THE TUC meets in interesting times and we should celebrate the increase in trade union membership for the second consecutive year and the growing number of active trades councils across the country.

Density among 16 to 24-year-olds has increased slightly in this, the TUC’s year of young workers.

There has been an upturn in recruitment and organising initiatives in the more difficult workplaces, such as McDonald’s and TGI Friday. And the TUC Yorkshire and Humberside Summer Patrol project, using digital campaigning technology has delivered results.

The TUC 2019 agenda covers similar subject matter to the 2018 congress, with limited progress over the intervening 12 months.

The most important decision last year, in my view, was “A new deal for workers” moved by CWU with support from, not the big three, but NEU and PCS (fourth and seventh biggest).

It gave the general council six actions to boost co-operation between unions and build the movement, none of which were fully implemented and some not at all.

This year the CWU is back again, now with a campaign for the new deal for workers (motion 22) with supportive amendments from Unite and GMB.

The motion points out that, in or out of the EU, new technology and the intensification of work threaten to make the pressure of the work environment worse than ever.

It has never been more important for the trade union movement to come together and deliver a bold new deal for workers.

It is likely that the amended resolution will determine the steps to be taken to build a national day of action on May Day 2020, a Friday.

These steps will include regular planning meetings with all TUC affiliates and mass communication via social media to make this a huge show of trade union strength.

Also demanded are co-operation between unions on common bargaining agendas (expanded on in 16 NEU and 17 Aegis) and a summit to agree a charter to promote co-operation on recruiting the millions of unorganised workers.

There is a welcome increase in recognition of climate crisis and the urgent actions needed. Many of these actions, if pursued, would bring the labour and trade union movement into direct conflict with British and international capital, for example the demand (6) that no company registered in a tax haven be awarded public subsidies.

Addressing period poverty (42 from the TUC Women’s Conference) is a new topic for the TUC agenda and raises the profile of existing affiliates’ campaigns.

“Period poverty is real and predominately affects schoolchildren, homeless women, refugees and asylum-seekers,” and so the motion calls on the TUC to “lobby the government to provide free sanitary wear to low-income families, schools, colleges, universities and homeless shelters.”

The EIS has kept tackling racist ideologies (41) on the agenda and the RMT amendment calls for the TUC to investigate methods to protect trade unionists from far-right attacks.

More than two years since the Grenfell Tower fire, with many families still not properly housed and no politicians or businesses held to account, the FBU calls for TUC support for its campaign “Grenfell: Never Again.” This addresses a wide range of contributory factors: removal of combustible cladding, strengthening tenants’ rights, tackling the power of corporate interests and increasing the numbers of specialist fire safety officers.

Despite the threats of accusations of anti-semitism, the Israeli and US administrations are criticised for destroying the prospects of peace in Palestine by the Artists Union England (75).

A search for the word “nationalise” takes you only to motion 74, Cuba and the US blockade, perhaps reflecting an understanding of the reality of the neoliberal EU by those who have shifted to a position of ignoring the 2016 referendum result.

However, public ownership of energy is called for by the BFAWU (8) with an amendment by the FBU on existing TUC policy on public ownership of the big banks.

On the issue of Brexit the current manoeuvres in Parliament will give the opportunity for an emergency motion that could help to stop the lemming-like rush to the Remain cliff.

Andy Bain is the Communist Party of Britain’s industrial organiser.