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National Shop Stewards Conference:

Stewards Network must unite broader struggles

Chris Brooks

One of Britain’s most militant unions is establishing a cross-union organisation for shop stewards. On July 7th, the RMT is sponsoring the founding conference for the national shop stewards network.

The conference has been called by a steering committee elected by a conference of 250 delegates held in October.

It aims to address the crisis of political representation created by the march to the right of new Labour. It hopes to help trade unions to better fight neo-liberal offensive and the relentless attack on the public sector.

The timing of the event is highly significant, coming at the end of Blair’s premiership.

Key figures in the trade unions, on the left and in the Labour Party have taken part in a series of conferences and discussions about what initiatives might be taken to remobilise the progressive movement.

Socialist Resistance strongly supports the conference. A national meeting of our supporters in the trade unions, on January 20, discussed how the new network can play a major role in helping solidarity to develop more rapidly, and more strongly. It can also help to regenerate our unions by building an independent and pluralist class-struggle viewpoint on how to rebuild trade union strength and organisation.

However, the unions are currently weak. The Shop Stewards Network will succeed only it is greatly expands its reach.

First, it needs to connect with the new generation of trade unionists that will probably not be at the founding conference. Second, the network also needs to champion the political and social struggles going on today - many of which start outside the unions.

For example, campaigners supporting the Labour Movement Conference on Climate Change should be welcomed at the event, as should members of RESPECT. That won’t be easy. Some RMT leaders fight shy of political questions, such as how to build an alternative to Labour.