Culture change call

On Sunday (September 13), Unite conference delegate Jane Stewart spoke on positive consultation and employee engagement.

 
She said that Unite supported the motion but had some reservations as it omitted to mention collective bargaining. This was, said Jane, “the very structure that would underpin and lay the foundation for what is mentioned in this motion.”

 
Jane added, “We need an end to austerity. We want to see investment in our economy, including in skills and infrastructure.  And we want to see an active industrial strategy from government.”

 
This, and the involvement and representation of workers, was necessary if we are to secure decent work for all, with good pay.

 
But, she went on, “in recent years we have seen the further growth in insecure, precarious work – exemplified by the rise in zero-hours contracts.

 
“It is the latest stage in what has been a steady decline in the proportion of wealth in our economy that goes to the people who generate that wealth.”

 
All this comes against the “very serious attacks on trade union rights in the trade union Bill.”

 
Jane explained that Unite supported the motion in calling for a culture change in our workplaces, for greater trade union involvement and for sector specific industrial strategies.

 
“But that involvement has to be meaningful,” she stressed.  “There are serious attacks on our trade union rights – we don’t want to see a race to the bottom. We say yes to full employment and collective bargaining not collective begging.”

Listen to Jane’s full speech in the video below: