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The trade unions are key to facing down the far right
FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT explains why unions are at the forefront of the new Together alliance against a rising far right
UP IN SMOKE: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks during the party's annual conference earlier this year
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THE trade union movement has a long history of facing down the far right. In 1936, Londoners built and defended barricades against Oswald Mosley. A few thousand fascists were confronted by hundreds of thousands led by trade unions and socialists, refusing to allow them to march through the East End.
In the 1970s, trade unions stood against the National Front in the streets. “Firefighters against the Nazis” was one active chapter of the Anti-Nazi League, alongside teachers, railway workers, engineers, miners and many more.
And last year, when mobs targeted and attacked hotels, mosques and migrants, communities rallied against them. Seven thousand people rallied in anti-racist solidarity on the streets of Walthamstow.
On March 28, we will march again to launch a new coalition — TOGETHER.
But across the country, the visibility of trade unions has diminished. While we have many inspirational young members organising in workplaces, as a movement we face an issue of scale. Before Thatcher, most workers were in a union; today, only a fifth are.
Meanwhile, far-right groups ensure that St George’s flags are still hanging from streetlamps. It is important to understand the enemy behind these public displays.
Extreme right groups are working in tandem with the electoral machine of Reform UK. They have built a loose coalition through online networks, dragging those who come into their orbit further into a web of hatred and conspiracy theories, and have mobilised in the most deprived areas of the country.
With Reform surging ahead in the polls at 27 per cent, we must operate with the understanding that their place in UK politics is no longer marginal.
These are not all die-hard Reform voters: much of the support for the party stems from anti-establishment feeling. To prevent Farage entering Number 10, we must change people’s minds before the next general election in 2029.
Decades of austerity, neoliberalism and the hollowing out of communities have left millions with little hope for the future. Talk of countering hate with hope requires a meaningful alternative — and as trade unionists, we have a credible material offering.
Our vision of hope for the future involves active confrontation with the super rich, and politicians who hoard wealth and power.
This hope is not passive, and the results of organising speak for themselves. Trade unions are the tools that workers use in the daily work of building power, to change workplaces, communities and the world.
Reclaiming agency and dignity step by step, in each workplace, housing block, community centre: this is how we will win.
While we grow industrial strength across sectors, we must always face outwards. We need strong, active and democratic branches in every workplace, and these must be plugged in to local community organisations.
When the far right threatens to march through towns and cities, we must outnumber them in displays of strength and unity. But we must also be there when they aren’t marching: building the transformative relationships, networks and trust that are needed to counter the right’s false promises.
We face many challenges, but as workers we never fight from a position of weakness. The strength, pride and dignity of our movement has always prevailed, and we must rally in this tradition.
See you on March 28 in London.
