Introduction
- Unite is one of
the biggest unions in Wales with members in both the public and
private sector. Unite is the biggest union in the UK and
Ireland with over 1.4 million members.
- Our members
work across all sectors of the economy including manufacturing,
financial services, transport, food and agriculture, construction,
energy and utilities, information technology, services industries,
health, local government and not for profit sector. Unite also
organises in the community, enabling those who are not in
employment to be part of our union’s activities.
- Unite welcomes
the opportunity to respond to the consultation ‘Wales’
future relationship with the European Union’.
- Unite is
surveying 22,000 of our network of front line workplace
representatives and shop stewards to monitor the industrial impact
of Brexit and will publish our findings in March 2018.
- The position
for Unite on Brexit is for a just, final settlement in the
interests of workers in both the UK and in Europe. The
settlement should include:
·
Barrier free access to the Single
Market and a customs arrangement with the EU.
·
Regulatory parity, including the
retention of employment rights. The retention of employment
rights must be achieved through primary legislation, rather than
unaccountable statutory instruments.
·
Continued membership of mutually
beneficial agencies and treaties, including European Aviation
Safety Association (EASA).
·
Unequivocal support from the UK
Government for the right to remain for European workers in the UK
and secure reciprocation for UK workers across the European
Union.
·
Labour market regulation which
prevents pitting workers against each other to drive down pay and
conditions.
Terms of Reference
- To identify the
most essential aspects of the UK’s future relationship with
the EU from a Welsh perspective.
- It is the view
of Unite that barrier free access to the single market and a
customs arrangement with the EU are essential to the future
prosperity of Wales following our exit from the European Union.
After more than four decades of integrated tariff-free access to
the Single Market it is clear that many sectors in Wales have
benefited from the lack of cross border tariffs which has been
important to the employment of thousands of our members in
Wales.
- Some of the
largest employers of our members in Wales, Airbus, GE and Ford
Bridgend Engine Plant, see their presence in Wales as a
‘European Hub’.
- For example:
Airbus at Broughton makes nearly all Airbus wings, including the
massive A380. Once completed the wings are shipped, flown and
driven to sites in Spain and Germany, and then onto France for
final assembly. Multiple border crossings make the threat of
tariffs very real for Airbus. Border checks, inspection
and other barriers to the frictionless supply chain may put the
factory at risk.
- The automotive
sector is an important part of the Welsh economy. In South Wales
Ford Bridgend Engine Plant is a vital source of decent jobs.
Engines are manufactured for Jaguar Land Rover and then exported to
sites in the EU for assembly. A ‘Hard Brexit’ or a
‘no deal Brexit’, would revert to World Trade
Organisation (WTO) rules.
- Under WTO rules
trading tariffs could be imposed between UK and the EU. For
example, for cars this could mean a 10% charge on exports to the EU
and a 4% charge on imports to the UK.
- The Welsh
economy is intrinsically linked to the single market with 61% of
Welsh goods, worth £14.6 billion, exported to the area. A
report by the Cardiff Business School claims that leaving the EU on
to WTO rules would cause the Welsh economy to shrink by between 8
and 10%, equivalent to £1,500-£2,000 per person in
Wales. [1]
- Carwyn Jones AM
First Minister of Wales has warned that the Welsh steel industry
would be “wiped out” if Britain left the European
single market and signed a free trade agreement with China.[2] Regarding Welsh steel
Unite has proposed a series of ‘trade defence
mechanisms’ which are vital to preventing a repeat of the
2015 Steel Crisis in the event of Brexit. These have been
worked on in partnership with other unions and trade federations
including UK Steel. The aim is to make sure the UK government
replicates the trade defences of the EU, currently used to help
shield Welsh steel from Chinese dumping. There is a concern
that the UK Government will abandon all such defences in order to
secure a new free trade deal with China. Unite has challenged
the recent Trade and Customs Bill to ensure the Secretary of State
must give consideration to manufacturers and workers, not just
consumers, when considering the impact of any new trade
deal.
