STUC supports "magnificent struggle" of workers in Prisme Dundee occupation

(Friday 24 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

The final act of the 2009 STUC Congress in Perth was to pledge support for the workers who have occupied the Prisme packaging premises in Dundee over the last 7 weeks.

Mike Arnott of Dundee TUC said: "When we were told about the Prisme sit-in, our first reaction was to have a whip-round. This is the first factory occupation for 13 years and the first in Dundee since Timex in 1993."

Arnott said the management had told the workforce with no notice that the company was bust, there was no money for redundancy and they were all dismissed.

"Faced with this," he said "the decision of the workers was a spontaneous and courageous act worthy of support, which is why we support them, even though they were not members of a union. Most workers in Britain aren't. It's not a perfect world yet."

Arnott said that the strikers have received support and donations from trade union branches. "These workers are much closer to the trade union movement and its ethos of solidarity now.

They still have not received their redundancy payment but all donations are going into a fund to start a new company named Discovery, after Dundee's iconic ship.

"Today the workers have been involved in talks to save their company but finance is still needed - please send donations," Mr Arnott appealed. "Cheques payable to TUC Lobby Fund, c/o Dundee TUC, 141 Yarrow Terrace, DD2 4DY."

Calum Murray of UCU said that the Prisme workers occupation was "really quite outstanding and inspirational" and had touched a spark with people in Dundee.

"Occupation is the new fashion," he said. "Here is small non-unionised factory, there is a group of parents in Glasgow, sparks are beginning to spread round the labour movement. When people facing redundancy or closures fight back, suddenly we find levels of support amongst the wider community. We all know that when we ballot for strike we get flooded with membership applications. When we fight back, people flock to us. That's why we should flock to them when they fight back."

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Scotland's unions demand Trident cancellation

(Friday 24 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

Congress reaffirmed its opposition to the Trident submarine missile system, calling on the government to cancel the programme of Trident replacement and work with the Scottish government and others to diversify Scotland’s economy.

Tommy Morrison of Clydebank TUC said: "Trident is weapon designed for a bygone era, irrelevant to our security needs today. And with the economy facing meltdown, rising unemployment and repossessions, Trident is bordering on the insane."

Mr Morrison said: "We need a job diversification programme to protect the defence workers. The STUC and CND have provided evidence to prove this is possible."

Congress also demanded full parliamentary debate and scrutiny on the issue of Trident replacement.

Arthur West of Kilmarnock & Loudoun TUC said: "The cost of replacing Trident is truly eye-watering, now estimated at over £66bn to replace and maintain. A really worrying aspect is the lack of parliamentary debate and scrutiny. The government is moving onto what is known as the Initial Gate stage, and a report is due to go to ministers in September while parliament is in recess. Given the new Labour government's track record it is important there is pressure put on them to allow parliamentary debate and scrutiny."

Earlier in the international debate, Joy Dunn of PCS set the demand for abolition of Trident in a global context.

Ms Dunn told delegates: "I am sure you welcomed the moves by new US President Barack Obama to enter in to talks with Russia's President Medvedev on nuclear weapons. This sent a significant signal around the world. There is growing support for the Global Zero campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Against that background, the UK government's persistence in investing in Trident looks out of step."

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Congress calls for reinstatement of forced-out newspaper staff

(Thursday 23 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

Congress passed an emergency motion from the National Union of Journalists on Wednesday condemning the actions of Daily Record and Sunday Mail directors for cutting a quarter of editorial jobs.

NUJ Scottish organiser Paul Holleran said: "What can I tell you about the Daily Record and Sunday Mail directors?

"Their greed is surpassed only by their vindictiveness, which is surpassed only by their incompetence."

Mr Holleran said the directors had reneged on a deal following industrial action over workplace stress last year.

"We have 250 journalists in the Daily Record and Sunday Mail," he said.

"A cut of 75 is a huge hit for us. We compromised over redundancies and new technology and shift patterns, but they rejected our offer and went ahead with selections for compulsory redundancies using completely inappropriate criteria."

"These are not loss-making companies," Mr Holleran continued.

"The Daily Record and Sunday Mail have made in excess of £20 million profit a year.

