Festive greetings and best wishes for 2019

Aberdeen Trade Union Council wishes all our delegates, affiliates, associates and friends our best wishes for a wonderful festive season and a happy and peaceful New Year.

We particularly send greetings to those providing essential services over the holiday period.

Thanks to you all for making our 150th centenary year one to remember. 150 years on Aberdeen Trade Union Council is still going strong, fighting for workers's rights and human rights at home and across Scotland, the UK and the world.

Best wishes to you all.

John Maclean commemoration 3rd Dec - speeches from the event

Fiona Napier

Speech from Fiona Napier, ATUC Secretary, welcoming those gathered and giving some background to John Maclean's visit to Aberdeen 100 years ago.

"Thank you for being here this morning! 

"We’re here today to speak about a great man, a true working class hero – Glasgow schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist – John Maclean. He was a man who campaigned all his life against the injustices he saw in society - imperialist wars, poverty, inadequate housing – a fight that saw him labelled ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’ by the British intelligence services. Dangerous, because he challenged injustice wherever he saw it, and refused to be silenced, and dangerous because he inspired others to action. 

"He publicly – and ceaselessly - opposed the First World War, encouraging working class men to defy conscription. Three times MacLean stood in court, accused of sedition and offences against the Defence of The Realm Act, and on his 3^rd appearance he was sentenced to 5 years and sent to Peterhead jail. There he was subjected to brutal treatment, including a harsh regime of force-feeding. His health never recovered from the damage done to him in jail, and he died far too soon, aged only 44.

"When he was released from Peterhead prison on 3rd 1918, 100 years ago to the day, he began his train journey back to Glasgow, stopping for a time in Aberdeen, where he was greeted by comrades at the station and joined a reception organised for him by ATUC. 100 years later, we are proud to be here today, commemorating the life and works of this courageous man. John Maclean died too young, but his legacy lives on. The injustices that he fought against all his life are still with us today, and we’re here to fight them"

ATUC commemorates John Maclean's release from Peterhead jail 100 years to the day

Aberdeen Trades Union Council delegates and friends gathered at Aberdeen Railway Station today, Monday 3^rd Dec to remember “the great John Maclean,” schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist.

It was 100 years to the day that our ATUC comrades gathered to welcome John Maclean as he journeyed back to Glasgow on his release from Peterhead Prison, having been jailed on a charge of sedition for opposing the first world war.

The John Maclean Memorial Band (aka Irn Broo) provided the soundtrack to the event and had the train station rocking with their renditions of the John Maclean March, the Freedom Come All Ye and the Ballad of John Maclean, as those gathered added their voices to the singing.

A history of political protest in Aberdeen - come and hear all about it

Join us for an evening of radical activism on Thursday 13th December from 7pm till 8.30pm, as local historian Andrew McGregor presents a history of political protest in Aberdeen over the last two centuries.

The event is the last in a series of talks arranged to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Aberdeen Trades Union Council and will be held in John Londragan House, 22A Adelphi, Aberdeen. 

This is the second talk by Andrew - the first was extremely well received. Come along if you can.

Join us at the St Andrew's Day March and Rally in Aberdeen on 24th November

Please come along to the Annual St Andrew’s Day March and Rally taking place on Saturday 24th November 2018.

The march will gather from 11am, leaving from Rubislaw Terrace, Aberdeen at 11.30am to march to the Castlegate rally at 12noon.

The St Andrew’s Day March and Rally takes place every year with a focus on fighting racism and fascism and celebrating equality and diversity.

The theme this year is “Still we rise!” in support of internationalism, freedom and justice across the world.

Following the Rally there will be a social event with soup, sandwiches and music from 12.30 – 4pm at Parkvale FC Supporters Social Club, 16 King Street. All are welcome to attend.

This event is particularly special, as we approach the conclusion of the Aberdeen Trades Union Council’s 150th anniversary year. Please come and march for equality and diversity.

Click here for the facebook page. Please share widely.

"Historic" civic reception celebrates Aberdeen Trades Union Council's achievements across 150 years

Kathleen Kennedy cuts the cake as the Depute Provost and guests look on

In a first for the council, Aberdeenshire Depute Provost, Cllr Ron McKail, hosted a Civic Reception  to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Aberdeen Trades Union Council as our birthday year draws to a close.

Members of Aberdeen Trades Union Council, affiliated unions and organisations and councillors from opposition groups on the council attended the lunchtime event in Woodhill House on 9th November 2018.

