Who we are - Trade Justice Scotland Coalition

We are a coalition of trade unions, campaigning organisations and local activists. We came together in 2015 to oppose TTIP and CETA – two big trade deals being negotiated by the EU, US and Canada that threatened to give new powers to corporations while privatising our public services, and weakening the democratic rights of ordinary citizens. Working with a wider coalition across Europe, our campaign was successful in stopping TTIP in its tracks, and endangering the ratification of CETA.

Now we have left the EU, our focus has moved to bad trade deals the UK is threatening to make with other countries – for example the UK-US trade deal which has recently been shelved. We are also campaigning for better scrutiny of trade deals, and fought to amend the trade bill at Westminster to make the development of trade policy and trade deals a properly democratic process. Unfortunately, we lost that fight for now – but we know there will be more opportunities to demand change and we are keeping our eyes peeled. We still believe that this time of change could be a time of opportunity for the UK and Scotland to develop a properly inclusive, democratic and ethical trade policy. We’ve developed a set of principles for a just trade system that we believe all trade deals should be based on.

The coalition meets regularly to organise lobbying meetings with politicians, hold public awareness events and local stalls, as well as developing our campaign opposing TTIP-style trade deals after Brexit, and calling for a more ethical trade policy. We have been meeting online over the last year when Covid has made it difficult to meet in person, and in spite of the Covid restrictions, managed to take part in a very successful day of action opposing a UK-US trade deal last October.

If you are interested in getting involved, as an individual activist, or as an organisation, please get in touch.