
multinationals like Vodafone are
excused multi-billion pound tax
bills.
Clearly, theres the money in society
to fund free post-school education
for all, decent pay and conditions
throughout post-16 education, and an
expansion of research in all subjects.
But a political decision has been
made to attack higher and further
education for ideological reasons. If
the Browne report is implemented,
this will not only lead to the effective
privatisation of university teaching,
but will also cause several universitiesto close if they are unable to make up
funding losses by recruiting enough
paying students. Proposed cuts in
further education have the potential
to devastate the sector, and more are
planned.
The current UCU strikes to defend
pensions, jobs and pay are clearly
an important rst step in resisting
this onslaught. Only determined
action can beat the governments
cuts agenda, but this will needto be coordinated with other
trade unions with support from
the student movement. The TUC
demonstration on 26 March
should be used as a springboard
to organise a one-day public sector
strike as a step towards a one-day
general strike if the cuts are not
stopped. It would be a mistake at
this stage to rely entirely on action
short of a strike alone (such as an
exam boycott) to further our aims:Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and co.
are determined to redistribute
wealth towards the fantastically
rich, but they are in a weak position
if faced with a determined, united
campaign of action.
continued over...
8/7/2019 Socialist Party UCU Bulletin www.socialistparty.org.uk
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www.socialistparty.org.uk | Socialist Party UCU Bulletin | March 2011
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It would also be a mistake
to imagine that a Labour
government would reverse any
cuts made - Labour councils areimplementing the cuts, and their
only disagreement with the Tories
nationally seems to be over the
speed and details of the cuts. Trade
unions like the RMT and FBU no
longer fund New Labour - working
people need to create a new, mass
party that represents their interests
in the same way that the three
main parties represent the rich and
powerful.
The Socialist Party stands for a
democratic socialist society, run for
people not pro t. We ght for:
A decent pension for all, with no
extension of the retirement age.
Scrap tuition fees and implement
a living student grant throughout
post-16 education.
End casualisation in further and
higher education.
Massive investment in
education and research as part
of a democratically planned
economy.
We will work with all others whowant UCU to be a democratic,
ghting union. To nd out more,
email us on info@socialistparty.org.
uk or phone 0208 9888777.
FoR CoUnCiLLoRS Who Vote no to CUtS!
Workers need a political voice as well as industrial muscle. In many areasLabour councils are the executors of Tory cuts. We need a political alternativethat is genuinely opposed to cuts. If Labour were in government they wouldbe making cuts of their own. We need to build a new voice for working people.Labour-af liated trade unions need to disaf liate and support, alongsideothers, the building of a new mass workers party.
tRADe UnioniSt & SoCiALiSt CoALition
The Socialist Party played a leadingrole in setting up the Trade Unionist& Socialist Coalition (TUSC). Thisimportant step towards building anew party is supported by a numberof leading members of ghting unionssuch as the RMT transport union andthe PCS civil service union. TUSC stoodfor the rst time in the 2010 generalelection taking up all the issues thatworking people are concerned about. Anti-cuts campaigns are invited to standtheir activists under the banner of TUSC in Mays local elections.
www.tusc.org.uk
WhAt ALteRnAtiVe? SoCiALiSM!
As even Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, has admitted, the people
suffering from the economic crisis did nothing to cause it. The economic crisis was
not caused by the public sector or by working class people; it is a crisis of the private
sector of the capitalist system. The same bankers and nanciers, who triggered the
crisis by gambling vast sums, are now demanding that governments make us pay for
their crisis. Not just in Britain, but across Europe, governments are willingly doing the
nanciers bidding.
In contrast a socialist society would be run in the interests of the millions, not the
billionaires. For a start it would nationalise the banks and nance sector not to
prop them up and leave the bankers in charge like New Labour did but to run them
democratically to help meet the needs of the majority. However, that would only be
the start. Capitalism has led to enormous economic destruction. In Britain around
10% of wealth has already been lost as a result of the recession, due to factories
and workplaces closing, resulting in 2.5 million and rising of cially unemployed. That
is why a crucial step towards solving the economic crisis would be to take the big
corporations that dominate Britains economy into democratic public ownership. This
would then allow for production to be planned for need and not for pro t, protecting
the environment at the same time.
Socialist planning would have to spread internationally to work and survive. But a
democratic socialist government that carried out massive investment in public
services, increased wages and created millions of jobs would have enormous support
among workers across the planet. As the uprisings in the Middle East have shown,
when the demand for change catches on, it recognises no borders.
iF YoU AGRee With US then join the SoCiALiSt PARtY!