IN AND around this year’s TUC congress, a debate began that is of critical importance both to the labour movement itself and to the wider character of our society.

Essentially, it is about values: what can be done to ensure that the previously dominant, even if declining, values of social and class solidarity are to continue as an active element in our country’s politics. 

Current trends, in terms of electoral opinion polls, show no sign of reversing a rapidly moving tide of opinion in the other direction. No less worrying is the response of the main party of the working class, Labour, to adopt the camouflage of flags, militarism and “tougher” sanctions on migrants.

It is therefore timely to remind ourselves, in some detail, of the importance of solidarity: of the existence of a politically active and united labour and trade union movement.

Virtually everything that has made our country a place where working people could live with at least some security and hope has been based upon the power of organised labour. And it is a history that is too often forgotten.

Why were factory hours finally regulated and shortened? The general strike of 1842. When was the principle of council housing won? Another general strike in Scotland in 1919, and subsequent political mobilisation across Britain in 1920.

What secured a welfare state, free healthcare and the principle of full employment? It was further political mobilisations during the second world war, along with the Red Army’s victory over fascism and the fear this put into our rulers.

What secured the widespread nationalisations of the mid-1970s and the commitment to “an irreversible shift of wealth and power in favour of working people?” The struggles of the shipyard workers, the miners and the London dockers between 1971 and 1974.

These are not fantasies. They are our history.

In every case, solidarity was central — not just between different unions but critically a solidarity that included, and often politically derived from, communities. In some cases, even, these were communities previously divided by national, sectarian and religious identities. It is this knowledge and understanding we need to bring back today. 

It is why the Marx Memorial Library will shortly be starting a course on Trade Unions, Class and Power with four fortnightly discussion classes and a website that supplies texts as well as the scope for discussion on the movement’s history of struggle and also of the current crisis.

It is such an important topic that the library will be offering a free taster session on Tuesday October 14. We hope this taster session will encourage more people to sign up for the complete course, which looks at trade unions from a Marxist viewpoint.

One key theme, as stated, is how trade unions can counter the dramatic rise of right-wing populism by placing it in this wider historical context and how today trade unions can help counter it.

It exposes right-wing populism as a political phenomenon that itself arises from the contradictions of capitalism. As capital accumulates, it creates systemic crises resulting in deindustrialisation (steel works closures), austerity (slashing benefits) and precarious work (gig workers).

In particular, it stresses that unions have not limited their efforts to workplace disputes and today should work on rebuilding a class-based understanding by constantly connecting issues like low pay, poor housing and crumbling services to the decisions made by bosses, landlords and the politicians who serve them.

By unionism in the communities, unions can support and partner with community organisations such as tenants’ associations and foodbanks. They have the means to clearly articulate the reasons for the crisis, a rigged economic system that exploits all workers and that it is not immigrants who are responsible.

Successful community and workplace campaigns are not just victories. They are practical experiences that teach everyone the collective power of the working class in the broadest sense and at the same time reveal the real enemy.

The populist right, often with the implicit or explicit backing of factions of the capitalist class, performs a critical function for the system. It mystifies the true nature of these crises.

It redirects working-class anger away from the bourgeoisie and the capitalist state, and onto scapegoats, such as immigrants, cultural elites (describing people with a moral compass as “woke”) and so on. This is a traditional way of confusing people and preventing the development of a unified class consciousness.

The populist right is successful because it appears to speak to lived experience, acknowledging the real pain and loss of community status and security felt by many. It offers a clear, simple enemy. It frames complex issues as a moral struggle between ordinary people and the corrupt elite, providing a compelling if false narrative.

We’ll be discussing the lesson that unions must learn: that they cannot win on a platform of pure economics. They must engage in the cultural and community battle for hearts and minds.

The course at Marx Memorial Library provides the arguments and evidence. Unions must campaign unitedly on issues like rent controls, public transport, council housing and energy prices that build power and trust where people live.

At its heart, it must have an understanding of trade unions both today and yesterday, of exploitation in all its forms, and on the key turning points, when trade unions and class movements have shifted the political balance in their favour.

The full course is online and starts on October 28 at 7pm. Details of both the online taster meeting on Tuesday October 14, and of the full course are on the Marx Memorial Library website www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk.