CAMPAIGN Brexit Unite fights Tories’ Brexit dystopia


Unite has launched a drive to monitor the impact of Brexit on workers amid fears that some employers are using the UK’s divorce from the EU to cut pay and conditions.


A Brexit Check website will gather evidence from workplaces, ranging from long-term decisions such as investment, to laying off agency staff and holding back wages.


Much of the focus has been on the politics of the referendum result, but in the real world of work, there is disturbing evidence that firms could use the current uncertainty to attack hard won rights and conditions.


Kevin Coyne, Unite’s national officer for energy, told uniteWORKS, “A year-long negotiation with SSE had resulted in a signature-ready agreement for the energy giant to honour our members’ entitlement to holiday pay.


“Straight after the referendum result SSE suddenly tried to tear up the agreement. That's


nothing but shameless


opportunism, a clear example of an employer exploiting the uncertainty the government has created.


“Unite will not hesitate to name and shame any company which uses Brexit as an excuse to go on the attack.”


As well as protecting workers’ rights, Unite is stepping up demands for a far more ambitious industrial strategy from the one announced by the government, and a new trading relationship which avoids tariffs and other barriers between the UK and the EU.


Assistant general secretary Tony Burke speaks of his pride that Unite is leading the way in campaigning for ‘Brexit on our terms’, rather than the ‘hard Brexit’ the government is pursuing.


Tony is clear that tariffs will damage the UK’s crucial manufacturing sector, costing jobs and investment, even in some of the most successful industries such as automotive and aerospace.


The motor industry is warning that tariffs could add £1,500 to the price of a new car built in the UK, and there are already signs that investment by automotive companies has slowed, sounding alarm bells in some of the country's biggest factories.


Trish Ford, Unite deputy convenor at Toyota’s Burnaston plant near Derby, said the uncertainty was bound to affect pay talks.


“We are already trying to cut costs to make sure we are competitive against other plants. But we are bound to be affected by changes in the exchange rate, especially as parts are sourced from mainland Europe as well as Japan, so we definitely need to avoid tariffs.”


Another concern of Unite officials in the transport industry is the prospect of a return to the lengthy border checks and inspections that could sever supply links.


Ronnie Evans, who chairs Unite’s committee covering logistics and retail distribution, said, “Brexit will not work unless it’s linked to a proper industrial strategy that supports all transport workers – from aviation to docks and road haulage.


“The government claims that the UK can become a free trading nation, yet on the UK side of the channel many of the road and rail links to our gateway ports are in desperate need of proper investment.


“This has been exposed by the 800 Unite members in the Port of Liverpool who have been protesting about the inhuman conditions endured by shift workers and lorry drivers.”


Tony Burke warns that the government’s handling of Brexit threatens to create a “pound land, tax haven” Britain with low pay and low skills.


“The government simply does not have the skilled negotiators needed to deal with Brexit. To threaten the EU with creating a tax haven is absolutely ludicrous. It is not what people voted for, and the idea that Britain has a bright future as a leading trading nation just won’t wash.”


Unite is also concerned that the country’s skills shortage could turn into a crisis, especially if firms find it more difficult to recruit overseas staff.


This could be compounded by skilled foreign workers deciding to return home, which Tony Burke says is already happening.


“Because there is no certainty about their status, they are saying they may as well go home rather than wait to be slung out, so firms are losing highly skilled staff, while applications from the EU for skilled jobs in the UK are drying up.”


Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey wants more from the government than


Tax hav 16 uniteWORKS Spring 2017


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