THE STUC voted to maintain its anti-Trident position on the last day of congress yesterday, voting down a GMB Scotland bid to change its historic opposition to renewal of the nuclear weapon system.

Moving the motion in support of a Trident successor programme, GMB delegate Drew Duffy warned that thousands of well-paid highly skilled and unionised jobs were under threat.

He said that that there was “a danger of wishing away jobs on a point of principle.”

Mr Duffy condemned the “empty rhetoric of defence diversification” as there had been “no credible or meaningful policy to articulate what it actually means.”
He warned that there were no clear plans for who would employ these workers and whether pay, terms and conditions would be matched.

Mr Duffy dismissed claims that the cost of the nuclear weapons system’s renewal had created a shortfall in public spending, arguing that “austerity is responsible for cuts to public services and not Trident.”

However, Unison delegate Jane Carolan said that while her union was committed to defending its members, it also had a history of fighting for “international peace and solidarity.”

She pointed out that funding for Trident “competes directly with public spending” and stands “against our priorities as a movement,” branding it an “extravagance that will destroy our public services.”

FBU delegate Denise Christie attacked GMB’s position of defending jobs at all costs, saying that her own union had campaigned for fire prevention because “lives and public safety are more important than job protectionism.”

She said there are fewer fires now, while firefighters’ roles have changed and diversified.
Delegates passed a motion reaffirming the STUC’s opposition to Trident and called on the general council to revisit a proposal to set up a trade union group to work with CND.

This would incorporate defence workers’ unions so that defence diversification can be properly planned and resourced.

Responding to the debate, general council member Lynn Henderson said: “Spending billions on nuclear is and always has been incompatible with the aims of the Scottish trade union movement.”

But she recognised concerns over the “vagueness” of defence diversification, adding that, although plans were “sincere and well motivated,” they often “lack the detail and rigour defence workers expect.”

Ms Henderson warned that creating new jobs would be difficult and called for a new approach “which recognises the scale of the task” and involves the defence unions.

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