Bulletin 110

The eyes of millions of workers will be on the forthcoming Labour Party Conference.
As the purse strings get tighter families will be looking to see whether Labour can deliver the unemployed, the disabled, the students and all from a mighty bleak future. So far, it doesn’t look good. Osborne may have been booed at the Olympics, but Ed Balls a possible future chancellor, quite rightly got a rough ride at the TUC recently. Why? For committing Labour to its own style of cuts programme!
Trade unionists in particular will watch the Conference intently to see if Labour has any plans to do away with the hated anti-trade union laws, which hamper our collective fight back every step of the way. Even the National Union of Teachers had to postpone for a week its joint action on workload because of the threat of a legal challenge.  And it is not even a strike. It is action short of strike action to reduce intolerable workload levels.

These are all good reasons why the decision of the TUC to even discuss organising a national 24 hour public/private sector strike after the October 20 demo is not only to be welcomed but to be built for. NSSN has produced a model motion and a letter for trade union branches, and workplaces (see website). We urge you to use these to further the discussion about a general strike amongst workers employed or not. We cannot sit and wait for the tops of the movement to set the tone. We need to win hearts and minds. The NSSN will play its part in helping to organise discussions, debates, Q&A sessions in branches or workplaces, in the canteen or in the pub after work. We want to win workers to see that, if there is a “Future that Works” (the slogan of the TUC demo) then it is going to take a lot more than another demo to get it. Let us know if you need a speaker, or any help organising discussions. Tell us about any successes too.

Don’t forget. It’s not those up there on the platforms on the TV that are the real movers and shakers. It’s us on the ground! Just look to Portugal, Spain and Greece…… this week. Time to add on……..Britain! (Linda Taaffe NSSN Sec)
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NEWS
Lobby of Labour Party Conference to demand that they restore the NHS!

The NSSN is happy to support this protest which is organised by The Liaison Committee to Defend the NHS which seeks to link up all the existing defend the NHS campaigns and is supported by:- Unite the Union; Unite North West Region; Unite Women’s Committee; Merseyside Trades Council; Wirral Trades Council; Midlands RMT; Unite Manchester Community Branch; Liverpool Wavertree CLP; Wirral South CLP; Broxtowe CLP; London Keep Our NHS Public; Newcastle Keep Our NHS Public; Leeds Keep Our NHS Public; Sheffield Save Our NHS; Labour Representation Committee
It will demand that Labour commit to restoring the Health Service as a public service. It is necessary because all we have from the Labour leaders at present is a promise to repeal the Health and Social Care Act (accompanied by indications that much of the restructuring done under the Act will remain in force) and no promise at all to reverse cuts in the NHS budget. Lobby the Labour Party conference, Sunday 30 September, 2.30pm
Manchester Central Convention Complex, Peter Street, Manchester M2 3GX Coach from London: RMT, Unity House, Chalton Street, NW1 at 9.30am. Tickets: £15. To book or for more details: email: [email protected]/tel: 07904 944771

Owen Jones raises some interesting points in the Independent on how Labour Councillors can fight Austerity. NSSN has lobbied Labour cllrs to fight the cuts and supported those who have been suspended by Labour for doing so. Since this article, he has tweeted that his parents have resigned from the Labour Party! More

Anti-union laws
Two weeks ago, the TUC backed the bold POA resolution proposing “a coalition of resistance taking co-ordinated action where possible with far reaching campaigns including the consideration and practicalities of a general strike.” Unlike their counterparts in other EU member states, British trade unions have so far avoided the general strike in response to governmental austerity measures, preferring instead large-scale demonstrations that have succeeded in bringing hundreds of thousands of workers onto the streets in protest.  But what if trade unions decide to step up a gear? One of the practicalities, which the POA resolution refers to, is the tight legal restrictions on the right to strike.  More

Crossrail on-going protests and Welsh solidarity

Yesterday sacked workers and strikers blocked Tottenham court road. Video
Also, 50 Sparks walked out at the Runcorn Incinerator job on Monday and look to have secured a reasonable deal. Chatham Docks Sparks protest tonight 6pm. Financial Appeal from Sparks rank & file: On behalf of the 28 EIS workers and the 2 Reps who were sacked by Crossrail /Bam Ferovial Kier 10 days ago at the Westbourne park site. They were sacked merely for organising themselves and being members of Unite the union. We are demanding reinstatement or a TUPE transfer onto another contractor on the site EIS had a contract up to September 2013 and there is 5 years work in total on the Crossrail project .Cheques should be made payable to joint sites committee and sent to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford cm1 4xa .

