Bob Crow, the General Secretary of National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (the RMT) never fails to entertain. He describes himself as a ‘Socialist/Communist’, and displays the brand of extreme trade unionism that you’d expect from such people, who all but died out in the 1980s. Though heavy handed in his approach to industrial relations, there’s little doubt it works for RMT members: London Underground drivers, for example, have secured steady pay rises, longer holidays and triple overtime over Christmas thanks to a series of strikes and works-to-rule. But if that seems like a series of luxuries to you (I was with them until triple overtime) then you would be the ‘confrontational’ party, according to Mr Crow.
Most entertaining of all are Crow’s frequent calls, which he shall be repeating at the Durham Miner’s Gala, for the establishment of a ‘new working class party’ to replace the Labour Party, which expelled his union after local branches affiliated to the Scottish Socialist Party. Back in 2009, this call materialised in the hard-left ‘No2EU- Yes 2 Democracy’ coalition (funded by the RMT) which achieve 1% of the vote in the European Parliament elections. This mighty alliance, rebranded as the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, swept all before it in the 2010 general election, winning less than 0.1% of the national vote. So it is unsurprising that Labour is not trembling with fear at the RMT’s plans to establish another ‘new working class party’- but this time with a half-hearted call for other trade unions to help it.
Bob Crow may be popular- understandably- in the RMT, but his brand of unrealistic far-left ideology is politically toxic. That is because he doesn’t speak for the shrinking section of the British population which sees itself as working class. In fact, various surveys suggest that just one of four people is self-identified working class, and that proportion is only going to decline further. The one thing that trade unions are undeniably good at is understanding the wishes and aspirations of their membership, and they see that One Nationism is a good fit for the working people of Britain, not the anti-success mentality that has always lurked on the fringes of the Brtish left. Not only that, but the trade union movement understands that Labour is a valuable partner to have. To sever ties with their comrades of 113 years in order to establish a cash-rich, people-poor vehicle that will be a total failure would be a fast track to permanent isolation and decline for each and every trade union.
The only alternative for the disgruntled union is opening negotiations the the only significant left-wing alternative to Labour: the Green Party. Though this is unlikely given the Greens’ performance in their first (and probably last) council administration. There has been no love lost between the Brighton and Hove Green Party and the tenacious GMB union in their efforts to protect their staff from savage pay cuts. Fortunately, a constructive dialouge has opened between the leaderships of union and the Labour Party about how they might improve relations.
There’s no point warning Mr Crow about splitting the left-wing vote, or stumbling deeper into the wilderness. That is a course he is set upon, and one which will not damage any organisation or group other than the RMT. After all, they stand no chance of causing a serious upset for Labour, if the performance of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is anything to go by. I repeat, it is merely the RMT which stands to lose anything at all. The bond between the Labour movement and the union one is more than a political partnership: it’s a philosophical and an emotional one. That is what’s irreplaceable.
