Published on 18th December 2018.
On 7 December Region 7 of the Fire Brigades Union (West Midlands) passed the following motion.
This committee notes that the anti-trade union laws – not just the 2016 Trade Union Act, but multiple laws going back to 1980 – continually undermine workers’ ability to organise and campaign. They mean our movement is fighting the challenges of low pay, insecurity and erosion of hard-won terms and conditions with our hands tied behind our backs.
This committee also notes that in 2015, 2017 and 2018 Labour Party conference voted for clear policy to repeal all the anti-union laws and replace them with strong legal rights for workers and unions, including strong rights to strike and picket. However, this has not yet fed through into the party’s public campaigning.
This committee welcomes the campaign for Labour to implement this policy that has been launched by a range of trade union branches and organisations, coordinated by The Clarion magazine. It is absolutely crucial for our movement to ensure the next Labour government acts quickly and decisively on this and that the trade union movement hold them to account on this.
We therefore resolve
1. To add Region 7’s endorsement to the campaign statement initiated by Lambeth Local Government Unison and promoted by The Clarion.
2. To send the statement and this motion to the Executive Council to note.
3. To circulate this policy to our members and officials, to other FBU regions, to other unions in this region and the regional TUC and to local Labour Parties asking for support.
4. To purchase and distribute copies of the pamphlet The Clarion has produced for the campaign.
5. To invite a speaker from the campaign to a future meeting, and seek to hold a public me
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