{"id":9743,"date":"2016-09-11T18:06:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T17:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9743"},"modified":"2016-09-12T12:59:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:59:06","slug":"out-of-eu-must-not-mean-out-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9743","title":{"rendered":"Out of EU must not mean out of work"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Employers must not use Conservative in-fighting and the challenge of Brexit to let a shadow descend over the future of UK workplaces \u00e2\u20ac\u201c warned Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moving a composite today (September 11) on the European Union at the annual TUC conference in Brighton, he stated that \u00e2\u20ac\u0098out of Europe must not mean out of work.’<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey urged trade unions and their members to seize the opportunity of the ensuing Brexit negotiations to reconnect with working communities and address the issues which caused so many to feel \u00e2\u20ac\u0098left behind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in modern Britain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He also called for stronger action against the vile racist backlash which has taken hold since the June EU exit vote, proclaiming that this movement stands shoulder-to-shoulder with migrant workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Addressing the conference McCluskey said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is not a debate most of us wanted to be having.\u00c2\u00a0 We took the case for EU membership up and down the country, and fought for the voice of working people to be heard in a campaign dominated on both sides by Tories, but we did not prevail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow this movement has to pick up the pieces to protect workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights, to defend jobs against the background of an unsympathetic government and growing economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also need to recognise why we lost \u00e2\u20ac\u201c above all, why so many industrial communities voted to Leave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a mystery.\u00c2\u00a0Far too much of Britain has been left behind by globalisation. Whole industries have disappeared, leaving communities derelict and generations without hope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPile on austerity and cuts in services on top, with relentless downward pressure on wages, an elite that has passed the burdens of the crisis onto the less fortunate and it is not surprising that millions of people, including significant numbers of our members, voted to give the establishment a kicking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow while this movement has to accept the democratic decision of the people, one thing has become very clear:\u00c2\u00a0 No-one knows what Brexit means. Not Theresa May apparently – and certainly not Boris Johnson and their ilk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur basic demands are no reduction in workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights, no loss of jobs and an immediate end to the shameful racist backlash which has taken hold since the referendum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to say loud and clear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c migrant workers in Britain are our brothers and sisters and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them against the racists. It is greedy bosses who are to blame here for driving down wages, not migrant workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNor must Brexit be used as an excuse by big business to cut jobs and investment in Britain.\u00c2\u00a0 A shadow hangs over too many workplaces today \u00e2\u20ac\u201c productive factories like Ford at Bridgend now have their future thrown into doubt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are ready to work with employers to overcome any genuine problems that may exist. \u00c2\u00a0But we are not prepared to see Brexit used as a smokescreen for further disinvestment from Britain. Out of the EU must not mean out of work.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reconnect call <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Calling upon unions to seize the challenge of Brexit, McCluskey added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is an opportunity to reconnect with our members in abandoned communities, an opportunity to break with failed economics and to start the debate as to what sort of country we want Britain to be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was Ernie Bevin who said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098When the time comes, if it ever does, for a great struggle between Capital and Labour, I want it to be for something bigger than a penny an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I want it to have a very definite object \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that of achieving for those who toil, the mastery of their own lives.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBrexit is now that struggle.\u00c2\u00a0 We want a Britain beyond austerity and fear, shaped not by the dismal insularity of the Brexit camp, but by the optimism and generosity of working people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The debate, with contributions supporting the composite from across the trade union movement, including from the FBU, Unison, Ucatt and the UCU among others, featured\u00c2\u00a0one voice of dissent from John Reid of the transport union the RMT.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reid explained that the economic problems caused by the Tory government should not be blamed on Brexit, and noted that his union supported the vote to leave the EU based on an “internationalist and socialist programme”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The composite was overwhelmingly carried, confirming the trade union movement’s commitment to defending jobs, services and living standards for all workers in the wake of the uncertainty released by Brexit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Employers must not use Conservative in-fighting and the challenge of Brexit to let a shadow descend over the future of UK workplaces \u00e2\u20ac\u201c warned Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary.   Moving a composite today (September 11) on the European Union at the annual TUC conference in Brighton, he stated that \u00e2\u20ac\u0098out of Europe must not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[486,585],"wps_subtitle":"Unite warning to govt and business","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743"}],"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=9743"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9751,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9743\/revisions\/9751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}