Prospect at TUC Congress 2023: Monday’s highlights
Prospect has a delegation of senior reps at TUC Congress, which is being held in Liverpool this year. Here’s a round-up of news from Congress on Monday,11 September, including tackling sexual harassment at work, fighting the climate emergency, an address from the TUC general secretary, highlighting Prospect’s work on freelancers and trying to reignite trade unionism in the private sector.
Prospect’s Richard Clatworthy speaking to TUC Congress 2023
Stamping out sexual harassment at work
Prospect’s Sellafield rep Audrey Uppington spoke in support of a motion on stamping out sexual harassment both in the workplace and in the trade union movement.
She said: “Almost a third have experienced it in their workplace in the past year. And many of those people have experienced it on a weekly or daily basis. The tragedy is that it is often the victims who question their own behaviour. ”
She added: “Harassment is about power dynamics. And in a hierarchical workplace – or a democratic movement led by the elected – there are inherent power dynamics. No workplace is perfect. No union is perfect. But only by recognising that, can we take the action needed to end this appalling behaviour.”
Need for action on the Climate Emergency
Prospect Energy Sector Vice President Richard Clatworthy spoke in favour of a composite motion on the climate emergency.
He said: “Prospect’s members are vital to tackling the climate emergency”, and highlighted our members in the nuclear and electricity industries as well as members working in the environmental sector.
He said that environmental agencies and regulator had one thing in common, severe spending cuts over the last decade, telling Congress that: “experts are being driven out of these agencies by savage public spending cuts.”
He called on Congress to suppose the motion and, “Push the government for the investment we need in our climate and environmental workforce.”
Sue Ferns, Prospect Senior Deputy General Secretary spoke in favour of a motion from Nautilus International on climate change and a just transition on skills, pay, health and safety, diversity, community benefit and supply changes.
She said: “A transition which does not deliver good jobs for all involved, is not a just transition.”
Sue Ferns at TUC Congress 2023
Message from the TUC
Paul Novak gave his first address to Congress as TUC General Secretary. He highlighted Prospect’s civil service members among other public sector workers “Taking [industrial] action and winning better deals for members.”
However, he acknowledged that declining trade union membership, was a challenge for the movement.
This included challenging unions to address the issues presented by AI in the workplace, telling unions that unless they did, we would see a “digital dividend for the tech giants but not workers.”
He also highlighted the need to diversify the union movement, unveiling a new commitment to train 500 black activists for a year.
In a message to the wider public he said: “There is a union for every job. A union for every industry and a union for every worker.”
Speaking up for freelancers
Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, highlighted Prospect’s work for freelancers, particularly in the Bectu sector in a debate on one-sided flexibility.
He said: “We represent many in the heritage and creative sector who experience precarious work and can be exploited.”
And added: “Our freelance and self-employed members who work in film and TV are a very clear case in point. The last few years have shown how work can evaporate – first of all it was Covid, where obviously everything necessarily closed down, and now whilst we express full solidarity without American colleagues, the drying up of work has left thousands of our members brutally exposed in that sector.”
He highlighted the work that Prospect has been doing with Community and the Fabians on a Progressive Manifesto for the Self-employed.
Calling for new focus on private sector trade unionism
Prospect used one of its two motions to Congress to call for a renewed focus on trade unionism in the private sector.
Moving the motion Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, highlighted the fact that while the profile of unions has been exceedingly high in the last two years, union membership has fallen by 200,000.
He told Congress:
“If these trends continue our movement will be compromised. This is not a challenge we can leave for the next generation.
The primary crisis of trade unions is in the private sector where membership is at just 12%. We have a chance and an obligation to reverse this decline.”
The motion was seconded by the GMB and was agreed unanimously by Congress. It will see a new working group established at TUC level with input from Prospect and other unions.