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| Reading Trades Union Council Delegates with Emily Thornberry MP |
The First of May is Labour Day,
international workers’ day. Reading Trades Union Council revived the tradition
of May Day solidarity in Reading by organising the town’s march and rally.
The event commenced with words of
international welcome in the Forbury Gardens in front of the monument to
Reading’s veterans of the Spanish Civil War from Ray Parkes and Keith Jerrome,
representative of the Reading International
Brigades Memorial Committee. Music was led by the Reading Red Choir.
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| Keith Jerrome (RIBMC/Unite/RTUC) |
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| Ray Parkes (RIBMC/Unite/RTUC) |
The march then
commenced, proceeding down Friar Street, along West Street, through Broad Street
and back to the Forbury Gardens. As it proceeded, the march, led by the RTUC
banner and trade unionists in RTUC t-shirts, chanted a call-and-response: ‘What
do we want? Workers’ rights! When do we want it? Now!’ In addition to the RTUC
banner, ‘Vote Labour’ placards were in abundance, a European Union flag was flown
as were several from the Communist Party of Britain. As the march re-entered the
Forbury Gardens it was met by Reading’s crème de la crème of labour movement
iconography – the Reading banner of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and
Transport Workers. The marchers assembled around the Forbury bandstand and
awaited the fine roster of local, regional and national speakers.
A real coup for the event was the
presence of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry MP.
Just as the country entered the general election campaign, a voice of solidarity
from a national Labour figure, promising to repeal anti-trade union laws, was a
real shot in the arm.
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| Emily Thornberry MP, Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary |
From the RMT, Steve Hedley, the union’s
Assistant General Secretary, overcame an injured foot to attend and – in his
usual inspiring manner – roused the crowd to fight the Tory oppression and
support the trade union movement. He also raised the banner of international solidarity,
speaking of the workers’ struggles in Palestine, Turkey and Ireland as well as
at home.
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| Steve Hedley (RMT Assistant General Secretary) |
Speaking from the heart, Unite member
and Labour Cllr Sarah Hacker asked people to consider the International Workers’ Day of the future
where tomorrow's workers are today's children under immense exam pressure and
following a limited curriculum. She expressed her outrage at the level of debt
students are graduating with and then entering a job market threatened with
digitisation. She asked ‘What does the future hold for our children?’
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| Cllr Sarah Hacker (Labour Party/ Unite/RTUC) |
Nada Al-Sanjari, a member of the NUT and
the Vice-President of the RTUC, spoke with passion about the importance of
solidarity through trade unions and the need to fight Conservative attacks on
working people. She asserted that ‘We stand in solidarity with our comrades all
over the world, who are using this day to fight for their rights as workers’.
Reflecting on recent industrial disputes and government cuts she declared: ‘Teachers,
nurses, doctors, train drivers and conductors, firefighters, an attack against
one is an attack against us all’. And referring to the recent Trades Union Act
limiting the right to strike, she noted the following:
Now for
some irony, the government that won with a pitiful 24% of popular support has
made it illegal for us to withhold the only power we have as workers, our labour and strike, unless we secure 40% of the vote. That
means 274 out of 330 Conservative MPs who failed to receive 40% of the votes are
trying to stop us fighting against our exploitation.
Winding up her speech on a local
issue, Nada pointed out that ‘Our committed TUC in Reading recognizes the fact
that women make up the majority of trade union membership and has pushed for
campaigns on women’s issues, fighting sexual harassment and violence against
women by supporting Berkshire Women’s Aid in providing support and refuge for
women fleeing domestic abuse’.
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| Janine Booth (RMT) |
Janine Booth of the RMT rounded the
event off with poetry castigating Tory cuts, promoting the power of women as a
political force, urging support for the RMT’s battles around the country to
retain guards on trains – and reminding us all not to cross picket lines. Her
performance can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhBBccD6Kw&feature=youtu.be.
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| Chris Reilly (RMT/RTUC President) |
The other speakers on the day were
Merry Cross (DPAC), highlighting the effects of Conservative policies on
disabled people; Paul Britt (Reading Pride) speaking of the disturbing statistics
of attacks against LGBT+ people at work and the discrimination they face and
the importance of the trade union movement in campaigning for LGBT+ workers’
rights; and Kevin Jackson (Unison & RTUC) speaking about the devastating
effects of government policy on the NHS and social care locally and throughout
the country. Chris Reilly (RMT), as RTUC President, wound up the event, quoting
the Reading RMT banner urging attendees to ‘Educate... Agitate... Organise...’.
Referencing the forthcoming general election, he declared: ‘Let’s vote, let’s
get it out there on the 8th May and get rid of the Tories from
Reading’.
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| Merry Cross (DPAC) |
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| Paul Britt (Reading Pride) |
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| Kevin Jackson (Unison/RTUC) |
In addition to online
publicity, the RTUC May Day March and Rally received television coverage in
Urdu on channel UK44 (including a slot for Chris Reilly) and in Pakistan on Dunya News as well as a report in the Reading Chronicle (below).
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| Reading Chronicle, 4 May 2017 |
From
Reading to Leipzig
While the Reading trade union movement
was on the march at home, John Partington (TSSA & RTUC Secretary) attended
the Leipzig May Day Rally, taking RTUC solidarity to the DGB (the German Trade
Union Confederation) and offering Labour Party greetings to the SPD.
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| The German Trades Union Confederation at May Day in Leipzig: 'Pensions must be sufficient' |
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| The Leipzig German Social Democrats |
