Working for the best Brexit

Workers from leading companies across the north west are gathering in Liverpool for a conference today (February 2) specially convened by Unite, the UK’s biggest manufacturing union, to press for more support for the sector from the government as the country moves towards Brexit.

Unite’s conference is the first in the union’s campaign to bring together its members around common objectives of safeguarding jobs and rights.

Delegates will hear from speakers including Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and will learn about the potential impact on working people’s employment and human rights of a Conservative Brexit, and what a trade deal that works for working class communities could look like.

Follow our rolling coverage of the conference below as reported by Ryan Fletcher, live in Liverpool:

Brexit focus (11.05)

Good morning and welcome to Unite’s North West Conference in Liverpool. We will be bringing you updates throughout the conference, which is focusing on Brexit and the potential impact on UK manufacturing, jobs, investments and employment rights.

Brexit is particularly important for the North West, which, apart from Southern England, exports the most goods in absolute terms to the EU. The region is home to 323,000 manufacturing employees across a range of sectors. Naturally, many are concerned about the impact leaving the EU will have on their jobs.

‘We reject Tory Brexit’ (11.12)

Opening the conference is north west regional secretary Mick Whitley. He says the conference is the start of taking up the task of responding to Brexit politically, industrially and internationally in the North West.

Whitley says that referendum left the north west divided, but says now is the time to end the division and work together to end it.

We must not fall into the artificial divide of seeing ourselves as ‘leavers’ or ‘remainers’ – we must all stand united as trade unionists. Let’s focus on what we can all agree on,” says Whitley.

“We can all accept that the result of June’s referendum will bring change. But we must all refuse to buy the lie that people voted for Brexit on the Tories’ terms. Further austerity. De-industrialisation. Zero hour contracts. These things were not on the ballot paper. Make no mistake. We reject Tory Brexit.”

Instead, Whitley says, our jobs is to make sure that trade union principles – decent work, guaranteed rights and a strong voice for working people are integral to a post-Brexit Britain.

 

To do this two things need to happen – the union needs to prepare members for Brexit and campaign to achieve Unite’s vision of a positive outcome.

 

‘Strong collective bargaining the answer’ (11.46)

Whitley turns to manufacturing. The biggest problem right now is uncertainty. The blame for that lies with government who haven’t prepared for the fallout from the referendum. He says that the union has heard that employers are already using Brexit to attack working rights including denying access to European Works Council meetings and holiday pay.

Unite will not allow workers to pay price for Brexit, he adds.

“We know where the answer lies. The same place it always has done – strong collective bargaining,” say Whitley.

“Because if the Tories get their way then the gloves are truly off. We will no longer be able to use the EU to defend working rights – equal pay, consultation rights, holiday entitlement.”

Unite must now fight and organise to fight for these rights. The union cannot sit back but must go on the offensive to achieve a good Brexit deal for workers – this means having an ambitious industrial strategy.

“We need to see a serious commitment for manufacturing – Making sure automotive and aerospace industries remain world class. Reshoring jobs in the supply chains which have gone overseas. Using public sector procurement to support manufacturing.

“But linked to that, we also need to see major investment in infrastructure – in our ports and roads.”

McCluskey: ‘Ambitious industrial strategy only way’ (12.20)

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey addresses the conference. He says the Brexit will dominate the agenda for the next two or three years and the Unite will be at the forefront of standing up for working people during this period. The union’s strategy needs to be informed from input from members across the country.

Unite has put a team in place to monitor the impact of Brexit across all industries and sectors, he says. Integral to this is receiving feedback from reps on the effect of Brexit at their workplaces. Unite reps sit on more than 150 European Works Councils and their knowledge will also be used to lobby parliament.

He says an ambitious industrial strategy is the only way to mitigate the effects of Brexit. It must include access to the Single Market and the retention of workers rights and environmental protections. He says that the union has strong allies in the automotive, aerospace and other sectors.

McCluskey says the government’s Hard Brexit position risks all these things and that Unite needs to influence the debate. The EU negotiations cannot be left to one party and needs to be decided by parliament. The substance of the negotiations have not been decided by yesterday’s Article 50 vote, McCluskey says – that will come later. He says that Labour is putting workers at the core of its Brexit policies.

 

Speaking about May’s courting of the Trump administration in the US, he says, “Brexit is not a blank cheque for the government to ditch the single market and dash across the Atlantic”, an approach which is putting thousands of jobs at risk. A trade deal with the US could also open the door to privatisation within the NHS and erosion of workers rights and protections.

“A US trade deal won’t fill the chasm of losing single market access. Donald Trump, with his America First approach, may give a few crumbs from the table but will want our souls in return.”

McCluskey finishes by comparing Theresa May to Margaret Thatcher in her quest for a “free wheeling winner takes all capitalism” that punishes working people.

“We must resist a hard Brexit from Tory zealots that threaten our children’s future.”

For more see here and to read the speech in full see here

‘Stop far right hijacking post Brexit Britain’ (12.51)

Simon Dubbins, from Unite’s International Department is speaking now.

