New discussion group on Yahoo

Teachers at the launch conference of the Campaign for a New Workers Party have put together a discussion group on Yahoo. Information about the launch is available here: http://cnwp.org.uk

You can join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNWPteachers/?yguid=185994891

Post message: CNWPteachers@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe: CNWPteachers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Unsubscribe: CNWPteachers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

List owner: CNWPteachers-owner@yahoogroups.comI

It is open to everybody and there is a sign-up link on our webpage. here. The only memberships which will be terminated are those which are seriously off-topic or advertising.

Campaign for a New Workers' Party

The Campaign for a New Workers’ Party conference, meeting in London on 19 March, was attended by some 450 people.

Former Labour MP and current Socialist Party councillor in Coventry Dave Nellist chaired the conference, which debated nine resolutions about the future shape of the campaign and elected officers and a steering committee to take the campaign’s work forward.

An overwhelming theme of the conference was that after previous false starts in trying to establish a new party to represent working people – such as Arthur Scargill’s Socialist Labour Party – any new party would have to be democratic, open and inclusive. At this stage the delegates at the conference felt it should take a federal approach to bring in as many supportive organisations and groups as possible, with no one group or individual dominating.

Dave Nellist, elected as the chair of the new steering committee said after the conference: "Today has been a very good start to our aim of preparing the way for a new party based on trade unionists, anti-war campaigners, community and environmental activists and particularly young people.

"With PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka speaking at the conference, along with other supportive messages from leading trade union figures, then this shows we have a strong base in the unions. A key objective now will be to get the unions to break from Labour and support our campaign."

Over 300 of the delegates at the conference were active trade unionists, including many members of trade union national executive committees and leading representatives at all levels of the trade unions. The new Campaign has a structure that allows trade unions to affiliate it and over half of the new steering committee were elected by trade union commissions on the day..

Dave Nellist added: "I think the timing of our launch has been just right. The sleaze allegations surrounding Labour, along with talk of state funding of the political parties which will further break the unions’ now tenuous links with Labour then I think we are well placed to see our campaign go from strength to strength.

"The Conference clearly concluded that Labour was no longer an option for working people. The CNWP needed to become the clear option for the working class, but it must first be rooted in communities and within the left, and that will be our task in the months ahead"

Although this was an initial conference of the CNWP it agreed a number of immediate tasks aimed at popularising the idea of a new mass workers’ party amongst as wide a section of the working class as possible.

This included:

* Actively supporting any initiatives towards the development of a new party. In particular encouraging those trade union and trade union leaders that no longer believe that New Labour can represent their interests to take active steps towards founding a new party.
* Reaffirming support for the declaration for a new workers’ party and aiming to have at least 5000 trade union, community and anti-war activists signed up by the end of 2006.
* Establishing affiliation to the CNWP. Affiliation for national organisations will be £50 and for local community, trade union and campaigning organisations £25. All national affiliated organisations with 100 or more members would have a seat on the steering committee.
* To get CNWP speakers to address local community, trade union and campaigning organisations meetings.
* Organise a CNWP speaking tour in May which aims to develop local CNWP campaigns in those areas where they don’t yet exist.
* Organise CNWP fringe meetings at as many trade union conferences as possible.
* To give support to genuine socialist and anti-cuts, anti-privatisation campaigns in the local elections.
* The steering committee will call a second national conference, by the end of March 2007 at the latest, to assess the progress made and look at how to further take the campaign forward.



The new officers of the campaign elected at the conference are:
Position Nomination
Secretary Roger Bannister (member of UNISON national executive – personal capacity)
Chair Dave Nellist (Socialist Party councillor, Coventry)
Vice-Chair Kevin Kelly (vice-president PCS national executive – personal capacity)
Vice-chair Jeremy Dewar
Press Officer Pete McLaren
Treasurer Fiona Pashazadeh
Trade union liaison officer Glenn Kelly (UNISON national executive – personal capacity)
Assistant Secretary Hannah Sell


Below is a link to pictures of the conference

Images from the "CNWP Conference".

You can review the images by clicking on this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autobiographical/sets/72057594085687243/



Further information contact:

Pete McLaren on 07881 520626

Or Dave Nellist on 07970 294237

NUT executive - vote for Linda Taaffe

NUT executive - vote for Linda Taaffe

SOCIALIST PARTY member Linda Taaffe is standing for re-election to the national executive of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

Linda says:

"As a national executive member since 1988 I have always argued for the leadership to commit itself to a bolder national fight-back. Never has this been more urgent. Let's build our union into a force to be reckoned with!"

