CLYDEBANK Trades Union Council had its three motions passed unanimously at the recent Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) much to the delight of our delegates.

On the movement’s position on the EU our motion asked Congress to reiterate its long-standing policy that the Scottish Parliament should have meaningful powers over the Scottish economy. We believed that these powers should include the ability to give effective financial support to workplaces threatened with closure, to take key utilities back into public ownership and to contract services in ways that support regional economies and guarantee workplace rights including trade union membership and trade union bargained wages.

We asked congress to use its influence to ensure that Britain’s future trading arrangements did not compromise this commitment to the democratic powers, present or future, of Scotland’s legislature.

However, near the end of congress the STUC’s general council (which has supported a Remain position) issued a statement to congress on Brexit which seemed, in part, to contradict the previously agreed motion.

This statement called for an immediate general election, an immediate end to austerity, for political parties to advance workers’ rights, to protect the rights of EU nationals in Britain and British citizens in Europe (sic – the EU is not Europe). It called for the devolution of employment rights and a commitment to access to the single market.

There was no recognition that membership of the EU would bar the key economic and industrial policies of a left-wing government. Nor was there any recognition that many of the proposals for collective bargaining from the Institute of Employment Rights, endorsed by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard at the Congress, would also be incompatible with EU rules.

The final two paragraphs called for a “confirmatory vote” if the above principles were not endorsed by Parliament and recognised that some affiliates supported the principle of a confirmatory ballot on any agreement.

A number of affiliates went to the rostrum and said they could not support the part of the statement which appeared at its conclusion and they would abstain.

Given a few unions have policy opposed to membership of the EU and did not vote against the statement it’s up for debate as when the vote was taken almost half of congress abstained.

This clearly took the platform by surprise but showed the concern many delegates have over the restrictions EU membership puts on policy articulated in the earlier section of the general council statement.

On anti-austerity campaigning, Clydebank TUC’s motion called for a national conference bringing together trade union and community activists to discuss and plan joint campaigning and strategies. Such an approach had proved to be effective a decade ago when working with the People’s Assembly, developing a number of successful initiatives.

We argued this would assist the growth of working-class consciousness through building and strengthening trade union and community links making a mass movement against austerity possible.

Our final motion recognised the need to transform class consciousness into a political understanding of the need to struggle for social change as any advances and victories face continual challenge from the neoliberal agenda, meaning the same battles need to be fought over and over again.

To end exploitation and oppression altogether, the fight on economic issues is therefore insufficient in itself, and it requires to be linked with a political perspective if it is to produce lasting gains for our class.

We called on the STUC to discuss with affiliates organising a campaign in the battle of ideas, giving an explanation why workers need to support and participate in the fight to defend a future left Labour government which will face unprecedented attack from the forces of reaction.

The non political, disastrous partnership approach which has meant fighting austerity with one hand tied behind our back needs to be dumped once and for all.

Tom Morrison is secretary of Clydebank Trades Union Council.