“With inequality starker than ever in one of the richest countries in the world, people can see through the false narrative that there isn’t enough money to stop children from going hungry, or to keep elderly people warm in winter.”
In one of his last articles while holding the TUC Presidency, FBU general secretary Matt Wrack reflects on the legacy of the miners’ strike and sets out what is at stake under a Labour government.
There are two key mistakes which the left and the trade union movement must avoid now. One is complacency – to think that because Labour are in government we can sit back and wait for them to deliver.
The other is to write off the new government, and to miss the clear and urgent obvious opportunities that this situation presents. Politicians aren’t all the same. Labour can be pushed, persuaded and cajoled into delivering for workers – and it is the job of trade unions to lead this push.
The strength of the trade union movement lies in struggle. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the miners’ strike, a struggle that we still have much to learn from.
Trade unionists will never forget the heroism of the miners in the face of state oppression and brutality. And while Thatcher’s heirs have tried to bury this history, it has played an unignorable role in shaping the modern world of work.
Ever since, successive governments have attacked workers’ pay, conditions and rights. The last fourteen years of austerity and increasing authoritarianism have been the latest in a continued war against working class people.
This must change. People need hope – and the new Labour government must start to offer it.
The miners who were battered, imprisoned and victimised have still yet to see compensation or convictions overturned. They continue to demand justice for Orgreave, and are not alone in their fight for justice. More and more scandals have emerged over recent years; each one demonstrating a systemic disregard for working class people’s lives.
As the Inquiry has now put beyond doubt, the Grenfell Tower fire was the horrific consequence of politicians putting corporate interests over people’s safety in their homes. The bereaved and survivors have still yet to see those responsible held to account, and thousands of buildings are still covered in dangerous cladding.
The government has the power to deliver justice, but it must go further. To prevent a repeat of these tragedies, power must be shifted away from big business. Powerful forces will seek to resist any shift of economic power away from the few. The billionaire class, bosses and corporations will try every trick in the book to prevent meaningful change.
The opportunities, however, are clear. The New Deal for Working People has been secured through the campaigning of trade unions within Labour’s structures, securing key commitments to improve work for millions of people. This includes the pledge to repeal the 2016 Trade Union Act and the Minimum Service Levels Act, reversing two of the most draconian pieces of anti-union legislation since Thatcher’s onslaught.
This will scrap the Tories’ attempts to ban strike action in key areas of the public sector, and is a vital first step which will allow us to begin the work of renewing our movement. It is through organising in the workplace that we will build the power we need to take on the bosses and shape the future.
We must be ready to unionise emerging sectors, and to win wage increases, better conditions and improved safety in all workplaces across all industries. Political campaigning will be part and parcel of this work, building an alternative to the last forty years of decline.
We know that the far-right feeds on despair, while the media and politicians seize the opportunity to scapegoat the powerless. Continued austerity will only deepen hopelessness at this volatile and dangerous time.
With inequality starker than ever in one of the richest countries in the world, people can see through the false narrative that there isn’t enough money to stop children from going hungry, or to keep elderly people warm in winter.
And with public services in crisis, we must fight for the end of privatisation and for the funding that is desperately needed.
Since 2010, the fire and rescue service has suffered brutal cuts. With the loss of 1 in 5 firefighter posts to cuts, firefighters are working under immense pressure. Their safety, and the safety of the communities they protect, has been put on the line.
Over the coming months, firefighters will be taking their demands for investment, standards and workers’ rights to Westminster. They will be organising in fire stations, at national rallies, and scheduling meetings with their MPs to make sure that the government delivers on pledges.
We face serious challenges, and significant opportunities. If we rise to them, we can build workers’ power and change the world.
- Matt Wrack is the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. You can follow him on Twitter/X, and can follow the FBU on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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