The campaign to beat the pandemic
Sample Motions
The motions below have been proposed at various meetings and are here amended so that they can be put to Labour Party or Trade Union branches. Please further amend to fit with your local circumstances. Had success with a motion of your own? Let us know! info at covidaction dot uk, or tag us on socials.
1. Agreed by CLPD AGM on 25 February 2023:
This branch notes:
The NHS has been put under unprecedented pressure with, most recently a combination of flu, Covid and other respiratory viruses adding to the winter emergency.
The Tories’ ‘living with the virus’ narrative, relying only on vaccines (but with boosters unavailable for many), leaves citizens at risk, particularly the most vulnerable.
Students, school staff, health and social care workers, as well as their families have been particularly exposed to multiple re-infections and the associated risk of Long Covid and other serious health complications.
Labour has failed vulnerable groups by not advocating for an alternative approach to public health.
We further note:
The lack of Covid-19 safety measures and online facilities at face-to-face Party events, including Annual and Regional Conferences, and many CLP / Branch meetings.
The ‘pause’ of the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey at the end of March 2023.
The world’s rich and powerful, when they met in Davos in January, first put in place numerous effective layers of Covid-protection measures for themselves, including mandatory PCR testing, state-of-the-art ventilation, mobile HEPA filters, masks and more.
We believe:
Labour needs to be an alternative voice, promoting a ‘Vaccine Plus’ approach to fit the demands of the changing pandemic situation.
We resolve:
To support and promote the work of Independent Sage, including their Covid Pledge.
To support and promote the Open Letter to Labour on Mitigations at Meetings, produced by the Covid Action campaign.
To liaise with our comrades in trade unions and in the Hazards campaign to support and promote Covid-safety at work via the use of stress risk assessments and other means.
2. Agreed by Socialist Health Association London – originally passed on 15 February 2023, statistics updated 10 March 2023:
We note that the Covid pandemic is not over, that approximately 100 people are dying every day, and that nearly 1.5 million UK residents had Covid in the week ending 28 February 2023, Three years of dealing with an unprecedented global pandemic, on top of 10 years of austerity, underfunding and Tory ‘reforms’, has added to the already overwhelming pressures on the NHS.
The government has dictated that no mitigation or precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Covid infection are necessary; and the current booster vaccination programme for healthy adults aged 16 to 49 ends on 16 February, with no further boosters likely for this group.
We support campaigning against this failure, on top of all the Tories’ previous failures and corruptions, to protect our society against Covid, and agree to affiliate to Covid Action
We regret that many sections of the labour movement are not taking a lead in protecting their members when they meet together. We agree to endorse Covid Action’s open letters to the leadership of Unite the Union and the Labour Party expressing concern at the lack of safety measures such as masks and filtration at in-person meetings, rallies and conferences at all levels, and calling on them to ensure all members can join in democratic discussion and decision-making via hybrid facilities. We agree to circulate the letters to our members for their individual signatures.
No one is safe until everyone is safe.