FIGHTING AUSTERITY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2014 :: RMTnews 13 A packed meeting in Glasgow welcomed the launch of the People’s Assembly in Scotland. Scottish People’s Assembly chairman Phil McGarry (above) called for a mass movement uniting trade unions and campaigning organisations in opposition to the Tory/Lib Dem government’s austerity agenda. The former RMT regional organiser outlined what austerity meant for the people of Scotland as “a class war on the sick, disabled and infirm which targeted and demonised the poor”. “It means the privatisation of public services, drastic reductions in benefits, the Bedroom Tax and an average reduction of wages in Scotland by around £1,300. “The consequences could be seen in the 34,000 Scots now dependent on Food Banks and families forced to choose between heating their homes and eating. “At the same time bankers were doubling up their earnings including Ross McEwen of the taxpayer- rescued Royal Bank of Scotland had secured an annual pay cheque of just under £3 million. “But there is an alternative and it was clearly stated in the Six Points of the People’s Charter: a fairer economy, more and better jobs, decent homes, improved public services and a better future for all,” said. Scottish Trades Union Congress general secretary Grahame Smith totally rejected the necessity for austerity, for mass unemployment and the destruction of the welfare state. “The STUC would also not be satisfied with policies that just offered ‘a little bit less of the same austerity’,” he said. Actor Ricky Tomlinson represented the Shrewsbury 24 campaign and reminded the meeting that the imprisonment for conspiracy of 24 striking building workers in 1972 represented an attempt to intimidate the whole trade union movement. He said that the campaign was now seeking the disclosure of documents, withheld by the government for 42 years, and had recently won a Commons vote of 120 to three on the issue after collecting 100,000 signatures The meeting called for an end to child poverty and zero hour contracts, scrapping Trident and illegal wars, restoring trade union rights, an end to EU directives that privatised our railways, postal services and utilities and a decent living wage and pensions for all. This programme has been endorsed by the TUC and the Scottish TUC and all major unions. “It is a programme which could be achieved with the necessary political will, a mass movement and unity. “In Scotland, ahead of the referendum in September, there would inevitably be differences over the preferred constitutional settlement. “We must respect these differences but not allow them to divide our movement, we need to build a movement that can end austerity and demand a better way,” said Phil as he closed the conference. FIGHTING AUSTERITY People’s Assembly against austerity launched in Scotland