Received from: Unison
Merged into composite 06
Congress is appalled at the treatment of the ‘Windrush generation’. Deported or shamed into leaving the country, refused vital healthcare, separated from families and asked for multiple pieces of documentation, for every year, for decades.
Far from accidental, this is the inevitable outcome of the ‘hostile environment’, turning public service workers, private landlords and UK banks into immigration officers. Migrant people are being treated as second class citizens by a raft of legislation that impinges on every aspect of their life, a violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.
Rather than appease anti-immigrant sentiment, this has led to an emboldened and violent far-right, white nationalist movement. UKIP policies have been mainstreamed and groups such as Britain First, the Football Lads Alliance and ‘For Britain’ are mobilising in our streets – and are seeking to radicalise young
people online.
Congress is deeply concerned that with political and economic turmoil ahead, communities are being divided while trust in public services and institutions
is eroded.
Congress calls on the General Council to campaign:
i. to end the ‘hostile environment’ for all immigrants and for an independent inquiry into its implementation
ii. for a rights-based and humane immigration policy that ensures the dignity of all workers and that tackles labour market exploitation
iii. for the restoration of full rights for those affected by the Windrush scandal and full compensation for losses suffered
iv. to organise within our communities and at work to challenge the rise of the far-right and tackle the politics of hate, wherever they arise.
UNISON
AMENDMENT
- Add at end of paragraph 2:
“Congress notes this ‘hostile environment’ started under the then Home Secretary, now Prime Minister, Theresa May, who deployed ‘go home’ vans around London in 2013. - Add new sub-paragraph v.:
“v. to reject the blame the government have placed on Home Office staff, and work with the Home Office unions to expose Conservative government policy.”
Public and Commercial Services Union
AMENDMENT
- ›Add at end of paragraph 3:
“These developments have also seen a targeted attack on RMT members and others in London by supporters of Tommy Robinson, representing an attack on the whole trade union movement.” - Add new sub-paragraph v. at end:
“to organise a conference/forum of affiliates to discuss a trade union-based response to the threat of the far right.”
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
AMENDMENT
- Add new sub-paragraph v. at end:
“v. to raise awareness of, and celebrate, the enormous contribution made by the Windrush generation and other migrant people to the NHS and all public services
over many years, and which they will continue to make in the future.”
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
AMENDMENT
- Add new paragraph at end:
“Congress recognises, on the70th anniversary of both the creation of the NHS and the docking of the Empire Windrush, the contribution to the NHS made by the Windrush generation since its inception and throughout its history.
Without migration the health and care service could not survive.”
Royal College of Midwives