"Working people in Britain have to jump through legal hoops to take industrial action at all, are barred from taking solidarity action, and remain prey to employers seeking damages from unions that dare to stand up to them.

"Bosses like Chubb are free to fly in scabs from Hungary and lock out security guards who are taking lawful strike action against poverty pay, but if our members at Eurostar took sympathy action we would be hauled into court faster than you could say "seize their assets"

"Asking politely has got us nowhere, and the time has come to mobilise the trade union movement to demand a Trade Union Freedom Act to enshrine basic trade-union rights into the law.

"Basics like the right to strike and take solidarity action, the right to be accompanied by a trade union rep, the removal of restrictive balloting and industrial-action notice procedures, and the establishment of sectoral forums to establish minimum terms and conditions.

"The Trade Union Freedom Bill gives us an opportunity to deal a massive blow to Europe's most repressive labour laws and start hauling Britain back into line with international law.

Bury the EU Constitution

"Congress this week also has the opportunity to help dig a deep grave for the European Union Constitution - but we need to make sure that the body is in the coffin.

"Despite the decisive French and Dutch referendums the unelected Brussels bureaucrats are busy cherry-picking the parts of the constitution they intend to impose on us anyway.

"Whatever views people hold about the EU itself, the increasingly neo-liberal, privatising, militarising and anti-democratic plans coming out of Brussels have to be defeated.

"We must bury the Directive on Services, because it will turn public services into cash-cows for the privateers and will institutionalise the abuse of imported labour to drive down pay and conditions.

"RMT members already know what social dumping means. We have evidence of ferry crews employed in UK waters on well under half of the minimum wage, and we are fighting alongside our European maritime union colleagues to end it.

"No-one in Scotland has voted for the privatisation of Caledonian MacBrayne's lifeline ferry services, yet despite a vote against it in the Scottish parliament, Brussels is now telling the Scottish Executive that tendering of must go ahead. That is not democracy.

"We are now on the third package of measures aimed at fragmenting and privatising Europe's national railway networks on the very model that in Britain created the conditions for the Hatfield disaster and has drained more than £8 billion of public money from the industry.

"Our CalMac members have already demonstrated that they will not be walked over, and our members at South Eastern Trains are facing a battle to defend their jobs, pensions and conditions in the face of re-privatisation.

"We will continue resist these attacks industrially, but the trade-union movement this week also has the opportunity to throw its political weight behind a campaign to roll back the neo-liberal nightmare and defend our national democratic rights.

Corporate manslaughter

"The need for an effective corporate manslaughter law has never been clearer.

"Nearly five years after the Hatfield tragedy we are supposed to accept that while safety rules were broken, nobody was to blame.

"It was privatisation that created the conditions for Hatfield yet the government is pressing ahead with its plan to re-privatise of South Eastern Trains.

"We need a law that holds to account bosses who are responsible for avoidable deaths. And we need the privateers off our railways, for good."