Composite N (covering Amended Motion 102 & Motion 103)
Scottish Visa Campaign
“That this Congress notes recent changes to the Skilled Visa earnings threshold will have a severe impact on trade union members as potentially thousands of members who work for the UK government who were eligible under the previous rules, are unlikely to be able to be continue in their jobs. The Labour administration and the Home Office have been intransigent about the recent rule changes brought in in April 2024. This change directly and disproportionally impacts BAME communities from Commonwealth countries.
“Many of the workers concerned live and work in Scotland.
“This is clearly a trade union issue, and the threat to our members, who may face potential deportation, is causing significant stress and upset for hard working, upstanding colleagues who contribute so much to the departments they work for and the communities they live in.
“The STUC should consider this to be an important strand of our anti-racism campaigning.
“We have a declining population and an aging one and government departments fail to recruit enough staff as it is. So, the case for a Scottish Visa, to enable civil servants and others to remain working in Scotland on the lower rate currently reserved for Health and Education workers – is very clear. We know that the new Labour administration has ruled this out, but we must demand that they reconsider this.
“An injury to one, is an injury to all, and we cannot stand idly by as our colleagues are dismissed by the UK government and then potentially deported.
“Congress calls on the General Council to:
- raise this with the Scottish Government;
- campaign to push the government to consider all available options;
- shame the Labour government into abandoning this reckless Tory policy; and
- write to the Home Office to urge them to intervene to allow the calculation of paid hours being worked to be used as the calculation.”
Mover: Midlothian Trades Union Council
Seconder: Edinburgh Trades Union Council
Supporter: Public and Commercial Services Union
RSS