Motion – Cambridge Congestion Charge
1. This Committee supports the objectives behind the proposed congestion charge of clean air in
Cambridge and the huge improvement to the public transport network
2. This Committee cannot support the congestion charge in its current format and as a Unite the
Union trades union Committee representing members employed in the city of Cambridge cannot
accept this additional charge levied against our members who must drive to work
3. This Committee believes that the cost of environmental improvements in the city should fall on
employers and not the workers
4. This Committee notes that the Greater Cambridge Partnership/Cambridgeshire County Council
consultation process has been designed around employers and that workers and their trades unions
have not been meaningfully engaged with
5. This Committee calls for the labour party to suspend all congestion charge proposals and call a
conference of workers groups and climate change activists in Cambridgeshire to discuss
modifications to these proposals
6. This Committee agrees to send this motion to the Cambridge and District trades council, the
Cambridge labour party, the South Cambridgeshire labour party and Unite London and Eastern
region
Marshall Aerospace JSSC
Motion – Cambridge Congestion Charge
1. This Branch supports the objectives behind the proposed congestion charge of clean air in
Cambridge and the huge improvement to the public transport network
2. This Branch cannot support the congestion charge in its current format and as a Unite the Union
trades union Committee representing members employed in the city of Cambridge cannot accept
this additional charge levied against our members who must drive to work
3. This Branch believes that the cost of environmental improvements in the city should fall on
employers and not the workers
4. This Branch notes that the Greater Cambridge Partnership/Cambridgeshire County Council
consultation process has been designed around employers and that workers and their trades unions
have not been meaningfully engaged with
5. This Branch calls for the labour party to suspend all congestion charge proposals and call a
conference of workers groups and climate change activists in Cambridgeshire to discuss
modifications to these proposals
6. This Committee agrees to send this motion to the Cambridge and District trades council, the
Cambridge labour party, the South Cambridgeshire labour party and Unite London and Eastern
region
Marshall Aerospace Branch LE/7129E

At our meeting of 15th March 2023, The Trades Council agreed the following motion:

On the 28^th of February in Tempi, Greece, a fatal train collision left 57 dead, most of them university students, and many more injured. The privatised Greek Railway have been operating passenger services for many years with NO SIGNALLING SYSTEM, with systems being inoperable due to cost cutting.

We, the members of the South Cambs EMS Sector Unite Branch representing workers and staff in our sector in Cambridge, express our solidarity to the people of Greece, the railway workers, the trade and student unions and the youth who mobilise and participate to the General Strike (across Greece and in all sectors) on 16^th March against this prescribed crime. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

We would like to bring the motion to TUC Cambridge to consider a vote for solidarity to the Greek Unions participating in the marches and strikes.

 

Background to the motion.

Our dead, their profits

The accident took place 5 years after the privatization of Greek Railways following successive governments of different, stated “political orientation” (social democrats, right wing and so-call “progressive”), all sharing the same “vision” for a privatised rail network. The Italian operator “Ferrovie dello Stato” took over the entire national network for a mere 45 million euros, being subsidised by 50 million every year.

Constant press releases, warnings and appeals by the railway unionists have been ignored by management, successive governments and the media, while courts have been declaring many rail strikes illegal, forcing staff to get back to work amidst the crumbling infrastructure. Union members of DESK (a front that is supported by PAME, the militant class-orientated trade union front in Greece) had warned about an upcoming major accident on the 7^th of February this year, once again being ignored by both the government and the train company management.

The majority of the British media make no mention that a private operator has been happily operating trains without a signalling system, because it had been more profitable not to maintain it, pocketing the savings with one hand, grabbing subsidies with the other. They are well aware that merely stating these facts, would lead to conclusions regarding privatisation in Britain being equally dangerous, as we have seen time and again on the British railways, the NHS and elsewhere. It would reveal that the governments prioritise the profits of the monopolies against our needs and lives; that governments and privatised sectors see public and workers’ safety as a cost, all over the world.

We express our solidarity with our striking Greek colleagues and students. Justice for the victims’ families, is fighting against the deadly privatisation policies everywhere.

The Cambridge & District Trades Council held their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 15th February. Delegates present both in the room and online were from Unite the Union, UNISON, UCU, GMB, CWU and Artist’s Union England.

The guest speakers was Anne Alexander of the UCU, who spoke about the catastrophic attack on pensions and how we could link the various industrial struggles together

The following officers were elected:

Chair: James Youd

Vice Chair: Sylvia Carter

Secretary: Dave O’Brien

Treasurer: Pam Stacey

Equalities: Alice Midori and Anand Pillai

Cultural and Events Officer: Jill Eastland

Pete Monaghan and Liz Brennan were also elected to the Executive Committee

The meeting passed a Peace motion to go to the Trades Council Annual Conference

The Council also agreed on continuing to support strikers and linking this in with Universal Credit, the cost of living crisis and unionising and recruitment. We would also continue to support housing campaigns and continuing to support opposition to all forms of discrimination.

