At the final fringe meeting of Plaid Cymru's annual conference at Cardiff, the trade union arm of the Party, Undeb held a lively debate about the potential of conflict between jobs and protection of the environment.

The packed meeting was addressed by Jean Lambert, the Green MEP from London and Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans MEP. Both MEPs complained about the lack of effort made by the TUC and trade unions to work with Green and Plaid representatives in Europe.

Jill Evans stated," In Europe, we deal with so many crucial issues affecting trade unions in Wales and the UK - but no effort is made to consult with us by the trade union movement. Unions have only just agreed to work with non-union sponsored Labour MEPs!"

Both politicians pointed to the cooperation between trade unions and environmental groups in the United States on the free trade agreement, as an example of how both groups could work together.

Jill Evans added, "There are potential issues of conflict between unions and environmental groups, over issues such as Nuclear Energy and the reliance on car production for instance, but such conflict is avoidable. Pooling resources to develop re-cycling policies, public transport initiatives and the vast potential of renewable energy could be of huge benefit to jobs and the environment - there are far more areas of agreement than conflict."

The Secretary of Undeb Ian Titherington welcomed the enlightening debate from the two MEPs and had harsh words for the trade union movement, for ignoring the potential support that Plaid and Green MEPs could give them in Europe.

He stated, "In recent months, the only trade union approach to our MEPs has been to wrongly criticise them for allegedly threatening the future of Aberthaw Power station and Tower Colliery. They have far more to gain by working with our two MEPs, than by blindly repeating cynical and misleading spin from the likes of Glenys Kinnock."

Diwedd/Ends.