The STUC General Council has committed to develop a credible,
coherent and fully costed plan for an effective and Just Transition from arms
industry jobs, including Trident renewal, to alternative occupations.
On this basis, Aberdeen and Dundee Trades Union Councils
agreed to remit their composited motion to the General Council.
Earlier ATUC’s Kate Ramsden had condemned the arms trade in
the UK which wreaks havoc on the lives
of ordinary people – men, women and children, bombed or gunned down by weapons
that we make in this country
“Remember the
bombardment of Gaza in 2014?” asked Kate. “The devastation wrought by Israeli
bombs and missiles whose component parts were made at the Raytheon factory in
Fife.
“And what about the
Yemen? The sale of arms and aircraft to Saudi Arabia by this government used in
the indiscriminate bombing of men, women and children in that country"
She told delegates
that arms sales fuel conflict, support repression and make the world a more
dangerous place for all of us, but especially those who through accident of
birth, live in war zones or under oppression.
“And in the
process, very rich people are becoming even richer on the backs of the
suffering they create and care little for," slammed Kate.
“It’s immoral, it’s
obscene and it has to stop.”
However, said Kate,
as well as the moral argument there’s also an economic reason to stop
manufacturing arms.
She pointed to
research by Campaign Against the Arms Trade which has shown that there is huge
potential in the UK to exchange arms for renewables – to diversify to offshore
wind and marine energy which could produce more jobs than the entire arms
industry.
Kate added that the
Government subsidises the arms industry to the tune of around £700 million per
year.
“That’s tax payers’
money. That’s our money!
“If the will was
there the government could take that money and invest it in providing
alternative employment for arms trade workers in the renewable energy sector –
a sector which needs many of the same skills as the arms industry."
She called on the
General Council to revisit its earlier work on defence diversification and to
build on it to develop a clear strategy to underpin the transfer of government
subsidies from arms to renewables.
“We know there will be
challenges but we believe these can and must be overcome. We have to press the
UK and Scottish government to support
individuals and communities affected by such changes during the transition
period.”
She urged
delegates individually and in their unions and trade union councils, to keep up
the pressure on the UK and Scottish Governments to immediately end the arms
trade to Middle East countries, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, who use these
arms for oppression and war.
“We must campaign
to end an arms trade which creates such death and destruction to so many
innocent civilians and children and at the same time promote renewable forms of
energy that tackle climate change, cut emissions and offer a more positive
future.
“Arms to
renewable is a win-win – protecting jobs and livelihoods at the same time as
protecting the climate and those suffering war and oppression.”
