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TUSC will oppose all cuts to council jobs, services, pay and conditions. Reject increases in council tax, rent and service charges to compensate for government cuts. Vote against the privatisation of council jobs and services. Our policies
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Printed and published by TUSC, 17 Colebert House, Colebert Avenue, London E1 4JP
Telephone: 020 7702 8667
email: info@tusc.org.uk
Press: 020 8988 8773
TUSC on the March Against Austerity demo
Victory for Jeremy Corbyn - now let's build a movement to stop the Tory cuts
Posted: 12 September 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national chairperson Dave Nellist has warmly welcomed Jeremy Corbyn's decisive victory in the Labour leadership contest.
Speaking shortly after the result was announced at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London, Dave Nellist, a former Labour MP who served in the Commons alongside Jeremy Corbyn in the 1980s, said:
"Jeremy's clear victory will now give a voice to the depth of anti-austerity feeling in Britain. He has clearly inspired huge numbers, particularly young people, with his call for free education, public ownership of rail and energy, and for councils to stand together in opposition to government cuts.
Sky News interviews TUSC's Dave Nellist on Jeremy Corbyn
Posted: 15 September 2015
Sky News interviewed Dave Nellist, chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition on 13 September 2015 the day after socialist Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in a landslide victory for socialist ideas. Sky wanted to know what TUSC's reaction was.
Steering committee re-sets TUSC conference agenda for new times ahead
Posted: 9 September 2015
The September meeting of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee has revised the agenda for the forthcoming TUSC conference to take account of the tremendous anti-austerity movement that has mobilised around Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership bid.
The TUSC conference is taking place on Saturday 26th September at Student Central, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY, from 11am to 4-30pm.
The opening session, under the title 'The role of TUSC in the new situation', will be a chance to assess what needs to be done, after Jeremy Corbyn's hoped for success, to continue the process of re-building independent working class political representation.
The TUSC 2016 local elections draft policy platform
Posted: 9 September 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee has agreed a draft statement of core policies for the 2016 local council elections (see below).
First published at the start of the summer, the statement has been updated to take account of the tremendous anti-austerity movement that has mobilised around Jeremy Corbyn's bid for the Labour leadership.
The draft platform will be debated at the TUSC conference being held on September 26th. Local TUSC groups, constituent organisations or individuals who want to move amendments should send them to the TUSC national agent, Clive Heemskerk, at cliveheemskerk@socialistparty.org.uk, by Friday 18th September to be included in the conference discussion.
Fleetwood council opposes Lancashire gas storage plans as TUSC councillor calls for mass campaign
Posted: 26 August 2015
Fleetwood town council has voted to oppose controversial plans by the Halite Energy company to build a gas storage facility on the Fylde Coast.
The government Department of Energy and Climate Change has recently granted permission to Hailte to develop a huge underground gas storage scheme in salt caverns at Preesall (Over Wyre), in Lancashire, despite massive public opposition.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) Fleetwood town councillor Simon Roberts had organised a protest before the council meeting on August 25, which drew together members of the public including Preesall residents and anti-fracking campaigners.
TUSC ex-councillor condemns Blairite manoeuvres against the Corbyn campaign
Posted: 10 August 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) today called on media outlets to name the sources for their stories that the Labour Party is being 'infiltrated' by TUSC members.
This follows the revelation that a former South London councillor who stood for TUSC in May was wrongly named in The Times as somebody who had signed up to support Jeremy Corbyn's leadership bid.
Last week The Times named Chris Flood, who stood as a TUSC candidate in the Lewisham Deptford constituency in May, as a new registered Labour supporter.
TUSC chair interviewed in The Independent on the Jeremy Corbyn campaign
Posted: 3 August 2015
From The Independent on Sunday, 2nd August:
"If, as many Labour MPs believe, their party isn't having a leadership contest but a troubled convention of ghosts from socialists past, then Dave Nellist is among the haunting elite.
The former MP for Coventry South, now 63, was among those expelled from Labour in the early 1990s because of his links with the group centred around The Militant newspaper.
TUSC councillor makes protest call against Lancashire gas storage plans
Posted: 2 August 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) Fleetwood town councillor Simon Roberts has added his voice of opposition to a recent government decision to allow a controversial gas storage facility on the Fylde Coast.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has granted the Halite Energy company permission to develop a huge underground gas storage scheme in salt caverns at Preesall (Over Wyre), in Lancashire, despite three rejections of the plan and massive public opposition.
