UNISON, PCS, CWU, RMT, FBU, TSSA, ASLEF, NUM and UNITY are all nationally affiliated to CND
Other unions, including the UNITE sections TGWU and AMICUS, and also UCATT, the NUT and the NUJ have voted to oppose the replacement of Trident. Your union's policy.
To affiliate as a national or regional trade union, a local branch or a trades councils please use this form.
What is the TUC's policy on Trident?
In 2006 TUC Congress debated a resolution moved by RMT general secretary Bob Crow declaring opposition to the replacement of Trident. Following a passionate debate, the resolution was carried overwhelmingly.
Trident & Jobs
Many trade unions oppose the replacement of Trident on principle but have concerns about replacement jobs for workers employed by the nuclear weapons industry.
In 2006 UNISON funded a CND report on this issue entitled Trident and Employment. It outlines the case for nuclear disarmament and the transfer of the sector's skilled staff into new and growing industries. In 2010 CND published this report on Trident & Jobs which focuses on the jobs that Trident threatens by absorbing billions from other sectors of the economy.
Tolpuddle Festival Report - Trident and Jobs
At the Tolpuddle Festival CND asked Trade Unionists what they would do with £100 billion if they were in Government. Would they spend the money revitalising the NHS, building tens of thousands of new homes, caring for the elderly and funding playgroups schools and universities?
Or would they spend it on a nuclear weapons system with the power to kill 320 million people and render large parts of the planet uninhabitable?
The economic crisis has brought into sharp relief the fact that we are spending billions on nuclear weapons that we can never justifiably use. However for a small number of people Trident provides their livelihoods.
CND's Tolpuddle Talking in Tents event was an open discussion that aimed to find the common ground between those who want to scrap Trident and those whose jobs depend on nuclear weapons. CND General Secretary Kate Hudson was joined by the Senior Deputy General Secretary of the CWU Tony Kearns and Plymouth activist and CND Council member Tony Staunton. The meeting was chaired by CND's Trade Union Officer Tansy Hoskins. Read more.
National Conference call to action: What can you do about Trident?
Across the country in 2011 Union Conferences are organising the fight back against the ConDem cuts in public spending. Trident must not be ignored in this debate. The Trident nuclear weapons system costs British taxpayers £2.2bn per year. The Government’s proposed Trident replacement will cost Britain well over £100bn. To find out what you can do, click here.
'Trident, jobs and the UK economy' launched at TUC
This report, launched at the 2010 TUC, shows that replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system will cause an overall reduction in defence employment. Many more labour-intensive conventional defence activities will have to be scrapped to pay for the system designed for the Cold War.
The report also shows that with relatively small investment the skills used at BAe Systems' shipyard in Barrow could be diversified into areas such as engineering for wave and tidal energy, growing markets that could provide greater job security than the shipyard's current reliance on Ministry of Defence contracts.
You can read the original report here and the related press release here.
Report from CND fringe meeting at TUC 2010
By scrapping Trident Britain could become a leading expert in tidal and wave energy, Professor John Foster told the CND fringe meeting at this year's TUC. The UK is currently a key site for research in this area but lacks the funding to put the sustainable plans into practice. Scrapping Trident would enable workers skilled in marine technology to use their skills to manufacture and support green energy, reinvigorating industry in the UK. Read more.
Trade union support through the years
Since the establishment of the Campaign in 1958, trade unions have been at the forefront of spreading our message. As early as 1960 the Transport and General Workers' Union took a stance in favour of disarmament and in 1961 wont the position at the Labour Party Conference.
As in the 1960s, many trade union branches sent their banners on CND demonstrations in the 1980s, as well as sending donations and delegations to peace camps at bases such as Greenham Common and Molesworth.
More recently there has been an upsurge in support for CND once again.