Congress unites against cuts in HSE budget

Last month’s Trades Union Congress unanimously backed a motion criticising the slashing of the HSE’s budget and calling on the TUC to campaign for legislation that guarantees workers’ safety.

The motion, proposed by construction union UCATT, slammed the government’s decision to cut 35% off the HSE’s budget, saying it would make it impossible for the HSE to ensure workplace safety. Moving the motion, UCATT executive council member Dennis Doody told delegates: “It is a fundamental right to be safe at work. This government is destroying that right.”

He added that the HSE is already so cash-strapped that its enforcement activities have fallen to an all-time low and that the HSE has suggested it will stop making unannounced inspections in sectors even as hazardous as agriculture and quarrying. “Now more than ever the trade union movement needs to defeat these policies and show how this Tory-led government has blood on its hands. If we don’t take action, more and more workers will be killed and maimed at work.”