Brexit

Since the EU Brexit referendum result in June 2016, the trade union movement has led the way in highlighting the challenges posed to workers and the local economy from the UK leaving the European Union. The workers in Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, are highly exposed to the ramif cations of this decision; in particular, of the economic consequences from any impediments to trade arising. While we respect the decision made by the UK electorate to vote for Brexit,  we also note that a clear majority in Northern Ireland voted to Remain, and voters in the Republic of Ireland had no say in this decision. As such, conference demands a central place and voice for trade union representatives in the Brexit process both at a national and regional level. Our experience in collective bargaining could be invaluable to those negotiating the best possible outcome in this process. We will not stand idly by and allow a Tory government to be given a blank cheque to simply implement  its own vision of Brexit. We will never accept  a Brexit that will be paid for by working class communities. It is vital that our social, employment and environmental rights be fully safeguarded by the UK government in the future. That means the transposition of EU directives, guidelines and ECJ rulings in the Great Repeal Bill process must not involve any diminishment of rights and entitlements whatsoever and that indeed additional safeguards are provided. We call for the two-thirds majority qualfied vote arrangements currently applied to fixed term parliaments in Westminster be extended to any future revision of social, employment and environmental rights protections and safeguards. Workers jobs are more dependent today on international trade than ever before. Major industries are inter-connected on a previously unimaginable scale across continents. The concept of a national, inward-looking society or economy can only offer the prospect of further economic dislocation and joblessness for workers in the era of globalisation. As such, this conference demands that all governments negotiate continued tariff-free trade and full market access between the UK and the EU. This will guarantee no borders to trade â whether North-South, or East-West. Even if tariff-free trade is delivered there are still a range of concerns for workers from Brexit: the rights of EU workers in the UK and UK workers in the EU, the rights and entitlements of domestic cross-border workers, the risk of bad bosses exploiting Brexit to push down wages, and the economic dislocation arising from protracted uncertainty. Conference demands protections and entitlements, at least equivalent to existing ones, for all workers, regardless of where they come from or where they work. We demand investment and planning for the future, now, to counter the negative economic consequences of Brexit on exposed sectors such as our Agri-Food, Retail and Hospitality sectors; as well as guarantees for the inclusion of UK- based Further and Higher Education sectors in EU-sponsored programmes such as Erasmus, Horizon2020 or the likes of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, and that of substitute funding on a pound-for-pound basis for Infrastructural, Community, Peace-building and Agricultural programmes for Northern Ireland. Conference stands full-square with migrant communities feeling the brunt of the upsurge  in attacks and intolerance following the Brexit vote. We reiterate our stance against all forms of prejudice, whether that is sectarianism, racism, religious or ethnic hate-crime. The peace process has been brought forward through agreements negotiated between the parties and governments in the context of a common EU membership. It is vital that Brexit doesn't undermine the political progress of past decades. Conference expects both governments and the EU to live up to their promises that there will be no hard border on this island. We also reiterate our demand for the ful lment of those provisions relating to the ECHR being adopted into Northern Ireland law through a Bill of Rights. Conference also stands opposed to the race- to-the-bottom economics that risks being heralded by Brexit. Beggar-thy-neighbour economic policies that see a race-to-the-bottom on corporate taxes and wages are based on neoliberal ideology not the goal of delivering sustainable growth that supports rising living conditions for all and quality public services. Looking forward we call for a full exploration of those new opportunities for state-led investment, renationalisation and redirected public procurement in the absence of EU state-aid rules and competition regulation. We also call on the EU to set in train a process to evaluate what has created an environment - evidenced by the Brexit vote- where in Britain, Ireland and elsewhere the EU is now increasingly seen as a neoliberal project of wealth inequality and division as opposed to a social project of economic equality, liberty, social justice, and peace.