The decision by the DECC to allow Halite to proceed follows last month's rejection by Lancashire county council of bids by the Cuadrilla energy company to test frack on the Flyde and bodes ill for the outcome if Caudrilla appeals.
TUSC sets out draft policy platform for 2016 local elections
Posted: 20 July 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee has agreed a draft statement of core policies for the 2016 local council elections, A councillors' revolt could stop the Tory cuts! (see below).
This will now go to the TUSC conference being held on September 26th, where local TUSC groups, constituent organisations or individuals will be able to move amendments to the statement for debate and decision. Amendments should be sent to the TUSC national agent, Clive Heemskerk, at cliveheemskerk@socialistparty.org.uk, by Friday 18th September to be included in the conference discussion.
The platform, once it has been finalised, is the basis on which any prospective candidate can stand under the TUSC name in the elections taking place next May in 127 English councils.
TUSC pledges opposition to new attack on workers' rights
Posted: 17 July 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has added its voice to mounting opposition against the Conservative government's Trade Union Bill raising the threshold for union strike ballots, and allowing employers to bring in agency staff to break strikes.
The Trade Union Bill, introduced to parliament on Wednesday, 11th July, imposes a minimum 50% turnout in union strike ballots; for public sector strikes to be legal they would need the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote.
TUSC national chair, former Labour MP Dave Nellist, said:
Scottish TUSC hears civil servants' union leader's call for industrial and political action
Posted: 8 July 2015
The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) meet in conference on June 27th to discuss plans to field the largest possible number of working class fighters as candidates in next May's elections for Scotland's Parliament.
The platform was dominated by those at the sharp end of fighting austerity, including speakers from the Glasgow School Buses campaign; Graham Nelson, a senior shop steward for Unite and a striking hospital porter from Dundee; and Chris Semani, Unison steward and striking Glasgow caseworker.
Another keynote speaker was Gordon Martin, the Scottish organiser of the RMT transport workers' union, whose members at CalMac are also on strike.
TUSC steering committee debates coalition structures, the EU, and new election fund appeal
Posted: 5 July 2015
The June meeting of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee included a detailed discussion, the first in a series, on how to develop the coalition following the TUSC campaign in May's elections.
Also on the agenda was a plan for a TUSC National Election Fund appeal - with the aim being to meet the costs of election deposits for candidates in the 2016 contests for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Greater London Authority and the three council Mayoral elections taking place next year, in Liverpool, Salford and Bristol.
The meeting confirmed the date of the TUSC conference to discuss the 2016 elections as September 26th, to be held at London's Student Central venue, Malet Street, WC1E (11am to 4-30pm).
TUSC North West conference keeps up the momentum
Kevin Bennett
Posted: 30 June 2015
Around 50 activists from across the region attended a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) North West conference on 27 June, to assess the post-election situation and make plans to build TUSC going forward. Meeting on the same day for their conference, Scottish TUSC sent us a message of solidarity which was well received.
TUSC councillor Kevin Bennett from Warrington introduced the discussion, with the memorable line that "it's like the Tories decided to usurp the tale of Robin Hood, except this time the Sheriff of Nottingham is the hero! And it seems Andy Burnham agrees!" The main theme to emerge from discussion was that TUSC has achieved significant momentum from our landmark election challenge this year, and must keep this up against a backdrop of international crisis, developments in Greece, and the Tories' war on the poor and organised workers while Labour remains in turmoil.
Daren Ireland, the regional organiser of the RMT transport workers' union, one of the constituent organisations of TUSC, outlined the essential organisational steps to take - building finance through standing orders with only ten months until next year's local elections; pushing TUSC in the trade union movement and winning the unions to a position of support for a new mass working-class party; building and strengthening local groups operating on an open and federal basis welcoming all individuals and groups; and standing at least 500 candidates in May 2016 when around 2,200 councillors face election across England.
TUSC steering committee post-election meeting discusses future plans
Posted: 15 May 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee held its first post-election meeting this week. Against the backdrop of a Tory-majority government committed to accelerated austerity, albeit one with the lowest ever share of support amongst the total electorate (24.4%), the need the build on the TUSC campaign to develop a socialist electoral alternative was recognised by all.
