Trade unionists included Jamie Webster, the convener at the Govan shipyards and TUC general secretary John Monks.

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John Monks, general secretary of the European Trades Union Congress, complains that Britain has defanged the charter.

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For the TUC, John Monks said he hoped that the report signalled a less confrontational tone by the government towards the trade unions.

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Staff were proud of the museum and had been reluctant to strike, said TUC general secretary John Monks, who visited the picket line outside the museum on Monday.

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Tim Harrison, from John Lewis, said Oakgate's plans for the Monks Cross centre were ideal.

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But the Monks Cross scheme offers large retail units for Marks and Spencer and the John Lewis Partnership as well as a 6, 000-seat community stadium.

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Or the monastery's founder, Saint John of the Ladder, whose call to self-denial and spiritual warfare has been a sort of manifesto for monks ever since?

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