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FEATURES Brexit


BY RYAN FLETCHER


Find out more HERE


‘Submerged perils’? – PM May meets


EU council president Donald Tusk, March 1. Unite believes


only Labour is putting workers and jobs first


Beware the Tory ‘Brexberg’ Unite fights to stop govt steering UK into Brexit iceberg


For many people the constant political fighting that accompanies the UK’s efforts to extricate itself from the EU, as well as the glacial progress of the negotiations, have made Brexit a subject to be avoided.


It’s an understandable position. The public were asked to do their bit by voting in the referendum and now it’s up to our politicians to work out the details.


But it’s also a mistake. Because a Tory Brexit is an iceberg, which is why Unite is fighting tooth and nail to prevent our current government from blithely steering the UK into it.


Pointing to the looming mass above the water, Theresa May and her government attempt to kid themselves, and everyone else, that miraculous trade deals with far off lands lie just behind.


The submerged perils that will hit jobs and living standards don’t really exist, they protest, even though the government’s own analysis shows a hard Brexit will cause an 8 per cent slump in economic growth.


“To reach the utopia of a deregulated Britain where business flourishes unfettered, we must maintain our course and cut in close to the sea ice”, Tory Brexiteers insist. The


hard right of the Conservative Party have lashed themselves to the helm, while less extreme Tories flail around threatening mutiny. A safer course, towards an exit from the EU works for all, is available.


In February, Jeremy Corbyn announced the Labour Party is committed to a customs union with the EU – protecting jobs and preventing a dangerous hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic – and reform to prevent the exploitation of free movement by unscrupulous employers.


Labour pledge “On the one hand, there is Labour which has pledged to build on the trading arrangements presently supporting millions of jobs in this country,” said Unite leader Len McCluskey.


“A Corbyn government will also make it a priority to tackle the greedy bosses who have abused migrant workers to undermine employment conditions and attack the rate for the job. On the other hand, there are the Tories who are quite clearly putting their own party interests above those of the nation.”


Crunch time over what kind of Brexit we will have arrives in autumn, when MPs vote on Theresa May’s final EU deal – which


28 uniteWORKS Spring 2018


could see the government fail and a general election called.


Unite has been crossing the UK listening to members, and through survey have reached thousands of workers, so we can reflect the view from the factory, laboratory and office floor.


Unite is urging members to contact their MPs to lobby them to vote against the deal if it fails Labour’s six tests for a jobs first Brexit.


Crucially, Unite is also asking members to contact the union so their employers can be held to account if they cite leaving the EU as a reason for attacks on wages and working conditions.


Want to know more about what Brexit means for you – and see the survey results? Visit unitebrexitcheck.org today


Mark Thomas


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