Depute Provost Cllr McKail

Opening the event, the Depute Provost said, "It is a pleasure to host this reception, as the anniversary year comes to a close. Taking time to honour the work of the Aberdeen Trades Union Council is important.

"This event will be a visible and heartfelt way of thanking members for their hard work in continuing to keep traditions alive, and ensuring that workers’ rights are at the front of our minds.” 

Cllr McKail said that he was personally delighted because he had been a member of two trade unions over his working career - the NUM, of which his father was also a member and NASUWT, of which he remains a retired member.

"I certainly appreciated from an early age the vital importance of having a strong union to support its members," said Cllr McKail.

Aberdeenshire Provost hosts Civic Reception as our 150th anniversary year draws to a close

The Provost of Aberdeenshire Council will host a Civic Reception to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Aberdeen Trades Union Council, as our anniversary year draws to a close.

Delegates and invited guests will attend the lunchtime event on Friday 9th November 2018 in the Members' Lounge at Woodhill House. They will hear a welcome from the Lord Provost before ATUC President, Kathleen Kennedy addresses the event.

Councillor Ross Cassie will also say a few words before Councillor Alison Evison, who is also a Consultative Member of Aberdeen Trades Union Council, gives a vote of thanks.

Kathleen Kennedy

Kathleen said, "We are delighted that the Provost of Aberdeenshire is hosting this celebration of 150 years of our Trade Union Council.

"Although it is entitled, Aberdeen TUC, our affiliates include trade union branches from across the North East of Scotland, including my own union, Aberdeenshire UNISON.

"As a Trade Union Movement we are proud of our history of fighting for the rights of workers in both the City and Shire.

"The ATUC has had a wonderful anniversary year, which began with a Civic Reception hosted by Aberdeen City. We thank the Provost and Aberdeenshire Council for helping us to bring this special year to a close."

Evening of celebration for Aberdeen Brigaders on 28th September All welcome!

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Aberdeen Trades Union Council opens its doors on our rich history

In its 150th anniversary year, Aberdeen Trades Union Council will welcome visitors to its premises at 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen as part of Doors Open Day on Saturday 8th September.

Visitors will be able to view art and artefacts collected over the course of our 150 year history, relating to significant historical events including the Spanish Civil War.

The doors will be open from 10am to 3pm and all are welcome to participate in this unique opportunity to witness the wealth of historical artefacts of Aberdeen's trade union and labour movement, and our activities in the current day.

Please come along if you can for what will be a fascinating look at our rich trade union history.

Join us for an evening of ATUC history in our 150th year, with Jurgen Thomanek

During our 150th anniversary year, ATUC is holding a number of celebratory events. This talk is one in a series looking back over ATUC’s history.

We are delighted to announce that long-time ATUC member and now consultative member, Jürgen Thomanek will present his postponed talk, An Evening of Aberdeen Trade Union Council History on Tuesday 10th July from 7-9pm in the ATUC Premises at John Londragan House, 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen.

Jürgen Thomanek (J.P. , M.Ed. , Dr. Phil. ,FRSA) is a former President of ATUC (1982-2000), and a current member of ATUC’s executive committee.

After studying at the universities of Kiel and Tübingen in Germany, Jürgen came to Aberdeen in 1966, completing a doctorate and later obtaining an M.Ed. at the University of Aberdeen, where he spent the rest of his academic career, becoming Professor of German in 1992. 

He was the first Aberdeen Association of University Teachers (AUT) delegate to Aberdeen Trades Council, and the first Aberdeen University AUT Secretary and President. He was also heavily involved in National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Seamen (NUS) and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) disputes.

Join us for a fascinating evening of trade union history!

May Day March and Rally - standing up for workers rights and equality in our 150th anniversary year

Hundreds turned out for the ATUC organised May Day March and Rally to celebrate International Workers Day - a true celebration of workers’ rights on the 150th anniversary of the ATUC

The sun shone and the marchers made a colourful and noisy spectacle as they paraded down Union Street to the upbeat rhythms of the wonderful Guarana Drummers.

The crowds on Union Street stopped to watch and wave as the march passed by and marchers gave out leaflets bringing greetings from the ATUC in our 150th birthday year.

At the rally, compered by ATUC President, Kathleen Kennedy, a range of speakers highlighted the importance of workers' and human rights here and around the world and called for greater equality and justice for all.

