Here is our flashmob last Saturday which was advertising our upcoming meeting:
How Seattle won a $15 an hour minimum wage
And the lessons for us
7.30pm Monday 6 July
Red Room, back of the Rose and Crown Pub, Hoe Street, Walthamstow
Anti-eviction activists were supported by parents passing to drop their children at school
Waltham Forest TUSC supporters joined others to stop an eviction of a single mother and her two children in Walthamstow this morning. Local TUSC coordinator Nancy Taaffe reported:
“It looks like the possible eviction of a woman and her two kids has been temporarily won in Walthamstow today. However, I am visiting someone this afternoon who is facing the same thing and trying to help her, we met someone yesterday facing the same thing and and we met a mum on her way to school this morning who came back and supported us outside the house today, who is also facing eviction next week.
“This is an onslaught. The mass eviction of many women and their children …and the recent intensification of the problem means that we need a grass roots/ trade union response to physically stop the bailiffs, but also we need to raise secure tenancies politically- in every arena. The GLA elections are coming up, we have to make the London challenge about stopping the forced evictions and gaining security of tenure and access to council homes if you do face eviction.”
Laura and her daughter in their ‘temporary’ flat
Nancy Taaffe
Waltham Forest TUSC coordinator
The stories of Sandra and Laura Sharpe sum up the effect of the housing crisis on every generation of working class Londoner.
I first met Sandra in 2013. She’s a disabled woman living in Leytonstone. When the Con-Dems announced the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’ – cutting the housing benefit of social housing tenants deemed to have too many bedrooms – we sprang into action on Sandra’s estate. We leafleted and called a street meeting one Saturday afternoon which Sandra came to.
The street meeting where Sandra first met TUSC
She told me about her family’s history of fighting to hang on to their homes – she remembers her mum barricading them in against the bailiffs when Sandra was young. That spirit had stuck with her and she was prepared to do the same and refuse to move – she told the local paper “they’ll have to drag me out of my wheelchair”.
Sandra was always prepared to move to a smaller house which was more suitable for her needs, but was desperate not to leave her community and the support network of friends and family it contained. Then the council started threatening her with eviction because of the arrears she’d accrued by refusing to pay the shortfall on her rent created by the bedroom tax.
We’ve been with Sandra from the start and never given up. I’ve gone to the housing office with her numerous times, we’ve organised protests for her and made sure she’s been at meetings where she can challenge local politicians about her situation. Now she’s in a nice new flat close to her old estate and the arrears are not being chased.
I also put her in touch with Wally Kennedy, a TUSC activist in West London. Wally helped get Sandra re-categorised for council tax benefit and now she doesn’t have to pay any for a year.
Sandra on one of the protests outside the housing office
Recently, Sandra introduced me to her daughter Laura. Laura now lives in Ilford, with her four year old daughter. In January 2014 she started a new part time job in Westminster. Her partner was working full time. Because of cuts to her housing benefit, she had fallen into rent arrears on her privately rented home in Walthamstow and was evicted in July. She had to take time off work to take documents to the council and to move house. Because of this time off while still on probation at the new job, Laura was sacked.
Laura said: “even before I lost the job and got evicted we were struggling. My daughter was entitled to 15 hours of free childcare but that wasn’t enough for the hours I was working. I had to find a nursery around the corner from my mum’s. I would drop her at mum’s in the morning, my mum would take her to nursery at 1, pick her up at 4 and then I’d pick her up after work. If it wasn’t for my mum, what would I have done? Even with that help I got myself in debt.”
Laura went to Waltham Forest council who put her into temporary accommodation – which she’s still in eight months later. The rent is £190 a week and the property is managed by letting agents Whitworth’s. The house has a blocked drain, bad mould in the toilet, the toilet leaks, the garden is a mess and the back fence is falling down. Whitworth’s said this would be sorted as soon as Laura and her family moved in but they’re still waiting. The day before I visited, her partner had lost a day’s pay to stay home waiting for a promised visit to carry out work – nobody came.
After contacting the letting agent about the repairs, Laura was told by the council that she’s in rent arrears again – around £400. She told me: “they only told me when I called about something else. If I hadn’t, when would I have been told? It would have just got higher and higher until I definitely couldn’t pay.”
It’s still not clear how the arrears have come about as Laura’s housing benefit was calculated at £190 a week – enough to cover all her rent.
“We’re really struggling, especially with me not working. Out of less than £200 I get a month I pay £100 for council tax. Then there’s gas and electric, and because the place is so cold we were spending £20 a week on gas. We’ve had to borrow money from friends to try and get by. Now the landlord’s put the rent up.
“When I first went to the council they said they could help me get a part rent-part buy place. How’s that going to happen when I don’t have money for a deposit, I’m not working and they don’t accept housing benefit? And I can’t afford to go back to private renting – if I could then I wouldn’t have lost the one bedroom place I had before. We need a council house.”
