16.11.2006

What happens next?

Public and Commercial Services Union militant Tony Wood gives his view of the conference

As expected, we were treated to a stage-managed event with some good, inspiring speakers who said all the right things but ultimately left you thinking - what now?

Don't get me wrong. It would be hard not to feel ready to get involved within the union movement and political organisations when you hear Galloway tell us that the bonuses received by the bosses in the City amount to £8 billion, while hospitals are facing massive cutbacks, but after a day of this rhetoric you were left wondering just what is going to happen. Will there be campaign groups set up in every town and city? Not likely if there aren't moves to set up active Respect branches nationwide.

Let's look at some positives. It was good for trade unionists and activists to get together. I found it a boost to hear from union members about their struggles that don't reach the mainstream press. There were strong comments from various speakers about the need to combat war and islamophobia, including from a young muslim woman who made clear that it was her father and brothers who encouraged her to be a union rep - clearly an alternative view to that of the tabloid press.

There was a speaker from Turkey who called for international solidarity with the struggles in his country and a speaker from India who highlighted the plight of workers there. Both were well received and made you feel part of a bigger trade union movement.

John McDonnell was given the opportunity to highlight his campaign for the Labour leadership and Dave Nellist was able to promote the Socialist Party's latest project - the Campaign for a New Workers' Party - to polite clapping from an audience that I would guess were a majority of SWP/Respect members (contrast that with the ovation received by John Rees, for example!).

There were representatives of JJB strikers from Wigan, who are showing that there are different ways of pursuing a dispute - they are planning to leaflet Wigan football ground and ask fans to wave their yellow leaflets as a warning to the Wigan chair, Dave Whelan, who is also boss of JJB Sports. Workers involved in the NHS Logistics dispute and Merseyside firefighters were also present, giving a real flavour that there is a fight back taking place and that workers respond to calls for action when they believe a dispute is winnable.

There was a lesson for my union leadership - a comrade working at The Daily Telegraph spoke of management backing down when the National Union of Journalists called a three-day strike: management actually stated they wouldn't have done so if it had been a one-day strike that was called - PCS executive take note.

But was the conference democratic? Good question. Clearly the impression was given by the long list of speakers of an opportunity for activists from various positions to speak.

But who drew up the Workers' Charter? Was the bullet-pointed piece on the back of the leaflet the full extent of its demands? Why were we not alerted beforehand of the need to set up a democratically elected committee to work on the charter and its promotion following this conference?

Added to this was the issue of speakers from the floor. I fully appreciate time was limited, but was getting people to fill out a slip requesting to speak and handing it to the two-person 'conference committee' aimed at facilitating democratic debate? It seems to me it was more of an opportunity for vetting speakers, since there was no system in place for deciding who should speak and in what order - looking down from the balcony, I could see there was a lot of shuffling of slips going on!

It was in the afternoon that the real intention of the conference was at its most blatant, although I would guess to most folk it was obvious from the start - an SWP member I know admitted as much! The speakers of note were Valerie Wise, the Preston councillor who resigned from Labour, John Rees, Respect national secretary, and PCSU general secretary Mark Serwotka. It was these speakers who set out the 'why you should join Respect' agenda.

Valerie didn't fully commit to joining Respect, but might well have done so, such were the strong hints made throughout her speech - "You tell me who I should join". "Respect!" came the loud reply (cringe).

John Rees re-emphasised the inequalities in the world and the evils of the imperialist invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan (we don't disagree with you, John - just let's have something more than protest marches every few months!). He ended by making it quite clear that all he had said meant that if we agreed then we should - wait for it - consider joining Respect if we weren't already members.

It was perhaps left to Mark to end the main speakers part of the conference with a good speech, again covering the need for fighting unions and (unless I misheard) committing himself to fully support Respect.

I still feel unclear as to what will happen following this conference. I hope I am wrong, but it felt like a Respect recruitment drive rather than an opportunity to revitalise trade unions.

So overall? It is always good that the left can get together. The conference was well organised and to hear workers in struggle and in some cases winning is inspiring and something to take back to the workplace, but I shall be very interested to see what becomes of this campaign. Will the committee of the Organising Fighting Unions movement follow this by continuing to involve us union activists at every stage of building the movement or will we just be told what to do and when to do it?

I have read with interest recent conferences and rallies, all claiming to be organising a mass workers' party or recreate the shop stewards movement of the 70s, this being the latest one. But so far it seems so far from reading the Weekly Worker that only the CPGB is prepared to get down to the practicalities following a conference and work on a detailed programme for further developing the potential of a mass workers' party based on true socialist principles.