The Trades Union Congress (TUC) today [Tuesday] reversed its
support for increased defence spending, as union delegates voted
for a motion brought by the University and College Union (UCU)
and backed by nine other trade unions representing well over a
million workers [NOTE 1]
Delegates to the TUC's annual Congress in Brighton backed the
motion in a contested vote in the hall, which means the trade
union movement now opposes Labour's increases in defence spending
and is instead calling for the money to be invested in rebuilding
Britain's broken public services and core sectors.
The motion, proposed by UCU general secretary Jo Grady, was voted
through just prior to the arrival of the government's keynote
speaker to Congress, Education Secretary .
The TUC overturning its support for increased defence spending is
a major shift, reflecting significant disquiet in the trade union
movement at there always being money for spending on arms while
everything – and everyone – else is squeezed.
The change in the TUC's stance piles yet more pressure onto the
Labour Party ahead of the Budget, as the government has committed
to increasing defence spending by over ten billion pounds each
year, eventually up to 5% of GDP, while starving other sectors of
investment.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Labour tells workers there
is no money left for us – for our wages, our services, our
industries – yet somehow finds billions to spend on weapons and
war. Trade unions aren't going to accept that anymore. We are
coming together to demand investment in our members and their
communities.
‘Buying more American weapons won't make Britain any safer or
more secure. For that, we need serious public investment to
rebuild the fabric of our country. Labour must start transferring
wealth and power to working people.'
NOTES
[1] Ahead of TUC Congress, UCU launched a ‘Wages
not weapons' campaign, backed by the CWU, FBU, NEU, ASLEF, TSSA,
Equity, PCS, POA, and BFAWU. Launch video and statement can be
found here: ucu.org.uk/wagesnotweapons
Full text of motion:
Congress recognises:
i. that Britain's public services, public goods, and core
infrastructure – including education, healthcare, local
government, mail, and transport – continue to suffer from chronic
neglect and underinvestment
ii. this harms working people, holds back unions and compounds
national decline.
Congress further recognises that:
a. rearmament is not a suitable standalone foundation for
national renewal
b. moreover, there can be no meaningful national security in the
absence of massive public investment to rebuild the social and
economic fabric of working-class communities
c. political pressure from Trump continues to ratchet up expected
levels of spending on defence, potentially climbing to 5 per cent
of gross domestic product
d. in the current political context, ever-higher expenditure on
arms will inevitably mean less money for our education, health,
and councils, and the green transition.
Congress believes:
1. we should stand, in our best traditions, for peace and against
militarisation
2. that actively campaigning for ever-higher spending on arms
risks signalling approval of a wider drive to war, in the
dangerous context of renewed great-power rivalry
3. that British participation in the F-35 programme implicates it
in Israel's grave violations of international law in Gaza.
Congress resolves to:
I. reverse policy, dating from 2022, of support for immediate
increases in defence spending
II. prioritise campaigning for public investment in Britain's
public realm, decimated by austerity
III. commit to a safe, liveable planet
IV. reaffirm that our movement's priority is welfare and wages,
not weapons and war.
