“Trade unions are a major democratic force,” Steve Cotton, ITF general secretary, said. “The ITF is a key member of that international union community, and it is our job to reach across borders to help and represent the workers of all nations.
He promised that: “The ITF will continue to fight for workers’ rights and against the race to the bottom and the injustices of austerity. We will defend rights and public services across borders because, as an international organisation dedicated to equality and solidarity, that is what we do. We remain dedicated to internationalism, cooperation and tolerance.”
He was joined by Eduardo Chagas, general secretary of the ETF, who stated: “The UK Brexit referendum result is a sad but strong signal that an adequate European Union social policy is absent, and has sent workers away from the European project. The EU’s policies do not reflect workers’ expectations; a change has to come rapidly before other countries follow Britain’s example.”
ITF president Paddy Crumlin supported the call to action, stating: “As democrats and trade unionists we respect the decision, hairsbreadth narrow though it was. As democrats and trade unionists we also pledge ourselves to working to preserve the gains made in worker protections in the last decades, and to continue to fight for more. We will not see workers, wherever they are in Europe or elsewhere, undefended and paying the price of the economic injustices and decisions of recent years. Workers should not pay the price of Brexit.”
