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As Cameron pledges permanent austerity...

he TORIES BOASTED Again about the economic recovery this week as inflation figures fell. But at the Lord Mayors banquet Cameron made it clear that any recovery is for the rich. Since their election the Tories have told us that we are all in it together and that austerity is about reducing the deficit. In fact the Tories have used the economic crisis to drive through an ideological attack on the welfare state and to push millions of the poorest people deeper into poverty.

UNION POWER CAN STILL BEAT THE TORIES

Firefighters strike back

Dockyard

While EDF became the latest electricity company to up their billsbankers are busy complaining that they only get 4 million a year when they should be getting 6 million! The greed of the rich knows no bounds while many will face the choice to heat or eat this winter. Cameron says, We are sticking to the task. But that doesnt just mean making difficult decisions on public spending. It also means something more profound. It means building a leaner state. We need to do more with less. Not just now, but permanently. In other words, if the Tories have their way, it means continuous austerity no matter how much the economy improves! And Labour has already said they intend to stick to Tory spending plans. Over the last few weeks weve seen the vicious assault on workers at Grangemouth by Ineos boss, Jim Ratcliffe and then the announcement by BAE of over 1,700 job cuts in shipbuilding including the closure of the Portsmouth dockyard.

But there is also a fight back against the attacks. Weve seen successful strikes by teachers, workers in higher education, the probation service and by firefighters.

Grangemouth

Events at Grangemouth showed that unscrupulous employers backed up by the Tories will just keep coming back for more if they sniff weakness. As the saying goes if you fight you might win, but if you dont fight you will definitely lose. Victories over fighting zero-hours contracts at Hovis by the bakers union BFAWU and the reinstatement of sacked shop steward Frank Morris on the Crossrail project after a big fight by Unite show that the bosses can be beaten. We need to build up networks of solidarity so that every fight gets the most support possible. But we also need to push our union leaders to fight. If what happened at Grangemouth is taken as a signal for other union leaders that we need to retreat from a fightback then we will pay the price

for years to come. Our union leaders need a push. When the firefighters FBU union leadership called off a 24 hour strike in their current dispute, a revolt in some of the unions regions forced the leadership to get the strikes back on.

Power

Following brilliant regional teachers strikes this term, union leaders called off a planned national strike for talks with the education secretary Michael Gove. The talks are a sham. Now the unions are pledging to strike in the New Year. Many teachers felt it was wrong to call off the strike. There has to be a fight now. And strikes would be much stronger if unions coordinated action and made the vote at the TUC this year a reality. Workers have the power to see off the Tories and drive back the austerity agenda. We need more Hovis and Crossrail victories and no more Grangemouths.

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