We need urgent action to provide enough decent, affordable homes for all those who need them. That’s part of what TUSC is fighting for.
Thanks for all your support!
After Labour’s meltdown – fight back against the Tories by building TUSC
After a really excellent campaign our results are:
Nancy Taaffe in Walthamstow – 394 votes
Len Hockey in Chingford – 241 votes
We distributed well over 100,000 leaflets, had dozens of volunteers helping us campaign on the streets or bundle leaflets or raise money, and had thousands of conversations. “I see you everywhere” said many when they came across our pink flashmobs around the borough! And the pink is here to stay – this campaign was always a step towards something bigger, building for the future.
These are modest votes. We believe this reflects mainly the campaign of fear by the mainstream parties leading people to think they had no choice but to vote purely on who they would prefer to be prime minister. The on-going battle for every ounce of media coverage is also an issue. It’s clear from the thousands we spoke to that our support goes much wider than those who felt able to vote for us this time. Having said that, we increased our vote in Walthamstow from 2010 and there is certainly a small but growing constituency of committed TUSC voters.
We would appeal for those voters, and others who support us, to not just passively give us your vote but to join us. Help us build a political voice for working class and young people.
We’re horrified to see another Tory government elected. The Con-Dem Coalition is hated for what it has done to people in the last 5 years. In that situation the Labour Party should have been able to win this election hands down. That they haven’t is an indictment of Labour and its failure to inspire and enthuse the mass of people.
We would argue, if Labour cannot defeat the Tories now, when people are so angry and so keen for a change, then when could it? Labour is no longer capable of representing working class people in our fight against the bosses and their party the Tories. We have to build something new. The struggles that will inevitably follow in the next months and years to defend jobs and services from yet another Tory onslaught, need to take the lead. TUSC is at the heart of this process.
We plan to organise a post-election meeting soon, check back for details.
Use your vote to keep the establishment parties in check
(text of last leaflet of campaign)
■ The mainstream parties would like you to believe that all that matters in this election is whether it’s David Cameron or Ed Miliband moving into Number 10 and who joins them in coalition.
■ In reality, all the mainstream parties are signed up to 5 more years of austerity – that means us continuing to pay for the bankers’ crisis with our jobs and services.
■ So whatever happens on 7th May, we have to keep fighting back against all cuts – with protests, demonstrations and strikes. TUSC believes that those struggles need, and will find, a political voice.
■ The best way to pressure local MPs and whichever party forms the government nationally, to listen to that anti-cuts movement, is for them to be looking over their shoulder at a strong anti-cuts protest vote in this election.
■ A real wasted vote is one that goes to a politician you don’t agree with – the bigger their majority, the more confident they will feel to carry on as they were – supporting the implementation of cuts. Whether in government or opposition, a strong left vote could push Labour to the left.
Why TUSC is the best way to protest vote
TUSC is the only party:
1) Opposed to all cuts in words and action
All the other parties, including the Greens, have voted for cuts. All TUSC candidates are pledged to vote against all cuts – and have done where they’ve been elected.
2) That stands for nationalisation of the energy companies
You can’t control what you don’t own. The resources of the biggest companies should be re-invested in services, jobs and infrastructure not huge profits for the super-rich 1%. Nationalisation of the ‘big six’ energy companies would be key to saving the environment, ending fuel poverty and creating jobs.
3) Calling for the cancellation, not just re-negotiation of PFI (privatisation) debt at Whipps Cross
Other parties either support PFI or call for ‘re-negotiation’ of the debt. The debt is not ours and is draining our NHS dry. NHS money should be spent on services and staff, not paying off extortionate private companies.
4) With a record of supporting workers and young people fighting back
TUSC supports strikes and protests of working class people against austerity. Many of our candidates, including Nancy Taaffe in Walthamstow, have led countless campaigns and strikes. We don’t just campaign at election time but all year round.
5) Building a national, working class, anti-cuts challenge
Some other parties are posing as anti-cuts in this election because they know how angry people are and that it will get them votes. TUSC was formed by anti-cuts activists and organisations. We are the 6th biggest parties in the general elections, standing 135 candidates across the country – every one of them ordinary workers, trade unionists, anti-cuts activists and socialists.
Activists from across Waltham Forest gathered on 2 May to celebrate the 2015 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition general election campaign and plan the last few days of activity before polling day on 7 May. Below are videos from 3 of the 5 speakers (apologies for there being no videos of the other two due to technical difficulties.
Here’s Nancy Taaffe, our Walthamstow candidate, on the need for the TUSC challenge.
And Len Hockey, our Chingford candidate on why he’s standing.
Glenroy Watson of the RMT transport union spoke about the importance of his union’s official support for TUSC and the need to continue to build and strengthen that support post-election.