He says negotiations with the US are about cementing new political relationships. UK could be drafted into NAFTA.

He is “disgusted” by May’s Turkey deal. Erdogan is a dictator who is waging war on the Kurds, strangling freedom of speech and locking up journalists.

Trump and Erdogan are the kind of people this government wants to do business with, whilst turning away from our European partners.

Dubbins turns to May’s promise she won’t attack workers rights – “but if you believe that you’ll believe anything.”

The Tories are starving the NHS of money, he says. Dubbins thinks they want to privatise, the US trade deal will be a precursor to that. Without European migrant workers there won’t be enough staff to run it properly.

“It’s battle royale at the moment for the future our country and how we want it to be. We must stand together to prevent the forces of the far-right highjacking post-Brexit Britain.”

PM’s approach slammed as ‘cloud cuckoo land’ (13.08)

Assistant general secretary Tony Burke, is addressing the conference on the Brexit challenges faced by the manufacturing sector.

Burke: “We are heading for a very very hard Brexit, which flies in the face of employers and trade associations we meet with, as well as our shop stewards”

We have to fight this because thousands of jobs could be destroyed. “Jobs that are the backbone of our economy”. Everyone of those manufacturing jobs supports four more roles in the supply chain.

Anyone who believes that the PM’s approach of going round the world “cobbling together trade deals” will be better than the single market are “living in cloud cuckoo land”.

Hard Brexit means that Britain is less attractive to companies who had been longterm investors. But Theresa May has caved into the Tory far right and UKIP. She has threatened that she will turn the UK into a tax-haven that relies on the service sector – which be a disaster for working people.

The Tories are clambering around suggesting different trade deals, when it is essential that we retain access to the single market. Without one the UK’s manufacturing industry is in dire straights.

Burke says, “Outside of the EU the UK will have to secure over 50 Trade Agreements without having the experienced trade negotiators to handle the highly complex discussions which normally take a number of years.

“The Prime Minister and the government will be in such a mess they will be happy to sign any Trade Agreements just to say that they’ve got them and to create some kind of stability.”

Having access to the Single Market and the Customs Union must be preferable to the ongoing and almost unlimited chaos that we believe we will face in manufacturing if we have a Hard Brexit, he says.

On skills alone, being outside of the Single Market will have significant impact. Engineering UK, told Unite’s Manufacturing Combine that we need 182,000 new engineers every year until 2022 just to catch up.

There is evidence of skilled workers from the EU are heading back home because of the uncertainty, Burke says.

“Whether you voted remain or leave, this is now about the future of our members jobs.”

(13.15) Conference breaks and will reconvene at 14.00

Concerns from the floor (14.15)

Attendees have been speaking about their concerns.

A Unite rep from the automotive industry said, “I’ve been on our company’s European works council (EWC) for 10 years and I don’t know if in the future I’ll be able to stay on it. The council is an important asset for our workforce because without it we would have no information from top management. I go to a yearly conference with our CEO, but without the EWC we’d have to rely solely on our relationship with UK management. We need to make sure that the UK retain EWCs during the Brexit negotiations.”

Another from the aerospace industry spoke about the need to begin engaging workforces on the importance of having a say on future EU trade deals.

He said, “Our industry relies on supply chains across the EU. If the Brexit negotiations don’t go right there will be a major impact on jobs – it makes you worry. We need to engage our members in the workplace on Brexit and inform of them of the dangers that are facing us if our voices aren’t heard.”

Workable solution to free movement (14.40)

Assistant general secretary, Howard Beckett, has started the afternoon session. Beckett says he’s been critical of the EU but there are swathes of working rights that are underpinned by Europe. But the government will threaten these with the Great Repeal Bill.

This government will also put the issue of free movement in front of the economy’s well-being, he says. The Tories will put their own right-wing agendas before the common good, however he acknowledges that free movement is an issue for many working class communities.

There must be a workable solution to the issue of free movement, he says. There needs to be safeguards implemented so that companies who bring in labour from abroad can only do so with a trade union or sectoral bargaining agreement in place. This will prevent the under cutting of wages and the exploitation of migrant workers.

 

Hard Brexit: ‘Potentially devastating’ (15.08)

North West MEP Theresa Griffin is now speaking. She says that she works hand-in-hand with Unite as an MEP and shares the union’s aims.

A hard Brexit is potentially devastating for manufacturing and must be stopped. Griffin uses the example of Airbus, saying that one wing from the plane passes through seven EU countries before the product is finished in the UK.

“What happens if we leave the single market and each component is subjected to seven different tariffs?”

Europe is a world leader in research and collaboration and Brexit threatens access to those things for UK manufacturing and science.

Trade unions and Labour need to work together to influence the negotiations and make sure the UK is not left behind, Griffin says. Labour has submitted a number of amendments to the Article 50 bill, which they will try to pass this week.

Unite’s sectors must also make their voices heard in Europe as well, she says.

Close of business (15.18)

The conference has now ended.