The STUC Congress in Ayr gave its full
backing to the Mather Commission “Working
Together” report which “sets
out a new blueprint for industrial relations
in Scotland.”
Welcoming the Scottish Government’s
commitment to establish a Fair Work Convention
to take forward its recommendations, the
STUC pledged to ensure a robust industrial
relations framework is established, based
on collective bargaining at workplace
and industry level.
Congress also backed an RMT amendment
and agreed that the Fair Work Convention
should be used to bring an end to the
Scottish Government’s practice of
indemnifying losses incurred by private
train operators as a result of industrial
action.
Moving the motion on behalf of the STUC
General Council, Scottish Convener Lilian
Macer, who was part of the Mather Commission,
and who will sit on the Fair Work Convention,
warned that many of the problems which
affect the economy and society ultimately
stem from a lack of worker bargaining
power.
“Scotland’s increasingly
low wage and insecure labour market is
an inevitable consequence of falling trade
union density and collective bargaining
coverage.
“Workplaces will not become more
welcoming places, nor society less unequal
without more workers benefitting from
the protection and security provided by
trade unions and collective agreements,”
said Lilian, pledging that the STUC will
continue to press for the repeal of anti-trade
union laws and for laws to support positive
individual and collective workers’
rights, based on international standards,
with rights to organise, to bargain and
to strike.
Lilian commended the Scottish Government’s
commitment to the Fair Work Convention
which “provides an opportunity to
genuinely progress this work.”
She called on the Scottish Government
to properly resource this, “to support
the development and effective dissemination
of a new industrial relations framework
that puts trade unions at the heart of
decision making.”
“We need to take the workers’
and trade union voice into the boardrooms
and senior management decision making
forums. And we need that voice to be loud
and effective,” said Lilian.
