Union backs Edinburgh G8 protest
Edinburgh expects hundreds of thousands of protesters.
BECTU has joined most other UK unions by asking members to support the Make Poverty History campaign.
The union has welcomed a statement by the Trades Union Congress, whose General Secretary Brendan Barber has urged trade unionists to wear white wrist bands on July 2, the day of a planned protest in Edinburgh.
Making Poverty History has timed its events to coincide with the G8 international summit which opens four days later in Gleneagles, 40 miles from Edinburgh.
A mass rally is due to start at 11.00 on July 2 in The Meadows, Edinburgh, followed by a march through the city, and the TUC has issued a campaigners guide linked to the event. Click here to read the TUC guide.
Scottish trades unionists have already voted to support the events at the annual congress of the Scottish TUC, held in April in Dundee.
A free conference on "Young trade unionists and the G8", jointly sponsored by the STUC and its UK counterpart, is due to be held on July 1 at Edinburgh University Students' Union, followed by a social event for participants staying in town for the march next day. For conference details click here.
Transport to the July 2 march is being layed on by the STUC from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Inverness. While encouraging members to take part, BECTU is unable to offer financial assistance.