GREATER MANCHESTER AGAINST CUTS

RECONVENED CONFERENCE

CONFERENCE THEME: Labour-Community Fight-back

Against Concessions and Budget Cuts

JANUARY CONFERENCE DECISIONS

January's GREATER MANCHESTER AGAINST CUTS Conference made a number of important decisions - not least to work in our respective unions and communities to:

Support the building, better organisation and co-ordination of all campaigns & initiatives against the cuts and privatisation at a workplace, local, Greater Manchester, national and international level.

Oppose any attempt to use racism and Islamophobia to divide opposition to the cuts.

Support and build the reconvening of a Greater Manchester Against Cuts Conference in May 2011 soon after the local elections.

Help to find practical ways to assist local groups and voluntary organisations to maintain services and jobs to support the communities they are needed in.

Act in the spirit of this statement until the Conference reconvenes.

Its purpose is to offer everyone the opportunity to get involved in this fight through a co-ordinated non-partisan collective approach across the Greater Manchester area which would involve everyone working together as far as possible to defeat this attack on the people of Britain.

There is an urgent need today to promote a labour-community fight-back against budget cuts and concessions, union busting and the generalised onslaught against all working people and communities. A fight-back movement of labour and its allies can emerge around the cutting edge issue of "No Concessions! No Cuts!"

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Following the introductory speakers, who will set the scene for the event, the first half of the Conference will consist of an OPEN FORUM which will listen to reports of the work done on the ground since January, in building the TUC demonstration in London, local initiatives and taking stock. To begin to look at the best ways to encourage greater participation, co-operation and co-ordination of everyone wanting to get involved in the anti-cuts fight within that sector, and to then feed this back into the Conference as a whole.

WORKSHOPS / SECTOR TASK GROUPS

The Conference also agreed to establish a number of 'Sector Task Groups'. Their aim is to take the lead for bringing, as far as possible, everyone within their sector across the Greater Manchester area as part of the wider anti-cuts fight. Also, to promote the better co-ordination and integration of their sector, and input into, the broader anti-cuts fight by:

1. Mapping of their sector across Greater Manchester. Identifying the key organisations and individuals in each local authority area it would be appropriate to have involved in the anti-cuts fight, establishing contact with them and promoting mutual co-operation and support between them.

2. Establishing a contact network hub for their sector across Greater Manchester including soliciting volunteer sector contacts/co-coordinators in each local authority area where possible.

3. Promoting not only mutual assistance and support amongst everyone in their sector but also between their sector and all others sectors of the anti-cuts fight.

4. Helping to 'populate' (i.e.mobilise) their sector at all local and GM wide anti-cuts events, meetings, rallies and conferences, and to ensure their voice is heard at such events.

5. Developing a panel of speakers and sector 'experts/specialists' which can be used as a resource by the wider anti-cuts movement.

It is proposed that these task groups would work alongside not only GMATUCs at a Greater Manchester level, but with each of the former County's Trade Councils, so as to promote mutual assistance and support at a local authority level too.

The work of these Task Groups is still in its infancy. This conference will bring them together again with the aim of strengthening their work and co-ordination, as well as broadening the representation of grassroots activists and supporting organisations involved in them.

This approach to building the wider anti-cuts fight across the Greater Manchester area, it's believed, will help to foster the widest possible inclusion, participation and sense of ownership of the campaign by everyone who wants to fight the cuts at every level and across every section of our various communities.

Such a structure it's also believed, will also provide the best mechanism as the fight goes on, for everyone to be able take part in the discussion on the way forwards. Also, to have their say in the development of a commonly supported alternative social, economic and political strategy to that being pursued by the current Government which starts from the needs and interests of the overwhelming majority of ordinary people, rather than of the Bankers, Big Corporations, and the most well off.

The best of the ideas agreed by each SECTOR TASK GROUP will feed back into the Conference, where everyone taking part in the Conference will then be asked to take on board in terms of the future activities as they see appropriate.

WHERE TO NEXT? PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE ACTION

We want action, not words. We must be mindful of the major roadblocks and challenges ahead resulting from the inevitable pressures that will arise to attempt to derail the development of a labour-community fight-back movement. 

The afternoon will include a session in which those attending will be asked to come forwards with ideas which might help to build up the anti-cuts fight everywhere and at every level across the Greater Manchester conurbation, e.g. concerning types of direct action, good methods of working, publicity stunts, local meetings, rallies & conferences, street work, building co-ordinated industrial action, the position locally elected representatives and MPs should adopt both inside and outside of our Council Chambers and Parliament to help build up the fight, etc.

