The Labour Movement and the capitalist crisis
New Worker Special Feature 16/1/2009
by Eric Trevett
"Not since the First World War has our banking system been so close to collapse" – Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England.
"We who have looked to the self-interest of the lending institutes to protect shareholders' equity, myself especially, are in a state of shock and disbelief" – Alan Greenspan, former Chair of the United States Federal Reserve.
THE ECONOMIC and political crisis of capitalism once again proves the validity of the Marxist critique of capitalism. Those in the labour movement who contended that capitalism had found a way of becoming crisis-free and that boom-and-bust was a thing of the past have been proved wrong.
The present crisis may well prove to be the most profound in the history of the capitalist system. The capitalist media try to find a scapegoat to blame for this crisis. They point to greedy bankers and even Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been held responsible. But the real reason for the crisis is endemic to the capitalist system itself.
The crisis affects every capitalist country in the world, irrespective of whether they have capitalist or social democratic governments. The proof of this is the fast rising unemployment throughout the system with notable concerns going to the wall, giving rise to a further concentration of power to a shrinking elite.
Some people are amazed when told that the crisis results from too much production, too many goods, which the purchasing power of the market is unable to absorb. There simply is not enough purchasing power in the population.
Further proof of this is to be found in the sharp competition between enterprises resulting in sharp cuts in the price of commodities. At one time the rising price of oil up to about $150 a barrel was an exception to the general malaise. But that was caused by speculators and the price of a barrel has now sunk to under $40 a barrel, with the Middle East oil producers discussing cutting production in an effort to maintain prices and profits.
The letters of regret we had from gas and electricity companies that they were having to raise their prices substantially due to a sharp rise of fuel have not been followed by letters rejoicing that they
are now able to cut the price of their products substantially.
The argument that the freeing of market forces would lead to a balancing out of supply and demand has also been exposed by the present crisis. Indeed the banks and motor corporations have turned to public funds to avoid bankruptcy. That means that taxation from the working classes is to be allocated to big business ventures.
The working class is to be even more philanthropic than those Robert Tressell wrote about in the book, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.
In the Unites States especially this development of bailing out the motor car industry is viewed with horror because it seems to smack of socialist legislation. Of course it's no such thing and it undermines the argument against social ownership.
Capitalism needs a constantly expanding economy to realise maximum profits and to help establish political stability. Now there is contraction in the economy tens of thousands of workers are losing their jobs and half a million families are more than three months in arrears with their mortgage repayments.
Many of the recently made unemployed are from high salaries jobs and enjoyed big bonuses and lavish expense accounts. They thought they had secure jobs but the harsh realities of capitalism have ended that belief. They are workers and as such should be encouraged to participate in the struggles of the working class generally and its organisations.
The answer, of course, is socialism
The answer to capitalism in crisis is, of course, socialism. To achieve that that capitalist state machine has to be replaced by a working class state machine. In the communist movement we put the issue more sharply: that the dictatorship of the capitalist class must be ended and the dictatorship of the proletariat established in its place.
Communists do not believe the state to be neutral; the capitalist state serves the interests of the capitalist class and the working class state serves the interests of the working class – and other
sections of the population by putting an end to the exploitation of one person by another and landlordism.
Before socialism can be established there is much to be done in the field of organisational and ideological work. The working class has suffered some setbacks in the recent past. The defeat of the miners and the decimation of the engineering industry has weakened the trade union movement and undermined class consciousness.
But now there is growing anxiety among working people with growing discontent with the capitalist policies of the three major political parties.
There is not enough righteous anger over the domestic policies of privatisation and against the foreign policies, including the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan and the obstacles that British and US imperialism have put up against effective solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The labour movement should take advantage of the opportunities arising from the capitalist crisis to rally the working class with a renewed commitment to achieve a socialist society.
Fascists are also active in Britain, aiming to take advantage of the situation to introduce a much more dictatorial system to defend capitalism. In Germany the most reactionary sections of the capitalist class used the fascists to maintain their power, with the persecution of trade union and labour activists and any progressive elements – and of course the Jewish communities.
An important part of the work of the labour movement is to actively oppose the fascists whenever and wherever they make their play. The struggle against racism is necessary in the struggle for working class unity around a revolutionary perspective.
To further strengthen the socialist movement we should fight to restore Clause Four to the Labour Party constitution, with the additional amendment that the transfer of power from the capitalist state to the workers' state is an essential prerequisite to build a socialist society.
