Unions and communities to mobilise against cuts
Article published: Thursday, January 6th 2011
Representatives from trade unions and community organisations from across the region are gathering later this month for a conference aiming to link up different struggles against cuts in Greater Manchester.
Co-ordinating the January 22 event are Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils (GMATUC), who are calling on all individuals opposed to the coalition government’s cuts programme to attend.
Organisers hope that the conference will lay the foundations for a concerted fightback bringing together union activists with people active in community and voluntary groups.
Participating will be people from a number of diverse social justice campaigns, community and charitable sector organisations and progressive political groupings from across the region. On the bill already are Save South Manchester Law Centre campaigner John Nicholson, Secretary of the North West Pensioners’ Association Derek Barton and Daniel Silver, Co-ordinator of One North West, the regional Black and Ethnic Minority Network for the voluntary and community sector.
Also present will be Walt Crowson, Co-ordinator for the Learning Skills and Employment Network, an organisation that works with neighbourhood and community-based learning programmes and aims to lobby for charitable learning providers on a national level.
He spoke to MULE about his attendance: “A number of Coalition policies will have a detrimental effect on the skills and training agenda.
“I feel we should all take a stand in opposing cuts which we feel will have a negative effect on our society, and in particular those in our society who are already facing barriers and challenges.”
Stefan Cholewka, Secretary of GMATUC, told MULE that the conference is intended “to develop and review plans and future goals for an anti-cuts network designed to support, co-ordinate and encourage joint action and co-operation” among different campaign groups.
Cholewka added, “One of the likely proposals is for all trades councils in the Greater Manchester to follow the lead of Salford and Manchester TUCs in organising conferences in their areas in the aim of working towards an authoritative anti-cuts campaign in each local authority.”
The day will consist of twelve sessions, ending with a Question Time-style panel debate. Speakers so far confirmed include Bolton West MP Julie Hilling, Peter Cranie of the Green Party and Campaigns Officer for Manchester University Students’ Union Amanda Walters.
Although only delegates from organisations registered for the conference will be able to vote on proposals, the intention of organisers is for decisions to be arrived at by consensus.
On the table for discussion are tactics and strategy. Traditionally the trade union movement has shied away from the use of direct action, however Cholewka insisted that any nascent movement against the cuts will need to remain flexible when deciding on methods.
“Every community based organisation and workplace needs a choice of what action to promote. We should support whatever actions and tactics are most appropriate for advancing the mass struggle at a given university, workplace or local community.”
“[Currently] there is a very uneven level of mobilisation depending on sector and region…far from being [a reason] against direct actions, it is precisely an argument for tactical flexibility”.
Manchester has seen a number of struggles emerging over the past few months, with the most visible being the thousands of students who took to the streets to oppose the tripling of tuition fees and the abolition of EMA for teenagers in sixth form and college. At the same time there are other cuts-related campaigns in the city such as last year’s UKUncut demonstrations against corporate tax evasion and the fight to restore funding to South Manchester Law Centre.
This is a trend echoed across Greater Manchester, with groups such as Salford Against Cuts and Wigan People Against the Cuts springing up in recent months.
For Cholewka this underlines the need for building broader networks which can then be mobilized and support campaign actions.
“Real change will only come when we work together, take a stand, and fight for policies in the interests of the working-class majority”.
Michael Pooler
The Unions and Communities Fighting Together conference will take place on Saturday 22 January, from 10.30am to 5pm. Organisers are asking for a donation of £2 from individuals and £5 for people coming as representatives/delegate from organisations such as trade unions or anti-cuts groups.
For more information contact Stefan Cholewka on 07901 913 698 or stefan@macunlimited.net
More: Cuts, News, Unions and workplace
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