LTB 173/10 - CWU and the Human Rights Act

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No. 173/10


Ref:


Date: 1st March 2010

To All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

CWU and the Human Rights Act

The Human Rights Act, introduced in 1998, protects everyone's human rights: young and old, rich and poor, yours and mine. It is clearly very relevant and crucially important to trade unionists and trade unions. Civil rights and employment rights go hand in hand.

However, there are many myths and misconceptions about Act. It does not protect an endless catalogue of rights. It only protects fundamental rights and freedoms. In fact the rights contained in the Human Rights Act are so fundamental that no modern democracy has scrapped either the Human Rights Act or the equivalent legislation. For Britain to scrap the Human Rights Act would be the same as the USA scrapping its Bill of Rights.

However, it seems that the Human Rights Act will inevitably become an issue in the forthcoming General Election. This is because David Cameron has made clear his preference to abolish the Act and replace it with a "British Bill of Rights". It is entirely unclear what the difference would be and if the Conservatives are saying that there would be no change in practice, why scrap the Human Rights Act to start with?

Because of its importance to trade union activity and because of the very real threat to its continuation, the CWU's NEC has endorsed a campaign from Liberty, the leading Human Rights campaigning group in the UK, called Common Values.

There is a dedicated interactive website, http://www.commonvalues.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which explains how the Human Rights Act works in practice and addressing the misconceptions about it. Amongst the actions that CWU members and representatives can take is the following:

* Distribute this LtB widely within your branch
* Visit http://www.love.commonvalues.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to learn more about the Human Rights Act
* Download a copy of the new "What's Not to Love?" poster (PDF) here Contact Liberty for copies to display and distribute info@commonvalues.org.uk
* Do you use online social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter? If so why not share the link http://www.love.commonvalues.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in your status updates or Tweets?
* Visit http://twibbon.com/join/whats-not-to-love" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to download a ' twibbon' (a small electronic badge) to add to your Facebook or Twitter profiles
* Request copies of materials to pass on to colleagues, friends and family info@commonvalues.org.uk

Any queries on this LTB should be addressed to Simon Sapper, Assistant Secretary at the unions' head office.

Yours sincerely,

W Hayes
General Secretary