Thank you again for signing the petition calling for trade unions to take the lead in forming a new working-class party. We have been working hard to raise the idea amongst trade union reps and activists of the need to put our unions and trade unionists at the centre of the building of the new Your Party.
Once again, I apologise if you receive more than one copy of this information. Given the circumstances, I am sending this invitation through multiple channels, which may result in some duplication.
Reconvened Trade Unionists for a New Party meeting
The first ‘Trade Unionists for a New Party’ meeting on 21st July, attended by over 1000 trade union reps and activists, was addressed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana just days before their mould-breaking call for a new alternative under the temporary banner of ‘Your Party’. We are reconvening that meeting on Monday, 13th October to discuss the next steps in the fight for working-class political representation.
The move to a new party suffered a setback in mid-September with public disagreements amplified by the establishment media. And, while the show is now back on the road with membership opened (at https://in.yourparty.uk/users/sign_up) and the founding conference set for the end of November, there is still work to be done, especially in the trade unions.
The July meeting agreed on a series of follow-ups to discuss plans for individual unions to make sure that trade unions and trade unionists are at the core of a new anti-austerity and anti-war party. Ten such meetings have been held in August and September, again with over a thousand trade unionists registering. The general format involved working out model motions for union branches tailored to the particular situation in each union, with further meetings planned to assess progress later in the autumn.
A round-up of the model motions or other action points at each of the union-specific follow-ups is available here.
But Monday’s reconvened meeting will be a chance for an all-union perspective to be debated, including hearing some of the arguments that have taken place in branches on the new party, and with the Independent Alliance group of MPs who are overseeing the formation process of the party invited to explain the progress so far.
I hope you can join us. You can register for Monday's meeting here.
And, if you missed the original meeting on July 21st, you can watch the video here.
Let's work together to make Your Party the best possible version it can be.
In solidarity,
Dave Nellist
(Chair of TUSC)