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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...

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www.socialistparty.org.uk | Socialist Party UCU Bulletin | March 2011

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Text JOIN, plus your name and postcode to: 07984 027 754

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!