{"id":18792,"date":"2019-09-09T12:10:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T11:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18792"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:35","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:35","slug":"unite-sharon-graham-industrial-tuc-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18792","title":{"rendered":"‘Let’s re-energise the industrial’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite executive officer and conference delegate Sharon Graham made the case for unions to intensify their core industrial work as she spoke in support of a motion on Monday (September 9) at the TUC conference in Brighton.<\/p>\n

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Graham said such work was vital at time when workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wages have stagnated, the distribution of wealth has gone back to proportions not seen since 1930 and there has been massive increase in job insecurity, fragmentation and automation.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt cannot be now business as usual,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are trade unions and the industrial must be our first task. We need to be much more industrially prepared \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in actions as well as words.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Graham highlighted how Unite has 36,000 agreements with employers, and the union sits at the bargaining table 33,000 times a year.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCan you imagine how many times that is replicated in his room?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she asked conference. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIs there a way we could widen\u00c2\u00a0 and deepen this collective? Is there a way we could co-ordinate our collective bargaining? Could we do some or all together?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Graham made the case for co-ordinated work across sectors and employers and the sharing of industrial information so that unions can build a common industrial strategy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know every time an employer pushes back, sacks our stewards, or stays non-union, it hurts us all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey get stronger, more emboldened and they learn. No-one can win unless we all win.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Graham noted that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcollective bargaining still remains the tried and tested method of pushing up pay and conditions, with \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunions acting collectively and stewards acting collectively, driving pacesetting agreements through sectors\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe cannot wait for the law to change on sectoral bargaining,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to force it. We need to build it, bottom up — so it cannot be dismantled, workplace by workplace, sector by sector.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Graham called on conference to consider joint campaigns \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif it makes industrial sense\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and further pursue alternative strategies like leverage. She urged unions to be bold \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to not be risk averse and to build confident stewards and strike -ready workplaces.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s re-energise the industrial; build thousands of leaders,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said to thunderous applause. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet our heroes be the Collective and begin the co-ordinated push back.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motion was carried.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite executive officer and conference delegate Sharon Graham made the case for unions to intensify their core industrial work as she spoke in support of a motion on Monday (September 9) at the TUC conference in Brighton.   Graham said such work was vital at time when workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wages have stagnated, the distribution of wealth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[455,1227,633,1228,1221],"wps_subtitle":"Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sharon Graham calls on unions to intensify industrial focus","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18792"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25036,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18792\/revisions\/25036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}