PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2013 :: RMTnews 9 I am urging all RMT members to attend the rally in London to launch the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom on Saturday 23 March. This will be a historic meeting wher e twenty six national trade unions will come together to launch a new concerted campaign to defend and enhance the right of trade unions to fight for you at the work place. The meeting will also be demanding the abolition of - trade union laws which are massively biased in favour of the employers and against trade unions. And make no mistake this is pr obably about the most important campaign in recent memory. Your union is there to defend your job, get you a decent pay rise and conditions of employment and make sure you are safe at work. But the very ability of your union to do this is under sustained attack from the Tory led coalition. This onslaught includes watering down consultation rights on redundancy, attacking the right of trade union r eps to have time off to represent members and forcing new employees to sell their employment rights for shares. And the rights of workers to obtain justice is also being diluted with workers having to be employed for two years to have basic rights and the introduction of fees that have to be paid before a worker can go to an industrial tribunal. And in the pipeline are new draconian laws aimed at curbing workers rights to take industrial action, including the banning of strikes in certain sectors such as transport, new restrictive balloting legislation and withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. All this is part of a deliberate campaign to fundamentally and permanently weaken the trade union movement. And we must never forget that whilst Labour made some improvements in individual employment rights which are now being reversed by this Government they did nothing to reverse the collective shackles on trade unions which Tony Blair proudly boasted were the most restrictive in Europe. These restraints require RMT and other unions to navigate complex legal hurdles to ballot for and take industrial action which can mean employers can go to court and stop industrial action even when members have voted overwhelmingly in favour. The last government did nothing to change the situation where it is ok for the employers to use scab labour to break strikes but solidarity action to enable one group of workers to support others is banned. RMT and its parliamentary group has led the way in the recent years in fighting the anti union laws. Bob Cr ow is the President of the new Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and your union has challenged the legislation in the UK courts and is currently pursuing a case at the European Court of Human rights which if successful could go some way in forcing the UK government to comply with International Labour rights. And in parliament the RMT group was pivotal in pursuing the trade union freedom bill where our campaign produced the biggest ever rebellion in Parliament against the Brown government. We know the Tories want to attack our rights and not improve them and we know that the next election will be a straight fight between the Tories and Labour and that means it is mor e important than ever to start pressuring Labour to support trade union Freedom. The issue for the labour movement is not just about trade union rights in themselves but what trade union rights can deliver to wider society. All the evidence shows that strong trade unions improve standards of living, reduce poverty and inequality and provide security at work and therefore more stable and secure communities. The campaign for trade union freedom is the campaign for a better society. Please join the campaign on March 23 and if you cannot be at the rally sign up to the campaign at http://www.tradeunionfreedom.co.uk/ John McDonnell Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and RMT Parliamentary group convenor STAND UP FOR YOUR WORKPLACE RIGHTS ON MARCH 23 Parliamentary column