:	Trade unions guide
The big unions at TUC 2002

Britain's manufacturing industry is going through a crisis that has been largely ignored by the government.

While I welcome the £400 million of Research and Development tax credits announced by Gordon Brown in this year's budget, we can still do more to stop the loss of tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs.

I want Tony Blair to set out greater political and financial support for high quality manufacturing in his speech to TUC Congress.

If manufacturing is to survive then the government needs to persuade our brightest young people that there is a future for them in industry.

GMB members are very concerned with the state of our public services and the continuing loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector.

We want to be part of the solution but that means that the government must listen to front-line workers.

The years of experience that our members have in public service could be used to shape real improvements that will make a difference to the public rather than allowing private firms to make a profit to the detriment of quality services.

In manufacturing, we cannot compete with countries that have successfully adopted the Euro and as long as we continue to waver on entry, we will continue to see British jobs leave the country.

I look forward to a Congress which for the first time unites around opposition to the private finance initiative, tells the government to act now to deal with pensioner poverty, and sends a clear message to the BNP and other racist and fascist organisations that their bigotry won¹t be tolerated.

A speech from the prime minister that recognises and understands the role that public sector workers play in reforming and modernising our public services.

And a commitment to allow the evidence rather than the ideology to decide how we should run our public services, would make the trip to Blackpool worthwhile.

The T&G arrives with a clear message for the government at this year's TUC Congress: the government must prioritise public services before it can consider whether or not to join the euro.

We want a government commitment to security in retirement, not poverty, led by a Royal Commission on pensions.

International tensions are of great concern to many members of the T&G.

We will be arguing for the UK Government to withhold its support for the National Missile Defence system, and to use its influential position to lead negotiations to secure the eventual elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.