Today the governments of capitalist countries are desperately trying to find ways to resolve the crisis. One method being discussed is printing more money. We should remember that this was tried in Germany in the 1920s and it led to massive devaluation of the mark, so that is not the way forward.
From the working class point of view we should not be satisfied to find a way out of the crisis for a system that is obsolete. Our aim should be socialism.
History has proved that socialism cannot be attained by spontaneous struggle alone. It is necessary to build a party dedicated to leading, uniting and helping the working class to ensure its freedom to exploitation and social poverty.
The New Communist Party has obviously got a role to play in achieving this and on that basis we appeal for support in building our party and increasing the circulation of its paper, the New Worker.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Monday, 24 September 2007
The story of the Burston Strike School
In 1902, for the first time, under the Education Bill 'working-class children' were entitled to go to school, but this was little more than preparing them for work in the factories, fields or domestic service.
Many progressives and trade unionists believed that that all children should have a decent education. Tom and Kitty Higdon were Christians and Socialists who saw education as an opportunity for a better life.
They began teaching near Aylsham in Norfolk in 1902, a highly agricultural area where the Agricultural Workers Union was actively organising workers.
The Norfolk Education Committee was dominated by farm owners who provided squalid conditions and took children out of school whenever seasonal cheap labour was needed.
Following disputes with the school managers at Aylsham, in 1911 the Higdons were moved to a school at Burston village, run by a committee of farm owners chaired by the local Rector, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland.
Eland was a reactionary conservative whose £580-a-year salary contrasted with an annual wage of about £35 for many of his congregation, who were in constant danger of being evicted by the land owners.
The Higdons soon came into conflict with the committee over the cold and damp conditions at the school, but they gained great respect in the local community for their efforts to give their children a better start in life. Attendance at the school rose dramatically.
Tom Higdon stood for the parish council along with other villagers, and they succeeded in pushing out Charles Reverend Eland and several other land owners. The balance of power on the parish council swung in favour of the working people.
The committee, led by Charles Eland, accused Kitty Higdon of discourtesy over an incident in which the schoolroom fire was lit without permission, and persuaded a local foster mother to say she had beaten and mistreated her foster daughters. They demanded the immediate dismissal of Tom and Kitty Higdon.
'We are going on strike tomorrow'
An inquiry cleared the Higdons of mistreating the children, but the committee decided to dismiss them on the grounds of discourtesy. But on the day managers welcomed a new teacher to the school, they discovered writing on the classroom blackboard saying 'We are going on strike tomorrow', and heard a commotion outside.
A group of children, led by one of the pupils, Violet Potter, along with their parents, marched through the village which placards declaring 'We want our teachers back', and a banner carrying the single word 'Justice'.
At Crown Green the Higdons gave an emotional speech, and the parents, led by the village fishmonger George Durbidge, decided they wanted the Higdons to continue teaching their children.
A makeshift schoolroom was set up on the Green under a marquee, where the Higdons began teaching all but 6 of the pupils. The school was later housed an unused workshop on the Green.
The Management Committee resorted to intimidating the parents; many were charged with not sending their children to a state-recognised school, but the fines were paid from collections held outside the courtroom.
Workers who supported the ‘strike school,’ as it became known, were sacked by local landowners, threatened with eviction, and some even had their houses and crops ransacked, but such actions strengthened their determination and the growing support of the labour movement.
The strike became a rallying cause for trade unionists and progressives all over Britain, with supporters and speakers regularly visiting Burston, and after one year over £1,250 was raised in donations from trade unions and Labour Party branches.
In the midst of the horrors of the Great War, Burston was a spark of hope, and remained a beacon for trade unionists long after the strike itself had come to an end.
In May 1917 a brand new purpose-built school was opened by the leader of the strike, Violet Potter, who said at the opening: "with joy and thankfulness I declare this school open to be forever a School of Freedom".
The Burston Strike School only came to an end a few months after Tom Higdon died in August 1939, and Kitty was unable to carry on alone. Its pupils - the children and grandchildren of the original strikers - were taken to the Council School, where the facilities were now greatly improved.
The boycott of the Council School had lasted for over 25 years and earned its place in history as the longest-lasting strike ever.
Kitty Higdon died in April 1946. Both she and Tom are buried in Burston's churchyard.
Many progressives and trade unionists believed that that all children should have a decent education. Tom and Kitty Higdon were Christians and Socialists who saw education as an opportunity for a better life.
