TUC 2012 - Together we can beat the coalition's attack

TUC 2012: A fantastic summer of Olympic and Paralympic sport has proved that the workers of this country can deliver infrastructure, transport and support services which are the envy of the world - when they are given the resources and the opportunity.

But the focus now shifts back to the political, economic and industrial agenda with a vengeance.

The pathetic and half-baked attempts by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to relaunch their shambolic coalition with a raft of empty promises - on capital development, house-building and "kick-starting the economy" - is a drop in the ocean.

And it's at least a year off over the horizon when a major programme of public works was needed at the outset of this banker-led economic meltdown to drag us out of this crisis.

In RMT's industries the fiasco over the West Coast mainline franchise - where First Group and Virgin are slugging it out in the courts over the spoils - has thrown the spotlight on the case for renationalisation.

It's ignited the campaign against the poisonous cocktail of fare increases, cuts and profiteering at the heart of the McNulty rail review, now incorporated and endorsed by the government in its Rail Command paper.

At railway stations and MPs' surgeries the length and breadth of the country this autumn and winter RMT will be working with our sister unions, passenger groups and local communities to press home the advantage as the political class is waking up to the fact that its survival on the gravy train is under threat.

We have no intention of letting a single one of them off the hook, regardless of their political party.

If you want an example of how the political classes have all swallowed the Thatcher/Blair/EU consensus on privatisation hook, line and sinker, just take a look at the Scottish National Party's plans for Scottish ferry services.

Already it's abandoned the Northern Isles service to rapacious profiteers from Serco - and now it's planning a similar raid on CalMac western routes, a move RMT will continue to resist with a political, industrial and public fightback.

We know from our colleagues in Greece, Spain and other parts of Europe that grabbing hold of the austerity agenda to force the pace of privatisation and attacks on working people has been no accident.

It goes right to the very heart of what the European Union and its institutions stand for.

We also know that now the EU elite and its enforcers in the "troika" - the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - have the bit between their teeth they are upping the ante.

Their "Monti II" proposal would give the anti-union decisions of the European Court of Justice in the Viking and Laval cases full regulatory status, opening the door for attacks on workplace rights and the escalation of social dumping right across the board.

That means that the kind of practices operated by Condor Ferries out of the south coast - paying wages of little more than £2 an hour and employing workers on a three-month-on, one-unpaid-month-off basis - will escalate.

And with Monti II bringing in the right for the courts to make strike action illegal if a judge rules it doesn't meet "proportionality" requirements, trade unions could be hit with unlimited claims for compensation if they dare to stand up and fight this exploitation.

Monti II isn't some bolt-on extra to the EU machinery.

It's consistent with the entire drive of the euro project and makes a nonsense of the arguments put by those who still try to sell us the "social Europe" con-trick.

That's a fantasy and that's why RMT is again taking the issue of a referendum on British membership of the EU bosses' super-state to the TUC with a clear call for withdrawal.

Our union - mindful of the role the state and its allies in the press have played in industrial disputes - will also be bringing the issue of the "hidden courts" contained in the Justice and Security Bill to Congress.

The authoritarian wing of the Tory Party is determined to rip up the centuries-old tradition of fair and open justice.

It's down to the trade union movement to lead the fight to stop them.

As we gear up for the October 20 protests we have a huge challenge ahead of us.

But we should be encouraged by the general and co-ordinated strike action of our colleagues across Europe who have refused to bend the knee and have shown the kind of courage and determination needed in the face of the assault on jobs, services and working conditions.

This government is a shambles - it's openly at war with itself. Determined and co-ordinated action in workplaces and out on the streets can beat it.