Below is the wording of the resolution passed at the Tamil Solidarity Annual General Meeting.
Tamil Solidarity AGM – Saturday 10 December 2017
In support of Glasgow City Unison – in protest at Glasgow City Council
The 2017 annual general meeting of the Tamil Solidarity campaign sends our solidarity greetings to the Information Computer Technology (ICT) workers taking industrial action in a dispute with Glasgow City Council.
We are aware that Glasgow City Council executive has decided to privatise the council’s ICT service, and that this led to the ballot of the trade union members affected, which delivered a 96% vote in favour of action.
We further note that, following commencement of the action taken by 39 workers from 1 December, Glasgow City Council is recruiting a non-union, temporary, strike-breaking workforce.
Tamil Solidarity protests against such a move.
Tamil Solidarity is also aware that Glasgow’s Labour council has implemented far-reaching cut-backs to council jobs and services – and that these policies are continuing. Indeed, the move to privatise the ICT service can only be viewed as part of this programme. As the vast majority of the significant Tamil population in Glasgow is concentrated in the poorer areas, Tamil people have been hit hard by these cuts.
In our view, it is disgraceful that a Labour council – which is supposed to represent ordinary people – is pushing through these policies. And that it is backing them up with attacks on a trade union which is genuinely campaigning for its members’ jobs and conditions, and for the services that thousands of people depend on.
Tamil Solidarity is a campaign based on the rights of workers and all oppressed people in Sri Lanka and around the world. We view our sisters and brothers in the trade union movement in Britain as the natural allies of the Tamils in our struggle against repression and for the right to self-determination.
Tamil Solidarity is proud to count Glasgow City Unison among the many trade union branches and organisations across Britain which has affiliated to our campaign. As Glasgow City Unison has stood by us, we will stand by the workers it represents.