They began teaching near Aylsham in Norfolk in 1902, a highly agricultural area where the Agricultural Workers Union was actively organising workers.
The Norfolk Education Committee was dominated by farm owners who provided squalid conditions and took children out of school whenever seasonal cheap labour was needed.
Following disputes with the school managers at Aylsham, in 1911 the Higdons were moved to a school at Burston village, run by a committee of farm owners chaired by the local Rector, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland.
Eland was a reactionary conservative whose £580-a-year salary contrasted with an annual wage of about £35 for many of his congregation, who were in constant danger of being evicted by the land owners.
The Higdons soon came into conflict with the committee over the cold and damp conditions at the school, but they gained great respect in the local community for their efforts to give their children a better start in life. Attendance at the school rose dramatically.
Tom Higdon stood for the parish council along with other villagers, and they succeeded in pushing out Charles Reverend Eland and several other land owners. The balance of power on the parish council swung in favour of the working people.
The committee, led by Charles Eland, accused Kitty Higdon of discourtesy over an incident in which the schoolroom fire was lit without permission, and persuaded a local foster mother to say she had beaten and mistreated her foster daughters. They demanded the immediate dismissal of Tom and Kitty Higdon.
'We are going on strike tomorrow'
An inquiry cleared the Higdons of mistreating the children, but the committee decided to dismiss them on the grounds of discourtesy. But on the day managers welcomed a new teacher to the school, they discovered writing on the classroom blackboard saying 'We are going on strike tomorrow', and heard a commotion outside.
A group of children, led by one of the pupils, Violet Potter, along with their parents, marched through the village which placards declaring 'We want our teachers back', and a banner carrying the single word 'Justice'.
At Crown Green the Higdons gave an emotional speech, and the parents, led by the village fishmonger George Durbidge, decided they wanted the Higdons to continue teaching their children.
A makeshift schoolroom was set up on the Green under a marquee, where the Higdons began teaching all but 6 of the pupils. The school was later housed an unused workshop on the Green.
The Management Committee resorted to intimidating the parents; many were charged with not sending their children to a state-recognised school, but the fines were paid from collections held outside the courtroom.
Workers who supported the ‘strike school,’ as it became known, were sacked by local landowners, threatened with eviction, and some even had their houses and crops ransacked, but such actions strengthened their determination and the growing support of the labour movement.
The strike became a rallying cause for trade unionists and progressives all over Britain, with supporters and speakers regularly visiting Burston, and after one year over £1,250 was raised in donations from trade unions and Labour Party branches.
In the midst of the horrors of the Great War, Burston was a spark of hope, and remained a beacon for trade unionists long after the strike itself had come to an end.
In May 1917 a brand new purpose-built school was opened by the leader of the strike, Violet Potter, who said at the opening: "with joy and thankfulness I declare this school open to be forever a School of Freedom".
The Burston Strike School only came to an end a few months after Tom Higdon died in August 1939, and Kitty was unable to carry on alone. Its pupils - the children and grandchildren of the original strikers - were taken to the Council School, where the facilities were now greatly improved.
The boycott of the Council School had lasted for over 25 years and earned its place in history as the longest-lasting strike ever.
Kitty Higdon died in April 1946. Both she and Tom are buried in Burston's churchyard.
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Burston Rally 2007 - a fantastic turnout
Trade unionists and activists from across Britain gathered at Burston village for the annual Strike School commemoration on Sunday 2 September in the biggest turnout for many years.
This year's event took place on the ninetieth anniversary of the opening of the present school in 1917 by George Lansbury, who became leader of the Labour Party in 1931.
Will Sullivan, the TUC's Equalities Officer opened the rally by drawing attention to the fact that in addition to their educational work the Higdons fought against child labour. The next speaker, Mary Davies of London Metropolitan University drew attention to the fact that the events in Burston did not take place in a vacuum.
The years before the First World War saw a great upsurge in political activity with trade unions growing in size and militancy while the Suffragettes were causing the Liberal government trouble as they escalated their campaign for votes for women. She was however in error by stating that Norfolk was not a militant area. Norfolk was where the agricultural labourer's union was founded in 1906.
After a march round the village retracing the route taken by the children when they left the old school in 1914 and music from local bands and Billy Bragg. other speakers took the stage. Barry Camfield, Assistant General Secretary of the TGWU Section of Unite welcomed the recent action of the Prison Officers Association in defying the anti-union laws introduced by Margaret Thatcher and maintained by Tony Blair. His comments on what should be done to repeal these anti-trade union laws was predictably vague.
