THE STUC’s assistant general secretary has urged Scotland's working class to organise and bring about radical social change following Scottish Labour’s dismal election performance. 

Writing in the upcoming issue of the Scottish Left Review, Linda Somerville warned that the ruling class will “use its representatives in Westminster to embolden rogue employers” and “attack workers’ terms and conditions.” 

The vote saw Scottish Labour’s worst ever result in Holyrood and the SNP fall short of a majority as the Scottish Conservatives remain as the main opposition in Parliament. 

Ms Somerville said that while “all the parties had something to offer... most of these manifesto commitments may never see the light of the debating chamber,” warning that proposals fall far short of the STUC’s own People’s Recovery plan. 

She wrote: “While issues of importance to workers were raised by unions throughout the election during hustings and online campaigns, Scotland’s mainstream media, pollsters, pundits and ‘Twitterati’ focused upon the constitution, often to the exclusion of other key issues. 

“The next five years will be more important to workers than this election. We know that radical change is driven from the bottom up by the collective action of working-class people, not political parties, as evidenced by Glasgow’s community response to the forced removal of their neighbours by immigration officers. 

“As always, we will not see the transformative change needed, with bold and ambitious policies that materially improve the lives of working-class people in Scotland, unless we organise to demand it.”

The Scottish Left Review’s next edition will also feature criticism of Scottish Labour’s vision from one of its own politicians. 

Newly elected socialist MSP Carol Mochan has warned the party cannot “present [its] worst ever electoral performance in a Scottish Parliament election” as a good result. 

Ms Mochan said: “Popular, targeted socialist investment is not the past — it is an absolutely necessary future.

“Socialism has to be built on an honest assessment of what the people of this country are telling us and based on that, it is clear we have once again not done well enough.

“I am one of the least likely people to ever become an MSP — I never saw myself in this position, but it happened because I saw the devastating effects of austerity on ordinary people who are under the boot of capitalism.”