"This dispute is about jobs but also about the quality of newspapers - these directors have driven down and sacrificed quality journalism by making huge cuts in search of further profit."

Arguing for more democratic ownership and control of the press, Roddy Robertson of the FBU said: "The question that should be asked in public is are these papers safe in the hands of the directors?"

Congress called for the reinstatement of the 23 NUJ members at the Daily Record and Sunday Mail who have been selected for the compulsory redundancy.

The NUJ chapel has been taking strike action against the forced-through compulsory redundancies.

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Restore pension link now, demands STUC

(Thursday 23 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

The Scottish TUC urged the government on Wednesday to immediately increase pensions above the poverty line - currently at £151 per week - and restore the earnings link.

The pensions motion rejected the idea that there is a pensions crisis because people are living longer, not least because the National Insurance scheme has excesses of more than £35 billion.

Congress also rejected attacks by employers on occupational pensions. Train drivers' union ASLEF delegate Chris Barrie said that there were few more important issues before congress.

"The current economic situation means that the Labour government should be doing all in its power to help pensioners," he said.

"We will not accept crocodile tears from politicians."

North Lanarkshire TUC delegate Tommy Brennan said: "We should immediately restore the link to earnings and increase the basic state pension to more than £151.

"There is no dignity for many of our pensioners in trying to live on today's basic state pension. There is no dignity in having to decide whether to eat or heat.

"It's an indictment on this supposedly Labour government."

And GMB delegate Charlie Robertson demanded additional resources for older pensioners.

"The derisory 25p a week paid to over-eighties has not increased since its introduction in 1971," he said.

"This is the generation which protested for the right to work, defeated fascism and built the welfare state and are the poorest - they are less likely to have occupational pensions and more likely to have additional expenses."

UNISON delegate Catriona Beveridge told congress that public-sector pensions were currently under attack from the right.

"Do you think council and health and government workers retire early on pensions like Sir Fred Goodwin?" she asked.

"The actual level of the average pension for UK local government workers is £3,800 a year."

Unite delegate Stevie Deans, a shop steward at Ineos in Grangemouth, thanked the STUC for its support in last year's pension strike.

"We were faced with a greedy employer who, despite making millions of pounds in profits, intended to take our members' pensions rights away from them," he said.

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Way for democracy

(Thursday 23 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

A packed STUC fringe meeting in the Salutation Hotel heard RMT general secretary Bob Crow make the case for the new left-wing, anti-EU electoral alliance No2EU.

"The EU was sold to people on the basis of its social benefits after the war," Mr Crow said on Tuesday.

"The capitalist states were petrified that the Soviet Union would expand.

"But after it collapsed, they believed there was no need to offer benefits to the workers. Instead, the EU has become all about competition, trying to race everyone down to the bottom."

Mr Crow argued that the European institutions were an extension of global capital.

"In reality, the EU institutions can't be changed. MEPs meet once a year to talk about the Budget, but, in reality, they have no power."

"We believe there is a massive protest vote out there against the EU," Mr Crow said.

"But who can people vote for? The Tories, the Lib Dems and new Labour all support the EU capitalists, they all support the European Court of Justice judgements. If we don't pick this issue up, the BNP will pick up votes."

Mr Crow stated that some people had criticised No2EU by saying it was another new political party, but he pointed out that it was an electoral alliance to mobilise opposition in the European election of June 4 - finishing on June 5.

"If we win any seats, we will not take them up - we'll call a convention to discuss how to take the issue forward."

Mr Crow argued that No2EU wants a different kind of Europe.

"It's not European workers who we oppose - we want to link up and show solidarity with other workers in Europe - it's the European Union that we oppose."

"Let's get out of Europe and back into the world," Mr Crow concluded.

No2EU candidate in Scotland John Foster told the meeting: "The EU is a concentration of capital. That means its power is concentrated and so it attacks workers.

"We can see this in the terms of the Lisbon Treaty and the European Courts of Justice cases of Viking, Laval and Luxembourg.

"It is nothing less than a frontal attack on workers' rights."

