Received from: RMT
Merged into composite 04
Congress welcomes the election of a Labour government and the manifesto commitment that “there will be no return to austerity”.
Congress believes however that Labour is inheriting the results of sustained austerity, meaning that our public services, local authorities and public transport networks have been starved of the necessary funding.
Whilst Congress accepts this crisis cannot be resolved overnight Congress believes public services and local authorities cannot wait for reliance on a strategy based on future economic growth and private investment which appears to be Labour’s current approach.
There is instead an urgent need for Labour to deliver a significant real-terms increase in public spending and investment, both as an immediate necessity and as part of a longer-term economic strategy for sustainable growth.
Congress therefore agrees that the General Council will urgently agree a high-profile and constructive public campaign to strongly make the case for a more radical, progressive and credible economic strategy for national renewal.
This campaign will include making the case for:
i. reforms to the unnecessarily restrictive and arbitrary fiscal rules
ii. reforms to taxation, introduction of wealth taxes, and a redistribution of wealth
iii. a proactive industrial strategy, including public ownership and investment and planning to help deliver strategic investment as the basis of sustainable economic growth
iv. the extension of sectoral collective bargaining across the economy to raise productivity and living standards.
This campaign to be launched as soon as possible to influence the next and forthcoming budgets and to include lobbying of MPs and the cabinet.
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers