Star date: 7th November 2015 

RALLY HEARS THAT TORIES ARE ATTACKING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS

Today in Piccadilly Gardens, trade unionists and campaigners gathered to oppose the Tory Government's Trade Union Bill, which some of its own MPs have labelled `fascist'.

Steven North, Branch Secretary of Salford City UNISON said that the Bill, which will affect 6.4million trade union members, will attack "basic principles of human rights".

Full details here...

"If laws are unjust, we have a right not just to oppose them but to defy them..." John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor

Trade unionists gathered for a rally and march in central Manchester this afternoon to oppose the Tory Government's Trade Union Bill, which will affect 6.4million trade union members and virtually everyone else in the community.

Under the Bill, employers will be able to break strikes by bringing in agency workers, there'll be restrictions on how unions collect and spend their money, and huge constraints on peaceful picketing and protests. Striking workers will have to tell their employer all their plans – including what they will post on Facebook - two weeks before they strike! (for full details see previous Salford Star article – click here).

"A Government elected by 24% of the population doesn't have the right to tell trade unions how we organise our own democracy" said Steven North, Branch Secretary of Salford City UNISON, who spoke at the rally "We're the most democratic organisations in this country; all of our decisions are subject to the control of our membership, yet we've got a Tory Party that's stuffing the House of Lords with hundreds of peers telling us how we should organise ourselves.

"It's basic principles of human rights" he added "It's not just about trade unionists, it's about all workers. Trade union organised workplaces have got better health and safety regulations, better equality and diversity for all workers' benefits; they've got better family friendly policies, better pay and better terms and conditions. And that's what this is about. So our existence is of benefit to all workers and when this government attacks us, it attacks working people generally and we're standing up against that as much as we can to try and stop this bill from being passed."

In the introduction to a pamphlet being sold at the rally*, Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, writes that the Bill "is the most blatant attempt to destroy trade unions in this country since the early 19th Century when legislation was introduced aimed at preventing workers joining together to form the first trade unions

"The modern day Tories see this as the fulfilment of their ambition to smash the unions, started by Thatcher with the miners' strike and the anti-trade union legislation of the 1980s" he added "If the Bill becomes law, there is a real risk that we will step back to a time when trade unionists were arrested, fined and imprisoned...The early trade unionists taught us an important lesson. If laws are unjust, we have a right not just to oppose them but to defy them..."

*Fight The Anti-Union Laws: No To Austerity, Yes To Workers' Organisation
Unite The Resistance £1 www.uniteresist.org

Rally in support of Junior Doctors Wednesday 11th November 7pm-8:30pm Manchester Cathedral – further details click here