A wet and windy Monday night in Glasgow did not put off a large number of people from attending Solidarity’s public meeting organised to expose the damage wreaked on working class communities by the crisis in capitalism.

Those at the sharp end of this crisis and its effects were well represented with workers in occupation at the Prisme Factory in Dundee joining community campaigners fighting to save their schools and striking Community Service workers who had been out for over 10 weeks in a dispute about pay and conditions. 

Kenny Ross from the FBU reported on his visit to the West Bank and Israel as part of an STUC fact finding mission whilst Brian Smith, recently elected secretary of Scotland’s biggest UNISON branch gave a report on council workers attempts to fight attacks from their employers. Both Kenny and Brian attended the meeting in a personal capacity. Solidarity Co-convenor Tommy Sheridan summed up at the end of the meeting chaired by council worker and Solidarity member Tricia McLeish.

Workers and Communities at the Sharp End! 

Community campaigners from the St Agnes Save our Schools Campaign came along and Sean, one of the campaigners gave a report on Glasgow city council’s decision to shut 25 schools and nurseries in the city and the effect that will have on the communities. 

He called the New Labour Council the “surgeons of destruction.” 

He gave examples of children who will have to travel much further to school, over busy roads and along dark paths to get to the proposed merged school. 

Sean finished by saying that the one good thing that had come from the last few weeks was that the community had come together and become a lot closer in their attempts to unite and fight the councils plans. 

Sean was followed by David Taylor, one of the workers in occupation at the Prisme Packaging factory in Dundee. David reported to the meeting on how the workers had been treated by the bosses and administrators after the firm had gone into receivership. 

The workforce refused to go quietly and, as David pointed out, in a great tradition of militancy amongst workers in Dundee, they occupied last week and are determined to fight to the end. He reported that the workforce are currently in the process of setting up a workers co-operative to try and take over the business and run it themselves. 

He was grateful for all the support, help and solidarity that had been offered to the workforce and noted that how when times were hard people seemed to stick together more. 

Donald, a Community Service worker in Glasgow was one of a group who had been on indefinite strike for over 10 weeks. 

He stated that he was not a militant, did not want to be in conflict but was fighting for a fair deal on pay and for the right to be treated with dignity in his employment. Community Service workers provide a crucial role in the supervision of dangerous offenders undertaking community service orders from the courts.

They are skilled workers doing an important job but have found that their employers wish to attack their pay and conditions. “We’ve never asked for the world”, he reported,  “but we’ve drawn a line in the sand and we’re not going to go away!” 

Brian Smith argued that the time had come for trade unions to provide not just industrial representation, but political representation for their members. The trade unions need to break the link with New Labour and their anti-trade union anti-working class politics. 

Workers Around the World Fighting for the Same Things!

Kenny Ross had just returned from a fact finding mission to Israel and the West Bank.  “No amount of talking can describe what he had seen”, he said. 

He reported stories of workers, such as a school teacher, who had to leave for a 9am start to the school day at 3am in order that she could get through the compulsory check points in time. He spoke of firefighters in Nabalus who were forced to stop at Israeli checkpoints for up to 1 hour each time they responded to emergency calls. Kenny argued this was not about security, but was about humiliation and intimidation of the Palestinian people. 

He and the STUC delegation attended 27 meetings in 5 days and will be reporting back with recommendations regarding the Boycott Israel campaign. 

He finished by saying that his visit to the West Bank and listening to the previous speakers convinced him that workers around the world, whether it be Dundee, Glasgow or Palestine wanted the same things…and were fighting for the same things. 

Militants are only Moderates who got off their knees!

Tommy Sheridan summed up by saying that he was humbled to share a platform with the rest of the speakers. He said it reminded him of the old adage that a militant was only a moderate who refused to stay on their knees. 

The communities defending their schools, the Community Service workers defending their pay, conditions and dignity and those Prisme workers defending their jobs had been forced into making a choice. “Did they stay on their knees or did they fight? Sometimes you ask yourselves the question – can we win? You never now when you embark on these struggles, but one thing is for sure, if you don’t fight you will never win!” 

He compared the struggles of today to the struggles of the miners 25 years ago and the campaign against the poll tax. He argued that under Gordon Brown and New Labour the gap between rich and poor had widened and was getting progressively worse. 

He called for socialists to make sure that now more than ever, as capitalism entered its greatest crisis in living memory that our message about a different society, about wealth redistribution, public ownership, public services and real democratic control was heard. 

He called for gas, electricity and oil to be brought into public ownership and run, not on the basis of maximum profit, but on the basis of maximum benefit to our communities.  

Although a party that believed in Independence, Tommy stated we were internationalist to the core and praised the young people who had occupied universities and colleges in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. 

He finished by saying that now more that ever socialists had to celebrate and embrace the struggles that will arise out of this crisis.  

Solidarity is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with such people in their struggles.  

Solidarity with Prisme workers