SCOTTISH TUC MEETS IN DUNDEE

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: june 2010 :: RMTnews 24 T he Scottish Trade Union Congress met Dundee recently with 335 delegates in attendance representing 32 trade unions, 18 trade union councils including the black workers, young workers and disabled workers conferences. RMT sent 22 accredited delegates including Phil McGarry who was attending his last STUC as a General Council member for the last 17 years and was president in 2007. The first RMT motion was on the People’s Charter, moved by Phil McGarry and seconded by the National Union of Journalists. Phil called on the STUC to rally behind the principles of the charter and called for the current failed economic and social model to be ditched. He slammed the politicians and financiers who seemed mystified as to how the system had failed and reminded Congress that working class people should not pay for the failure. He reminded Congress that the principles in The People’s Charter and the STUC’s Collective Prosperity agenda were the same and the motion was carried unanimously. RMT seconded a motion on the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) moved by ASLEF. Mary-Jane Herbison of Glasgow 1&2 branch said that the route must have a conductor is on the train and the union would not accept Driver Only Operation. This was carried unanimously. In a composite on Network Rail general secretary Bob Crow slated the company for the jobs cull being proposed and mentioned that the architects of the initiative were not just Network Rail but Lord Adonis the Labour Transport Minister at Westminster. Dave King of Stirling branch highlighted the recent High Court judgement against the union by Network Rail as disgraceful. He emphasised his fundamental human right to take industrial actionwithout interference. A motion on the Scottish Government review of ferry services moved by Nautilus International was seconded by George Lonie of RMT Glasgow shipping branch. He said that ferry services should be focused on providing a public service to the community and not fulfilling minimum contractual obligations. “Any review of the services should seek to enhance publicly owned and publicly accountable services in the ferry network with an increased level of services wherever practicable,” he said. George emphasised that the retention of maritime skills in Scotland, for which Caledonian MacBrayne is currently a key player, and the employment opportunities by the company for the island communities’ stands at approximately 40 per cent of CalMac employees working on the islands. EC member Andy Gordon also expressed grave concern over the appalling pay and conditions affecting foreign seafarers working in the particular sectors. He highlighted examples of unsafe or sub- standard working and living conditions experienced by many seafarers and fishing vessel crew members in Scottish waters. He called upon Congress in support of to ratify and enforcement of the International Maritime Labour Convention and called upon the Scottish Government to prevent discrimination of foreign seafarers working in Scottish waters. RMT president Alex Gordon warned that cuts to public spending would take place and finance capital, which caused the current financial crisis, would make massive profits at the expense of the taxpayer through the privatisation of more public services, a tax on pensions, pay and safety at work. In line with the Council of Executives decision on nuclear energy, regional organiser Jake Molloy spoke against any nuclear strategy for the energy sector. On the question of peace, Micky Craig of Aberdeen offshore branch dealt with the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the continued threat of military action against Iran. He urged the General Council to continue to lobby for the withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, and a renewed commitment to peaceful dialogue with Iran. Micky specifically mentioned that a sovereign Palestinian state peacefully co- existing alongside a sovereign Israel in a nuclear weapon free Middle-East is desirable and called on Congress to support a world summit on nuclear disarmament and non- proliferation, and to work towards a nuclear weapons convention banning all such weapons. Seconding a motion on women’s safety in Scotland Janet Cassidy of North Clyde branch reminded Congress of the STUC Women’s Conference policy that extending Driver Only Operation train services would mean that safety concerns of women passengers would not be addressed. Janet called on Congress to support the RMT’s campaign in defence of the Operational Safety Role of Guards and applauded the support of rail workers who are fighting to retain guards on rail services. Janet, herself a conductor, mentioned the six days of strike action in response to attempts by the Scottish government and ScotRail to remove conductors from passenger services and highlighted the safety arguments accordingly. RMT ALSO submitted three emergency motions one on Jarvis Rail, Anti-trade union rulings and the other on railway safety. Finally, regional organiser Ian Macintyre was successfully elected to replace the retiring Phil McGarry on the General Council. SCOTTISH TUC MEETS IN DUNDEE