Online Engagement Festival: Day 1 – Gordon Brown: ‘No return to 1980s, mass unemployment can be prevented’

Union Matters September 29 2020

Tuesday 29th September 2020

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised the CWU and vowed to work with the trade union movement to “fight and argue for jobs and better conditions of employment” in a powerful contribution to our Online Engagement Festival yesterday afternoon.

Mr Brown has recently spearheaded the creation of Alliance for Full Employment, backed by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, and ‘Metro Mayors’ Andy Burnham (Greater Manchester), Liverpool City Region’s Steve Rotheram, Jamie Driscoll from Tyneside, South Yorkshire’s Dan Jarvis and Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol.

And he told our audience that its aims are to bring pressure to bear on the Government for large-scale investment in infrastructure and other large projects to preserve jobs and create new ones.

“Mass unemployment is not inevitable. It is avoidable and preventable,” insisted the man who was Labour Prime Minister between 2007 and 2010, having previously served as Labour Chancellor since 1997.

Dave Ward, our general secretary, said that it was “a pleasure” to welcome Mr Brown to our event and praised his spearheading of the full employment movement.

“That was a very inspirational message,” Dave told him, adding: “We want to work with you and we can make change happen.”

With our party out of government at national level, and with no general election likely to take place at least until 2023/24, working at regional level with the Metro Mayors and devolved assemblies is the right way forward at this time, Dave said, and asked Mr Brown if he agreed with the CWU’s New Deal for Workers campaign and for his views on calls for a National Jobs Summit and National Recovery Plan.

In reply, the ex-PM said that a national ‘summit’ of that type was absolutely necessary in current circumstances, that the Covid crisis was a “once-in-a-century” phenomenon and that such a summit should aim to bring together businesses, trade unions and regional and national authorities.

Mr Brown added that he was also keen to try to involve voluntary organisations within communities too, such as faith groups, with whom he plans to meet this week.

“We all need to work together to protect jobs,” he said, pointing out that, without serious intervention, unemployment was set to rise to 10 per cent, with unemployment among particular groups within society rising even higher.

The key demands of our New Deal for Workers campaign also won his approval – particularly the need for fair pay, terms and conditions and security. “We need to make sure we are not a ‘cheap labour’ economy,” Mr Brown stressed, “this mustn’t be employment based on zero-hour contracts and insecure employment.”

The CWU is, our most recent Labour Prime Minister said: “A great union” and he expressed “my gratitude and the country’s gratitude to each and every one of your 190,000 members for the work you’ve done when much of the country was locked down.

 “Solidarity starts with believing in something bigger than yourself,” he said.

“More than 100 years ago, workers came together to form the labour movement we know today.

“And in their struggles, they never stopped believing that acting on solidarity they could build a better world,” Mr Brown continued. 

“Let us fight together to protect jobs – let’s not return to the terrible days of the 1980s.”

 

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Shorter working week, sectoral bargaining and industrial democracy

CWU head of political strategy Andrew Towers gave a detailed presentation on the CWU’s New Deal for Workers campaign, and was followed by three guest speakers in a thought-provoking session which had kicked off this afternoon’s proceedings. 

Carolyn Jones, director of the Institute of Employment Rights, Will Stronge, director of research and policy at Autonomy, and Miriam Brett, director of research and advocacy at Common Wealth, kicked off this afternoon’s ‘Future world of Work’ session with powerful speeches calling for sector-wide bargaining, a shorter working week and the democratising of businesses.

In an online poll, the shorter working week came top, but the other two ideas also polled strongly and, as our general secretary Dave Ward said afterwards, “all three are key aspects to our New Deal for Workers campaign.”

Thanking Andrew, Carolyn, Will and Miriam, Dave said: “We’re a great union, but it’s important we don’t see our issues in an insular way.

“I want to see regions taking this forward,” he urged, adding: “Talk with other unions in your area and ask them to support this campaign.

“We’re all facing similar threats to our jobs going forward.”

 

• The festival continues Tuesday and Wednesday. Further information and registration details can be found here