John McDonnell Speech to 2016 Hazards Conference & CWU Health and Safety Labour Manifesto Demands

The Labour Party’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell addressed the 2016 ‘National Hazards Conference’ at Keele University, Stoke where 500 plus Safety Reps from across the UK’s Trade Unions gathered at this year’s event, now in its 27th year with this year’s event entitled ‘Building Resistance to Support Safety Reps’ The Hazards Conference is Britain’s biggest educational and organising event for trade union safety reps and activists, with a mixture of plenary sessions, presentations, research reports, debates, meetings and a comprehensive workshop programme. The Conference also featured John McDonnell as this year’s top headline speaker. John said that:-
The Health and Safety Executive’s regulatory mission has been compromised by its new profit motive and the commercialisation of the HSE was a ‘Scandal’.

Brexit threatens worse to come.

TTIP and CETA Trade deals that lower health and safety will be opposed by Labour.

Labour will expose the lack of performance of the HSE due to government cuts.

The Conservative’s ‘regulation-lite’, ‘enforcement-lite’ policies had seen a return to the bad old days.

Labour would tackle Britain’s safety malaise and give unions the rights they need to secure good, safe work.

 

McDonnell said that “the current climate we have come to accept is that occupational illness and exposure to asbestos, various chemicals and other hazards is the norm. But it needn’t be that way and we are going to end that climate and the climate of impunity where employers and managers can walk away without bearing any responsibility for the injury of the workers they employ, we will work with Trade Unions Safety Reps to oppose what the Tories are doing to health and safety, to raise the whole level of debate on health and safety”. McDonnell said “the whole basis of health and safety protection in this country is bound up with the development of the trade unions and health and safety advances are bound up with the trade union movement and the organisation, representation and pressure they can bring to bear, on employers and government. Health and safety advances go hand in hand with trade
union advances. We cannot establish an effective health and safety regime in this country unless we restore trade union rights as well.” In conclusion, John McDonnell made an open offer to Trade Unions to put together a paper on the health and safety issues facing workers and the demands they would like to set out for inclusion in Labour Party policy and he would take that to the Labour Shadow Cabinet for debate and for identifying priorities for the future. The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department has taken John McDonnell up on that offer and written to him setting out the
‘CWU Manifesto of Health and Safety’ improvements and demands for the next Labour Party Election Manifesto. Additionally a meeting is to take place between Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and CWU National Health, Safety & Environment Officer Dave Joyce to discuss the Union’s submission. Watch a Video Recording of John McDonnell’s Speech at:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K78wbkeTSU Attachments:
Text of John McDonnell’s Speech

CWU Letter to John McDonnell Re: Labour Party Policy & Election Manifesto – Health and Safety:

Yours sincerely

 
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
 
Email Attachments – Click to download
LTB 607/16 John McDonnell Speech to 2016 Hazards Conference & CWU Health and Safety Labour Manifesto Demands

LTB 607/16 Att 1

Letter to John McDonnell