Background
Members will be aware that PCS are running a Make Your Vote Count Campaign. The campaign is not about the union instructing members which party to vote for. It is about seeking out the views of prospective candidates and raising the concerns of PCS members with those candidates.
We made an exception however with parties of the far right. We didn’t engage with them and we discouraged support for them. These organisations promote policies which are in opposition to union policy. Their policies are racist, sexist and homophobic and they are opposed to independent trade unions. It’s clear that PCS has to and always will take a stand against the far right.
Election results - A Setback
With these things in mind many people were shocked by the results of the recent local and European elections in the North West.
Although support for far right parties in the North West actually decreased, they made electoral gains due to the lack of support for mainstream parties.
However, the government’s equalities watchdog has already stated that organisations that openly discriminate in their membership policies on the basis of skin colour could be vulnerable to legal challenge.
This may appear self-evident to many of us but the issue has become far more pressing now that such organisations are receiving taxpayer’s money.
In addition, as the effects of the recession on the public finances leads to massive cuts in public spending, civil service jobs, pay, conditions and pensions are all likely targets. In fact the living standards of all working families as whole are now under threat.
We need to ensure that the kind of organisations that made electoral gains in the North West last month do no try to build on those gains by scapegoating minority groups for the effects of the recession.
The answer for Trade Unionists is to stick together and defend our common interests.
The traditional slogan of “United We Stand Divided We Fall” has never been more important to defending our interests.