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Salmond supports Scottish bank idea

(Thursday 23 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

SNP First Minister Alex Salmond told the STUC Congress in Perth that his government would act to establish a Scottish Investment Bank, as called for in the STUC agenda for rebuilding collective prosperity.

Mr Salmond said: "In the aftermath of the financial crash, we have to look at every economic lever available to us.

"The Scottish government has studied very carefully the STUC agenda and we find that the proposal for a Scottish Investment Bank has substantial merit. We are now working to establish exactly that."

He added that he was looking to Scotland's main economic development agency Scottish Enterprise to form the basis of the bank and announced that £20m would be found to support the initiative from the Scottish Venture Fund.

"This is very much a first step, an acorn from which a mighty oak might grow," he said.

"We will look to pull in substantial resources from the European Investment Bank," he said.

"There is huge potential for investment and innovation in high-growth Scottish businesses. In taking forward the ideas initiated by this congress and others, we can make sure prosperity is realised."

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Forget the bankers - focus on the workers, Barber tells government

(Thursday 23 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

In a fraternal address to the STUC in Perth, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber urged the government to show "the same determination in protecting working people from the worst of the recession as it has in protecting banks from the greedy excesses of their bosses."

Mr Barber issued a warning to the government and the Chancellor.

"The idea that there are £15 billion worth of painless cuts is quite mistaken. To claim this is to play into the hands of the small-state right who lose no opportunity to attack the public sector, its staff and their pensions," he said.

"Governments must over the long-term ensure that they can run sustainable public finances.

"But if we let the country's productive base waste away now through a short-term refusal to let the deficit grow, it will be much more painful to get the public finances in order, with millions on the dole and whole industrial and service sectors hollowed out."

Mr Barber argued that the union message is clear - we can't go back to business as usual.

"We don't want to go back to the idea that the market always knows best and that deregulation is the only game in town," he said.

"We don't want to see inequality grow as a new class of super-rich float away from the rest of us - a group who think tax is for the little people."

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Health and safety 'needs transparency'

(Wednesday 22 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

STUC Congress demanded a new culture of transparency in health and safety on Tuesday to address the high level of fatalities in Scottish workplaces.

Construction union delegate Harry Frew said: "In the last five years, 148 workers including 35 self-employed have died as a result of workplace accidents, yet not one director has been successfully prosecuted."

Mr Frew called for dramatically increased funding of the HSE so it can inspect and prosecute companies that break health and safety laws and a greater emphasis upon worker involvement in health and safety, including a strengthening of the role of safety representatives and ring-fenced funding for workplace safety advisers.

Speaking to a motion condemning the Scottish government's civil justice reform agenda, Unite union delegate Hugh Scullion added: "This is a crossroads moment for our justice system. The Scottish government is taking steps towards making citizens pay directly for the court they use.

"The Civil Court review taking place under Lord Justice Gill is a 150-page document. You'd imagine there would be some mention of trade unions in it. There was one reference - and it got it wrong.

"Despite the new law on corporate manslaughter introduced in Westminster, the law needs to go further to make sure company directors are fully responsible for the health and safety of workers."

In Scotland, you are more likely to die or be injured at work than elsewhere and, when that does happen, compensation is lower than elsewhere. That is just wrong."

Public-sector union UNISON delegate Dave Watson said: "This is not just a technical argument - it is a fundamental attack on the legal systems we use to protect our members. Making the public pay full cost is treating justice like a commercial operation rather than a public service."

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Delegates call for a balanced energy policy

(Wednesday 22 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

STUC renewed its commitment to a balanced energy policy on Tuesday based on a diversity of fuel sources, to enable secure, affordable energy supplies and help cut emissions.

Unite union delegate Marie Vannet said: "A balanced energy policy is absolutely vital to ensure stability of supply."

She argued that action is needed now to ensure that replacement capacity is available when existing power stations close.

Public-sector union UNISON delegate Dave Watson said that the market trumpeted by both Scottish and Westminster governments has dismally failed consumers.

"Regrettably, a coherent policy is not what we always get from these governments," he said.

"We either get more market madness from the UK or a crude 'no nukes at any price' from the Scottish government. We shouldn't wait until the lights go out before we recognise that market madness is no way to run a vital public service like energy."

