Published 25th September 2019. At this year’s hectic Labour Party conference, most Free Our Unions activists were absorbed in other campaigning – around the Green New Deal, Grenfell and fire safety, migrants’ rights, left anti-Brexit campaigning, among other issues – but the campaign was very much present.
Author Archives: freeourunions
What TUC Congress just called for on union rights goes much further than Labour’s proposals
At TUC Congress in Brighton, on 9 September 2019, the following composite motion was passed unanimously.
“Workers need the right to strike for climate justice”
Pubblished 9th September 2019. This is a joint statement between the UK Student Climate Network and the Free Our Unions campaign. If your organisation would like to support the statement, get in touch: email freeourunions@gmail.com AND unionoutreach.ukscn@gmail.com
Workers must fight Johnson’s right-wing coup
Published on 2nd September 2019. Boris Johnson’s outrageous attack on democracy is not illegal. Strikes to stop it are. What does that tell you about the law?
For too long, trade unions have been held back: we must set them free
This article, by Free Our Unions supporter and FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack, was first published in Morning Star on 1st August 2019. Find it here. The labour movement today faces opportunities we have not had for decades. There is the possibility of a radical Labour government within just months. Now is the time toContinue reading “For too long, trade unions have been held back: we must set them free”
Yes, we want a bonfire of the anti-union laws!
Published 27th July 2019. By Riccardo la Torre (FBU) and Becky Crocker (RMT) The 26 July edition of the Morning Star (newspaper of the Communist Party of Britain) contained a full-page article attacking the Free Our Unions campaign, by Unite activist Andy Green.
“We need to change the balance of forces in this country” – Kevin Courtney on repealing the anti-union laws
The first conference of the merged National Education Union in 2019 passed policy on repealing all anti-union laws. Free Our Unions supporters held a fringe meeting at which joint-NEU General Secretary Kevin Courtney spoke. This is a slightly abridged version of his speech.
The fight against climate catastrophe needs free trade unions
This article, by Daniel Randall, was originally published by Workers’ Liberty on 5th July 2019. Find it here. The call for a general strike against climate change, now gaining traction across much of the climate movement and taken up by prominent figures such as Greta Thurnberg, has a meaningful latent power. School climate strikers are callingContinue reading “The fight against climate catastrophe needs free trade unions”
How the Free Our Unions campaign has developed
Published 30th June 2019 In June the RMT became the third national union to back the Free Our Unions campaign, after the FBU and IWGB. Free Our Unions is a campaign The Clarion has been central to developing. This article explains what it is, how it has developed and what it has done so far.
Fight to free our unions
This article, by Riccardo La Torre and Sacha Ismail, was orginally published on the FBU website on 19th June 2019. Find it here. Anti-union laws, severely restricting the right to organise and take industrial action, are a barrier to workers defending their interests and building up the labour movement’s strength. All of them – fromContinue reading “Fight to free our unions”
Free Our Unions 