{"id":8064,"date":"2016-03-10T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T12:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8064"},"modified":"2016-03-11T11:56:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T11:56:08","slug":"vote-for-hope-and-solidarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8064","title":{"rendered":"Vote for hope and solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

A vote to remain in the EU must be seen as a vote for a return to its original mission of solidarity and hope.\u00c2\u00a0 It must not be taken as a thumbs up for the finance-first status quo which has brought misery to ordinary people and betrayed the ideals of Europe Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said last night (March 9).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey warned that it will be difficult to enthuse Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1.4m members, bruised by attacks on their union and enduring near decade-long drops in their living standards, to vote for a prime minister whose vision of Europe is one where business knows no boundaries and workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights are removed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But, he said that life outside of the EU will be worse for UK working people, left to the mercy of a governing Conservative party wedded to unrelenting cuts which has made it its mission to destroy lawful trade unions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Confirming his personal support for a remain vote, he called for an end to the `eye-watering\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 austerity that has caused the people to break faith with the European project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, too, that public disillusionment with the EU project grew when banks were prioritised while sovereign states were reduced to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098beggary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by debt prepayment. It deepened when David Cameron enjoyed assistance in his bid to appease his backbench MPs, yet migrants in great distress are being denied a basic humanitarian response to their plight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey made his remarks to an audience gathered by the German Ambassador at his London residency, where he was joined by his counterpart in the German union the IG BCE (the union for the mining, chemical and energy industries) and president of IndustriALL European , Michael Vassiliadis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a supporter of the European Union but when I vote for Britain to remain in the EU in June, I will not be voting for the status quo \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let me be clear about that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI 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, but on Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI 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

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAbove all, I will 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.\u00c2\u00a0 It is disappointing to see how eager European governments were to accommodate him, in stark contrast to the reception given to premier Tsipras of Greece last year.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trade union members <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turning to the role of the Conservative party in the debate, McCluskey said that it will be difficult to convince the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s six million trade union members that a party leader who expended much of his first term trying to destroy their unions deserves their support in the referendum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSince their election, the Tories have introduced one proposal after another to further weaken and undermine the trade unions, and to starve the Labour party of its traditional source of funding,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow they need assistance from the movement they wish to destroy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTempting as it is to make the most of a situation like this, it falls to us in the labour movement to behave in a more statesmanlike way, and to look at the bigger issues,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey went on to say.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNevertheless, 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Returning to his theme of the EU needing to renew its compact with the people, McCluskey warned that Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision for the EU is out of step with that of the people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s calls in recent years for UK exclusion from the full range of EU employment and social laws have created the belief among ordinary people that the European Union is a big business club,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bCameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Europe will never make the British heart beat faster.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo win, we need hope too. For eight years now Europe has been in a tunnel marked austerity, everything subordinated to righting the finance-first system that capsized in 2008.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA 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

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time now to show the people a way out, for Europe to speak as one voice for growth, for investment and for protection for the weakest,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhere are the politicians of such vision in Europe today, who can make Europe seem like a cause, rather than a cash register?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBecause 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roots <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

McCluskey argued that the successful future of the EU lies in remembering its roots.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGiven the chance, I believe the people of today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s European Union would choose the ethos of investment, of modern economic reconstruction and the principles on which it was founded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut what 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 are repaid on time?\u00c2\u00a0 It certainly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t solidarity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLikewise, can any European \u00e2\u20ac\u201c any human indeed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c be happy at Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the refugee crisis?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McClsukey noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appropriate to congratulate Angela Merkel for having showed far more humanitarian consideration than most EU governments, including our own.\u00c2\u00a0 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

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLeaving the European Union will not develop solidarity one bit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c rather it will speed up the rush to beggar-my-neighbour economics and anti-refugee brutality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe EU referendum campaign is an opportunity to make the case for a broader and deeper solidarity across our continent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWithout that solidarity, Europe can only fragment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So to summarise, Unite is a pro-EU union. It believes the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members have benefited from the jobs, rights and solidarity that EU membership has brought working people.\u00c2\u00a0 However (at the time of publication), the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Executive Council has yet to discuss the EU referendum and the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach to that campaign.\u00c2\u00a0 It will do so when it meets in the week of March 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A vote to remain in the EU must be seen as a vote for a return to its original mission of solidarity and hope.\u00c2\u00a0 It must not be taken as a thumbs up for the finance-first status quo which has brought misery to ordinary people and betrayed the ideals of Europe Unite general secretary Len […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[465,160],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS: Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s renew the EU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mission","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8064"}],"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=8064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8065,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8064\/revisions\/8065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}