We can't solve this crisis one strike, organising campaign or political election at a time. We need a comprehensive plan that tackles the fundamental imbalance of power in Britain and put the needs of working families squarely at the top of our national priorities.

Labour movement unity in action - public and private sector is indispensable to success in stopping and reversing this assault. We envision a strategy that includes both action in the workplace and in the streets / community.

We must go into the streets to oppose the concessions demanded by the Tory coalition government and bosses. There is plenty of money available without demanding givebacks from public employees, but this requires changing our nation's priorities to raise taxes on the rich, redirect war spending to meet human needs and more - all demands must be placed on central government. We can no longer deal with such crucial issues as NHS counter-reforms and pensions through collective bargaining alone.

Nor can contract negotiations create the millions of full-time jobs urgently needed today. Since the private sector has failed to do this we need a public sector that can put Britain back to work rebuilding our infrastructure, revitalising our crumbling transport network and promoting a sustainable green economy.

 In fighting for such alternative solutions to our countries crisis we would return to what once was the bedrock of trade unionism - our unions champion the needs of the entire working class including the unemployed, not just due-paying members. This is not only the right thing to do; with union density at near record lows we cannot win the big struggles just on our own.

A unified, energised working class could reach out for even wider alliances. There are millions of students, pensioners, homemakers, small business, and others who are being squeezed by the corporate class.

The old strategy of union officials of relying almost exclusively on the Labour Party to get results has not worked, so they have to try something new. They have to go out and build grassroots coalitions and talk with a more militant voice. This is a significant development.

But herein lies the contradiction…. and the challenge.

The coalition of unions and community allies may call protest actions; these inevitably will be constrained by the policy choices and compromises that the Labour Party feels they must make. The protests may well be reduced to little more than orchestrated and light pressure on the Labour Party - not the kind of independent working class mass action that is needed to impose a massive job-creation programme or a mass redirecting of military spending to fund the public sector and meet human needs.

Without doubt, there are today - and will continue to be - contradictions at all levels of the trade union movement that we must understand and orientate to. But this can only be done properly if done within a framework of struggle for a labour-community fight-back campaign.

CONFERENCE STATEMENT

The last session of the Conference will discuss and agree on a short Conference statement a draft of which is below.

The GMATUC's proposes that everyone agrees to act in the spirit of this statement until the Conference re-convenes, as deemed necessary at a future date.

This conference declares its opposition to the government's attack on the welfare state, which threaten 1.3 million jobs and the health, education, housing, pensions and welfare provisions that have been fought for by working people for generations.

It endorses the call by the 2010 TUC for a 'Broad solidarity alliance of Trades Unions and communities" to oppose these attacks, which are based on a false 'free market' ideology, and to fight for an alternative strategy based on tax justice and making the Bankers, big corporations and the mega rich pay for the crisis that their system has created.

We commit ourselves to work in all sectors of our respective communities to:

Support the building, better organization and co-ordination of all campaigns & initiatives against the cuts and privatisation, at a workplace, local, Greater Manchester, national and international level.

Oppose any attempt to use racism and Islamophobia to divide opposition to the cuts.

Mobilise the largest possible number of people to support the NUT/ UCU Day of Action 30th June 2011.

Help find practical ways to assist local groups and voluntary sector organisations to maintain services and jobs to support the communities they are needed in.

Support and build the re-convening of this Conference, when such might be deemed necessary by a majority of the Sector Task Groups established today in conjunction with GMATUCs.

Greater Manchester Against the Cuts
 FIGHTING FUND 
Appeal
The mood of the Greater Manchester Against the Cuts Conference, described rightly elsewhere as 'angry and feisty', made a number of important decisions. The Conference Organisers, Greater Manchester Association of Trades Councils, believe these decisions will help to begin the process of bringing together and building up across the Greater Manchester area, the broad 'solidarity alliance of unions and communities' called for by the 2010 TUC which is so urgently needed to defend our public services, jobs and the welfare state.

We need to raise funds now
To promote mutual assistance and support for each other
Help find practical ways to assist local groups and voluntary sector organisations to maintain services and jobs
To re-convene the Conference in MAY 2011
We need to raise funds now

       Please make your donation, payable to: "GMATUCs"  
(Send the cheque to the secretary at the address given below)