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STUC demands cash for public services

(Wednesday 22 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

THE Scottish TUC passed a series of resolutions on Tuesday supporting well-funded public services and protecting society's most vulnerable.

Public-sector union UNISON convener Mike Kirby slammed the rush to outsource public services as "a tax scam that abandons democratic control and allows the council to avoid its legal duty to pay men and women equally."

He described Glasgow council's increasing reliance on outsourced trusts and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) to deliver public services. Currently, around 15,000 staff are employed by nine LLPs, trusts and partnerships in Glasgow.

"A recent Glasgow Council report into these arm's-length external organisations‚ or ALEOs, admits that they are a tax scam, that they lead to loss of democratic control by councillors and they can avoid more equal pay claims because they have fewer comparators. So much for the Labour government's public-sector equality duty," he said.

Teaching union EIS delegate David Drever said: "We must not underestimate the political fight we face.

"The papers are speaking about an 'obese' and 'inflated' public sector and the Chancellor is preparing for billions of pounds of 'efficiency savings' in the Budget. But we must not allow public service workers being posed against our colleague the private sector."

Civil Service union PCS delegate Cheryl Gedling added: "We listened carefully to Harriet Harman on Monday when she said that you can't cut your way out of recession.

"Maybe she was just off message, but we think she needs to go knock on the door at 11 Downing Street to let Alistair Darling know what he should do.

"After the previous chancellor announced 104,000 job cuts in 2004, we launched a campaign of industrial action and ensured no compulsory redundancies. If this budget announcement means public-sector cuts, be assured that our union will defend our members' jobs and their terms and conditions."

General union GMB delegate Linda Miller called for action on equal pay in the public sector.

"Low-pay is still a real issue for many women. On average, 27,000 - mainly female - part-time local government workers in Scotland earn less than £6.50 per hour and 14,000 in the NHS earn less than £7 per hour," she said.

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Scottish Labour leader: I want unions to be partners

(Wednesday 22 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

SCOTTISH Labour Leader Iain Gray told the STUC Congress on Tuesday that he wanted his party to be a real partner with the unions in working towards their policy agenda for collective prosperity.

"We will continue to campaign alongside the unions as we have against the sale of forests, against cuts in the voluntary sector, against cuts in teacher numbers, for better protection of workers against abuse and for stronger regulation of the bus industry," he said.

Despite the financial chaos which has engulfed the world, Mr Gray argued that the big banks are not beyond our control.

"We made the banks and we can control them." he said.

"And that is why the Labour government has led concerted international action to strengthen banking regulation, closing tax haven loopholes that drain wealth out of the countries that produce it.

"Many people feel that the high aspirations for the recent G20 hosted by the Labour government have not been met, but real progress was made."

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Congress backs UCATT call for an immediate ban on blacklisting

(Wednesday 22 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

IN a passionate speech on an emergency resolution on blacklisting, construction union UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie won the unanimous support of congress to call for immediate legislation to outlaw the practice.

"Last month, it was proved that blacklisting is endemic in the construction industry," he told delegates.

"Forty major companies have been paying an affiliation of £3,000 a year to The Consulting Association to get personal details of workers. And, because our members are trade unionists, companies have been blacklisting them and stopping them from being employed."

Mr Ritchie said that, for decades, UCATT has raised the issue, but the companies had denied the practice took place and the government always claimed there was no evidence. Now the evidence has been provided in a report from the Information Commissioner.

The resolution calls for a new law to prohibit the making, keeping or circulation of a blacklist and put employers under a legal obligation to disclose any lists that they hold.

"This Labour government has a moral obligation to this movement to make sure blacklisting is ended," he said.

"We also call on the Scottish government, which gives multimillion-pound contracts to these companies, to make it illegal to operate a blacklist."

Congress also passed a resolution calling for improved employment rights for migrant and vulnerable workers.

CWU delegate John Brown said: "Some of the most vulnerable workers are also migrant workers and are often exploited by unscrupulous employers."

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Scottish UNISON condemns 'get rich quick' philosophy and calls for fairer tax

(Tuesday 21 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

SCOTTISH UNISON secretary Matt Smith told delegates on Monday that the economic crisis must be paid for by fairer taxation and more investment in public services.

