The South East Region TUC (SERTUC) and the new coalition, Unite against Fascism, jointly organised a conference on ‘Defeating Fascism in London, the South East and the East of England’ at Congress House, London, Saturday 3 April 2004.
Frances O’Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the TUC, congratulated the government on at last proposing a new law to allow unions to exclude racists and fascists. But she also denounced the government’s reluctance to attach the myths that asylum seekers were benefit scroungers undeserving of our support. She appealed for the unions to recruit and organise migrant workers from the new European Union accession countries, arguing to applause that “migrant workers are not the enemy, exploitation is”.
Frances O’Grady “exploitation the enemy – not migrant workers”
The aim of the conference was to alert trade unionists to the dangers of the far-right British Nationalist Party (BNP) gaining seats in the local, London, and European Parliament elections on 10 June, and to provide information and campaigning tools in order to counter this threat. Workshops were held on: local and workplace campaigning, using the media to defeat racists and fascists, mobilising young voters, and busting the myths about asylum and immigration.
Lee Jasper
The danger the far right posed to London was stressed by Lee Jasper, chair of United against Fascism and spokesperson for London’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, by Jennette Arnold, a Greater London Assembly member, and by other speakers. Steve Silver, of the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight, who has been interviewed as part of the RITU project, provided a national perspective on the problem, which is particularly serious in the North West of the UK. He also launched the new joint Searchlight-TUC handbook, ‘Organising against racism and fascism’.
Steve Silver
Claude Moraes, MEP and a member of the RITU project advisory group, provided a European perspective, pointing out the large number of fascists and other far right members of the European Parliament, and the danger that any elected British far-right MEPs would be able to form an alliance with the other far right groups and so increase their influence, give them political legitimacy and access to funds and office space.
Claude Moraes addressing the meeting
In one of the four workshops John Renton, CWU London Regional Secretary, described how postal workers in Wolverhampton had successfully struck together against management posting up racist drivel.
John Renton
The meeting was attended by around 150 anti-racist activists and trade unionists from the London region including WLRI Director Steve Jefferys, RITU research coordinator Rebecca Gumbrell and RITU advisory group members Claude Moraes and Geraldine Healey.
