Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
 TUSC  (Political party)    | |
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Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance in Britain which was originally launched for the 2010 General Election.
TUSC's co-founder was the RMT union general secretary Bob Crow. Members of the PCS, Unison, NEU, UCU, Napo and POA unions are on the steering committee. The biggest component section of TUSC was the RMT until they disaffiliated at the 2022 RMT AGM.
TUSC's most prominent participating political groups are the Socialist Party and the Resistance Movement. The Workers Party of Britain has observer status.
TUSC stood 135 (parliamentary) candidates across England, Wales and Scotland at the 2015 General Election and 619 the same day in local government elections.[1]
Until the closing date for nominations, 7 June 2024, TUSC was recruiting candidates to stand in the UK/General election/2024 on 4 July 2024.[2]
Pro-Corbyn suspension
Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party, TUSC did not stand candidates in the UK/General election/2017 and suspended electoral activity in November 2018. It did not contest the UK/General election/2019, stating:
- "TUSC recalibrated its electoral activity following Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, a development which it warmly welcomed."
Re-launch
In July 2020, after Jeremy Corbyn stood down, the Socialist Party called for the relaunch of the alliance; in September of the same year, the TUSC steering committee agreed to resume standing candidates in the 2021 UK local elections. TUSC stood further candidates in the 2022 UK local elections.
Under the title "TUSC backs the 'Rochdale insurgency against establishment politicians", published two weeks prior to the landslide victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election of 1 March 2024, TUSC posted a press release announcing:
- "An insurgency against the capitalist establishment and their tame politicians is brewing in Rochdale, and not just there. It’s obvious which side trade unionists and socialists should be on”.
- The press release further added: "The Workers Party of Britain, on whose ticket George Galloway is standing in Rochdale, has participated in the TUSC all-Britain steering committee since they were given observer status at its meetings in March 2022” and emphasised, "TUSC was always conceived from its foundation in 2010 by Bob Crow and others as an inclusive coalition...”
- “A broad coalition, rather than a closed one, inevitably has to involve collaboration – and robust debate – between organisations and groups within the working class movement holding often sharply different views.”[3]
Core policies
Nevertheless, all candidates are expected to support a set of core policies, as decided at TUSC conference prior to the relevant elections. In January 2024, the core TUSC policies were announced as:
● Oppose all cuts and closures to council services, jobs, pay and conditions.
● Vote for councils to use their reserves and prudential borrowing powers to avoid making cuts in their 2024-2025 budgets and demand from the incoming government additional funding to make up any future shortfall.
● Refuse to co-operate with any commissioners appointed by the Tories to attempt to impose cuts on local services.
● Demand that councils as employers refuse to issue ‘work notices’ against strikers under the new anti-union Minimum Service Levels Act.
● Reject council tax, rent and service charge increases for working-class people to make up for cuts in central funding, support a new redistributive revenue-raising system to finance local council services, and demand central government restores the cuts in funding imposed since 2010.
● Oppose the privatisation of council jobs and services, or the transfer of existing council services to social enterprises or ‘arms-length’ management organisations which are the first steps to their privatisation.
● Use councils’ powers to immediately begin a mass building programme of eco-friendly affordable council homes to tackle the housing crisis.
● Support democratically debated local Climate Emergency plans that create new employment, reduce emissions and improve air quality and the local environment, while protecting the jobs, pay and conditions of all workers.
● Fight for united working-class struggle against racism, sexism and all forms of oppression.
● Back all workers’ struggles against government policies making ordinary people pay for the crisis.[4]
Party Member
| Politician |
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| Martin Powell-Davies |
References
This page imported content from Wikipedia on 2 June 2024.Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here
