The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is meeting in Glasgow on Saturday 25th February to discuss plans for a 100% anti-austerity, socialist election challenge in May’s Scottish local council elections.
Scottish TUSC has written to trade unions, left/socialist organisations, and anti-cuts campaigns seeking to build a coordinated election challenge for this year’s council elections. With both the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish Labour acting as delivery mechanisms for Tory austerity, the space for a genuine anti-austerity alternative in Scotland is growing.
The February 25th conference to discuss the elections will hear from leading trade unioinsts in the forefront of fighting cuts in local government as well as speakers from TUSC’s core participant organisations: the RMT transport workers’ union, Socialist Party Scotland and the Socialist Workers Party.
Scottish TUSC have already laid plans for candidates in a number of areas, including in Dundee, Glasgow and Renfrewshire. The new round of council cuts are having a devastating impact. Further savage attacks on jobs, services and workers’ terms and conditions are certain in the run-up to the 2017 elections. In Dundee and Glasgow the local government unions are backing calls for no-cuts budgets. We also need to build a fighting left alternative to racism and in defence of refugees.
The conference on the 25th February will be a great opportunity to help launch the basis for as wide an anti-cuts electoral challenge as possible in May 2017 and is open to anyone interested to attend. A Facebook event for the conference can be found via the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Facebook Page.