Construction workers at the Queensland Children’s Hospital
in Australia have been on strike for 50 days now for equal pay for subcontracted workers – the strike is 100% illegal and unofficial. We expect organisers to be thrown in jail over the next few days. Please support this protest outside the QCH employer’s London office: More

PCS struck last Friday in Department of Transport and DEFRA . More

PCS members in HMRC are campaigning today, September 27th alongside parents to fight 8 workplace nurseries closing. More

NUT postpones industrial action:
Union re-issues notices to employers to avoid legal challenge.
PCS Culture staff learn their Olympic legacy could be the sack! Every single member of staff in the government department responsible for ensuring our Olympic summer was a success has been told they could lose their job as Jeremy Hunt’s cuts bite.More

SIPTU organised a magnificent protest in Sligo Town of Home Helps,
the lowest paid workers who are the backbone of care for the elderly and provide them with the ability to live at home with dignity. Please watch and share these women are magnificent and deserve all our support- we will all need them one day!Slutwalk – thousands protest in London last Saturday. More

REGIONAL PAY –
Government should bin postcode pay for public sector workers, says Unite. Plans to break up national pay agreements for local pay deals will be a bureaucratic nightmare and introduce postcode pay – where pay is determined not on the job you do, but where you live, warns Unite.
More strikes could hit retail giant, Argos unless the company goes to the conciliation service ACAS to resolve a dispute over the closure of the final pension scheme, Unite has warned.

Unite is demanding that the Building and Engineering Services Association (BESA)
improve its below inflation pay offer for thousands of skilled workers and get back to the negotiating table, after union members overwhelmingly rejected the deal in a consultative ballot.

Over 100 refuse workers working for Sita in Doncaster, w
ho earn just above the national minimum wage, will take strike action for the next three consecutive Friday’s and Monday’s in a dispute over fair pay

RMT announced further strike dates in a pay and conditions dispute with rail infra-structure contractor Amey
as it emerged that, rather than engaging in meaningful talks aimed at resolving the issues, the company have now resorted to pure bully-boy tactics by withdrawing their interim pay offer that was on the table and under discussion.

RMT this morning slammed highly-secretive
and advanced Government plans to axe ticket offices and rail station staff as transport minister Norman Baker let slip at the Lib Dem Conference last night that he has caved in to demands from the greedy train operators to abolish paper tickets.

RMT MEMBERS at global distribution transport
and delivery company Initial City Link will be taking a protest over attacks on pay and conditions to Coventry City’s home game against Carlisle.

Action for Rail campaigners to protest
at train operator’s conference as West Coast franchise fiasco rumbles on. Transport unions and supporters from the community will be taking a protest against the McNulty rail review cuts to jobs and services, and the campaign for renationalisation of Britain’s railways, to a conference organised by the profiteering train companies next Thursday – 27th September in Manchester at the very heart of the West Coast route.

FBU Risk Review. An opportunity for Cuts! T
he Fire Brigades Union has condemned East Sussex Fire Authority’s decision to risk public safety by proposing to move towards the downgrading of the Ridge fire station in Hastings.

Firefighters fear mutualisation is the first step towards privatisation. C
leveland’s firefighters and emergency control room staff are expressing grave concerns regarding any proposed ‘management’ takeover of Cleveland fire brigade under the Conservative government’s mutualisation agenda.
The drive towards some form of mutual fire and rescue service is a senior management driven initiative aided and abetted by an army of government funded consultants.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) is considering cutting hundreds of firefighter posts
as it seeks to save more than £65 million from its budget. “It has produced various plans, one of which would see a quarter of the capital’s fire stations closing and 800 firefighters losing their jobs.” More

THOUSANDS of people are being killed or seriously injured at work
because of drastic cutbacks at the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), experts are warning. An 80-page report by Stirling University due to be published blames a steep rise in major workplace injuries on deep cuts in funding, staff, inspections and enforcement. Just one in 20 major injuries are now investigated by the HSE, and only one in 170 results in prosecution. More

“100,000 signatures on the e-petition by 8th May 2013 should give us a 3 hour parliamentary debate on social dumping during which MPs in the RMT Parliamentary Group would further expose the legislative loopholes which allow employers to get away with this abusive and discriminatory practice.” Bob Crow, General Secretary www.rmt.org.uk

NUT postpones industrial action:
Union re-issues notices to employers to avoid legal challenge

Police minister urges police not to vote for strike action!, no surprises there! More

The announcement by Warburtons regarding the closure of their Brinwell Road
site is terrible news for the workforce and terrible news for Blackpool. We don’t want to see any more sites closing, especially during a week in which the government has claimed to recognise the importance of the food industry in the UK. More

Bromley public meeting: ‘
Chris Baugh PCS people thought satire was dead when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – then ATOS was made Paralympics sponsor’.

