{"id":8060,"date":"2016-03-10T12:53:42","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T12:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8060"},"modified":"2016-03-10T12:53:42","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T12:53:42","slug":"not-for-the-status-quo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8060","title":{"rendered":"Not for the status quo"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Last night\u00c2\u00a0(March 9) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey addressed an audience at the German Embassy in London on why he will be voting to stay in the EU. You can read\u00c2\u00a0his full speech below.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen.<\/p>\n

 
\nIt is an honour to be with you today and to be discussing this momentous issue. I am very grateful to Ambassador Ammon for inviting me to take part in this debate today.<\/p>\n

 
\nLike my friend, Michael [Vassiliadis], I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a supporter of the European Union. But perhaps I should be more explicit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I support the IDEA of the European Union, not its present conduct or constitution.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhen I vote for Britain to remain in the EU in June, and when I argue for the members of my union and others to do likewise in the months ahead, I will not be voting for the status quo \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let me be clear about that.<\/p>\n

 
\nI will not be voting for the EU which has sought to impose eye-watering austerity, at the expense of the ordinary citizen not the rich, on Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

 
\nI will not be voting for the EU which is seeking to stitch-up a pro-big business trade deal \u00e2\u20ac\u201c TTIP \u00e2\u20ac\u201c behind the backs of the people of Europe.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd if people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wake up to this deeply undemocratic stich-up, we will be condemned by history.
\nSo, I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be voting for the EU which takes a cavalier view of democracy and the rights of nations to make their own political choices.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd I will, above all, not be voting for David Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s renegotiation package \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a deal designed to protect the financial interests in the City of London which control the Conservative Party and to pander to anti-migrant and anti-welfare sentiment.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd let me just note in passing that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disappointing to see how eager European governments were to accommodate him, in stark contrast to the reception given Tsipras of Greece last year.<\/p>\n

 
\nSo what will I be voting for? I think Michael, in his excellent speech, spelt it out. I will be voting for hope, for solidarity, and for a more democratic Europe. Three tightly connected ideas.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe Trades Union Congress – of which Unite is the biggest affiliate – has rightly not allied itself to the official Remain campaign, dominated as it is by the government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vital role<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe role of the trade union movement will be vital in this referendum campaign. I read that some Tories are belatedly waking up to the fact that to defeat their own rebels in the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bout\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 camp they will need the support of tens of thousands of Labour voters.<\/p>\n

 
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tempting to say \u00e2\u20ac\u201c how dare they?<\/p>\n

 
\nSince their election they have introduced one proposal after another \u00e2\u20ac\u201c too many to trouble you with here tonight \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to further weaken and undermine the trade unions, and to starve the Labour Party of its traditional source of funding.<\/p>\n

 
\nSo now they need assistance from the movement they wish to destroy.<\/p>\n

 
\nWell, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a professional negotiator, and I would be tempted to make the most of a situation like this.
\nBut it falls to us to behave in a more statesmanlike way, and to look at the bigger issues.<\/p>\n

 
\nNevertheless, make no mistake, persuading Unite members to vote for a campaign led by such an overtly hostile and anti-democratic government will be a challenge.<\/p>\n

 
\nLet me, first of all, take hope. The \u00e2\u20ac\u015bRemain\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 campaign is expecting to prevail through Project Fear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c terrifying people of the consequences for their jobs, and for migration, if Britain leaves.<\/p>\n

 
\nSome of that may be justified \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I know that many jobs, particularly in manufacturing, WILL be at risk outside the vast market of the EU. But is it not enough. To win, we need hope too.<\/p>\n

 
\nFor eight years now Europe has been in a tunnel marked austerity. Everything has been subordinated to righting the finance-first system that capsized in 2008.<\/p>\n

 
\nIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to show people a way out. For Europe to speak as one voice for growth, for investment, for protection for the weakest.<\/p>\n

 
\nFor a Europe that says it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more important for young people to get their future back than it is for bankers to get their money back. Where are the politicians of such vision in Europe today, who can make Europe seem like a cause, rather than a cash register?<\/p>\n

 
\nBut because I believe such a Europe is possible, and that it is the sort of Europe millions of people want, I will argue that Britain needs to be in the EU to help bring it about.<\/p>\n

 
\nDavid Cameron says he wants to stay in the EU, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his own calls in recent years for UK exclusion from the full range of EU employment and social laws that have created the belief among ordinary people that the European Union is a big business club for the corporate elite.<\/p>\n

 
\nCameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Europe will never make the British heart beat faster.<\/p>\n

 
\nNo. A Europe freed from the rule of the accountant, that can speak to the hope of a better life for all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Europe worth voting for.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn the end, the outcome of this referendum will come down to the gut feeling of the British people, when they ask themselves the question: are they better off inside the EU or outside of it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Solidarity<\/strong><\/em>
\nLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about Solidarity. Can we rediscover a European Union of mutual assistance?<\/p>\n