She is calling for a campaign of action against the government's plans to unleash the free market on schools. And she is calling for privatised education services to be taken back into local authority control.

National pay rates for teachers are under threat. Performance pay through TLRs is having to be fought through industrial action, or the threat of it, in an increasing number of schools. The Education Bill will make things worse, by allowing schools to set their own pay and conditions.

The trade unions forced the government to climb down over the retirement age for existing teachers but the final pensions package is still awaited. Some teachers and many teaching assistants are covered by the local government pensions scheme. Linda is calling for national action on pensions to be reinstated if necessary and for full support for education workers taking action over their pensions.

Workload is still a major problem for teachers - Linda is calling for a 35-hour week and an end to meaningless additions to teachers' workload. Linda says: "Many young teachers find themselves with little time for a life outside school and not much money in their pocket to show for it!"

Linda is standing for an Outer London seat on the executive and she is calling for pay parity with Inner London for all London teachers.

The election runs from 15 March - 5 April. For more information: linda.taaffe@wfnut.org

Socialist Party discusses with Respect

Socialist Party discusses with Respect

LAST YEAR the Socialist Party wrote to Respect, asking for a meeting to discuss how our two organisations could best collaborate in the task of overcoming the lack of political representation for the working class. As a result, we were invited to meet Respect on 7 March. Judy Beishon reports.

Introducing the discussion, Hannah Sell restated that the Socialist Party welcomes every positive step towards working-class political representation. She went on to say, however, that although we welcomed Respect's electoral successes, such as George Galloway's victory in the 2005 general election, it is clear that Respect is not at present developing into a sizable, effective force that can represent all sections of the working class.

It has not developed into a force even equivalent to other formations such as the WASG in Germany, the Left Bloc in Portugal and the Brazilian P-SOL.

One reason is Respect's political approach and programme. It is important, for instance, to recruit Muslim workers to a new workers' formation, but this must be clearly based on a programme of working-class unity across all sections of society. Otherwise, there is the danger that divisions will be exacerbated, rather than unity being developed towards formation of an effective mass force.

Unfortunately, the approach and material used by Respect, which has achieved its electoral gains primarily by work in Muslim communities on the issue of the Iraq war, has laid it open to the perception of being a party predominantly for Muslims, with the corresponding dangers this can bring. The Respect representatives at the 7 March meeting dismissed our points on this issue and, without presenting evidence, argued that Respect has broad appeal beyond the Muslim community.

Another reason for Respect's failure to develop as a vehicle of working-class political representation, and the fundamental reason why the Socialist Party has been unable to join Respect and argue for our ideas from within, is because Respect is not organised on an inclusive, federal basis.

It claims to be a coalition of different organisations and opinions rather than a centralised party, but a large majority at most of its meetings and rallies are members of the Socialist Workers' Party (SWP). So on Respect's constitutional basis of decision-making by 'one person, one vote', the SWP is able to decide the outcome on most issues, from overall policy to the selection of election candidates.

Many trade unionists, left activists and community campaigners amongst others, are very wary of a 'coalition' which can be manipulated behind the scenes by a single organisation. This is the more so for workers who have had direct experience of the past policies and methods of the SWP.

Because Respect does not have a genuinely federal constitution that would have ensured that major decisions are taken on the basis of agreement between the key participating organisations, or that would have prevented the dominance of any single organisation, it has prevented wider layers from joining.

Over time, with an influx of new workers and youth into one (or more) new formations, federation-based constitutions could be changed through democratic discussion and debate to structures appropriate for the larger size, tasks and degree of political agreement of the organisation.

But it is premature at this stage in England and Wales to have a 'party-type' constitution, especially considering the present level of left and trade union forces involved in the necessary processes.

Unfortunately, the three Respect representatives at the 7 March meeting made it clear that Respect would not reconsider the basis of its present constitution. SWP member John Rees, Respect's national secretary, said that its structure is already federal, as there is no 'party political agreed position' and its members can campaign for their own ideas. But such a broad political entity requires a corresponding organisational federalism, which Rees does not support.

