Richie Venton (born 1953) is a Scottish trade unionist and political activist. As of 2018, he is one of two Scottish representatives on the National Executive Council of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW)[1][2] and the national trade union organiser[3] of the Scottish Socialist Party. A former Militant organiser and a founding member of the SSP,[4] he was a high-profile activist in the Scottish independence referendum campaign and spoke at a number of public meetings and debates.
Political career
editEarlier activism and foundation of the Scottish Socialist Party
editVenton was a full-time regional organiser for the Militant tendency in Merseyside during the 1980s,[5] when Militant controlled the Labour Party in Liverpool. His work with the entryist group saw him expelled from the Labour Party in 1986, alongside Derek Hatton and others.[6] In the aftermath of Liverpool's failed rate-capping rebellion, Venton said in an interview: "I have no regrets. Liverpool could still be the graveyard of capitalism and the birthplace of socialism."[7]
In Downfall, Alan McCombes writes: "Richie Venton, a dynamic Irishman originally from Fermanagh, who had been a Militant organiser in Liverpool during the Derek Hatton era, came up to Scotland to assist the Pollok general election campaign [in 1992] — and never went back. Richie brought a wealth of campaigning experience into the socialist movement in Scotland and [...] would become one of the key organisational driving forces behind the SSP."[8]
Scottish Socialist Party
edit
Richie Venton is the SSP's national workplace organiser and regional organiser for the West of Scotland.[9][10] In 2009, Venton organised the Glasgow Save Our Schools (SOS) Campaign, which protested plans to close 11 primary schools and nine nurseries.[11][12] The campaign involved a sit-in by mothers staged at two closure-threatened schools.[13]
Scottish independence referendum
editSpeaking about the Scottish Socialist Party in the final weeks of the Scottish independence referendum campaign, Venton said: "We are the socialist wing of the Yes campaign. We don't want to just swap flags, but to change utterly the conditions the working class majority population of Scotland live under."[14]
As part of the steering group of Trade Unionists for Independence,[15] Venton worked extensively to persuade trade unionists of the case for a Yes vote. In March 2014, Venton faced Richard Leonard, then the GMB's political officer, in a debate on the subject of Scottish independence hosted by the union's nationwide Skills Development Scotland branch at their AGM.[16] Speaking to Newsnet Scotland in its aftermath, union branch secretary Derek Cheyne said the audience "seemed to be quite positively on the Yes side".[17] In September 2014, Venton spoke at another referendum debate organised by the Usdaw branch at IKEA, Glasgow, after which a straw poll found no members present backing the No side.[18]
While referendum votes were being counted in Glasgow, Venton told Local News Glasgow: "This [referendum campaign] was mass political education. That cannot be stripped away or reversed now. These people will make demands and we'll have a different kind of Scotland either way the vote turns out."[19]
Anti-austerity movement
editSince the referendum campaign, Richie Venton has been active in opposing public sector cuts and joining the anti-austerity movement in Scotland. He has described welfare sanctions as "a criminal assault on some for the poorest in our communities".[20]
In a piece for the Scottish Socialist Voice, Venton called on the Scottish Government and local councillors to refuse to pass on Westminster cuts, instead setting "No Cuts Defiance budgets" and then linking up with council workers' unions and community user groups in a massive campaign to demand extra funds from Westminster to balance the books.[21] In January 2015, Venton took part in a live Inverclyde Radio debate with Labour Cllr Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, on the issue of cuts to council jobs and services. He cited the Liverpool rebellion as an example of effective defiance.[22]
Writings
editIn 2015, Venton published Break the Chains, in which he analyses and critiques the exploitation of labour, poverty pay and trade unions. It argues for a £10 minimum wage, a maximum wage, shorter working week and stronger trade unions.
On his aim in writing the book, he said he wanted "to answer the doubters and critics with hard facts and arguments that would help equip those willing to fight for decent living conditions for the working class majority".[23]
References
edit- ^ "Richie Venton: Resounding Victory in USDAW National Executive Contest". 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ "New Usdaw executive Richie Venton advocates 'political autonomy' for Scottish trade unions". CommonSpace. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ "PCS branch votes to back independence". The Targe. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ "Tommy Sheridan colleague heartbroken by 'recklessness'". BBC News. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Labor Party Opens Inquiry Into Militant Liverpool Branch". 8 December 1985. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ "Labour picks fight with Militant Tendency". The Guardian. 16 July 1991. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ "Once-Great Port Rebuilds". The Christian Science Monitor. 28 August 1991. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ McCombes, Alan (2011). Downfall. p. 19. ISBN 9781841587592.
- ^ "Jim Sillars on 'The socialist case for independence'". Cumnock Chronicle. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ Richie Venton on final week of indyref campaign. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Parents vow fresh protests over closures". 27 April 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Sit-in parents pledge to fight on". 14 April 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Sit-in protests at schools end". 18 April 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Socialists line up to get behind final push for indy votes". Daily Record. 14 August 2014.
- ^ "Trade Unionists for Independence" (PDF). Scottish Socialist Voice. p. 3.
- ^ The Great Trade Union Debate - Skills Development Scotland (Unison) debate Scots Independence.
- ^ "Boost for Yes after Unison branch debate triumph". 14 March 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Zero votes for NO after democratic debate in Usdaw meeting". 13 September 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Great new interest in politics as a result of the referendum". 19 September 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "Unemployed and disabled benefit sanctions sky-rocket in Clydebank". Clydebank Post. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "Defy all cuts: set No Cuts budgets, axe the Council Tax, tax the rich". Scottish Socialist Voice. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ Debate 08 Jan 2015. Inverclyde Radio.
- ^ "Author Richie Venton inspired by historic labour struggles in Clydebank for new political book". Clydebank Post. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.