{"id":5743,"date":"2015-09-15T16:57:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T15:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5743"},"modified":"2015-09-15T16:57:50","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T15:57:50","slug":"towards-a-europe-that-shares-our-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5743","title":{"rendered":"Towards a ‘Europe that shares our values’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner moved a general council statement on the EU referendum at the TUC today (September 15), arguing for a vision of \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba social Europe, a peaceful Europe and a greener Europe.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nSteve began by acknowledging that the issues surrounding a planned referendum on EU membership was a complex one, one that was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnot a straightforward left-right ideological debate\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut for all our different opinions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Steve noted, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwhat unites us in this period is Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempts to undermine social protections, employment and trade union rights.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have a duty to inject the collective experiences of over 6 million working people into the debate — to ensure their voices, concerns, fears and aspirations are not ignored,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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Steve hailed that TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proud record of \u00e2\u20ac\u015barguing for our vision of a social Europe, a peaceful Europe, a greener Europe.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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This vision, Steve noted, shares the values of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsolidarity, collectivism, human and civil rights, equality and freedom\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, and places the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bneeds and aspirations of its people above the narrow self-interest of global corporations\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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But Steve told Congress that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe have a lot of work to do\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor far too long, EU institutions have advanced a nakedly neoliberal agenda at the behest of member states,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said, pointing to the \u00e2\u20ac\u015btroika\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 which intensified the economic crisis in Greece and acted to undermine democratically elected governments.<\/p>\n

 
\nHe also condemned the EU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undemocratic trade deals such as CETA and TTIP which are now being negotiated in secret \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a situation he deemed the \u00e2\u20ac\u015blargest single power grab by corporations we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever witnessed\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\nSteve argued that, most shamefully of all, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bit has taken the body of a three year old child to move leaders into even limited action to offer refuge to thousands fleeing war.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nHe went on to say that the general council statement on the EU referendum \u00e2\u20ac\u015breflects the realities we face at home \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a vicious, ideological anti-worker government\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the Tories are doing this regardless of the EU,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Steve said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are doing it because they want to and they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop until we stop them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nSteve warned prime minister David Cameron that he will lose members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 votes to stay in
\nthe EU if he continues in his efforts to weaken workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights.<\/p>\n

 
\nHe cautioned that the referendum campaign will provide a platform for the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnarrow isoliationist views of Nigel Farage and the Daily Mail<\/em>” which, he argued, must be exposed and defeated.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCongress,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Steve continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfor all our deeply felt concerns with the EU it remains the case that right now the biggest threat to working people\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6is the neoliberal politics of Cameron and the Tories here at home,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 not, he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFrench, Spanish, Nordic, Bulgarian, Polish or any other workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe stand united against the scapegoating of immigrants and inhuman treatment of refugees,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis EU referendum will not be an attack on the most marginalised or those in desperate need.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let their politics of divide and rule win,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Steve asserted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur challenge is to unite and push for a new settlement in a Europe that shares our values and offers hope to its people.<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner moved a general council statement on the EU referendum at the TUC today (September 15), arguing for a vision of \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba social Europe, a peaceful Europe and a greener Europe.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165   Steve began by acknowledging that the issues surrounding a planned referendum on EU membership was a complex one, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[310,392],"wps_subtitle":"Unite AGS moves statement on EU referendum ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5743"}],"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=5743"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5762,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5743\/revisions\/5762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}