{"id":3087,"date":"2015-02-23T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3087"},"modified":"2015-02-23T16:55:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T16:55:00","slug":"seeing-tory-threats-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3087","title":{"rendered":"Seeing off Tory threats with unity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a packed university auditorium, TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady spoke boldly and honestly about the future of trade unions and the threats it would face if the Tories were to keep power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The event, last Friday evening (February 20) was held at the University of Sheffield by research group SPERI to discuss alternative ways of thinking about current economic and political challenges.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are cracks in the old order,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Frances said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOrdinary people are fed up with being ripped off and feel a strong disaffection with formal politics.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking on Conservative Party plans to restrict workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights to take action in their workplaces, Frances assured the audience that this is because of the fear of unions\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 collective power \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and she encouraged it to be seen as an opportunity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that the Tories have set out to attack the fundamental rights of trade unions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this is because we are the last line of defence for working people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Frances said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Building unity <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut this is a time of transition and we have an opportunity to make a new deal for people, but the only way is through practical solutions, in organising and building unity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Frances answered questions from the audience and addressed key debates on the challenges to democracy, climate change, economic inequality and the trade union movement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One member of the audience asked if Frances agreed that widespread disillusion with politics is threatening our democracy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe high numbers of people who do not vote aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doing that because they are apathetic,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she replied. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are angry with the government and fed up with politics not working for them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Frances observed how the only way to restore equality and safeguard democracy was to challenge the dangerous concentration of greed and power at the top.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe reality is that you cannot redistribute wealth unless we are prepared to redistribute power,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a packed university auditorium, TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady spoke boldly and honestly about the future of trade unions and the threats it would face if the Tories were to keep power.   The event, last Friday evening (February 20) was held at the University of Sheffield by research group SPERI to discuss alternative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[249,71],"wps_subtitle":"TUC chief Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady says organising is key","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087"}],"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=3087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3088,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087\/revisions\/3088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}