The closing speaker was the former Trades Council Secretary and outgoing Treasurer Ian Beeby talking about his 45 years as a trade unionist. The Council gave a vote of thanks to Ian for his years of service to the Trades Council and the trade union movement.

At the end of the meeting, those present in the meeting room showed our support striking workers by sending this message of solidarity

At our AGM on Wednesday 15th February, we heard an inspiring speech from Anne Alexander of Cambridge UCU regarding the strike action they are taking and how we can all work together to better co-ordinate links between the various unions. A link to this video will be posted soon.

On Thursday there was a lunchtime Heart Unions meeting in which other unions were also invited.

Below is information regarding how it went, by the Trades Council’s Cultural Officer.

“Great event organised by Anne Alexander, UCU and CUSU for Heart Unions with a Solidarity lunch and speakers live from the strikes and protests in Sudan and France. We now need to organise for March 1st”  Jill Eastland Cultural Officer Cambridge & District Trades Council

 

Open letter supporting the right to strike and the 1st Feb strikes and the march and rally in Cambridge.

Over half a million workers are due to be on strike on the 1st of February, including  teachers in the National Education Union on the first of seven days of action. Schools, the NHS and other public services are haemorrhaging staff as a result of falling pay. The staff shortages are adding to an increased workload and this vicious circle is continuing to drive our key public services  into a deeper crisis. 

The increasing frequency of strike action is an unsurprising response to over 12 years of austerity, crumbling infrastructure and rising inequality. Millions of Britons cannot afford basic goods and millions more have seen their  standard of living and access to services dismantled.

Strikes are disruptive, that is the point, but it is not strikes that are causing the day-to-day difficulties: in accessing a doctor; finding a qualified teacher to teach a class;  travelling on a reliable bus route; or an affordable train. These things are a result of the way our economy is run and of spiralling inequality.

The UK already has among the most draconian laws on the right to strike in Europe and now the government is proposing further restrictions that in some sectors will make it illegal to strike due to minimum service requirements. Workers’ rights to withdraw our labour are a fundamental human right and are a vital condition of any democratic society.

We support the strikes on the 1st of February and the protest march starting at 11am on Parkers Piece in Cambridge. We call on the Government to address: the funding crisis in education, the crisis in health and other public services, pay and the cost of living, and to uphold the democratic right to strike.

 

 Yours 

Cllr Anna Smith, Leader Cambridge City Council

Cllr Alex Collis, Deputy Leader Cambridge City Council

Cllr Elisa Meschini, Leader of the Labour Group, Cambridgeshire County Council

Cllr Richard Howitt, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, Cambridgeshire County Council

Paul Moffat, CWU Eastern Region Secretary 

Sylvia Carter, LESE TUC executive member – Unite

James Youd, Chair Cambridge & District Trades Council – Unite

Dave O’Brian, Secretary Cambridge & District Trades Council – Unite

Liz Brennan, Branch Secretary Unison Cambridge City Council

Rob Turner – Branch Secretary Unison Cambridgeshire County 

Pete Monaghan, Secretary UCU Cambridge Regional College

Paul Turnbull, Unison Community Service Group Executive Member 

Stacey Davies, Steward Unison Cambridge City Council 

Cllr Dave Baigent – Unite

Jennifer Runham – Unite

Andy Kennedy – Unite

David Plank – Unite

Wench Orstavik Unite 

Claire Andrews, Unison Cambridgeshire County

Michael Abberton, Cambridge University UCU

Professor Sarah Brown, Anglia Ruskin University UCU

Philippe Harari, NEU Cambridgeshire

Anand Pillai, TSSA

Ian Beeby, Treasurer Cambridge & District Trades Council

Matt Wells, Secretary PCS Branch 001151 

Spyros Roumaneas, Unite

Kathy Hamilton, Unite

Lorraine Andison, Secretary Unison Anglia Ruskin University

Averil Parkinson, Unite

Cathy Dunbar, Unite

Hooda Abdullah, Chair of Cambs Keep Our NHS Public 

Hilary Price, Cambridge People’s Assembly

Nicki Myers, Chair DPAC, Cambs and Essex

Cllr Gerri Bird

Cllr Jenny Wood

Cllr Alice Gilderdale

Cllr Cameron Holloway

Cllr Jocelynne A. Scutt

Cllr Dinah Pounds

Cllr Katie Thornburrow

County Cllr Alex Bulat

County Cllr Nick Gay

County Cllr Hilary Cox Condron

Daniel Ratcliff (former Cllr)

Cllr Rob Dryden

Cllr Mairead Healy

Cllr Mike Todd-Jones

Cllr Sam Carling

Cllr Mike Davey

Cllr Baiju Thittala – Unite