The meeting agreed a vote of thanks to all the 748 candidates - and their agents and campaign teams - who contested the elections on May 7th under the TUSC umbrella, polling a combined total of 118,125 votes.
A detailed report of the TUSC results was accepted and is now available, in PDF format, at www.tusc.org.uk/txt/338.pdf
Results update - TUSC polls a thousand plus votes in over twenty councils
Posted: 9 May 2015
As predicted yesterday, over 100,000 votes were cast for TUSC candidates in Thursday's elections (see http://www.tusc.org.uk/17091/08-05-2015/results-still-coming-in-but-tusc-set-to-poll-100000-votes-for-bold-no-cuts-message ). We're currently at 108,416 votes but, with more local council election results to be collected in, we are still not able to give a final tally.
One thing is clear however - TUSC is making a mark in councils across the country, which will be vital in the anti-austerity struggles to come.
Leading the way is Leicester with 4,440 votes cast for TUSC council candidates, just ahead of Coventry on 4,389. While the Leicester rebel councillors Wayne Naylor and Barbara Potter were sadly unable to hold their seats in a contest overshadowed by the general election, the anti-cuts challenge has laid firm roots across the city. Barbara polled 3,028 votes in her stand for the directly-elected city mayor.
Results still coming in but TUSC set to poll 100,000 votes for bold No Cuts message
Posted: 8 May 2015
With many councils not starting their local elections count until Friday morning, collecting in all the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) results has been a painfully slow task. But, while the figures are far from complete, we can confidently say that over 100,000 votes were cast for TUSC candidates in Thursday's elections.
The best TUSC parliamentary votes were recorded by Dave Nellist in Coventry North West, polling 1,769 votes, and Jenny Sutton in Tottenham, with 1,324 votes. There were also good scores recorded in Bethnal Green & Bow (949 votes), Liverpool Riverside (582), Barnsley Central (573), Walsall North (545), Leigh (542), Leicester East (540), Salford & Eccles (517), and the other Coventry seats, Coventry South (650) and North East (633).
But actually the parliamentary votes are just a small reflection of the support - including electoral support - for TUSC's socialist, anti-austerity message.
After the polls close: election counts and reporting the TUSC results
Posted: 6 May 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing in 135 parliamentary constituencies today and 619 candidates in the English local council elections. Gathering in the results will be a big job. How and when we plan to report them on this website is explained below. But there are also other things to look out for on election night, as the 2010 election showed.
TUSC was formed just twelve weeks before the 2010 general election, with the aim of providing a common banner for trade unionists, socialists and working class community activists to contest elections. One of the early pioneer candidates was Bill Rawcliffe, who was the RMT senior steward at the Jarvis Rail services company. Bill only decided to stand, after a mass meeting of rail engineering workers, when Jarvis went into administration on March 25th and made 1,200 workers redundant while the Labour government stood by.
'One hundred percent anti-austerity' - Scottish TUSC media launch
Posted: 29 April 2015
The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition held its election manifesto launch on Friday - and got some decent coverage too.
BBC Scotland TV cameras filmed candidates campaigning in Glasgow (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1axZ5-ZWAU ), highlighting TUSC's £10 an hour minimum wage policy but also our stand for the public ownership of the banks, utility companies and major industries such as oil.
The need for public ownership of the major sections of the economy was also the theme of a more extensive interview with Scottish TUSC spokesperson Philip Stott on BBC Radio Scotland's Newsdrive programme (listen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW1tpbbzlS0 ) where TUSC's position in the election as the '100% anti-austerity, 100% socialist' alternative got through.
Good luck message to TUSC candidates from Bob Crow's cousin
David Wallis
Posted: 27 April 2015
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) has received the following message from David Wallis, Bob Crow's cousin and also a member of the RMT's London Taxi branch:
"I would just like to wish all the TUSC candidates good luck in your campaigns over the next two weeks.
"I have had lots of conversations in my London taxi discussing TUSC and it's been very reassuring that people have listened and taken away what we stand for. I hope that I have been able to turn some heads.
TUSC's Dave Nellist on World At One
Posted: 23 April 2015
Chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, Dave Nellist, speaking on the BBC's World at One radio programme on the 21 April 2015.
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