On Saturday 21 November, in central London, the People's Charter Movement held its first Convention. Gathering in the Camden Community Centre, the platform and the floor speakers remained unified and set about clearing the decks for the Charter to make a significant impact in the general election due in 2010.

The sessions were chaired by Mary Davis [morning] and Imran Khan [afternoon] of the Convention Steering Committee. Opening the day, John Hendy related the way in which the Charter had emerged, and outlined both its aims and objects. It was based on the idea of the original Chartist movement in the sense that it sought to be broad, inclusive and to have a major impact on the lives of working class people. The Charter he said " was a measure against which to assess political representatives and they would be judged according to their record at the next general election." But the Charter was much more than this and represented a "quite independent set of demands which workers could use to change their lives, to improve them and re shape their community."

These views were echoed in a thoughtful and original contribution from Mike Kirby, Unison convenor for Scotland, who outlined the complex path which the Charter had travelled in order to grab the attention of the leadership of organised labour.  The Charter he asserted, provided the rationale behind a principled defence of public services and the base for a campaign in England, Scotland and Wales to protect and advance post war social gains. The threat of the conservatives was very real and their ideological distaste for the collective and promotion of privatisation would do untold damage.

This was reinforced by the general secretary of the fire fighter's union. Matt Wrack pointed out the role of essential services, as evidenced in the last few days with the rescue operation to deal with flooding in Cockermouth and the surrounding area.  This, he said, was "quite at odds with the cutbacks proposed to the fire service in the area." Matt expressed the view that here was room for the Charter to develop , but stated forcefully, that delivery of the six points would be a massive shift to UK politics.

A couple of contributors from the floor indulged in sideshow politicking with calls for the formation of a 'new worker's party'. But it was almost as if they had, in error, come to the wrong conference as speakers rallied to defend the integrity of the Charter movement and its aims. This Charter Convention was about forging a mass movement not a new party to further confuse a fractured political scene.  

Above all, the aim was to reach out to working class communities and encourage them to organise, to collect signatures to the Million Voices Petition, and to turn their unions, tenants and community organisations into advocates for social change. This could be done if the aim was firmly maintained - to change lives for the better, based on the radical positions of the Charter, as it stands.

This point was reinforced by afternoon speakers such as Bob Crow, general secretary of transport union RMT, who said there was "no copyright on the idea of the Charter and that it would be used by many to campaign in the forthcoming local and general elections".

Bill Greenshields of the National Union of Teachers spoke of the importance of organising and campaigning locally, in workplaces and amongst those communities that had turned their backs on the people in government, who had spurned them. Some he warned, "were in danger of casting very dangerous so called 'protest votes'." Pragna Patel of the Southall Black Sisters and John McDonnell MP also focussed on the need for communities to be proud and challenging and for a campaign to build a mass movement.

As the conference went on the unity of those attending grew and a consensus was clear by the close, united around the Charter and determined to deliver it. There were plans for an Education Charter and a Public Services Charter. Off the conference floor delegates huddled to discuss what to do next.

Special thanks were extended to John Mulrenan a Unison activist, WEA tutor, and Charter adminstrator/organiser, who has done much to get the movement off the ground. 

The Communist Party distributed a special edition of its 'Unity' publication to everyone attending.