Let’s break this chain of Ofsted-driven bullying, and stand up to Gove
, Wilshaw and the rest of the educational vandals, by taking firm collective action More

Chicago: lessons for teachers:
“One thing that is amply clear is that not only teachers, but most working-class people, now reject the arguments relentlessly pushed by the corporate “education reform” crowd that education alone is the key t…See More

First Cymru bus strike vote on Monday in south and west Wales Further talks are set to be held later on Tuesday. More

Local authorities across England are preparing to slash welfare payments
to some of the most vulnerable people in society by an average of 20 per cent as a result of government funding cuts to council tax support schemes, according to new research published today by False Economy.

RMT has hailed an employment tribunal ruling that bus company Arriva unlawfully discriminated
against two employees because of their RMT membership. Marcus Farr and Len Graves were harassed, disciplined and threatened with the sack by Arriva because they wore high visibility vests with the union logo on. Len Graves added: “The whole issue has been a great ordeal which caused me to become ill with stress and high blood pressure. I tried to challenge the charges brought against me at each stage of the process but Arriva refused to act reasonably or properly investigate my points. I can only hope that this decision puts an end to their unreasonable and unlawful behaviour. ”

INTERNATIONAL
Millions of workers have marched in Spain & Portugal
over the last two weeks against austerity. Tens of 1000’s surrounded Spanish parliament last night and there was a general strike in Greece yesterday against the Austerity measures – the first under this new government and the 17th in all! More

Brittany Ferries hit by 2nd day of strikes. ‘Race to the bottom’ intensifies #Solidarity to French maritime unions #RMT

Spanish rail & metro transport strikes http://t.co/mPswc8yQ No RENFE privatisation! No to EU austerity and job cuts! More

Egypt Five dockworkers
jailed for 3 years for inciting labour strike [Ahram Online] 2012-09-25

Dublin –
Airport bosses are taking court action in a bid to stop rolling work stoppages .Passengers have been warned they face disruption on Monday when staffs at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports begin industrial action over a pensions row. more

Nigeria –
Teachers strike. Public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State could not resume for the new academic session Monday because of teachers’ strike following the failure of government to pay them the 27.5 per cent Teachers Peculiar Allowance. More

Members of the union Industrial Workers of Great Britain (IWGB)
who clean the London branch in Tower Hill of the second largest bank in France, Société Générale (the bank), have had their hours slashed by 50% effective as of Monday 24th September 2012. This is despite the bank making a smidgen under £2 billion in profits in 2011, and boasting of its “resilience” to the current economic crisis. More

DIARY

30 Rally against McNulty and Lobby of Labour Party conference for a clear commitment to repeal the Health and Social Care Bill and rebuild our health service. Both at Manchester Central Convention Centre
October
7 March on Tory party Conference10 PUBLIC MEETING TO MOBILISE FOR TUC DEMONSTRATION: CANCEL THE DEBT! 7.00 PM: JOHN McDONNELL MP, TELLA CHRISTOU – SYRIZA UK SUPPORTERS GROUP & APRIL ASHLEY – SOUTHWARK UNISON. Salvation Army Hall, 1 Princess Street,  Elephant and Castle SE1 . [email protected]


11th – TUC’s Women’s Forum Domestic Abuse: Raising Awareness Seminar, being held in Doncaster on 11th October 2012.  This event will form a starting point for the TUC’s regional toolkit on domestic abuse, so we would like to maximise attendance and involvement.
20 TUC Mass demonstration, ‘A Future That Works’ TUC demos in Belfast, London & Glasgow. Transport details can be seen at, and should be uploaded to False Economy.24 London NSSN public meeting – 7pm ULU, Malet Street WC1E 7HY

27 Scotland NSSN conference – Glasgow

South West NSSN public meeting – Swindon.

November

17 MIDLANDS NSSN Conference Unite offices, 211 Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1AY. 12.00-16.00. Speakers include Joe Simpson, Assistant General Secretary POA

24 YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE NSSN Conference 10am-4pm. Leeds, Cosmopolitan Hotel, 2 Lower Briggate, LS1 4AE. Contact Kevin Pattison 07962867034.
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Twitter NSSN_Anticuts
Facebook main group ‘National Shop Stewards Network’ & ‘Stop the cuts’
New website: www.shopstewards.net
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07952 283 558
Post: NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9D
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