Community President Dean Cox spoke at the Labour Unions rally at Labour Party Conference alongside fellow trade unionists and Labour MPs. He spoke about how we must stand together for workers rights. You can read his words below:
First, I would like to extend my solidarity to all workers who are on strike, to workers who are trying to organise their workplaces, to the workers who just joined a trade union for the first time, and to all those who are fighting for stronger rights and protections. Your fight is our fight. We stand together with you.
We are in a dramatic moment. The Government says that “we’re all together in this cost-of-living crisis”. But this is not true.
The bankers, who are now about to get bigger bonuses than ever before, are not in this together with the 600,000 disabled people who live on £10 or less a week.
This Tory Government, whose leaders say that British workers are “the worst idlers” in the world, are not in this together with our frontline emergency staff that need to rely on foodbanks to feed their families.
We can’t allow this moment to just be a dark chapter in our story. Now is our opportunity to make this crisis into a turning point. To grow our movement in every workplace, every town, city and region. To stop fighting just to defend our past achievements – but to win and secure the rights working people need today.
We need to ban fire and rehire, so no workers will ever have to face this situation ever again, as my fellow Community members were forced to fight in Clarks Shoes, and members from across our union movement too.
That’s why we need Labour in government now more than ever – not only to protect the rights we spent decades fighting for, but also to put in place stronger protections for working people.
Ending fire and rehire. Extending and increasing sick pay. Stronger rights at work from day one. A right to regular hours. Fair pay agreements.
This is just a taste of what Labour will deliver for working people in Government.
Now is our time to stand together and win the power we need to build a country where all of us have a fair share and a bright future. Our members and all working people deserve nothing less.
If you are a member of Community and need help or advice, please contact us at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.
© Community Trade Union 2023