Isai Priya spoke for the Socialist Party.
Sarah Wrack, a young Waltham Forest renter, spoke about the desperate situation facing private renters and the importance of our campaign for rent control.
On Saturday 25th April we will be participating in the DPAC (disabled people against cuts) day of action against Iain Duncan Smith, Tory work and pensions minister and Chingford and Woodford Green MP, in Chingford – meeting at 2pm at Chingford rail station. Below is the text for our leaflet on the day:
TUSC supports the demands of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).
As DPAC state, disabled people are affected by the cuts 9 times more than everybody else, and the most severely disabled people are affected by the cuts 19 times more than everybody else.
We agree with DPAC that this discrimination against disabled people must end – and also demand that ALL cuts and austerity must end.
The changes to benefits introduced by the Labour government and intensified by the Tories demonstrate the cold cruelty of capitalist parties who want to force working class people to pay for a crisis we did not cause, and who have sought to wreak their worst on people that they thought were hidden and would be less likely to fight back.
We applaud the bold actions of DPAC in fighting these cuts, and support the ‘Revenge tour’ fortnight of action in the run up to the election.
TUSC rejects austerity. The richest 1,000 people in Britain have doubled their wealth through this crisis, while working class people have lost jobs, pay, benefits, services and even homes.
Our manifesto states:
■ STOP THE ATTACKS ON DISABLED PEOPLE
Promote inclusive policies to enable disabled people to participate in, and have equal access to, education, employment, housing, transport and welfare provision.
Support measures to ensure disabled people receive a level of income according to needs. Equal pay for equal work.
In order to achieve these things, TUSC calls for the democratic public ownership of all transport, public services, utilities and the banks. TUSC stands for a democratic socialist society in the interests of the millions not the billionaires, with full human rights and equality for all; in which everyone can live a meaningful life with dignity and control, with full access to work, education, home, leisure, transport and public life.
What is TUSC?
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is an electoral coalition standing against all cuts. It includes the RMT transport union, the Socialist Party, the SWP and leading members of other trade unions and activists. We are standing 135 general election candidates and over 600 local election candidates this May.
Our candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green is Len Hockey. Len has been a porter at Whipps Cross hospital for 26 years and led numerous campaigns in defence of NHS services and terms and conditions for NHS workers.
Come to our end of campaign rally:
Sick of big business politicians and their cuts?
A voice for the 99%!
2.30pm Saturday 2nd May
Harmony Hall, Truro Road, Walthamstow
walthamforesttusc@gmail.com
@TUSCWF
Facebook: Waltham Forest Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
There are lots of dates coming up that it would be great to see as many supporters at as possible:
1) Friday 17th April TUSC TV broadcast
Catch it on all five terrestrial channels – BBC2 5.55, ITV 6.25, BBC1 6.55, C5 6.55, C4 7.55
2) Saturday 18th April Super-Saturday
-12pm campaign stall by Lidl on Walthamstow Market – wear pink!
-4pm fundraiser event at the William Morris Community Centre, Greenleaf Road, E17 6QQ – bring a dish, a bottle, a friend and some cash!
3) Sunday 19th April Chingford activity
12pm by Chingford Sainsburys – come along to help or meet candidates and supporters
4) Saturday 2nd May End of Campaign Rally – a Voice for the 99%
2.30pm Harmony Hall, Truro Road
TUSC supporters were campaigning at Whipps the morning after the announcement
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate for Walthamstow, Nancy Taaffe, responded to the announcements in the press on Whipps Cross going into ‘special measures’:
“Today’s announcement is a direct consequence of the £77m of cuts made by the Bart’s Trust in 2013 following the use of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to fund redevelopment of the Royal London Hospital. I stood for parliament in 2005 against then Labour MP Neil Gerrard who debated with me and said that PFI at our local hospital was ‘the only show in town’. That ‘show’ has led to this terrible report. The culture of management bullying and harassment is a direct consequence of trying to make NHS workers do more with less. Although the devastation caused by privatisation wasn’t immediately apparent, we made it clear from 2005 that future generations would be damaged and disadvantaged by it. Sadly, I believe we were right. This culture of bullying directly led to the sacking of Unison branch chairperson Charlotte Monroe, who tried to raise the issue of cuts in a wider audience.
“I had my two children at Whipps Cross and know the value of its services. TUSC supporters have been active, both in the hospital and in the community, opposing cuts, including participation in the Whipps Cross demonstration in 2013. TUSC demands an end to PFI and all NHS privatisation, and no cuts, with full restoration of all funding lost to the NHS. We do not want to see a revolving door of ‘new administrators’ leeching off the public purse while those who deliver the service are run ragged and face pay cuts.”
Rent Control in Waltham Forest: Vote TUSC 
