Leeds local elections 2023: What the TUSC is promising as it calls for striking workers to be 'paid properly'

TUSC, a left-wing electoral alliance which is standing in seven seats across Leeds, defended NHS staff and others in public service who’ve walked out over pay and conditions in recent months.

TUSC also took aim at Leeds’ ruling Labour administration for “not challenging” the Conservatives’ cuts to local government enough and claimed most of the party’s councillors were “not on the side of ordinary people”.

Interviewed ahead of the polls on May 4, TUSC’s Leeds spokesperson Iain Dalton responded to criticism of the strikes from the government and other quarters, amid claims the walkouts were leaving NHS patients at risk.

Mr Dalton said: “Our first message would be that you wouldn’t have these disputes if you had employers who were prepared to pay people properly. The last people who want to be on strike are the workers themselves. They feel like they’re not being listened to.

“Often, if you speak to junior doctors and nurses themselves, they’ll say ‘we’ve exhausted every other option and this is our last resort to get our voices heard’. [If elected] we’d seek to use our position on the council to raise issues on scrutiny committees about staffing levels and so on.

“Part of the issue is that pay has been suppressed and workloads have increased so much that you’ve got doctors and teachers just dropping out of the industry.”

While Leeds’ Labour group has repeatedly attacked austerity, TUSC claims the party “shouldn’t just accept it as something they have to manage”.

Mr Dalton highlighted the recent closure of some of the council-run Little Owls nurseries in the city, in the midst of a nationwide childcare crisis, as an “open goal” for those opposed to cuts. He called for a co-ordinated campaign between local authorities, communities and trade unions to fight back against the perceived funding shortage.

Mr Dalton said: “In the council itself you’ve got people now doing the jobs of two or three people because of staff reductions. That’s unsustainable.

“There’s obviously things a Tory-run council would have cut – like facility time for trade union reps – that we’re glad Labour haven’t. But on the other hand there’s things they have cut that we’d have liked to see campaigns to fight back against.

“Too often my experience of Labour councillors is they say ‘there’s nothing that can be done about it’. There doesn’t seem to be any challenge. What tends to be the message is, ‘this is bad but we’re making the best of it.’. I think that’s the wrong approach.”

While local authority funding has been slashed since 2010, the government insists councils are paid as much as the public purse can afford. But Mr Dalton said that nationalising the UK’s energy suppliers would release billions into the economy.

He said: “There’s plenty of money there. Just look at the profits of the energy companies. Imagine (the public sector) having just a fraction of the profits they make. That would do so much.

“There’s money there, but it’s about the political will to use that for ordinary people. That message should be put forward by the Labour Party nationally. We’ve gone from a position where that was the Labour Party’s policy a few years ago to them now saying they’re not going to call for the nationalisation of the energy companies.”

Asked about the potential danger of TUSC, who were formed in 2010, splitting the left-wing vote and potentially allowing the Conservatives to benefit, Mr Dalton said: “I think if you had councillors that stood firmly on the side of ordinary people that would make a big difference.

“Apart from the odd person that’s not happening. I do think that feeds into people’s disillusionment. Even one TUSC councillor that would champion those issues would have an effect.

“Realistically we think it’s unlikely we’ll get elected, but if through this campaign we can meet more people who agree with us, then it puts us in a better position to make a breakthrough in future.”

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in numbers

Current seats on Leeds City Council: 0/99

Number of candidates standing in 2023 local elections: 7 (out of 33 wards)

Year first TUSC councillor elected in Leeds: N/A

TUSC candidates standing in your area

Beeston and Holbeck – Katherine Alice Gwyther

Burmantofts and Richmond Hill – Richard Chaves-Sanderson

Gipton and Harehills – Iain Dalton

Headingley and Hyde Park – Florian Oscar Alice Hynam

Hunslet and Riverside – Oisín Conor Duncan

Little London and Woodhouse – Anthony Joseph Bracuti

Middleton Park – Joelle Darnelle Donaldson