EC Meeting March 2017

4

Implementation Considerable success has been achieved in gaining a new general recognition that the dominance of speculation and the financial sector must be reversed.The GFTU has maintained solidarity with all affiliates notably in the steel industry seeking to save steel production. We have met with new centres of manufacturing and technological excellence to promote a rebuilding of the skill based of the manufacturing sector.

Resolution 6

UK Manufacturing

(1) This BGCM is appalled at the deeply unpatriotic way that the Coalition Government is running down UK manufacturing, in favour of foreign ownership of British industry and using free market globalisation as the reason. This Conference calls on the government to support the manufacturing industry. The policy of pure competition in the world market is leading to a decline in UK manufacturing (2) The last thirty years has seen the increasing tide of the free market and globalisation, which has eroded the British manufacturing base, seen privatised UK services and increased foreign ownership of key parts of the UK economic infrastructure (3) This BGCM believes that the UK Government should ensure, through its own procurement, but also giving a lead through a drive to buy British, that all must be done to reinvigorate and restore UK manufacturing.

(4)

This Conference calls

• •

on the GFTU to campaign for greater support for our Manufacturing Sector for the GFTU and affiliates to lobby for an unequivocal commitment to reverse Coalition procurement methods where everything is based on price and to commit to processing goods and services in government from companies based in the UK.

Promotion of this campaign has taken place over the last two years.

Resolution 7

White Ribbon Campaign

(1) This BGCM notes that whilst both men and women can experience domestic violence, the majority of the victims are women and the majority of the perpetrators are men. Police in the UK receive one domestic violence call every minute, which is even more shocking given that less than half of incidents are reported. (2) This BGCM believes that a cultural change is needed in order to address the issue of domestic violence. The tolerance of sexual and physical violence against women and girls is based on attitudes and beliefs which persist today, decades after the first equalities legislation. The White Ribbon Campaign is a worldwide movement which encourages men to stand with women to condemn domestic violence and asks them to speak up about the issue with fellow men. (3) The MU calls on the GFTU and its members to support the White Ribbon campaign, encourage male comrades to sign up and encourage unions and employers to promote the three national helplines - one for female victims, one for male victims and one responding to perpetrators to motivate them to recognise the problem and get help to change.