{"id":13296,"date":"2017-09-11T16:19:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T15:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13296"},"modified":"2017-09-11T16:19:55","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T15:19:55","slug":"greed-can-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13296","title":{"rendered":"‘Where greed can lead’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Speaking in support of a motion on the Grenfell tower disaster, Unite delegate Jim Kelly today (September 11) paid tribute to all who were tragically killed in the fire, including the many trade union members, some of whom were members of Unite, who perished, and others still who are now traumatised by the blaze or not yet accounted for.<\/p>\n

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\nHe praised the response of the West London and Camden Unite Community branches who went to Grenfell on the morning of the fire to volunteer.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs clothing and food began to be provided in sufficient amounts our members began organising other practical support – for example, providing 100 safety masks for other volunteers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly noted.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is now concentrating on providing counselling, legal and financial support to our members and working closely with the residents, supporting them through the grieving process and as they seek answers; they also have acute housing and financial needs.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nKelly explained that as a trade union, Unite understands how the tragedy sits in the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbroader context of deregulation and the barriers ordinary people face in getting justice.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nHe told Congress how in 2014, then prime minister David Cameron boasted of scrapping over 3,000 regulations, mostly in the building industry as part of his Housing Standards Review.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis crude and reckless attack by the Conservative Party had the clear motive of increasing the profits of large firms in the construction industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOver 100 buildings have failed the safety tests on the cladding on buildings.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPrivatisation and deregulation is scarring our housing market \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just the other week Haringey council privatised its housing stock to a company with a track record of corrupt practices in Australia and New York.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\nKelly called for the public inquiry of the Grenfell tragedy to address this wider context of deregulation to prevent another fire and further loss of life.<\/p>\n

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\nSuch an inquiry, he said, must involve community representatives and trade unions so that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe residents get the justice and answers they deserve \u00e2\u20ac\u201d after their own complaints about safety were ignored.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGrenfell was a tragedy that has highlighted where greed can lead,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly told Congress. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is part of the pattern of what occurs when working class people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voices are ignored, their concerns dismissed, by those in power.<\/p>\n

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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet, the response by ordinary people has shown the power of solidarity and collective action as people organised to support the residents,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\nCalling on Congress to support the motion, he said trade unions must act to ensure justice and the needs of Grenfell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s residents are met. He also called for the election of a Labour government, which, he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwill end the race to the bottom in deregulation and privatisation\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and will commit to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bproviding a safe, secure home for all and access to justice for all.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The motion was passed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking in support of a motion on the Grenfell tower disaster, Unite delegate Jim Kelly today (September 11) paid tribute to all who were tragically killed in the fire, including the many trade union members, some of whom were members of Unite, who perished, and others still who are now traumatised by the blaze or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[365,746,111,131,792],"wps_subtitle":"Unite's Jim Kelly on Grenfell tragedy ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13296"}],"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=13296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13299,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13296\/revisions\/13299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}