Marching in Cheltenham, January 2024 against anti-strike laws and remembering the ban on unions at GCHQ. Photo Workers.
When workers discuss the state Britain is in, the question that follows inevitably is what can be done about it? It’s a tough question, one not yet answered.
Workers engage in many struggles to assert what they think is right – small and large, well-known and obscure, in the workplace and elsewhere.
But all the struggles reflect the nature of capitalist society today – the overwhelming majority of the people in Britain have little or no control over the accumulated wealth of their labour. Without that, we have no direct control over Britain’s future either.
So what’s to be done? And who will do it? Start with organisation. When workers combine and organise they can change their lives.
Workers’ organisation is powerful. The strength of workers when they get together in common cause scares the ruling class.
Trade unions became significantly more effective when workers learned in the mid-19th century to establish their unions as permanent, ongoing bodies.
The nature of those organisations reflected the need to cooperate. Lessons were learned about how to organise, when to fight and when to hold back. So education in struggle is important.
Collaborating in political and economic action is a natural result of the nature of work. Workers depend on each other to produce goods and services in myriad ways. But where there is capitalism and the exploitation of their labour, workers are in competition with each other, for jobs and wages.
As workers’ organisation in unions developed they learned to deal with that competition. They developed a democracy which sought unity of purpose, through debate, and the rule of the majority over the minority in action. The ruling class perpetually tries to attack and undermine that democracy, as it seeks to limit workers’ organisation.
So what then are workers to do with their organisation and understanding in the wish to control their future? These two assets cannot be taken for granted, they have to be used, learned and re-learned in practice.
First avoid the cynical view that nothing can be done. (Employers and the ruling class love that approach.) Engage in struggles, large or small, where the opportunity and need exist. That’s not heroic, just necessary, and in the end unavoidable.
And take the broadest view of your fellow workers. In a dispute at work you don’t ask questions about political, religious or cultural affiliations, you just want commitment to the common goal. It also means standing out against divisive, false struggles.
Such an approach – whether in a pay dispute or fighting against solar farms on agricultural land – is no guarantee that workers can achieve a better Britain. But not to take these steps will perpetuate the cycle of false promises and disappointment. It’s in our hands to make a difference by understanding what makes workers strong and using that understanding to start to gain control of our country.