LAST Sunday the president of the National Union of Students (NUS), Aaron Porter, made a surprise visit to a meeting of students occupying University College London and made an abject apology for his ‘spineless’ lack of support for occupations and demonstrations by students against the massive increase in tuition fees.
Porter, who had ignored last week’s student demonstration and national day of action which saw students and school students subjected to brutal police attacks and ‘kettling’ in Whitehall, pledged his support to yesterday’s national day of action and of all student occupations and industrial action by lecturers.
Before getting carried away with welcoming this biblical conversion, however, the fact remains that Porter was responding above all to the anger of students who are increasingly demanding his removal from the leadership of the NUS, and he remains a supporter of student fees and opposes free state education.
The student movement, as far as its leadership is concerned, is moving way beyond its leaders, whom, no doubt, have been reminded that their job is to bring it back under their control.
Porter was not the only one to have realised the bureaucrats are losing their grip.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite union, had to make an equally humiliating about- face earlier this week over the ongoing dispute between cabin staff and British Airways.
The Unite leadership had reached a sell-out deal with BA’s head, Willie Walsh that would have left the cabin crew with nothing.
Woodley and the Unite leadership accepted Walsh’s offer and agreed to recommend it to the membership. However, it was soon made clear to him that this offer was unacceptable to the members and Woodley has been forced to announce that the offer is now rejected and cabin crew will be balloted for further strike action.
Woodley defended his U-turn by stating: ‘I have made it very clear that we will not go above the heads of shop stewards in order to sink a dispute.’
This is the same Woodley who has sunk any number of struggles, such as the Gate Gourmet battle, in the interest of harmonious relations with the employer.
The common thread between the NUS and Unite leaderships is their fear that their members are getting out of hand, and that they are in acute danger of losing control.
Since capitalism in this country rests on the trade union bureaucracy, the working class and youth getting out of its control is a huge danger signal for the capitalists.
This is why Woodley and Porter are scurrying to try and retain control by adjusting their positions.
The capitalist crisis, which is driving the government to destroy education, jobs and every gain of the welfare state, is producing a new, revolutionary generation.
Student occupations and days of action today are completely different from those in years past.
In the past, students came out for causes like Vietnam, anti-apartheid, liberation struggles etc, today they are fighting for their own future, and the future of the working class.
The willingness of students and young people to take on the government, in turn, is galvanising the trade union movement.
But this movement of students, youth and workers cannot advance under its old leadership, which can only offer defeats and betrayal.
This revolutionary movement of youth and workers requires a revolutionary leadership prepared to organise a general strike to remove this government, and a socialist revolution to replace it with a workers government committed to the expropriation of the bankers, the repudiation of all debt to the bond brokers, the restoration of free state education and the creation of a socialist planned economy.
We urge all workers and youth to join the WRP and the Young Socialists today to build up the leadership that is going to lead the British socialist revolution.