Looking into an abyss

As the Tories swung into power last week – despite securing little more than a third of the share of the national vote – they are now unfettered by a coalition government, and have already begun their full-throttled attack on working people and society’s most vulnerable.

Standing up to the Tories over the next five years is now more important than ever. Their grip on control is virtually complete, and if we are to have any chance at survival as the unprecedented scale of their austerity programme is fully unleashed, solidarity is our only means and continuing the fight our only hope.

Here’s what you can do to take on the Tories.

Join a trade union

Trade unions are organisations specifically designed to represent the interests of working people. In Cameron’s Britain, bad bosses have become emboldened by his pro-big business and anti-trade union agenda.

But with 6m members nationwide, unions have the power in numbers to confront the continued assault on working people. Not entirely convinced whether to join a union? Here are a few general benefits, and here’s a rundown of member benefits specific to Unite.

Get more involved in your union

A union is only as strong as its members – this strength is amplified by numbers, but just as important is member involvement. If you are already a union member, getting more involved is the best way to fight Cameron’s assault on social and economic justice.

As a member of Unite, the country’s largest union, you can become more involved in union work in a number of ways.

Unite offers free courses throughout the year for workplace, equalities and safety reps as well as lay members. You can also get involved with many of the various campaigns that Unite supports in its fight against low-pay employers and the government that subsidises them. You can find out about some of our latest campaigns here.

Community activism

Unite has recognised that it is not only in the workplace where justice is often undermined. Those not in work – whether they are full-time carers, disabled, unemployed or self-employed – can also have access to the benefits of union membership through Unite Community. Member fees are greatly reduced and you’ll get to be part of one of the most exciting innovations in trade unionism in the UK now.

But it isn’t just member benefits that draws thousands to Unite Community – it’s the opportunity to organise and become involved in community activism, which has included campaigns against Tory benefits sanctions,  the bedroom tax, housing inequality and debt.

Unite community member Bernadette Horton wrote about her first year in Unite Community, during which time she got involved in campaigning against job centre sanctions among other forms of activism.

Of her experience, she said: “My first year as a Unite Community member can be summed up as exhilarating, educational, dynamic and — the most wonderful aspect that Tories will shudder at — empowering. Unite has given me the tools to effect change and enabled me to become a real activist.”

You can, too, by finding out more about Unite Community here.

Tell your friends and family

But getting more involved in itself, is not enough to fight the next five years of the Tories’ onslaught. A coordinated and sustained movement is needed – and it’s absolutely critical that we grow that movement so that those in power have no other option but to listen to us.

Unite head of community Liane Groves made this point exactly, as she explained why groups like Unite Community are needed now more than ever before.

“We are now looking into the abyss. The Tories’ £12bn in planned welfare cuts will have an absolutely devastating impact on people across the country—the unemployed, the disabled, those in in-work poverty, and the most vulnerable,” she said.

“The only way to defend what will be people’s plunging standard of living under Cameron’s austerity Britain will be to organise and come together to continue highlighting the effects of the most devastating cuts that we’ve experienced in generations.”

The fight, as they say, has only just begun.