TRANSPORT UNION RMT will put the issue of a referendum on British membership of the EU, alongside a call for British withdrawal, on the agenda at the TUC Congress which gets underway in Brighton on Sunday (9th September).

The RMT call forms part of a motion tabled by the union which sets out the facts behind the EU’s “Monti II” proposals which would destroy bargaining and employment rights, allow the outlawing of strike action by the courts on the grounds of “proportionality” and usher in a whole new era of social dumping where exploited workers are brought in to UK industries with the sole intention of driving down pay and working conditions.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“We know from our colleagues in Greece, Spain and other parts of Europe that there is a deliberate and coordinated effort to grab hold of the austerity agenda to force the pace of privatisation and attacks on working people. None of this has happened by accident, it goes right to the very heart of what the EU and its institutions stand for. We also know that now that the Euro elite, and their enforcers in the Troika (the ECB, the EU and the IMF), have the bit between their teeth they are upping the ante.

“Their “Monti II” proposal would give the anti-union Viking and Laval judgements of the European Courts full regulatory status opening the door for attacks on workplace rights and the escalation of social dumping right across the board.

“That means that the kind of practices operated by Condor Ferries out of the south coast in the UK, wages of little more than £2 per hour and three months on followed by a month off unpaid, will escalate and with “Monti II” bringing in the right for the courts to make strike action illegal under a judge’s ruling on “proportionality” trade unions would be hit by unlimited claims for compensation if they dare to stand up and fight this exploitation.

”Monti II” isn’t some bolt on extra to the EU machinery, it is consistent with the entire drive of the Euro project and makes a total nonsense of the arguments advanced by those who still try and sell us the con-trick of a Social Europe. It is a fantasy and that is why RMT is once again taking the issue of a referendum on British membership of the EU bosses super state to the TUC with a clear call for withdrawal.”