WITH the Tories set to decide whether they want Boris Johnson or Sunak to continue with the job of completely destroying all of the basic gains of the UK working class, it is actually the UK trade unions who are at the crossroads.
The ‘Transport Strikes Minimum Service Levels Bill’ that will ban rail strikes and bankrupt the rail unions with massive fines has already had its first reading in the House of Commons.
The Bill will allow employers to ‘specify the workforce required to meet an adequate service level during strikes’.
Employers will specify which workers are needed to provide an ‘adequate service level during strikes’.
‘Specified workers who still take strike action will lose their protection from automatic unfair dismissal.’
The unions must agree ‘minimum service levels’ or else face unlimited fines. If the unions will not agree a ‘minimum service level’ an independent arbitrator (the Central Arbitration Committee) will determine the minimum number of services.
Unions that do not comply face bankruptcies through legal actions in the law courts. The Bill states that if a minimum service level is not delivered, the unions will lose legal protections from unlimited damages.’
The legislation is expected to become law on transport services across the country in 2023. The Tories are seeking to drive down the working class’ standard of living to the point of one meal a day living.
In the current struggle for who is to be the Tory leader, the former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King has spoken on the BBC.
He said: ‘The government needs to be honest about the reduction in our national standard of living which has been caused by the war in Ukraine and other global factors.’ He added that there are three main challenges that the UK faces including high inflation, high national debt and the fact the country is ‘saving far too little’ and not investing enough.
He also warned that the UK could face a period that is ‘more difficult’ than the period of austerity under former Chancellor George Osborne.
We are entering a period of acute capitalist crisis when the ruling class, whether it is led by Johnson or Sunak, has to come down on the working class like a ton of bricks if British capitalism is to survive.
The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is very little different from the Tories. Starmer is campaigning for a general election now, while the Tories are not compelled to call one for another two years.
Asked whether NHS spending would increase in line with inflation under Labour, Starmer said: ‘Of course the NHS needs more money,’ but it also needs ‘reform’.
Labour’s Starmer is being asked what he would do if he was to take over as PM, particularly in the light of recent economic developments. ‘Any incoming government will have to pick up the mess of the Tories’ making,’ Starmer said.
‘We need the OBR report so we can see the extent of the damage … I know there are going to be tough choices meaning I can’t do some of the things we want to do as a Labour government,’ he added.
Sounding like Sunak, Starmer said: ‘We will pay for day-to-day spend. We will only borrow to invest and we will get debt down as a percentage of our economy.’ He is planning a Labour-led austerity regime!
It is the trade unions that must now come forward to fight for the working class.
Sunak or Johnson will be forced by the capitalist crisis to make savage attacks on the working class.
Starmer is ready for Labour-led austerity. He is not prepared to expropriate the bosses and will support capitalism using all means that are necessary.
The position of the WRP is clear.
We are not prepared to stand by for two more years while the working class is being savagely attacked by the Tories.
The trade unions must call a general strike now to bring down the Tories and bring in a workers government that will nationalise the banks and the major industries and bring in socialism and a planned economy.
Join the WRP and the YS now to organise the victory of the British socialist revolution. This is the only way forward.
