Justice for George Floyd – build a mass movement of workers and youth against racism and against capitalism in the UK.
Across the UK, the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, unarmed, pleading that he could not breathe, has become a lightning rod for anger against racism. Thousands have joined demonstrations and rallies have heard impassioned speeches demanding an end to stop-and-search policing, demanding answers as to why BAME people are disproportionately dying from Covid-19 and demanding an end to racism, injustice, discrimination and poverty, all of them very real pandemics with very real deaths.
Young people in particular have led and organised demonstrations, forced to do so because of the absence of layers of the trade union movement and opposition from police, politicians and other elements of the establishment. For the trade union movement, the situation has posed a dilemma. In many sectors of the economy, unions have been fighting to protect workers from the Coronavirus by keeping them at home, where this is possible. They fear any premature move back into workplaces could spark a Covid-19 resurgence. For this reason many serious activists and trade unionists have stayed away from BLM events.
Such fears must be addressed sympathetically. Many workers are afraid of the virus and have been under huge stress from bosses who simply don’t care that they are trying to shield vulnerable relatives, while public health guidance has been written to support the maximum number of people being at work. Attempts are already being made to divide workers between those who supported the Black Lives Matters demonstrations and those who were instinctively worried about such events during lockdown.
This genuine fear on the part of workers is fundamentally different to the attitude we have seen from the right-wing leaders of the labour movement, however. Labour leader Keir Starmer’s rush to attack members of his own party for joining demonstrations, and his condemnation of the people in Bristol who pulled down the statue of a slave trader, is an attempt to signal to the capitalist class that Labour is safe again. Despite worthy words from trade union leaders, none of them have encouraged members to join the demonstrations.
Yet if these demonstrations are to stand a chance at forcing lasting change, the trade unions cannot stand aloof. They must be present at the demonstrations, to put forward the very socialist ideas that can deliver a world free of oppression, discrimination and racism. Trade unions are mass organisations that unite workers of all backgrounds. Only a united working class can force the capitalist class and their government to concede an end to stop and search policing, an end to racist immigration laws or a minimum wage of £12 per hour to end poverty which disproportionately hits BAME communities.
Additionally, many of the thousands involved in the demonstrations are those who would most benefit from being members of fighting, democratic trade unions campaigning for the adoption of socialist policies across society: young people. Equally many of these young workers are those who are most likely to suffer from the economic crisis that is coming. It is for this reason that supporters of the Broad Left Network put forward a motion to the PCS National Executive Committee urging support for the demonstrations.
We note with regret that the NEC did not pass this motion. After opposition was expressed by multiple members of the NEC to the idea of encouraging members to join the demonstrations, we agreed to remit the motion on condition that the Senior Officers of the NEC consider what advice could be issued to members that would support the demonstrations. Still nothing has been heard, and so we have written to General Secretary Mark Serwotka requesting an update from the union’s Senior Officers.
Broad Left Network supporters on the NEC urge all branches to consider how best to support and participate in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, including by engaging with the organisers to discuss stewarding and social distancing arrangements. Many of the demonstrations are the most safety conscious ever seen, with hand-sanitiser, face masks and even areas for those who are shielding others to be given extra space, and these measures will only be improved by leadership from our experienced cadre of union reps.
PCS Broad Left Network 