May Day March and Rally in Aberdeen - Get along and celebrate International Workers' Day

A reminder to get along if you can to Aberdeen Trade Union Council's May Day March and Rally on Sat 6th May. Gather at Rubislaw Terrace at 11am to march off at 11.30am  The Guarana Drummers will be leading the March and it will be colourful and vibrant with the drummers, flags and banners on display. Rally at the Castlegate at 12.15pm. Hope you can make it.

ATUC Annual Report 2016

Aberdeen Trades Union Council is pleased to announce the publication of our Annual Report for 2016, which is now available for download from this website.

If you would like hard copies of this report to distribute within your organisations, please contact us on our Facebook page and we can arrange to get copies to you.

This year all the work for typesetting and collating the report was done by our very own Morag Lawrence, and there are many hours of work involved in pulling it all together so we send a big thank you to Morag, and also to everyone else involved, including all the trade unions and other organisations who help to support the work of the ATUC throughout the year, and who support the production of the annual report by providing articles and adverts.

• Download the ATUC Annual Report 2016

Next ATUC delegates meeting Wed 3rd May at 7.30pm. Exec Meeting at 6.45pm

The next ATUC delegates' meeting will be held tomorrow evening, Wed 3rd May at 7.30pm at 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen. Please get along if you can.

There is a lot to discuss including the final arrangements for the May Day March and Rally on Saturday 6th May.

There will also be a report back from STUC Congress from delegates as well as the usual trade reports and the activity reports which will include a report of the International Workers' Memorial Day service.

Please note, there will also be a meeting of the ATUC Exec just before it at 6.45pm

Hope to see you all there.

ATUC joins Dundee TUC at their May Day celebrations to commemorate their 150th anniversary year

ATUC representatives Kathleen Kennedy, Brian Carroll, Steve Gray and Tommy Campbell travelled to Dundee on Saturday 29th April to join trade unionists and activists from across Scotland to celebrate May Day and the 150th anniversary of the Dundee Trades Union Council. 

The bright new banner of the Dundee Trades Union Council led the march into and around the City Centre to the Marketgait, where speakers reminded people of the need to stay strong and work together to fight austerity, poverty and injustice.  

150 years ago workplace negotiations were based upon the Masters and Servants Act which treated a breach of contract by an employer as a civil matter but a trade union activity as criminal act.  Dundee Trades Union Council spokesperson (Mick) reminded all of us we needed to stop this sort of legislation from happening again.

We are delighted that representatives of Dundee TUC will join our May Day March and Rally in Aberdeen on Saturday 6th April with their new banner. We will make them very welcome. 

Click here for details of the ATUC May Day event.

STUC Report 2017

Kevin Hutchens

Aberdeen Trades Union Council's delegation to the 2017 Scottish Trades Union Congress in Aviemore was: Kevin Hutchens, delegation leader, Fiona Napier and Eamonn Duncan.

ATUC motions included a call for the STUC to support our 150th anniversary celebrations in 2018.

Moving the motion, Kevin Hutchens outlined the achievements of the ATUC over the past 150 years. Responding from the General Douncil, Mike Arnott of Dundee STUC pledged STUC support.

Fiona Napier and Eamonn Duncan accepted remit of ATUC's two Palestinian motions, in favour of a General Council statement. This confirmed that the STUC has no links with the Israeli Tade Union Histradut. The General Council pledged to update its BDS policy and to encourage all affiliates to support activists acting within the boundaries of this policy.

Fiona Napier

ATUC delegation also submitted an emergency motion calling for an improved safety regime on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, following over 100 injuries during construction. This motion was overwhelmingly approved.

Eamonn Duncan

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

Kevin Hutchens

The weather was kind as a crowd gathered to commemorate International Workers' Memorial Day, to mourn those who have lost their lives, and to pledge to fight to ensure no other worker is killed, injured or made ill at their work.

Wreaths were laid by Aberdeen City Council, trade unions from Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, the Aberdeen Trades Union Council who organised the event and from Unite the union.

ATUC joint-President, Kevin Hutchens welcomed everyone and asked for a two minute silence for everyone to remember and mourn those who did not return from their work.

Andrew Lawtie

Andrew Lawtie, Lord Lieutenant, on behalf of the Provost of Aberdeen reminded those gathered that today, around the world, bereaved families, workers, trade unionists and campaigners come together to remember those who have died, been injured or made ill by their work.

"Aberdeen City Council support this event so that we firstly ensure that those workers are remembered and that such tragic loss is not repeated and their suffering is used to reinvigorate the campaign for healthier and safer work.

"Fighting for the living is equally important," added Andrew, pledging to work with trade unions to make all work a safer and healthier activity for all workers.

Get along and see Undermined at the Blue Lamp in Aberdeen on 26th April