LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed that he will speak at the Trade Union Pride March in Cardiff next month.
Protesters are marching from the National Museum to Library Square to show their opposition to the Trade Union Bill.
Event coordinator Jamie Insole of the National Union of Journalists said: “Our Trade Union Pride will celebrate the massive everyday contribution made by Welsh trade unionists. Jeremy is very excited to be joining us and we are just as excited to be hosting.”
The event has been organised by a coalition of local trade unions and Cardiff People’s Assembly, the anti-austerity network in the city.
Adam Johannes, of the Cardiff People’s Assembly and one of the event’s organisers, said: “Jeremy Corbyn will be visiting South Wales in the first weekend of March. As well as speaking at our event, he will also be addressing an early evening public meeting in Aberdare later the same day.
“Mr Corbyn began his political career working for several trade unions before he became a local councillor in the 1970s and then an MP in 1983. He has been a life-long supporter of trade unionism supporting many strikes and disputes”
The Trade Union Bill, which is currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords, will make it harder for unions to go on strike.
Mr Johannes called the Trade Union Bill “a nasty piece of legislation that attacks civil liberties’”. Other union members in Cardiff have highlighted the importance of resisting the bill.
Mr Insole said that Wales was doing well in opposing the bill: “I am delighted that our Welsh Government has decided to hold the line and stand by the 400,000 Welsh Trade Union members by refusing to implement the Bill”
“Whereas the Tories claimed that our Assembly did not have the powers to oppose it, leaked ministerial correspondence indicates that their own lawyers acknowledge Westminster is on a sticky wicket.”
As well as an address by the Labour leader there will be speeches by junior doctors, a trade union steelworker, Inland Revenue staff discussing cuts to their offices and Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens.
Unite’s Sue Leader said: “It’s blindingly obvious to anyone the government have, once again, badly misjudged the mood of the country’s workforce. The junior doctors have voted to strike. This is grave, if they have decided to withdraw their labour – who is next?
“It’s not just the employed who are feeling militant either, the general public are starting to put their weight behind campaigns to thwart this government and to save what’s left of our public services.”
Mr Johannes said: “Britain is now a low wage economy where millions of people work hard but still struggle to pay the bills or put bread on the table.
“Taking out the opposition – the trade union movement – will make it easier to push through brutal cuts and privatisation across the board.”