- To ensure that
the issues of most importance to Wales are being adequately
represented in the negotiations.
- Unite has
consistently argued that the UK Government’s closed door
approach to the Brexit negotiations is flawed.
- We have a model
of social partnership in Wales whereby government, trade unions and
other parties are involved in a constructive and meaningful
relationship. If the UK Government adopted this approach, it
would have added more clarity to the negotiations and increased the
prospect of consensus.
- Working people
must have their voice heard. Unites elected workplace
representatives sit on over 150 European Works Councils, a level of
interaction and collaboration which is without parallel in the
trade union movement. This experience, along with relationships
with trade unions across Europe gives Unite a unique insight to the
negotiations.
- To identify
opportunities for continued engagement with the European Union and
its institutions after Brexit.
- Unite welcomed
the Cardiff Declaration signed by political representatives from 20
regions from the North Sea, Atlantic and Channel Sea basins at a
conference ‘European co-operation beyond Brexit’ on 16
November 2017. It calls for cooperation between Europe’s
regions post Brexit to address its impact on fisheries, marine
renewable energies and offshore wind, connectivity across the
Atlantic and North Sea ports, scientific research and maritime
territories. [3]
- There are a
range of agreements, treaties and regulatory bodies which the UK is
a member of via the European Union. The UK should remain a
member of mutually beneficial bodies during the transition and this
should remain the case in following the final settlement if such
institutions have not been replicated in the UK.
- Unite calls for
permanent membership of Euratom, the umbrella body for civil
nuclear safeguards across Europe. Euratom controls the
movement of nuclear materials across the EU. Nuclear energy
supplies 21% of the UK’s power needs. [4]
- Unite would
support replicating the role of the European Banking Authority and
the European Medicines Agency when these two bodies relocate from
the UK.
- Below is the
list of EU-UK Agreements, Agencies and Regulatory Bodies which
Unite believes membership should be retained or
replicated.
Agency
|
Unite Sector
|
Unite Proposal*
|
Euratom
|
Energy
|
Retain
membership
|
Open Skies
Agreement
|
Civil
Aviation
|
Retain
membership
|
European
Medicines Agency
|
Chemical
Processing, Pharmaceutical and Textiles/
Health
|
Retain
membership
|
Horizon
2020
|
Education/Manufacturing
|
Retain or
replicate
|
Eramus
|
Education
|
Retain
membership
|
European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
|
Civil
Aviation
|
Retain
membership
|
EuroControl
|
Civil
Aviation
|
Retain
membership
|
REACH
Regulations
|
Chemical
Processing, Pharmaceuticals and Textiles
|
Retain or
replicate
|
European Centre
for Disease Prevention and Control
|
Health
|
Retain
membership
|
European
Environmental Agency
|
Food, Drink and
Agriculture
|
Retain or
replicate
|
European Common
Aviation Area
|
Civil
Aviation
|
Retain
access
|
European Banking
Authority
|
Finance
Sector
|
Replicate
|
European
Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
|
Docks, Rail,
Ferries & Waterways
|
Retain or
replicate
|
European Agency
for Safety and Health at Work
|
All
sectors
|
Retain or
replicate
|
European
Voluntary Services
|
Community Youth
Work and Not for Profit
|
Retain or
replicate
|
European Common
Aviation ARE
|
Civil
Aviation
|
Retain
membership
|
International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as
modified by the Protocol of 1978. (MARPOL 73/78)
|
Docks, Rail,
Ferries & Waterways
|
Retain
membership
|
International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping
for Seafarers (STCW)
|
Docks, Rail,
Ferries & Waterways
|
Retain
membership
|
International
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
|
Docks, Rail,
Ferries & Waterways
|
Retain
membership
|
Key: Retain: If possible the UK should seek to retain full
membership of the existing body, despite no longer being a full
member of the European Union.
Replicate: The
UK should seek to develop a comparable domestic body to the same,
or higher standard.