Left foot forward

As we are now involved in the most serious Class struggle in a generation we are now seeing more and more people turning to the left for an alternative it’s not so easy for the forces of repression and greed to just say don’t listen to them there just a bunch of loony lefties.  As we have seen this week with what’s come out of the Hillsborough tragedy and also the further cover ups over that heroic struggle during the miners’ strike.  In fact you can’t get a week going by now without more revelations of corruption greed and cover ups raging from Tax, Racism, hate crime, employment rights, Pensions, pay, NHS, Education,  and that’s just a few the list can go on and on.

We have seen this week proposals by Vince cable to attack more employments rights, Solicitors have warned Government proposals to introduce ‘settlement agreements’ will allow employers to “ambush and bully” workers into leaving, solicitors have warned.  In the same week we also see Liam Fox that fine example of virtue and morality put forward more ideas to cut benefits and wages to fund more tax cuts for the better off.  On top of this Save the children for the first time have launched an appeal for UK Children due to the effects of austerity.

With all these relentless attracts the Lefts Greatest weapons to counter this, are its passion, knowledge, commitment, and the principle of doing the right thing.  The mass demonstrations planned for the 20th of October are likely to be large, and can be the beginnings of militant strong resistance to what’s going on however for that to happen we must build from the grass roots and mount huge pressure on some TUC leaders not to sell out or wriggle their way out of it as we saw only a few weeks after November 30^th. 

PCS Stands ready for the Challenge but we also have made mistakes like the pull out on March28th however in a long struggle there will be setbacks the real; problem started with two other public sector unions shortly after November30 trying to sell a rotten deal to their members and stab the rest of us in the back.

The issue of some union leaders who seem very reluctant to organise any real serious resistance is very much linked in to that other capitalist party New Labour now there are some very good activist in Labour at grass roots level however the shadow cabinet can be likened to Lambs leading Lions with the latest comments from Miliband it's good to be rich shows that they have learned nothing at that level and still appear to be more interested in listening to the corrupt rich greedy and right out criminal that listen to ordinary people, Its worth remembering that this attitude cost them 6 million votes paving the way for the current bunch of upper class gangsters in No 10.

Unions and the left need to be bold and not be afraid of our own potential and not listen to the right wing propaganda and also be prepared to organise to stand up to the inevitable state organised violence which as we know is always the way of an insecure bully.  So what’s the best way to deal with a bully? Take them on.  It’s worth noting the political elite have very little substance to their case and they know it, that’s why they work so hard to keep us divided in many ways they understand our potential better than some Union Leaders do and in particular many in the Labour party.

Ok let’s start the ball rolling as a starting point join us on October 20th In London.  Im a big supporter Of our General Secretary he is head and shoulders above most of the others in his commitment to fight this awful government however Mark or any other Union leader, or your branch officers can’t do this alone it takes a swell of grass root anger and action in other words you because you the member are the Union and are the resistance.  Remember More specifically, for decades now, the right-wing press has spun and twisted the story of the 1970s and 1980s into a simple moral fable wherein uppity unions held the country to ransom and were defeated by the stern handbaggery of Margaret Thatcher.

If some union leaders and the softer left aren’t taking the possibility of a general strike seriously, though, the Government certainly is. Plans have been revealed to draft in the Army to fill in the gaps left by a possible 6.5 million public sector and service workers, as well as unguessable numbers of wildcat and solidarity strikers in other industries.  So let raise hell and win for today but win for our kids and grandkids just think how it would feel if your grandchild asked you why he or she can’t  afford to be ill but when you were a kid you did not have to worry about that?

Just a final  word the Greatest weapon of mass destruction is apathy, lets show them were up for the challenge join us on picket line, Marches, rally’s, e mail your councillors MP,s scream shout do whatever it takes.

Fraternally Yours

Martin Hickman
Branch Secretary
Sheffield HQ Branch