A photo at the end will send greetings from the march to our colleagues in Gaza, suffering under Israeli occupation and oppression.

You can enjoy the videos of the march and the rally below.

Posted by Aberdeen Trades Union Council on Saturday, 5 May 2018

Posted by Aberdeen Trades Union Council on Saturday, 5 May 2018

Moving Workers' Memorial Day Service pledges to remember the dead, fight for the living.

A moving International Workers’ Memorial Day Service was held on Saturday 28th April  in the beautiful Persley Memorial Garden, Aberdeen.

Organised by ATUC and chaired by Donna Clark, Vice-President, the service was addressed by politicians, activists and trade union speakers in this the 30th anniversary year of the Piper Alpha disaster and ofcourse our own 150th anniversary year.

Wreaths were laind by Aberdeen City Council and by the ATUC. Welcoming those attending Donna said that no one should leave for their work never to return, but it happens all too often. The theme of this years  remembrance events is that unionised workplaces are safer workplaces.

Participants observed a two minute silence to remember all those who had died, been made ill or injured at their work.

Join us on our May Day March and Rally in our 150th year

Aberdeen's May Day March & Rally for International Workers' Day will be held on Saturday 5th May this year.

The event is organised as always by Aberdeen Trades Union Council. Each year, people across the globe take to the streets to commemorate International Workers' Day, or May Day.

ATUC President, Kathleen Kennedy said, "In our 150th anniversary year we want to make our May Day March and Rally an event to remember.

"We are calling on trade unions, community groups, friends and families to join us with banners and placards.

"We want to give a clear message on International Workers Day that workers matter. We are the backbone of our society and should be treated with respect, decently paid and their workplaces should be safe, healthy and family friendly.

"We shouldn't need to strike to defend our pensions, our pay and our terms and conditions - yet we do. Events like our May Day March show solidarity and support for our struggles."

Please gather at Rubislaw Terrace at 11.00am, to march off at 11.30am down Union Street. A rally will be held in the Castlegate from 12.15pm, with a range of speakers from trade unions, local politicians and community activists.

An introduction to economics for trade union and community activists - 9 May 2018 at 7pm

As part of its 150th Anniversary celebrations, Aberdeen Trades Union Council is supporting aseries of  talks aimed at demystifying economics. 

The first is to be held on 9 May at Aberdeen Trade Union Council, 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen.   It will be presented by Keith Paterson, Phd student at Aberdeen University and long-time trade unionist and political activist.

Please get along if you can and circulate details widely to union branches, contacts and activists. 
 

Drawing on the concepts of Marx, Keynes and contemporary radical economists, these talks aim to provide a critical introduction to a political economy approach to understanding the central dynamics of the economy and provide a framework for understanding how capitalism works and how crises come about.    

For trade union and community activists the aim is to provide a tool kit to question what is presented in the media and by so called ‘experts’ about economic issues and provide an alternative way of examining the economy.

A major objective is to demystify orthodox economics which has been found wanting yet continues to provide the ideological justification for austerity, cuts and privatisation.

For further information, contact Keith at keithpaterson@abdn.ac.uk

Tributes at Holyrood to ATUC in our 150th year

Lewis Macdonald, MSP and Aberdeen Trades Union Council Consultative member, pays tribute to Aberdeen Trades Union Council in the year of our 150th Anniversary, as he leads his Members' Business debate on this in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 17th April 2018.

You can hear his full speech by clicking here

ATUC Vice-President Donna Clark and Executive Member Laura McDonald attended the debate in Holyrood and presented Lewis with our ATUC 150th celebratory badges and our 2017 Annual Report.


In his speech, Lewis outlined the history of Aberdeen Trades Union Council and the important role that it and its affiliates have played in the North East of Scotland.

He highlighted the important role of all Trades Union Councils across Scotland. Delegates attend the STUC Congress on the same basis as delegates from affiliated unions and Lewis explained that more ATUC delegates would have been at the debate if it didn't co-incide with Congress where the ATUC was playing a full part in those proceedings.

Lewis also brought greetings from Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, who was unable to be in Holyrood because he too was in Aviemore addressing the STUC Congress.

Aberdeen Trades Union Council would like to express our thanks to Lewis for highlighting Aberdeen Trades Union Council in the Scottish Parliament in this our 150th year, and for all his support to the ATUC over the years as a Consultative member and our local Labour MSP.

Thank you Lewis!

