ON the day the Unite policy conference discussed and agreed on a series of policy motions calling for the repeal of anti-trade union laws, the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) held a fringe meeting with a powerful platform of speakers, chaired by CTUF’s Tony Burke.

Two representatives from the St Mungo’s strike, Miranda Pettifor and Woody Faulkner, outlined the importance of the work they do for some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Thanking Unite for the support they had given, they called on delegates to back the strikers — and delegates responded with a collection.

Andy Greene, the national secretary of CTUF and the new chair of Unite, explained how his knowledge and experience of the docks had instilled in him a determination to resist the anti-trade union laws. He said the movement had complied too much with the salami-sliced legislation introduced since 1989 — ballots, elections, restrictions on the right to strike and to picket.