Veteran Labour politician Tony Benn pointed out that while many speak of traditional British values, they in fact mean deference to the powers that be. Burston on the other hand represented a better British tradition of defiance and disobedience to the ruling classes which began with the Peasants'' Revolt of 1381 and was continued by the Levellers.
The final speaker was Bob Crow, General Secretary of the Railway Maritime and Transport union who denounced Gordon Brown for appointing Sir Digby Jones of the CBI while not appointing a trade unionist to Cabinet.
The NCP East Anglia District's stall had a steady stream of visitors. Before the day was out the entire stock of sixty New Workers was sold out. The specially produced East Anglia Worker also proved extremely popular. Throughout the day sales of literature,jigsaws, and bric-a-brac all helped boost Party funds.
This year's event took place on the ninetieth anniversary of the opening of the present school in 1917 by George Lansbury, who became leader of the Labour Party in 1931.
Will Sullivan, the TUC's Equalities Officer opened the rally by drawing attention to the fact that in addition to their educational work the Higdons fought against child labour. The next speaker, Mary Davies of London Metropolitan University drew attention to the fact that the events in Burston did not take place in a vacuum.
The years before the First World War saw a great upsurge in political activity with trade unions growing in size and militancy while the Suffragettes were causing the Liberal government trouble as they escalated their campaign for votes for women. She was however in error by stating that Norfolk was not a militant area. Norfolk was where the agricultural labourer's union was founded in 1906.
After a march round the village retracing the route taken by the children when they left the old school in 1914 and music from local bands and Billy Bragg. other speakers took the stage. Barry Camfield, Assistant General Secretary of the TGWU Section of Unite welcomed the recent action of the Prison Officers Association in defying the anti-union laws introduced by Margaret Thatcher and maintained by Tony Blair. His comments on what should be done to repeal these anti-trade union laws was predictably vague.
Veteran Labour politician Tony Benn pointed out that while many speak of traditional British values, they in fact mean deference to the powers that be. Burston on the other hand represented a better British tradition of defiance and disobedience to the ruling classes which began with the Peasants'' Revolt of 1381 and was continued by the Levellers.
The final speaker was Bob Crow, General Secretary of the Railway Maritime and Transport union who denounced Gordon Brown for appointing Sir Digby Jones of the CBI while not appointing a trade unionist to Cabinet.
The NCP East Anglia District's stall had a steady stream of visitors. Before the day was out the entire stock of sixty New Workers was sold out. The specially produced East Anglia Worker also proved extremely popular. Throughout the day sales of literature,jigsaws, and bric-a-brac all helped boost Party funds.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
No to foundation trust status!
The North East Essex Mental Health Branch of Unison has agreed to resist and campaign against plans by the North East Essex Mental Health Trust to form a foundation trust, on the grounds that this will put profit before people and take the running of the hospital out of government hands.
The foundation hospital scheme, promoted by Patricia Hewitt and first proposed by Alan Milburn with Tony Blair’s blessing, makes NHS trusts independent and in competition with one another.
As health minister, Hewitt subjected the NHS to marketisation and New Labour’s obsession with targets. The foundation hospital scheme goes even further, in effect breaking up the NHS and putting it in the hands of private marketeers and capitalist investors.
These profiteers – including British and foreign contractors - have already milked the NHS of billions in public money, thanks to their friends in New Labour.
Drastic cutbacks in spending after Hewitt introduced NHS internal market pricing last year have already led to the closures of mental health facilities in Essex, at Kitwood and at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, apart from ward closures and the sacking of thousands of nurses up and down the country.
In fact the North East Essex Mental Health Trust still has to resolve its own financial problems before it can apply for foundation trust status.
The branch also considered racist attacks on nurses by mental health patients over a two year period within the Trust, and has commissioned solicitors to investigate the attacks in which many of the trust’s black nurses suffered racial abuse.
The branch also re-affirmed its commitment to continue campaigning against racism and the BNP.
The branch has also sent £50 to social care staff in Glasgow who are on an indefinite strike against Glasgow City Council in a pay dispute. The strike has already lasted three weeks.
There is already widespread anger amongst nurses and other NHS staff over the government’s latest paltry pay increase offer of 2.5 per cent.
The foundation hospital scheme, promoted by Patricia Hewitt and first proposed by Alan Milburn with Tony Blair’s blessing, makes NHS trusts independent and in competition with one another.