In a hard-hitting speech, Mr Smith pointed out that the crisis has been caused by relying on a get-rich-quick philosophy and that the proponents of that philosophy are still arguing for the failed policies of deregulation and attacks on the public sector.

"The richest 1 per cent in our society have doubled their share of total income since the 1980s," he said.

"Today, they pocket more money than the entire workforces of the NHS, state education and local government put together. And they pay back nothing like their fair share of tax.

"Almost £20 billion is lost from the money to pay for our services every year because of the use and abuse of tax havens."

Mr Smith added: "There is no more efficient way to promote a better society than by directing funds to meet unmet needs and to employ those who are cast aside by the actions of others.

"Government must listen when working people call for a just society that rejects free-market economics."

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Harman insists Labour must not 'repeat the mistakes of the past'

(Tuesday 21 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

LABOUR's deputy leader Harriet Harman affirmed to the STUC congress on Monday that "you cannot cut your way out of a recession" and promised to ensure that "help in difficult times must go to those who need it most."

Ms Harman told delegates that the priority for government at all levels must now be to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past."

She said that the recession in the 1980s and '90s had "left Scotland with a legacy of lives ruined by persistent economic inactivity and communities decimated by the hollowing out the industrial core.

"Scotland continues to pay a very high human and economic cost for the policy failures of the past. We are determined not to repeat those mistakes," she said.

Ms Harman also argued that, while Labour had been in government, it had striven to cut unemployment, helped the poor with tax credits, child benefits and extra for pensioners, introduced the national minimum wage, legislated for trade union recognition, invested in health education and transport and enacted laws to protect people from discrimination.

"Those are all things that couldn't happen while Tories were in government but we know we need to do more," she added.

The speech also argued the case for the Union in the recession.

"As well as the strength that devolution has brought, we need to stand together throughout the United Kingdom - Scotland, Wales and England," she said.

STUC general secretary Grahame Smith welcomed Ms Harman's statement, saying that he had hoped that political speakers would address the changing economic times and the need to assist those hardest hit in the recessions.

"The STUC looks forward to this proactive agenda being fully reflected in Wednesday's budget," he said.

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STUC president attacks 'reckless' bankers

(Tuesday 21 April 2009)

by Malcolm Burns in Perth

SCOTTISH TUC president Fiona Farmer set the tone for this year's congress with a stinging attack on Monday on the financial elite who have caused the global economic crisis.

Ms Farmer told delegates that the prevailing economic system based on financial innovation, deregulation and a race to the bottom on business taxation has collapsed with appalling consequences for workers and their families across the developed and developing world.

She said that the market-driven model which has held sway for the last 30 years had not just failed - it had "imploded in spectacular fashion.

"The collective prosperity of ordinary workers and their families is threatened by the prodigious cost of propping up financial institutions that were run for the benefit of a self-absorbed and arrogant economic elite whose influence stretched far beyond the financial sector," she said.

Ms Farmer added that the full impact of the recession had yet to be felt in Scotland, as jobs continue to disappear in manufacturing, house building, retail and other service industries, as well as the finance sector.

"There are also increasing moves toward short-time working, pay freezes, cuts and redeployment," she pointed out.

"Once again, it is the people we represent who are carrying the can for the selfishness and recklessness of economic elites and the complacency of government," she said.

On the basis that government cannot be allowed to repeat the mistakes of the past, she also argued for a strong fiscal stimulus in the Budget tomorrow.

"Regulators should take a far tougher line on the bonus culture, capital reserves and the trading of securities," Ms Farmer argued.

She also had a clear warning for the Labour administration.

"The current situation where the government is a majority stake holder without exercising control is wholly unsustainable, politically and economically," she said.

"We have made the case for a low-carbon industrial strategy, a Scottish Investment Bank, increased investment in science, technology, engineering and maths, enhanced research and development credits, sectoral procurement strategies and increased state aid for manufacturing."

Ms Farmer also told conference that one of the highlights of her presidential year had been a visit to Venezuela in November, a country with "genuine socialist policies, where there has been major investment in health, education and housing."

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