tuc news


Most Brexit voters ‘not racist’, but campaign was


because many voted to leave the EU, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady told its annual congress. Concern over pressure on


W


schools and the fact that wages had been undercut was legitimate in some areas. O’Grady pointed out that


surveys showed that most union members had voted Remain, but added that the movement needed to take trade unionism back to those towns where people felt ”shafted” by the political elite. Working people should not be made to pay the price of Britain leaving the EU, she said. In her keynote speech, much of it dominated by Brexit, O’Grady said: “The vote was


orking people should not be branded as racist


close but clear and now our job is to get on with representing working people, whichever way they cast their vote.” Employment rights


guaranteed under European law – won by unions – should be retained and access to the single market defended for all UK industries, not just the City, she said. Brexit negotiations should not be left to Conservative politicians. In a direct appeal to Theresa May, O’Grady said: “Trade unionists must be at the table.” A key demand would be that citizens from the continent should retain the right to remain in Britain. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey told the conference that “out of the EU must not mean out of work”. He called on unions to “pick up the


pieces” to protect workers’ rights.


In another debate,


delegates expressed deep concern that there had been a surge in racial violence, harassment and hate crime following the referendum. While the TUC general


secretary had asserted that most working class Brexit voters were not racist, much of the Leave campaign was nevertheless based on the fear of migrants and foreigners, the congress decided. Remain supporters had failed to challenge the racist rhetoric or advocate the positive contribution of immigrants. A resolution called on the union movement to develop a new anti-racist campaign integrated with an anti-cuts, anti-austerity agenda.


Speaking in support of the


resolution, NUJ vice-president Sian Jones said journalists had a responsibility to stop racism being expressed in the media.


Universal income: ‘an idea whose time has come’ France, the Netherlands and Finland


of wider reforms of social security. Proposing the resolution, Unite


T


assistant general secretary Steve Turner quoted Victor Hugo: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” The policy could lead to a replacement of means-tested benefits with a standard flat-rate payment for all UK citizens.


he trade union movement decided actively to consider the introduction of a universal basic income as part


are considering basic income pilots and a poll in May this year found that 65% of Europeans would back the idea. Steve told congress that Conservative


austerity had produced “obscene results” and the movement had to stand up against the government’s “dehumanising cuts”. But he added: “We also need to


recognise that work is changing. Millions of jobs are being lost to automation and


technological advances, whether it is drone delivery or the digitalisation of clerical work.”


He added: “In the face of this


uncertainty and fragmentation, the job of unions is to fight for decent work, but also for a decent income for those locked out of work … The labour movement must lead the debate on how we give people an income on which they can live. We cannot leave it to the Tories.”


ACTION URGENT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT A


n emergency resolution urged trade unionists to take urgent action to combat sexual


harassment after a TUC survey found that just one per cent of women who had experienced abuse at work confided in a union representative. Four out of five women did not


report it to their employer and a disturbing two-thirds of young women


had experienced it, according to Still Just a Bit of Banter?, a study published in conjunction with the Everyday Sexism project. The motion declared that while there had been “good” union initiatives on sexual harassment, “further concerted action is urgently needed”. USDAW shopworkers’ union general secretary John Hannett told delegates


that the scale of the problem was “truly shocking”. His union’s reps had been empowered to send out an unequivocal message on the issue. “Despite this, sexual harassment persists and continues to damage the working lives of most women workers.”


She said members “should


have the right to withhold their labour … where employers are providing a platform for racist propaganda”.


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