- Conference
- 2023 National Black Members’ Conference
- Date
- 29 September 2022
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference notes:
1)· The Nationality and Borders Act (NABA) become law on 28 June 2022;
2)· The government’s continuing plans for offshore detention in Rwanda, and the Care4Calais and PCS union legal challenge that contributed to the halting of the first planned flight taking detained refugees to Rwanda;
3)That the case was is currently in the Royal Courts of Justice to determine whether the Rwanda policy itself is lawful;
4)The major protest outside the court, took place on the 5 September, with a day of action called by the TUC, Care4Calais, Stand Up To Racism, PCS union, Refugee Council, StatusNow4All, Amnesty International UK, including Unison, Unite, GMB, NEU, CWU, FBU, UCU, NASUWT, ASLEF, TSSA & BFAWU;
5)The Twitterstorm (11am – 12 noon) on 19 July and workplace day of action that got #StopRwanda trending #3 in United Kingdom trends;
6)The Britain-wide TUC, Care4Calais and Stand Up to Racism local protests outside of London on Saturday 16 July;
This Conference believes:
a)· The NABA (with its two-tier system of ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ refugees that would prevent some 99 percent of refugees from seeking asylum and its threat to the citizenship of 6 million people in Britain), the Rwanda offshore detention policy, and latest plans to tag refugees, are racist;
b)· That the trade union movement should mobilise alongside others to oppose racist division at a time when workers are being hit by attacks on living standards in the cost-of-living crisis;
c)· That campaigning has been effective – such as the legal challenges by Care4Calais and PCS against ‘pushbacks’ in the Channel, and to stop the first scheduled Rwanda detention flight, and the mass actions in Peckham and Hackney in London and in Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow that have stopped immigration raids.
This Conference request the National Black Member Committee resolves:
i) To continue to encourage our union to support and mobilise for the ongoing protests for the #StopRwanda Campaign;
ii)· To request unison sign and circulate the pledge to oppose the NABA launched by Care4Calais, already supported by hundreds: https://fighttheantirefugeelaws.org/;
iii)· To continue to encourage Unison to campaign against all elements of the Act.