Message from RMT...
TRANSPORT UNION RMT has tabled a motion for the TUC Congress in Manchester in September which sets out a blueprint for a co-ordinated trade union and community fightback against the cuts programme and the “class warfare” of the Con-Dem Government.
The RMT motion calls on the trade union movement to;
· Call an immediate summit of affiliates to discuss the sole issue of how we can best coordinate industrial action to defend jobs, pensions and conditions
· Consider convening a urgent conference of affiliates and representatives of users of publicly funded services and the welfare state to establish a broad alliance against the cuts
· Organise an urgent national demonstration, lobby of Parliament and national days of protest against the cuts and fully involve trades councils in moblising for these events.
· Present a clear alternative to the cuts including public ownership, higher rates of tax for the rich, closing corporate tax loopholes and scrapping Trident replacement.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “The TUC has to be the launch-pad for the fight back against the coalition Government’s decision to unleash all out class warfare through their unprecedented attack on our communities, public services, welfare state and transport system. Our defence must be built on generalised strike action and community resistance in the biggest public mobilisation since the anti-poll tax movement.
“RMT is in no doubt that the government is using the deficit as a thinly veiled cover to engage in an ideological dismantling of the state and an attack on workers, and the most vulnerable in our society, which goes far further than even the dark days of Thatcher.
“As well as setting out plans for our own co-ordinated industrial and community action we also send a message of solidarity to our comrades in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and elsewhere who are fighting similar cuts to jobs, standards of living and public services.”
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@brightonhovetuc
Meeting Dates
Meetings take place on the second Wednesday of the month
We alternate between executive committee meetings and full trades council meetings. All delegates are encouraged to attend full meetings and any trade union member may attend as a visitor.
Email BrightonTradesCouncil@gmail.com to be informed of meeting dates and times.
How to get involved
Contact: In the first instance contact the General Secretary Andy Richards at brightontradescouncil@gmail.com
Trades union councils consist of representatives of trade unions or branches of trade unions which meet within the area covered by that council, or which have members working or living in the area. A union branch will normally affiliate to the trades unions council in the area in which it meets.
Trades union councils consist of representatives of trade unions or branches of trade unions which meet within the area covered by that council, or which have members working or living in the area. A union branch will normally affiliate to the trades unions council in the area in which it meets.
Who are we and what do we do?
Trades union councils bring together trade unions to campaign around issues effecting working people in their workplaces and local communities.
Trades Union Councils consist of trade unions or branches of
Trades Union Councils consist of trade unions or branches of
trade unions which meet within the area covered by that council, or which have members working or living in the area.
A union branch will normally affiliate to the trades union council in the area in which it meets. Each branch will then send delegates to the trades union council's meetings. These branches pay an affiliation fee. Their delegates elect officers from amongst themselves to represent the views and priorities of the constituent branches and to take responsibility for working for and supporting the policy of Congress and the Trades Union Council (TUC) General Council. This is because trades union councils are registered with the TUC, rather than being entirely independent bodies. The Annual Conference of Trades Union Councils takes place over a May weekend.
Brighton Hove & District Trades Council was first formed in the function room above The Eagle pub in Gloucester Road, Brighton in 1890.
Aims and objectives
> Raise public awareness of rights at work and the union role in enforcing those rights.
> Promote organising and recruitment drives to build union membership.
> Support union and community campaigns for dignity and respect in the workplace and beyond.
With the threats of racism and fascism, changes in the labour market and debates over the future of public services, the trade union voice in the community is as important as ever.
The capacity of trades union councils to provide a local response and to organise trade unionists into coalitions with other progressive forces is crucial. They do this by providing services which keep local trade unionists up to date with developments within the wider trade union movement, and by taking up relevant local industrial and community issues.