 
\nAfter the second world war, billions in US \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Marshall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 aid, European economic reconstruction and debt forgiveness all benefited Britain and Germany; and were all key to the re-integration of West Germany with the international community; and were all key to kick-starting a European economic and trade renaissance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the Federal Republic had its debt substantially written off in the early 1950s, a gesture of generosity which should not be forgotten.<\/p>\n

 
\nNor can we forget how EU transfers have helped some of what were deeply impoverished regions of Europe a generation or two ago to develop and build more prosperous societies.<\/p>\n

 
\nGiven the chance, I believe the peoples of today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s European Union would again choose that same ethos of investment, of modern economic reconstruction that holds to account the global corporations and banks that have wreaked so much havoc in recent years.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut the Greek crisis last year showed a very different and less attractive face of Europe. The threat of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Grexit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, the imposition of punishing austerity and the effective subjugation of the national democratic will, showed the EU and Germany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leadership of it in a very unattractive light indeed.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhat principle is being upheld when Greece\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s health service is pushed into ruin, when a generation is reduced to beggary in order to ensure that banks \u00e2\u20ac\u201c yes, British as well as German \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are repaid on time? It certainly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t solidarity.<\/p>\n

 
\nGreece may have, indeed, been in financial crisis due to its own political leadership \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but as journalist Paul Mason has said \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt may [have been] at the bottom of the economic pecking order, but Europe was supposed to be more than [just] an economy\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\nLikewise, can any European \u00e2\u20ac\u201c any human indeed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c be happy at Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the refugee crisis. Here I do think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appropriate to congratulate Angela Merkel for having showed far more humanitarian consideration than most EU governments, including our own. But leaving wretched people to drown, or be gassed by police as we have seen at Calais last week, betrays every ideal for which Europe is supposed to stand.<\/p>\n

 
\nIt should have higher ideals, and solidarity is perhaps the most important.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnd I understand full well that leaving the European Union will develop solidarity not one bit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c rather it will speed up the rush to beggar-my-neighbour economics and anti-refugee brutality.<\/p>\n

 
\nSo I look forward to the EU referendum campaign as an opportunity to make the case for a broader and deeper solidarity across our continent.<\/p>\n

 
\nWithout solidarity, Europe can only fragment. When Michael speaks, he reminds me how different the situation is between our two countries.<\/p>\n

 
\nHe has co-determination in industry and partnership in governance. We in Britain have domination by the City at the expense of industry, and an adversarial industrial and political culture.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enemy\u00c2\u00a0or partner? \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\nOur Prime Minister regards trade unions as the enemy within. Angela Merkel sees trade unions as a positive partner in German prosperity.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn Britain, working people depend on the EU for a degree of social protection which German workers could probably assume whether or not the Union existed.<\/p>\n

 
\nEvery day UK workers rely on the Social Charter for a range of employment and social rights. For fair treatment in the workplace, paid holiday, maternity leave, the protections afforded through the workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time directive.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe EU does at least offer British workers these bare minimum of protections.<\/p>\n

 
\nI want to keep the Social Charter and I want to see it re-established and renewed fit for the 21st century.
\nBut I know that if the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bout\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 campaign were to prevail, many of those rights would be torn up by the triumphant Tory right faster than you could say \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMilton Friedman\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\nHowever, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not good enough to look at Europe as simply providing the lowest common denominator of employment rights on elected governments whether they like it or not, while also accommodating every wish of the army of corporate lobbyists stalking the corridors of Brussels.<\/p>\n

 
\nYour suggestion of a summit, Michael, seems a great idea and we would certainly support it.
\nThere needs to be far stronger democratic mechanisms for allowing the people of Europe to themselves control what is done in their name by the institutions of the EU.<\/p>\n

 
\nPutting the people in charge is the only lasting way to solve the big problems, like the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098social dumping\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the practice of importing low-wage workers to dilute pay and conditions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which has been allowed to undermine the European labour market to the advantage of the unscrupulous employer.<\/p>\n

 
\nGiven real protection against such abuses would go a long way towards mitigating the concerns about the free movement of labour which we will hear a lot about in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n

 
\nThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just one issue where a people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Europe would come to a very different conclusion than a bankers, bureaucrats and lobbyists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Europe, of that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure.<\/p>\n

 
\nSo I have a vision of a different Europe to the one on the ballot paper in June. Some of my friends will call me utopian. But I know that the better Europe I hope for will move from being a vision to an impossibility if we follow the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 camp.<\/p>\n

 
\nWe cannot fight for a better European Union if we are out of it. So I will be voting for the future on June 23.<\/p>\n

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

Last night\u00c2\u00a0(March 9) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey addressed an audience at the German Embassy in London on why he will be voting to stay in the EU. You can read\u00c2\u00a0his full speech below.   Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen.   It is an honour to be with you today and to be discussing this momentous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[465,160],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS: In a new EU, put the people in charge ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8060"}],"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=8060"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8209,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8060\/revisions\/8209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}