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Trades Union Congress 1977
RACIALIỆM AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES (Motions 12, 13, 14 and 15 and Amendment to 15) This Congress, believing that Britain is a multi-racial society within which the different groups and minorities should be able to live in peace and harmony with one another, opposes all forms of racialism and instructs the General Council to intensify their efforts to combat the growing activities of the National Front and similar racialist organisations that foster hatred between peoples and which endanger basic democratic rights and trade union unity.
To this end Congress instructs the General Council to step up the TUC's nationwide campaign against racialism and calls on all trade unionists to involve themselves in action within their local communities, including joining Community Relations Councils and local anti-racist committees. Congress also calls upon the General Council:
(i) to set up a campaign to combat the known infiltration by these parties into the trade union Movement;
(ii) to devote substantial resources to ensuring incorporation. of the TUC model clause on Equality of Opportunity in employ- ment contracts, to urge the Government to enforce equal opportunity clauses in Government contracts and ensure that nationalised industries are equal opportunity employers; and
(iii) to press the Government to bring in a substantial pro- gramme to improve conditions in the inner city areas where many black people live and where bad conditions create an ideal recruiting ground for racialist and facist parties.
Recognising that unemployment encourages the spread of racialist feelings and that black youth unemployment is running at persistently and disturbingly high levels, Congress further calls for practical support to be given to black self-help groups by:-
(1) encouraging such groups, especially those which are promoting craft training schemes to provide young unemployed with the skills they require;
(2) encouraging trade union participation on the manage- ment committees of such community projects; and
(3) pressing local employers to end discriminatory employment practices.