Cuts in Living Standards the False Opposition of Labour and the Unions
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workers of the world, unite! International Communist Current in Britain October 2010 Nº338 £1 en.internationalism.org world revolution Cuts in living standards The false opposition of Labour and the unions The Comprehensive Spend- In Greece, faced with a horrendous austerity ing Review is not due till 20 package, the unions responded by keeping the October, bringing cuts of up struggle divided up: a public sector strike and march to parliament to protest against the attacks to 25% in some government on pensions by the Adedy union on 10 February; departments. Workers are a strike called by PAME, the Stalinist union, on 11 February; and a private sector strike by the not so much waiting for the GSEE, the largest union, representing 2 million cuts to be announced as workers, on 24 February. “The demonstrations or- ganised by PAME and the CP never come together waiting for even more cuts with the demonstrations called by other workers’ on top of those announced unions and student organizations.” (Proles and Poor’s Credit Rating Agency, aka TPTG 14/3/10, in the last Labour budget, in WR 333). the first coalition budget and In France around 3 million people participated in the demonstrations against the raising of the others since then. pension age on 7th and 23rd September. These days of action were organised on the typical union In fact the austerity measures that have been model of keeping everyone isolated behind their imposed over the last two years are only the lat- own union banners, chanting sterile slogans and est, and harshest, in a series going back 40 years deafened by bangers and noisy sound systems. All and resulting in unemployment which has risen to prevent any real discussion. Unlike the students higher and lasted longer with every recession (see who successfully struggled against the CPE by page 2). They have also robbed us of much that calling demonstrations at the weekend so as many was regarded as an essential part of the welfare workers as possible could join them, a struggle state in the 1960s (student grants, school milk, a controlled by assemblies, mass meetings, of the large number of hospital beds, etc). The relentless Left, right and centre play their roles in imposing the cuts students, the unions delayed the next demonstra- pressure to drive down benefits spending, particu- tion for 2 weeks to a weekday when workers could larly by taking people off incapacity benefit and certainly made some militant sounding noises: wanting “a genuine partnership with the trade participate only by losing a day’s pay. Disability Living Allowance and cutting housing Brendan Barber condemned cuts in services and unions”. After all, the only disagreement is about In Turkey workers from Tekel were so disgusted benefit, is already well underway (see page 2). jobs which “increase inequality…. make Britain the details of the timing of the cuts and not the with the trade union they tried to form their own The new government plan to get people off bene- a darker, brutish, more frightening place”; Dave fact – ‘fairness’ is a nonsense since all measures fits and into work is unlikely to succeed in getting Prentis of Unison said “when the call was there” to deal with the crisis must hit the working class. Continued on page 3 them into work any more than attempts by previ- they would “co-ordinate industrial action”. All This will become much more stormy when there is ous Labour and Tory governments, because this this sound and fury actually comes down to … more workers’ struggle and the unions needed to Inside this issue depends on the economy being able to create the a demonstration outside Westminster on the eve put on a more militant mask – this will not break Persistent unemployment - deepening crisis 2 jobs – even with state subsidy – but it will make of the spending review and a demonstration in but disguise the ‘genuine partnership’. Brutal attack on benefits 2 life harder for the unemployed. March. What of Bob Crow, famous for being a ‘Red Ed’ - good choice for the bourgeoisie 3 The austerity drive has created more interest in militant firebrand? When he wants to go beyond Workers do not need the unions to Leaks on defence cuts - divisions on imperialist the TUC and party conference season than we’ve his TUC colleagues in calling for alliances with struggle strategy 3 seen for a long time, as the media have looked communities, he is calling for direct action – what From left to right, everyone equates workers’ Imperialism hooked on drugs 4 at how the TUC and Labour Party will respond the Guardian (14/9/10) accurately described as struggles with the actions of the unions. Socialist Trotsky, Pannekoek, Appel to the discontent growing among workers, and at “Fathers4Justice-style publicity stunts over a Worker wants them to call a general strike, Social- Loyal