“There is nothing inevitable about a lurch to the far right… It only becomes inevitable when we refuse to speak out for the alternative”.
During TUC Congress, the General Secretary of the TSSA, Maryam Eslamdoust, writes on how the trade union movement must continue to mobilise against the far right.
The far right is on the march. They’re filling halls, grabbing headlines, and pretending they speak for “ordinary people.” But what are they really offering? Flags, empty promises, and a politics that divides us by race, by job, by postcode.
We know better. We know it’s working people, transport workers, cleaners, carers, builders, nurses, firefighters, supermarket workers, who keep this country running. We know that when we stand together, we win better pay, safer jobs, and fairer lives.
That’s why I’m proud to represent TSSA at the Stand Up To Racism fringe at TUC Congress tomorrow, and why our union is supporting the demonstration against Tommy Robinson on 13 September.
Our members working across the country on the transport system will have to deal with that far right mobilisation, checking tickets on trains, dealing with large crowds at stations, and the unacceptable behaviour we know, because we’ve seen it, time after time, that follows.
Throughout the debates at this year’s TUC, we heard about the importance of coming together, resisting division, and offering an alternative to the hatred and scapegoating
That is why it’s vital that the labour movement shows up to oppose the far right and fascists, that we come out when they mobilise, and that we speak out against the ideas that have fuelled the growth of these street mobilisations.
That means taking them on wherever they’re expressed: in the streets, the pages of the right-wing press, and, yes, from the green benches in parliament, too.
In times of economic crisis and stagnation, there is nothing inevitable about a lurch to the far right, and no cast iron rule that says people automatically blame migrants and those seeking asylum. It only becomes inevitable when we refuse to speak out for the alternative and when we allow one section of working people to be pitted against another, portrayed as strangers, invaders, or uniquely responsible for sexual violence.
So, we must continue to challenge that narrative and fight for the solutions to the real challenges people face: low pay, poor working conditions, crumbling public services, a housing crisis, and a health service on its knees.
But here’s the truth: we’ve been too quiet, too polite, and too technical. While we write long reports, the far right writes one-liners; while we debate policy, they chant slogans, and people listen because it’s simple.
It’s time we learned that lesson. As a labour movement we have to come together. We need a shared message that’s clear, bold, and human, not just facts, but feelings; not just numbers, but hope.
And we don’t do it alone. We link arms with our communities, with our churches, with mosques, with grassroots groups on every street, because the far right wants us divided. Our answer must be unity.
We are the majority. Migrant or not, working people built this country and if we come together, across unions, across communities, across faiths, then no far-right slogan, no populist strongman, can ever break us. Let’s get to work.
- Maryam Eslamdoust is General Secretary of the TSSA.
- Join the Stand Up To Racism demonstration against Tommy Robinson on London on Saturday 13 September. Full details here.
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