the economy

Full employment

We are committed to full employment and believe that the cause of work for all should be a guiding principle for any Scottish government. The Scottish government has levers at its disposal to protect and sustain existing jobs, whilst enabling the creation of new jobs with a more proactive, planned and interventionist approach to the economy and a public procurement policy driven by the creation of good, secure, well-paid jobs.

A full employment strategy must address and eradicate the inequalities in employment faced by women, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities.

Impose conditions on state support for business

Any state support given to the private sector by any Scottish government-funded organisation must attach as a condition that trade unions have the right of access to workers to organise, and have the right to recognition.

All Scottish government and public bodies’ procurement of goods and services must first be put out to tender to Scottish-based companies, and any bids for contracts must contain the number of jobs to be created, the level of skill that will be reached, and the number of young people that will be employed.

No company should receive state subsidy if they do not pay the living wage, have blacklisted workers and failed to self-cleanse (demonstrate that it has taken effective measures to ensure that wrongful acts will not recur in the future) and avoid paying their taxes.

The National Investment Bank

We must develop the Scottish National Investment Bank, allowing it to truly serve the people and invest in a sustainable future. Its board and advisory group should be expanded to include elected representatives at Westminster and Holyrood, representatives of trade unions, elected councillors, small businesses, community organisations and Scottish industry.

Progressive taxation

We recognise that the reforms we propose require funding. The STUC’s report Scotland Demands Better: Fairer Taxes for a Fairer Future provides a route for securing that funding, specifically, that we should replace the deeply regressive and outdated system of Council Tax with a Proportional Property Tax, and create a Scottish Wealth tax.

We hold that taxation is not only a source of government funding, but also a means to combat growing inequality through redistribution. To echo our first First Minister, Donald Dewar, we must “right the social arithmetic” with a fairer tax system.