Security means more than military spending
Wakefield town centre (Alamy)
3 min read
If you ask your average person on the street where I grew up what security means to them, you won't get a lecture about defence policy or military strategy. You'll hear something much simpler.
In my hometown of Wakefield, just as in towns up and down the land, security means being able to pay the bills, having a warm home and a secure job. It's knowing your child will get a decent education and be able to see a GP when they're ill. It’s feeling safe on the streets and knowing your elderly parents will get the care they need. It's having confidence that when floods, fires or another crisis hits, your community will be protected.
That's what security looks like to most people. But if you listen to much of our political debate, you'd think security means only one thing: spending more money on the military.
Every government has a duty to protect its citizens. The war in Ukraine reminds us all that Europe is not immune to conflict. The wars in the Middle East continue to cause devastating human suffering. None of us can ignore the dangers in the world.
However, we should not accept that we must spend increasing amounts of money preparing for war, whilst everyday security collapses.
At this year's TUC Congress, the University and College Union (UCU) is asking the trade union movement to build on last year's landmark ‘Wages Not Weapons’ policy by adopting a broader vision of what ‘security’ really means. Workers experience insecurity every single day, but it has nothing to do with foreign military threats.
It comes from wages that don't keep up with prices, insecure work, unaffordable housing and public services stretched to breaking point. From climate change making our communities more vulnerable to flooding, heatwaves and extreme weather. From growing inequality that enriches a wealthy few and impoverishes millions of workers.
As general secretary of an education union, I see the consequences of insecurity every day.
Further education colleges teach the workers of the future who will keep our economy going. Yet FE staff in England are poorly paid for the vital work they do and earn less than others in the education sector. Colleges struggle to recruit and retain lecturers because committed professionals simply cannot afford to stay.
Our movement has always understood that security is about more than guns and bombs
In higher education, it's estimated that universities have cut as many as 30,000 staff in the last three years. Those who still have a job have seen their workloads intensify. The funding crisis casts a dark shadow over our cash-starved universities, from which some may never escape.
How can politicians talk about ‘national resilience’ when the institutions that educate and train the skilled workforce our economy depends on are hitting breaking point?
The same applies across all of our public services. We cannot build a resilient country on the back of exhausted NHS staff, crumbling schools and near-bankrupt councils.
The new government is right to speak about changing the economic model that has failed too many communities.
But with the Budget fast approaching, they have choices to make. The military establishment across the West is demanding that governments devote a growing proportion of public money towards defence. If that comes at the expense of investment in things like health, education, housing, social care and climate resilience, then we risk making people's lives far less secure.
Trade unions have a responsibility to point this out. Our movement has always understood that security is about more than guns and bombs. Security begins when ordinary people have the power and resources to live decent lives.
Neither should we abandon the belief that peace is possible. When you listen to today's political debate, you would be forgiven for thinking that our leaders have given up on a peaceful world. As trade unionists, we cannot accept that. Internationalism has always been at the heart of our movement. We know that the working people of different nations have more in common with each other than with the corporate bosses profiting from war or driving down wages across global supply chains. Lasting peace depends on diplomacy, international cooperation, commitment to human rights and respect for international law.
We must also confront the fact that greater militarisation at a time when Donald Trump sits at the head of NATO, is extremely dangerous. Tying ourselves closer to an increasingly violent and unpredictable military agenda will not make Britain safer.
The new prime minister has powerful voices in his ear lobbying him to deliver unprecedented spending on defence, paid for by cutting other public services. It is crucial that trade unions make the argument for a clear alternative.
The trade union movement is always strongest when it reflects the aspirations of millions of working people. At this year's TUC Congress we have an opportunity to reclaim the meaning of security and root it once again in social justice, solidarity and peace.
Jo Grady is general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) and a senior lecturer in employment relations at The University of Sheffield
