October 20th is important and all of us must make it as big as possible- the bosses will be watching. However it isn’t enough. While many in the leadership of our movement want us to blow off steam so they can go back to the humdrum we mustn’t let them. That means building the combativity of our fellows in the workplace. We are in a class war and rhetoric won’t win. Unfortunately so far there’s been too much rhetoric and not enough action.

In a union which makes a lot of its leading role in the movement, PCS should to be in a position where we can take action on our own timetable and our own terms. We need to be able to take action without waiting for the trade union bureaucracies to line up behind a call for a set-piece one-day strike which may or may not happen anytime soon. Weakness invites aggression and there will be plenty of that on display from the Tories at their bash in Birmingham this week.

We need to fight now and fight hard with strikes, walk outs and other actions up to and including national action. We need to put the tools in place to do this such as a membership levy.  We need a serious strategy and tactics fit for a fighting union if we are to give a lead in the movement. This is what is needed if we are to protect our living standards, roll back the attacks on public services and strengthen us for future battles to fight for a different type of society.