Trade Unions Must Keep the Legacy of Cable Street Alive

Por Glyn Robbins — Tribune

On Sunday 4 October, thousands of people from across the country joined the unity parade celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street: a landmark in local and labour movement history, which saw communities band together to face down Oswald Moseley’s fascist forces as they tried to terrorise East London. Today, blackshirts are on the march again, with at least 100,000 turning out for the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally last autumn. This was a sobering reminder of the need to redouble our efforts, going beyond nostalgia, brass bands and platform speakers, and building a national movement against the far right inspired by Cable Street’s example. Here the trade unions are critical. No other organisations have the same potential to link workplaces to local communities. With 6.5 million members and massive resources at their disposal, they should be playing a more dynamic, consistent and creative role: engaging not only in a war of manoeuvre, to fight back against racist immigration policies, but also a longer war of position, to build an anti-racist consensus on this question. Since May, Tower Hamlets Trades Council, where I serve as co-secretary, has led a season of cultural activities about the significance of the Battle of Cable Street and why it still matters. Under the heading ‘TOGETHER on Cable Street’, more than thirty events were held across the borough, organised with a wide range of local organisations: history walks, book talks, a film season, concerts, poetry and mural painting, projects with local schools. Hundreds of people have come here to take part.The season was a success, but it was also a reminder that work still needs to be done. We cannot take for granted that everyone knows what happened on 4 October 1936, particularly the younger generations. And the unfortunate reality is that the labour movement is not as strong or as bold as it was back then. Among some trade unionists there is a sense of resignation to the fact that a significant number of union members support Reform and other far-right forces: a trend that reflects accumulating despair after decades of economic malaise. But such views cannot be tackled by ignoring them, any more than staying at home was the way to beat Mosley’s blackshirts. Nor can we simply hold out hope that Andy Burnham will save the day. On the contrary, the new prime minister seems reluctant to use his power to confront the far right directly. The early signs of his policy agenda (weak commitments to deal with the housing crisis, fiscal rules to block real public investment) suggest he is reluctant to make reforms at the scale needed to tackle racist scapegoating.Finally, factionalism both within trade unions and between them risks undermining a united front against reactionary nationalism. Rather than being siloed in different sectors, we need more practical collaboration to reassert the unity of our struggle. One union that threw its weight behind the Battle of Cable Street commemoration was Unite. For weeks leading up to the anniversary, it dedicated staff time and resources to a variety of activities aimed at raising the profile of trade unions in fighting racism, using Cable Street as an example. Unite produced a widely circulated tabloid featuring a range of relevant issues in an accessible style alongside a range of campaigning materials. And on the eve of the 4 October parade, it organised a gig pitched specifically at younger people, as well as commissioning a stained-glass window commemorating the anniversary. This is the kind of unapologetic, diverse approach to anti-racist campaigning that trade unions are best placed to deliver. Our efforts in Tower Hamlets show the potential for the labour movement to reach beyond its usual confines and remake the national debate, applying pressure for policies that tackle inequality and unaffordability, and creating spaces of solidarity in which anti-racist consciousness can form. During our season Tower Hamlets Trades Council worked with a local who runs a community garden, and who made a striking point. ‘You can’t superimpose anti-racism’, he said. ‘You have to patiently grow it.’

Fonte: Tribune