19.09.1996

Follow my lead

Kenny Craig is a member of the Socialist Labour Party who sits on the executive committee of the Rail Maritime Transport union. Peter Manson spoke to him about last week’s TUC, where he was a delegate

What were your impressions of the congress?

It was diabolical. The first couple of days were pure stage management, consisting of mutual back-slapping by the major unions. You felt it was a waste of time, a waste of the members’ money. After that it livened up a bit, particularly with the minimum wage debate. But there was a lot of despondency within the RMT delegation, especially concerning the anti-trade union laws, following David Blunkett’s intervention.

What was the minimum wage debate like?

I spoke on behalf of the RMT and gave an example of low pay in the rail industry. The Sheffield-based company, Chelfields Catering, pays some of our RMT members £10 a day - their rate is £1.25 an hour, which they are expected to boost up a bit by earning commission. But they are so cowed by the company that they voted against strike action because they did not want to risk losing their jobs.

I was dead against the idea that we should not “tie the hands of the Labour Party”. We should continue to support the workers, not worry about the Labour Party. Labour has distanced itself from us, not the other way round.

John Edmonds called for a “united front” and then immediately made a disgraceful attack on Arthur Scargill. Only a handful of unions had any clear policy on the minimum wage. It seems as though the TUC has not got the bottle to stand up and say what we are worth.

What about the debate on the anti-union laws?

Our delegation supported the motion backed by the National Union of Mineworkers calling on unions to break the law if necessary. I noticed that the Communication Workers Union had a peculiar position: they voted against that, but themselves moved a motion to allow strike action without a ballot in an emergency. We supported that but it was also defeated.

How do you assess the overall atmosphere?

I have never seen disillusionment like it. Trade union members are now crying out for real action. The RMT is recruiting like never before. But the TUC is not responding. You’ve got to say to yourself, ‘What are these people about?’

Labour has moved so far from the working class that seven of us on the RMT executive have joined the SLP.

How was the SLP received at the congress?

It was fantastic. People were approaching the RMT delegation all the time asking us for information about the party. We recruited 195 new members just from the conference delegates, including Jimmy Nolan, leader of the Liverpool dockers, and Joe Marino of the Bakers’ Union. He is the first union general secretary to join.

About 150 people attended the SLP fringe meeting and Socialist News was very well received. Many are looking to the SLP as the only alternative. Pat Sikorski, the general secretary, was telling me that he found 167 membership applications on his doorstep when he got home.

Apart from myself, and Arthur of course, Bob Crow also made a good contribution from the platform. He called for a 32-hour, four-day week, which is RMT as well as SLP policy.

I was interviewed at Blackpool and pointedly asked about “armchair revolutionaries”. I replied that I could only assume he was talking about Peter Mandelson, who sits at home dreaming up new schemes.

What was your impression of Socialist News?

For a first edition it was excellent. It will obviously take time to develop, but as we get more and more information from workers’ leaders like Jimmy Nolan and Joe Marino it can only improve.

It seems then that there is perhaps no need for the despondency you were talking about.

Yes. The SLP can turn things way round for working class people and we can win support by working with others. In Scotland the Scottish Socialist Alliance is doing a marvellous job, and if they want to identify with us, so much the better.

There are stories of the SLP in Scotland distancing itself from the SSA.

I don’t think that is true. We support them in their struggles and there is already cooperation between us on the ground. After all, we are all to the left. The SSA has been established longer than the SLP and was involved in the initial discussions, but the SLP aims to create a mass party for the whole of Britain.

How do you see things moving forward now?

It will be interesting to see what happens at the Labour Party conference, with all this talk of breaking with the unions and dropping “socialism”. I was a member of the Labour Party for 14 years and with my mining background always considered myself to be on the left. Let’s hope lots of others do the same as me.