{"id":11329,"date":"2017-02-02T12:49:24","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T12:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11329"},"modified":"2017-02-02T12:49:24","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T12:49:24","slug":"trump-tower-deals-spell-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11329","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Trump Tower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 deals spell harm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has warned that working class communities face the `fight of their lifetimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to fend off a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 exit from the European Union.<\/p>\n

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He issued the warning today (February 2) as he addressed over 200 Unite workplace representatives and shop stewards at a special conference on the impact of Brexit convened by the union in Liverpool.<\/p>\n

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As the government reveals its white paper setting out its priorities for Brexit, McCluskey reiterated his union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s determination to fight to retain tariff-free access to the single market.<\/p>\n

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And he warned that trade deals drawn up in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098top floor of Trump Tower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 can only spell harm for the working class communities of the UK.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is no doubt that this government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach to Brexit risks jobs and risks investment in our economy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey said, addressing the conference. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn setting her face against single market access, prime minister Theresa May is not just refusing to listen to workers, she is deaf to the concerns of the manufacturing industry too.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098On tenterhooks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are on tenterhooks waiting for the next wave of investment in major companies,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, despite private guarantees from the government, has warned that companies will want to see the results of talks between the UK and the European Union before decisions are made to invest.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the north west alone, over 300,000 are employed in manufacturing, the highest for any region,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo we need to hear that the markets upon which these jobs and hundreds of thousands like them depend will not be closed off.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThose who claim \u00e2\u20ac\u0098No deal is better than a bad deal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 simply do not live in the real world. They certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live in the world of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members anxious to know that they will still have a job at the end of this process.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI say again, people may have voted to be out of the EU, but they did not vote to be poorer or to be out of work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he highlighted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are now, then, in the fight of our lifetime to defend working class communities from the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Brexit zealots.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McCluskey also warned that a hasty trade deal with the US is not in the interests of the UK people.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bConsider what an America-first president would demand from the United Kingdom in return for a trade deal \u00e2\u20ac\u201c open access to our National Health Service for US private healthcare; the side-lining of trade union rights; the destruction of our food and farming standards,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBe in no doubt \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he may give us a few crumbs from his trade table, but president Donald Trump will want our soul in return.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn Liverpool we are still rebuilding our city from the effects of the last great Anglo-American romance,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know all too painfully what that did to our communities, this waterfront, and our children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aspirations that time.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s families and communities in cities like these \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and across the rust belt in America \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that always pay the price for the free-wheeling, winner takes all capitalism that Thatcher and Reagan revered in their day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and Theresa May and Donald Trump pursue today.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo while we accept the decision to leave the EU, we will never accept a Brexit that will be paid for by working class communities cobbled together on the top floor of Trump Tower.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McCluskey promised that Unite will lead the fight to resist a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Brexit.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the biggest organisation of working people across this country \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has a responsibility to build alliances to defend the decent jobs upon which our communities rely,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will not shy away from engaging in this, the most important recasting of our economy since the second world war, because anything less would be a gross dereliction of the duty we have to defend working people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Attending the conference were over 200 representatives and shop stewards from across manufacturing sectors, including aerospace, automotive, chemicals and print, joined by those from the finance, construction and public sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The conference can be followed on Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s liveblog here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has warned that working class communities face the `fight of their lifetimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to fend off a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 exit from the European Union.   He issued the warning today (February 2) as he addressed over 200 Unite workplace representatives and shop stewards at a special conference on the impact of Brexit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[486,160],"wps_subtitle":"Working class face fight of lifetime","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11329"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11331,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11329\/revisions\/11331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}