The other Respect representatives present, Tower Hamlets councillor Oliur Rahman and International Socialist Group (ISG) member Alan Thornett, said that the Socialist Party should join Respect, but also believe no fundamental changes to be necessary.

Alan Thornett even argued that Respect needs more centralisation rather than less, despite the fact that his group recently produced a public statement criticising lack of accountability and democracy in Respect.

Most of the measures they have supported are being implemented, especially following Galloway's Big Brother performance, which clearly revealed to Respect members the need for accountability of public representatives. But the changes being made will not solve Respect's problems, or alone lay the basis for it becoming a larger, successful coalition.

The Respect representatives accepted that Respect is still 'in formation' and is not therefore the final word on a new workers' party. But when invited to sign Respect up to the Campaign for a New Workers Party (CNWP), they did not do so, though they agreed to raise it at their next national council meeting and sent a speaker to the 19 March conference.

STOP THE WAR! - Saturday 18th March 2006

Demonstrate on Saturday 18th March, Assemble 12 noon Parliament, called by Stop the War Coalition. The ISR/Socialist Party/Socialist Students contingent will be, as always, the loudest out there, and not just because of the portable stereo system and megaphones. You can download the ISR leaflet here.

Conference for a New Workers' Party on 19 March

Fiona Pashazadeh and Dave Nellist write:

We are writing to invite you to an initial conference of the Campaign for a New
Workers¹ Party, taking place at the University of London Union, Malet St
WC1, from 11.30 ­ 4.30 pm on 19 March 2006. The attendance fee is £5.You can register via the website http://www.cnwp.org.uk/ If you include an email address with your registration we will then
be able to keep you up-to-date with plans for the conference on a regular
basis.

The declaration has so far received a very good response. Many trade
unionists, NHS and housing campaigners, young people and anti-war activists
can see the need to begin working towards the foundation of a new party that
actually stands up in their interests. Please check the website for the
latest information on signatories.

The more people who are actively involved in the campaign the greater effect
we can have! If you haven¹t already done so, please consider going beyond
signing the declaration yourself and starting to ask others to follow your
example. If you would like copies of the declaration petition sheet to pass
around in your trade union, college, campaign or workplace, or copies of
other material about the campaign please get in touch straight away. Also
don¹t hesitate to contact us if you would like advice on how to raise the
campaign in your trade union or organisation.

The conference on 19 March will have a variety of speakers including Mark
Serwotka PCS general secretary, Dave Nellist Socialist Party councillor, and
a councillor from the new left party in Germany, which received 8.7% of the
vote in the recent general election. The website will be kept updated with
the latest speakers. However, the main purpose of the conference is not to
listen to platform speakers but to discuss and debate how we can take
forward the campaign from here.

As it is an initial conference, we do not think it would be practical or
desirable to operate on a strict delegate basis. We are therefore proposing
that everyone is welcome to attend the conference, and all those that have
signed the declaration will have full participation rights including the
right to vote. However, where community campaigns and trade union
organisations are able to send official representatives we would obviously
welcome this. Even if you are attending as an individual your trade union or
campaign may well be willing to help finance your attendance. Again feel
free to contact us for advice on how to go about getting help from your
organisation.

We want to do our best to make sure that all points of view are heard at the
conference. Given the time restrictions the best way of doing this seems to
be to suggest that all organisations ­ including national political
organisations and local trade union branches and community campaigns ­ would
have the right to move one resolution. We suggest that these resolutions
concentrate on how we can develop the campaign over the next few months.
While broader questions, such as the programme of a new party, are
undoubtedly important, we think it would be premature to take decisions on
those issues at an initial conference that aims to begin building a campaign
for a new party. We are proposing a deadline for submitting resolutions of 5
pm on Monday 13 March, to allow time for them to be circulated to all those
attending the conference.

We would also like the conference to break down for an hour into groups (one
for each trade union present, plus one for community campaigns, and one for
youth and student groups) to discuss how to further the campaign in their
fields.

We are also suggesting that the conference elects an initial steering
committee which is able to both effectively coordinate the campaign and to
make sure that different points of view are heard. We will circulate a
proposal on how to do this to all those who have registered for the
conference by 6 March.
If you need help with accommodation in London the night before the
conference, or require crèche facilities, get in touch and we will do our
best to assist.

If you have any other questions don¹t hesitate to get in touch.

We look forward to seeing you on 19 March.


Yours in solidarity,