Unemployed take first steps towards national union

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With the TUC'S reformist blind alley of the Peoples March well behind them, the unemployed began the steps towards a united national organisation last Saturday.

The national conference called by Leicester Unemployed Workers Union on the theme "We've had the march, now let's organise" drew: 125 delegates irom groups of unemployed and unemployed centres throughout the country.

Tee-shirts

In all, groups from 32 towns were represented ranging from Edinburgh, Newcastle, Rochdale, Liverpool and Hull in the North to : Coventry, Telford, Nuneaton and Gloucester in the Midlands, * with a large number of groups attending from London änd the South East. * Not ' surprisingly a number of delegates were still wearing the tee-shirts they'd worn on the Peoples March.

The central discussion of the conference was on how to build a national organisation of the unemployed and what the aims of such an organisation should be.

Delegate after delegate took the microphone to denounce the failure of the trade union leaders to take up any serious fight against Tory policies and against unemployment.

As Scott Reeve, one of the London delegates, pointed out:

"We are totally opposed to the TUC guidelines. We hope to have an unemployed workers' centre in our area in the next two months, but run totally by the unemployed themselves.

"We don't want that centre run in a passive way. We want it run in a militantminded way-the unemployed fighting for their rights, fighting for improved state benefits, fighting against redundancies."

This view was echoed by Chris Erswal from the Tuebrook unemployed workers centre in Liverpool. •There, they were organising a labour movement inquiry into the needs for public services, calling for an expansion ' of the direct labour workforce, and for a major programme of useful public works.

The main resolution at the conference, which was (in amended form) adopted overwhelmingly, called for the immediate establishment of a delegate-based national steering committee of unemployed workers groups.

It spelt out the need for all local groups to fight for democratic control of TUC centres by the unemployed themselves, and the need for the unemployed to take up the fight against job losses by supporting workers' occupations, picket lines, etc.

A statement of aims was also adopted, which drew out the need for the unemployed to actively fight racialism and also the phoney "job creation" schemes.

This was also adopted overwhelmingly.

Perhaps the most important decision of the conference however was to prepare for a national conference in the autumn at which a : complete national structure could be adopted as the launching point for a national Unemployed Workers Union.

Trade unionists throughout the country should immediately raise resolutions in their branches supporting these important developments amongst the unemployed and demanding that the TUC• and Trades Councils give full rights to Unemployed Workers Union branches.