Free Our Unions

Labour’s manifesto and the right to strike: a welcome step forward, more to fight for

Published 23rd November 2019.

In the general election, Free Our Unions is working to kick out the Tories and win a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. In the words of a Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack, a Labour government can “deliver a shift in power away from wealthy elites and towards workers. The Tories and Liberal Democrats have left the country… in tatters. We must remove them from power.”

Royal Mail’s anti-strike injunction is an affront to democracy

Published 13th November 2019.

The High Court injunction granted to Royal Mail to prevent postal workers from striking, despite their overwhelming vote to do so, highlights the profoundly undemocratic nature of Britain’s anti-trade union laws, and the urgent need for the whole labour movement to renew our fight for their abolition – including by demanding that the Labour Party commits to fully repealing all existing anti-union laws when in government.

#freeourunions at Labour Party conference 2019

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.

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 to discuss, debate and decide how we can build the power of working-class people. Central to that aim is strengthening and rebuilding the trade union movement.

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 calling on workers to join them in striking on 20 September.