By Theo Russell
 |
| Manuel Cortes calls for living wage |
Hammersmith,
Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea Trades Council was successfully launched last
week at its first AGM in West London. It was addressed by Manuel Cortes, the
general secretary of the TSSA rail union, and chaired by Roger Sutton of the
Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils.
Cortes is a member of the TUC General
Council, with responsibility for liaising with trades councils nationally.
Roger Sutton recalled “the long and proud
history of trades councils in this part of London”, and guided the meeting
through the essential business – most importantly ensuring that enough local
trade union branches were affiliated to make the new body viable – and gave
invaluable advice on how to conduct its future work.
Cortes gave an upbeat speech about the
current revival of the Labour Party and trade unions, with the growing number
of new trades councils springing up across the country just one amongst many
positive developments.
He said that the Labour Party “is now
committed to stepping up for the 99 per cent of the population – a huge, huge
step from where we were a few years ago. Workers are getting together in trade
unions and fighting back”.
“The most important thing is to remove
this government but it’s not going to be easy. We are going to have to fight
for it, we are going to have to throw them out.”
Cortes said that 30 years ago when he
organised a meeting addressed by Jeremy Corbyn in Edinburgh: “The hall was
almost empty. Now, even if you arrive an hour early to hear Jeremy speak you
can’t get in!”
But, he said: “The Labour Party and trade
unions need to get more young people involved, so they can carry on the work in
20 or 30 years’ time.
“Britain now has the worst regulated
labour market in Western Europe. We need to return to strong regulations, a
living wage of at least £10 per hour.
“It’s a disgrace that there is no Ministry
of Labour in Britain, when even the USA has one. Labour is now committed to
putting that right.”
He also pointed to progress already being
made by some councils bringing services back in-house but said that councils
face huge problems with years of cuts under the current government.
When asked about the new ‘pop-up’ unions
that have recently organised highly successful strikes by cleaning, restaurant
and pub workers, including in Kensington and Chelsea, Manuel said: “The IWGB
[Independent Workers Union of Great Britain] has managed to organise workers in
TGI Fridays, and Unite and BECTU [Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications
and Theatre Union; now part of Prospect] have also moved into cinemas,
MacDonalds and Wetherspoons.”
“The IWGB approached me directly to
discuss joint work with Unite” she continued, pointing out that: “These new
unions have managed to attract many young people because they can see that they
are working on their behalf.”
The new trades council’s immediate focus
is likely to be the Save Our Hospitals campaign to stop plans to reduce Charing
Cross Hospital in size by 87 per cent and downgrade it to a ‘local hospital’
with no blue-light A&E.
Even before its launch, members of the new
trades council have been actively supporting the Justice4Grenfell campaign and
working with the Fire Brigades Union and local community, and the trades
council will continue to support the fight for justice for the victims of the
tragedy in North Kensington.
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