TUC Congress: when Norman's eyes lost their twinkle
Labour Briefing1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
Despite the best intentions of Norman Willis and his co-thinkers on the General Council, the shift to the right in the trade unions since the election in June has been a bit slower and more difficult than has been the case inside the Labour Party.
That is one conclusion which can be drawn from the events at the TUC Congress.
Willis hoped that the hardening out of the new realism over the past year would be endorsed by the Congess. He hoped that his central idea that the election results prove that it is impossible to challenge the Tory government — and that therefore no one should try — would go through on the nod.
He wanted unchallenged acceptance of the new kind of trade unionism he is frantically promoting, based on welfare benefits, credit cards and slick advertising videos.
It did not turn out exactly that way.
What pushed this off course was a development in the class struggle itself, represented by the 77% vote for action by the miners and the decision of the NUM executive to set a deadline for the ban the day before the Congress opened (even through this action has now been disastrously watered down by the right wing majority on the NUM Executive to ensure 5 day working).
It was probably this result which stood behind a series of confident and effective interventions into the Congress by Arthur Scargill — which helped back up important stands which were made by SOGAT and the CPSA.
The successful reference back by Tony Dubbins of the TUC position on the print strike was the first and biggest rebuff of the week. Dubbins was greatly helped by revelations carried by the Guardian about the activities of Eric Hammond's scab EETPU in Wapping during the strike.
The reference back will not lead to very much without a very sharp fight by the print unions; but at least the issue is still open and the TUC position not endorsed.
Willis won the day, however, on the crucial issue of no-strike deals, with Congress voting to refer the issue to a sub committee to prepare for a decision next year. But it was a bruising debate which he did not want.
Nor was Willis happy when the Congress voted for a CPSA resolution caling for a campaign of opposition to the forthcoming new round of Tory anti-union laws. It is not so long since the TUC dropped all opposition to the last lot.
Despite these problems for Willis, it was definitely a "new realist" Congress. Hammond was able to strut around as a major force even if the smile was wiped off his face a few times.
The TUC is still moving to the right, and nothing happened to change that. Some of the things being said by Bill Jordan in the defence debate could have come straight out of a Tory election campaign brief.
Although a resolution for a referendum on nuclear weapons from the AEU was rejected, the main challenge to the policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament is planned for next year. The matter of nuclear energy was left until then as well.
On the matter of women's involvement in the TUC there was a typical TUC fudge. A COHSE resolution calling for a women's department, which would be a long overdue step forward, was adopted — but so was a General Council resolution which stopped well short of it! I wonder which one they will prioritise for implementation...
It is clear from the Congress that the problem of how to mount a challenge to the march of the new realism is a major problem for militant trade unionists.
In this respect the fight put up at the Congress by Scargill and Macreadie in particular is important. It points the way for those struggling for a principled alternative and class struggle politics in the unions.
This approach says that the working class is bruised but not beaten by Thatcherism, and that if a lead is given the response will be there. That was how the Yorkshire miners responded to Scargill's "stand and fight" speech at the NUM Conference.
What is lacking in the trade unions at this time is even the focus for a discussion on such a fight back. There is no serious rank and file work taking place and little opportunity for a serious discussion of the political problems of leadership which the working class has faced in recent years.
Many groups of workers, large and small — from the miners and the printers to the Silentnight workers and Hangers have been through tenaciously-fought struggles which in the end led to isolation and defeat.
The lessons of those struggles have never been adequately discussed amongst a broad audience within the trade union movement.
An important initiative along these lines has been taken by the ex-Silentnight strikers, along with many others including Trade Union Briefing; they have called a two-day Solidarity Conference in Leeds on November 7th and 8th. They are organising it as an open, broadly-based conference with a wide ranging agenda and the chance to get to grips with some of these issues. Be there!