proletarian fighters 5 the Lib-Dems to see how the coalition is holding general strike”. ist Resistance wants local anti-cuts campaigning The communist left and internationalist up – which it is at present. Will there be another In fact the TUC, like the Labour Party under to build the demonstration in March. There have anarchism part 3 ‘winter of discontent’ like the widespread strikes the leadership of ‘Red Ed’ Miliband (see page been union called general strikes against austerity The approach needed for this debate 6 in the public sector and beyond in 1978-79? Will 3), wants the deficit reduced over a longer period in Greece, France, Spain and the important Tekel Meetings, subscriptions, pamphlets 7 there be big confrontations between government of time, and with a ‘fairness test’ according to a strike in Turkey which can tell us much about Commonwealth games, workers exploitation 8 and unions as under Thatcher? The TUC have TUC statement. Downing Street is spot on about what that may achieve. Australia A$2.25, Canada C$1.50, Europe €1.3, India 7 rupees, Japan¥300 USA 90¢ 2 British situation Persistent unemployment shows the deepening of the crisis In the Communist Manifesto, Marx describes the result Although unemployment has not tended to fall Not only has real unemployment remained at of economic crises: “an epidemic that, in all earlier ep- with the fluctuations of the economy during the consistently high levels but workers are experi- ochs, would have seemed an absurdity - the epidemic of last twenty years there has been a rise in levels of encing increasing lengths in their periods of un- employment. This can be accounted for by grow- employment. For example, in the United States, over-production”. Why is overproduction an “absurdity”? ing female participation in the labour market, es- the average length of a period of unemployment Because it is not overproduction in terms of actual human pecially younger mothers who work part-time and has been increasing, so that it is now 35 weeks, for generally lower wages. It is also important to whereas in 1974 it was just over 15 weeks. The need but in terms of the market requirements of capitalist remember the growing pressure on students and world’s largest economy is taking longer and lon- accumulation; real human beings may starve to death but the retired to take up part-time work to support ger to reintegrate those workers expelled from themselves. The number of part-time workers has production. In addition to that there are all those where there is no profit, capitalism will not produce food. grown from around 5 million in 1984 to nearly 8 who never return to the workforce, or do so only million in 2010. A significant proportion of these sporadically, or, in the case of many young work- part-time workers are involuntary part-timers ers, take literally years before they get their first Another commodity that suffers from this absur- In the UK, for example, in 1984 the ILO measure – those who are forced to work part-time because job. dity of overproduction in capitalism is that of la- of unemployment and the claimant count were they cannot get full-time work. Although the Paradoxically, the growing mass of the unem- bour power. This is expressed in the phenomenon both roughly the same. By 2010 approximately a numbers of involuntary part-timers fluctuates, the ployed often takes place with a growth in skills of unemployment. While begging and vagrancy million people who are unemployed by the ILO lowest figure achieved since 2000 was still nearly shortages in key business and geographical ar- existed under previous modes of production (usu- measure were not in receipt of any unemployment 600,000. It now stands at over a million. Similar- eas which also stifles accumulation as capital- ally as a result of physical incapacity, war or fam- benefits. ly, although the number of involuntary temporary ism is finding it harder and harder to equip its ine), unemployment is a curiously capitalist phe- The ILO figure alone, however, does not paint workers also went down over the same period, it wage-slaves with the skills needed to make them nomenon. Unemployment follows the needs of the full picture of unemployment. It largely ex- remained at roughly 400,000 at its lowest part. productive. The relentless pressure on profits de- capitalist accumulation and plays an essential role cludes the 2.7 million who receive sickness and creases the incentive for the bourgeoisie to train in that process. disability benefits. The hypocrisy of the bourgeoi- Unemployment and crisis its workers – increasingly, this role has been sie is revealed in the fact that after years of delib- Whatever can be read into the official figures it passed onto the state and its increasingly under- Capitalism needs unemployment to erately shifting as many unemployed people as it is clear that behind them the level of unemploy- resourced education system.