Press statement 10th September 2008
Spodden Valley Asbestos Cover-up
The Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils (GMATUC) has called for the plans to redevelop the former Turner & Newall asbestos factory site in the Spodden Valley, Rochdale, to be abandoned once and for all. This call comes in response to the revelations in the 1st September issue of New Statesman which highlighted the extent to which the known dangers of asbestos dust to workers and nearby residents were covered up.
Even the much-respected former Rochdale MP, Sir Cyril Smith, has been exposed as complicit in Turner & Newall management's long running campaign to mask the dangers of exposure in a misguided attempt to protect his constituents' jobs in the 1980's . GMATUC agrees with the Save Spodden Valley campaign's response to the new information that what matters most now is the future use of the site (notwithstanding the ongoing battle for compensation for the thousands of victims of asbestosis including many former Rochdale workers). The current proposals to build hundreds of new homes and a children's nursery on the site must surely have lost all remnants of credibility with this latest research.
The assurances given about the absence of asbestos residues on the site will be seen by local residents as highly contentious at best. The planners must do their public duty and deem the site permanently unsafe for urban development, and formulate a plan to seal all possible sources of asbestos dust as an urgent priority.


6th July 2008

Congestion Charging in Manchester

The Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils (GMATUC)
endorses the decision of the Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) to hold a
region-wide referendum on the proposed Transport Innovation Fund bid.

We are disappointed that a referendum should be necessary, but believe it is
undemocratic for one local authority's referendum to potentially derail the
whole project which could have been the case had Bolton been allowed to go
it alone.

GMATUC is in favour of the TIF bid - including the controversial congestion
charge - because of the overall economic benefits this would bring to the
whole region, but in particular to the parts of the region which are
struggling to regenerate. We announced our support for the bid last year,
but were disappointed with the response of many local media, which focused
on the congestion charge and failed to adequately cover the benefits of the
wider GMPTA strategy. We hope that balanced coverage will be given by
editors so that the forthcoming referendum is not hijacked by those
conservative elements which will attempt to run a populist campaign to get
the TIF bid scrapped. GMATUC believes the transport improvement measures are
necessary to protect and increase employment opportunities for workers in
the region. It is also a step in the right direction towards a truly
integrated public transport system in which bus and train services are
returned to public ownership and accountability.

Our support is conditional on the promised improvements to the public
transport infrastructure being in place before the congestion charge is
implemented, and we expect the consultation to address the case for
exemptions from the charge for essential users such as district nurses and
private hire taxis. There are also issues of safety which must be
considered. We see no reason, however, why the GMPTA cannot address these
special cases and design a transport system with all the environmental
benefits which accompany it. We will therefore campaign through the trade
union movement and in the community for the referendum to endorse the plans.