‘A GENERAL strike is the only way to defeat the Tory Trade Union Bill,’ Colin Knowles, Unison conveyor said yesterday.
He spoke to News Line on a more than five thousand-strong demonstration made up of trade unionists from all over the country who descended on Parliament yesterday. The demonstration was against the Tory Trade Union Bill that threatens the fundamental right to strike. MPs will next consider the Bill at report stage and a third reading on Tuesday 10 November 2015.
Assembling outside the Houses of Parliament, the FBU led a march to Central Halls Westminster for a rally. Colin Knowles, Unison convenor at Halton, near Liverpool, continued: ‘This Bill is disgusting. It affects our civil liberties and our democratic right to strike. It takes us back to the Combination Acts and illegalises the right to organise.’
More than one thousand were packed into the rally inside the hall, with the remainder demonstrating outside. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady told the rally: ‘Lifting the ban on agency workers being used to break our picket lines, is something we can never accept. ‘Don’t you dare think you will get away with it. We will never give up. This Bill is unfair and undemocratic.
‘It will impose on trade unions the only ballot in Britain to count abstentions as a “NO” vote.
‘Strike action is the only way to resolve some disputes. Throughout history strikes have been used to change the law. We have got to show that this draconian Bill is an attack, not just on trade unions, but on all working people. Today is just the beginning of our fight.’
Jon Skewes, Royal College of Midwives (RCM) director for policy, employment relations and communications, told the rally: ‘Last year, for the first time in 134 years of our existence midwives took strike action. After years of pay cuts, staff across the country stood on picket lines. We are facing a Secretary of State who talks about midwives killing babies, especially at weekends. How dare he? ‘We won a paltry 1%, but we also won our self respect.’
Also addressing the rally, FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said: ‘This Bill strikes at the heart of trade unionism. It is a fundamental attack on workers rights. For us today has to be the start of the campaign, not the end of it. We need to recognise the scale of the attack, get organised and get ready to fight back.’
Speaking next, Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said: ‘This Bill goes beyond anything Thatcher ever did. We have got to make sure that every union, and the TUC, ups the ante. We must hold a day of action and a programme of ongoing action.’
Ahead of the rally, Martin Harding, Brigade Chair Cambridgeshire FBU said: ‘It is shocking, taking us back to past Victorian standards with the most repressive trade union regulations. The TUC must take the difficult choice, because there is no other option left, to remove their labour and call a general strike.’