Please come along to the next ATUC Delegates meeting on Wednesday 04 April 2018 at 7.30pm

The first ATUC Delegates meeting after our AGM in March will be held on Wednesday 04 April 2018 at 7.30pm within the ATUC premises at 22A Adelphi Aberdeen.

The 150th year events will once again be agenda items along with the Annual Report 2017 for which adverts and articles have all been received.

Other agenda items will be discussing arrangements for IWMD and May Day, both important events for this anniversary year, and the new Exec will bring you up to date on plans for these and other events.

We hope as many Delegates as possible can attend this important meeting.

Please come along to a public talk this Thursday 22nd March on child prisoners as part of our 150th Anniversary events

Please join us for a public talk on Thursday 22nd March at 7pm on Palestinian child prisoners to be held in the Unite the Union office, 42-44 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5TJ.

This event is co-hosted by Aberdeen Trades Union Council and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Aberdeen and is part of a year of activities to mark the 150^th anniversary of ATUC in 2018.

Kate Ramsden, UNISON NEC member and a member of the ATUC Executive has dedicated her career to defending children’s rights, and will be introducing a discussion on what we can do from Scotland to stand up for the rights of Palestinian children.  

Aberdeen Trades Union Council (ATUC) has submitted a motion to this year's STUC Congress condemning the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli courts and prisons and calling for action to end the detention and mis-treatment of Palestinian minors by Israel.

The text includes the phrase below.

‘The arrest of 16 year old Ahed Tamimi has shone a spotlight on Israel’s systematic abuse of minors through the process of military detention. The treatment of Ahed rightly generated a global response, but her situation is far from unique. Each year, the Israeli military arrests and prosecutes around 700 Palestinian children. Palestinian children encounter ill-treatment and a denial of their basic rights. This is in clear breach of their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory.’

Please join us for this important event.

Come along to the Aberdeen Trades Union Council AGM on Wed 14th March

Delegates and associates are urged to come along to the ATUC AGM on Wednesday 14th March at  22a Adelphi, Aberdeen at 7.30pm.

This is a very important meeting where new officers are elected for the coming year, the accounts for 2017 are approved and plans made for the forthcoming events in our 150th anniversary year.

We have important events coming up including International Workers' Memorial Day and our May Day March and Rally as well as the STUC Congress in April.

We really hope that as many delegates as possible will attend and look forward to seeing you then.

ATUC - we must organise to win for our members

Joint-President Tyrinne Rutherford used his speech at the Aberdeen City Civic Reception launching the 150th anniversary celebrations of the ATUC, to highlight the challenges facing trade unions now and to call on us to organise to win for our members.

Tyrinne Rutherford

“BROTHERS SISTERS COMRADES; If you look at the history of employers’ treatment of worker through history their goal hasn’t changed, but their tactics have.

They still want to pay us peanuts to maximise profit and they’ll do that to any that they see fits.

For instance zero hour contracts, and the fact they want contracts to be a bit of paper that say you'll work when we want you to work, go home when we want you to go home and this is your pay.

Remember what you were taught about the Victorian era of men turning up to the factory each morning with no guarantee of work or pay. That’s what the gig economy is like. Ask those workers at Deliveroo racing each other to get people’s order of food.

A Brief History of the ATUC

Vice President, Kathleen Kennedy

Kathleen Kennedy Vice President gave a very brief account of the history of Aberdeen Trades Union Council at the Aberdeen City Council's Civic Reception

ATUC began obviously in 1868 given we are celebrating our 150th year this year and the launch of our anniversary celebrations being this Aberdeen City Council's civic reception  

When preparing for this talk Kathleen discovered the foundations were being laid before that - in fact in 1846 as there was an 'agreement' between different trades to support each other as the textile industry collapsed and the service sector began inhibited the development of trade unionism - well nothing changed there? But they haven't yet and they won't!

In 1868 during a 10 weeks Stone Mason's strike in the Granite City saw the coming together of 13 societies of masons and branches under  the leadership of John Jessiman  chairmanship to form the Trades Council - which we know as ATUC.

Morag Lawrence's (Assistant secretary) Great Gran was affected by this strike, in fact she was going to a wedding and couldn't afford new clothes for the wedding! So she and others went into a shop here in Aberdeen. Tried on new clothes and then putting on their own clothes on top and left without paying! They did get caught and Morag's Great Gran was imprisoned - this shows the impact of the strike and the hardship it meant for people - it's good to see Morag as part of the ATUC today and illustrates just how much her family has been in trade unionism over the years.