RCM Briefing – Report of the Black Workers' Conference, April 2018
RCM delegates attended the TUC Black Worker’s Conference from 20-22 April this year. We joined delegates from a wide range of TUC affiliate unions including other health workers.
2018 marks 70 years since the Windrush generation were invited to Britain; 25 years since the killing of Stephen Lawrence; 50 years since the death of Martin Luther King Jr, the Race Relations Act; and Enoch Powell’s “River of blood speech “ in Birmingham, these themes ran through the conference.
We heard speakers such as Neville Lawrence the father of Stephen Lawrence and Justice for Grenfell. The RCM delegation was made up of:
- Janet Ballintine - Workplace Representative
- Maisie Lafond – Workplace Representative
- Alice Sorby – Employment Relations Advisor – Observer
- Gabrielle Bourke – Policy Advisor – Observer
“It was saddening and yet informative to hear people talking with such passion about their experiences of racial discrimination and show great conviction of how to change things for the better, encouraging Conference attendees to become more active in their organisation and branches. Yet the coming together of different Unions with worthy Motions and their drive for change was empowering."
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.“ - Martin Luther King Jr.
The RCM’s motion to the conference was, Suspend Charging Migrant Women for Maternity Care which was passed unanimously and supported by numerous other unions.