As health minister, Hewitt subjected the NHS to marketisation and New Labour’s obsession with targets. The foundation hospital scheme goes even further, in effect breaking up the NHS and putting it in the hands of private marketeers and capitalist investors.
These profiteers – including British and foreign contractors - have already milked the NHS of billions in public money, thanks to their friends in New Labour.
Drastic cutbacks in spending after Hewitt introduced NHS internal market pricing last year have already led to the closures of mental health facilities in Essex, at Kitwood and at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, apart from ward closures and the sacking of thousands of nurses up and down the country.
In fact the North East Essex Mental Health Trust still has to resolve its own financial problems before it can apply for foundation trust status.
The branch also considered racist attacks on nurses by mental health patients over a two year period within the Trust, and has commissioned solicitors to investigate the attacks in which many of the trust’s black nurses suffered racial abuse.
The branch also re-affirmed its commitment to continue campaigning against racism and the BNP.
The branch has also sent £50 to social care staff in Glasgow who are on an indefinite strike against Glasgow City Council in a pay dispute. The strike has already lasted three weeks.
There is already widespread anger amongst nurses and other NHS staff over the government’s latest paltry pay increase offer of 2.5 per cent.
Monday, 13 August 2007
The New Communist Party’s electoral policy
The NCP’s electoral policy calls on supporters to vote Labour in all elections, while boycotting European elections (this is because we do not regard the governing bodies of the EU as democratically representative).
Our call to vote Labour is not because we support the right-wing policies of New Labour, Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, or because we think a Labour government can solve the problems of working people - that is not possible in a capitalist 'democracy'.
A Labour government is simply the best possible outcome in the current political circumstances, in which Britain is governed through a bourgeois parliamentary democracy.
In our view a Labour government, with the organisational links connecting the Labour Party, trade unions and the Labour movement, offers the best option for the working class currently available. This is why the right wing and their supporters in the capitalist media have made so many attempts to break the Labour Party’s links with trade unions.
We believe that alternative electoral policies to achieve a leftist or socialist government are nothing more than a mirage. The only realistically possible alternative governments would involve Tories or Liberal Democrats and would be more anti-working class than a Labour government.
We believe there have been gains since 1997 which would not have happened under the Tories, including the peace process in Ireland, improved terms and conditions for workers, reduced child poverty, the restoration of the Greater London Authority, and the GLA’s successes under Ken Livingstone.
The removal of Tony Blair to some extent reflects the pressures from Labour Party members and the labour movement to end the war in Iraq, end privatisation and PFI and tackle the obscene inequalities in wealth distribution.
Of course these goals are far from being achieved with the installation of a Gordon Brown government, but the labour movement can still have greater influence than it would under a Tory or Lib Dem regime.
Our electoral policy does not represent our ultimate goals for the working class in Britain. Solving the problems of working people, and ending Britain’s imperialist role in the world, in our view can only come about through a socialist revolution, and putting the working class in power.
Our call to vote Labour is not because we support the right-wing policies of New Labour, Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, or because we think a Labour government can solve the problems of working people - that is not possible in a capitalist 'democracy'.
A Labour government is simply the best possible outcome in the current political circumstances, in which Britain is governed through a bourgeois parliamentary democracy.
In our view a Labour government, with the organisational links connecting the Labour Party, trade unions and the Labour movement, offers the best option for the working class currently available. This is why the right wing and their supporters in the capitalist media have made so many attempts to break the Labour Party’s links with trade unions.
We believe that alternative electoral policies to achieve a leftist or socialist government are nothing more than a mirage. The only realistically possible alternative governments would involve Tories or Liberal Democrats and would be more anti-working class than a Labour government.
We believe there have been gains since 1997 which would not have happened under the Tories, including the peace process in Ireland, improved terms and conditions for workers, reduced child poverty, the restoration of the Greater London Authority, and the GLA’s successes under Ken Livingstone.
The removal of Tony Blair to some extent reflects the pressures from Labour Party members and the labour movement to end the war in Iraq, end privatisation and PFI and tackle the obscene inequalities in wealth distribution.
Of course these goals are far from being achieved with the installation of a Gordon Brown government, but the labour movement can still have greater influence than it would under a Tory or Lib Dem regime.
Our electoral policy does not represent our ultimate goals for the working class in Britain. Solving the problems of working people, and ending Britain’s imperialist role in the world, in our view can only come about through a socialist revolution, and putting the working class in power.
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