AFTER five years as general secretary of the Young Communist League, Johnnie Hunter has handed over the reins this year to Georgina Andrews, a University of Liverpool student from Telford.

During the election of the new central committee at the 51st All-Britain Congress, in which Donal Thomas was elected chair, taking over from Robin Talbot, pivotal resolutions were voted on that will  shape the future of the YCL in the years to come. 

As strikes gain momentum and grass-roots militancy grows, Andrews explains that the YCL will buckle down its focus on industrial relations.

“We’ve established an industrial commission that meets regularly and passed a specific resolution dedicated to strikes, trade unions and organising in the workplace,” she says.

As part of its efforts to intensify their focus on trade unions, the YCL has now appointed four industrial officers. 

Andrews says this is not only in response to the draconian anti-strikes Minimum Service Levels Bill, but also due to a glaring absence of young people in trade unions.

“There’s not many young people in trade unions, and there needs to be,” she says.

With young people being paid as little as £5.28 an hour, another area which the league will focus on is age discrimination in wages. 

The commission will also help those in less secure and precarious “gig economy” work and jobs in hospitality.

Andrews points to fantastic work done locally, with comrades setting up Unite hospitality in Manchester.

“Hopefully we can roll that out on a national level, now that we have the capacity,” she says. 

Another key area that the YCL will focus on is environmental issues. 

“Young people do not have a guaranteed future because the world is burning,” Andrews says.

“With the government approving oil fields and BP making insane record profits, it needs to be the focus of our work.”

Andrews also spoke of initiatives that will focus on recruiting and retaining women in the YCL.

Congress agreed on the development of campaigns to combat the prevalence of misogynistic online influencers, and the encouragement of self-defence activities to give comrades confidence in the ability to protect themselves.

Reflecting at the 57th congress of the Communist Party in London on the tasks that lay ahead, the new YCL general secretary remarked how her generation are known as “doomers.”

“Because it’s such a bleak future and it’s a very monumental task that we have ahead of us. 

“But communists do not have time to moan and complain about it. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We must act now to save young people, the working class, the humanity and the planet.”