Menu
12/09/2011
Tax Avoidance Tactics Needed To Defend Workers' Rights
Workers should emulate the tactics of the tax avoiders to prevent further government erosion of their rights, the leader of the country's biggest union, Unite, Len McCluskey will tell Congress today.
Mr McCluskey will say: "Law is an essential thing for a civilised society. But oppressive laws designed to hold back ordinary people, pushed through a parliament of expense cheats by a cobbled-together coalition which no-one voted for must be resisted.
"If this government considers tax avoidance is lawful and can go unpunished then we should plan for anti-union law avoidance in the same spirit.
"It is time that unions took a different approach. Working people have nothing to be ashamed of - we are not performing financial conjuring tricks to swindle the nation out of its tax dues yet it is our hard-fought freedoms which are now under threat from a government with no mandate.
"Why should the working people of Britain – this country which has stood, sometimes alone in the world, for freedom and democracy - enjoy fewer rights and freedoms than our brothers and sisters in France and Germany?
"These Bullingdon Bolsheviks in government are threatening to bring in still further laws to attack free trade unionism.
"If they do we must be clear how we will respond - we will bring Wisconsin to Westminster. And we will win.
"Our rights – including the right to stand together for a better life for working people - are not the gift of ministers or judges. They are ours to assert."
Earlier this year, thousands of trade unionists occupied the state capital of Wisconsin in order to stop the administration's attack on the jobs and union membership of public servants.
(CD/GK)
Mr McCluskey will say: "Law is an essential thing for a civilised society. But oppressive laws designed to hold back ordinary people, pushed through a parliament of expense cheats by a cobbled-together coalition which no-one voted for must be resisted.
"If this government considers tax avoidance is lawful and can go unpunished then we should plan for anti-union law avoidance in the same spirit.
"It is time that unions took a different approach. Working people have nothing to be ashamed of - we are not performing financial conjuring tricks to swindle the nation out of its tax dues yet it is our hard-fought freedoms which are now under threat from a government with no mandate.
"Why should the working people of Britain – this country which has stood, sometimes alone in the world, for freedom and democracy - enjoy fewer rights and freedoms than our brothers and sisters in France and Germany?
"These Bullingdon Bolsheviks in government are threatening to bring in still further laws to attack free trade unionism.
"If they do we must be clear how we will respond - we will bring Wisconsin to Westminster. And we will win.
"Our rights – including the right to stand together for a better life for working people - are not the gift of ministers or judges. They are ours to assert."
Earlier this year, thousands of trade unionists occupied the state capital of Wisconsin in order to stop the administration's attack on the jobs and union membership of public servants.
(CD/GK)
Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.
01 October 2015
New Consumer Rights Act For Digital Content Introduced
A new Consumer Rights Act has been introduced covering digital content, giving customers downloading music or buying ebooks new legal rights. The new Act has been created as shoppers increasingly spend money on digital content, with more than £2.8 billion spent on downloaded music, video and games in 2014, up 18% from the previous year.
New Consumer Rights Act For Digital Content Introduced
A new Consumer Rights Act has been introduced covering digital content, giving customers downloading music or buying ebooks new legal rights. The new Act has been created as shoppers increasingly spend money on digital content, with more than £2.8 billion spent on downloaded music, video and games in 2014, up 18% from the previous year.
24 March 2005
Ethiopian army branded ‘murderers and rapists’
The Ethiopian military has committed widespread murder, rape and torture against the Anuak population since December 2003, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released today.
Ethiopian army branded ‘murderers and rapists’
The Ethiopian military has committed widespread murder, rape and torture against the Anuak population since December 2003, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released today.
16 September 2010
NI Bill Of Rights Wins UK Backing
As the Stormont Justice Minister David Ford vowed to reshape the region's justice system to fit the needs of the people of Northern Ireland, human rights commissions across the UK have backed a proposed Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
NI Bill Of Rights Wins UK Backing
As the Stormont Justice Minister David Ford vowed to reshape the region's justice system to fit the needs of the people of Northern Ireland, human rights commissions across the UK have backed a proposed Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
19 September 2003
Government publishes annual report on human rights
The government's response to human rights challenges around the world over the last year has published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report on Human Rights. The human rights situation in Iraq is one of the major elements of the report, and the government has outlined two strands to its human rights policy in Iraq.
Government publishes annual report on human rights
The government's response to human rights challenges around the world over the last year has published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report on Human Rights. The human rights situation in Iraq is one of the major elements of the report, and the government has outlined two strands to its human rights policy in Iraq.
21 June 2007
Human Rights Act fails to cover private care
Due to a legal loophole a ruling by the House of Lords has left over 300,000 elderly people with no protection against eviction from private care nursing homes.
Human Rights Act fails to cover private care
Due to a legal loophole a ruling by the House of Lords has left over 300,000 elderly people with no protection against eviction from private care nursing homes.
-
Northern Ireland WeatherThis Evening and Tonight:A mainly dry evening and night with isolated showers dying out and some longer clear spells. Then it will cloud over towards morning with some heavy showers. Minimum temperature 7 °C.
