NSSN 275: Junior Doctors strike back against Tory attacks!
The NSSN has been proud to give solidarity and support to the BMA and the Junior Doctors as they took their first strike action for four decades on January 12th. Despite all the dirty tactics from the Tories and their anti-union press, the action was a tremendous show of strength that had overwhelming public support – the BMA report record membership and an ITV poll at the end of the day showed over 93% support!
Everywhere, there was fantastic solidarity from trade unionists. Banners and flags from all unions graced picket lines. There is clearly a huge feeling that the Junior Doctors need active support from inside and outside the NHS. Many of them went on the demonstrations to defend NHS bursaries last Saturday and NHS students came to picket lines yesterday. But what can the wider union movement do now, particularly if the dispute has to continue against the Tory Government?
The vast majority of the public support the Junior Doctors and the rest of the NHS workforce because they know from personal experience how staff are desperately trying to keep the Health Service going amid ever-growing pressures. If the TUC and the health unions called a national demonstration to defend the NHS and support the Junior Doctors and the NHS bursaries, it could be massive and would also be a big step in co-ordinated strike action across the NHS. This would put huge pressure on the Tories.
Solidarity to the BMA and the Junior Doctors!
Next strike action:-
Emergency care only — 48 hrs from 8am Tuesday 26th January to 8am Thursday 28 January
Full withdrawal of labour — from 8am to 5pm Wednesday 10th February
For strike reports on twitter, follow #JuniorDoctorsStrike
From Unison website: ‘Bursary or Bust’ is the cry as NHS students rally across England – Rallies and marches back the NHS bursary in London, Manchester and Newcastle read more
CWU
John Vasey REINSTATED! Step up the campaign to get Clive Walder’s job back
The NSSN is delighted to announce that John Vasey a sacked CWU postal rep in Wakefield, West Yorkshire has finally been reinstated by Royal Mail. We now demand that Clive Walder gets his job back at British Telecom.
Clive Walder, a longstanding leading rep in the CWU had an appeal against unfair dismissal rejected by British Telecom on 9 November, confirming his sacking after 38 years of service. Clive is chair of the CWU Birmingham, Black Country & Worcester branch.
Clive worked in a BT call centre and was dismissed after an aggressive customer reported him to management just 33 seconds into a phone call. The decision was made without taking stress into account despite the local CWU branch reporting that 7% of staff at the call centre leave their jobs each month, some walking out mid shift. Management took the decision without consulting any medical advice or taking into account any mitigation.
Clive is a NSSN steering committee member and we will be supporting the campaign protesting the sacking and campaigning for his reinstatement.
Contact Clive to send messages of support and invite him to your union branch, shop stewards committee, trades council etc – [email protected] 07771931185
Defend the People’s Post sign the petition here
London Underground unions announce more strikes
RMT confirms further industrial action on tube (11 Jan) – RMT confirms programme of action on London Underground over pay, Night Tube and job cuts. Tube union RMT today confirmed that its executive has agreed to a wide ranging programme of industrial action across London Underground grades in two separate disputes over pay and night tube and the plans to bulldoze through massive cuts to station staffing numbers early next month.
On pay and night tube ALL grades called out follows:-
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 26th January 2016 and 18.29 hours 27th January 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 26th January 2016 and 20.59 hours 27th January 2016
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 15th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 16th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 15th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 16th February 2016
- Fleet grades not to book on for any shifts between 18.30 hours 17th February 2016 and 18.29 hours 18th February 2016. All other grades not to book on between 21.00 hours 17th February 2016 and 20.59 hours 18th February 2016 read more
ASLEF announces Night Tube strikes (11 Jan) – ASLEF members on London Underground are to take three days of strike action because of the failure of London Underground to resolve the dispute on pay and Night Tube read more
Unite: ‘Work/life’ balance and fair pay at centre of London ‘night tube’ dispute (11 Jan) – The threat to the work/life balance and an inadequate pay offer are the key issues in the long-running London Underground dispute over the introduction of the ‘night tube’, as Unite, the country’s largest union, announced three days of strike action. Unite, which represents a key 600-strong workforce of engineers and maintenance staff without which the 270 station network can’t operate, accused of London Underground Ltd (LUL) of ‘unreasonable, hardline intransigence’ read more
BFAWU / Fast Food Rights
£10 and a union at McDonalds protest and meeting – Wednesday 13th January. Meet at 5pm at McDonalds Trafalgar Square/Whitehall then a public forum in Parliament at 6.30pm. Speakers include Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP https://www.facebook.com/events/1502689510038857/ read more GMB to join protest
Unite & NSSN drop #SportsDirectShame banner at Newcastle vs Man Utd match! Read more
NSSN / Kill the Bill news
As expected, the Tory Trade Union Bill passed its 3rd reading on November 10th. It now goes to the Lords. But we must keep up the pressure and prepare for resisting it if it becomes law.
The NSSN supported the protest that the TUCG organised outside Parliament on the 2nd House of Lords reading of the TU Bill on Monday January 11th. We will be publicising protests on the 3rd reading. See video of PCS national Vice-President John McInally speaking on protest
The TUC have announced a week of action February 8-14 against the Trade Union Bill http://heartunions.org/. Watch out for any protests or meetings that week – or organise your own through your Trades Council, union branch, NSSN etc. A central part of the TUC week of action will be ‘The Big Workplace Meeting’ – where the TUC is calling on union branches and workplaces to come out of work together at 12.30pm on Tuesday 9 February and hold a meeting to discuss fighting the Trade Union Bill. Why not make it a protest and take action against the Bill?!!
Rob Williams NSSN chair was interviewed live on BBC’s Daily Politics at TUC Congress watch here at about 30 minutes
Early notice – the 10th annual NSSN conference will on Saturday July 2nd 2016 in Conway Hall, London. Please put in your new diaries!! Please use the letter below in your union branches and trades councils for the conference and to get your union organisation to affiliate to the NSSN
Yorkshire NSSN Conference: Stop the Union Busters / Organise the Unorganised – Saturday, 5th March at Ebor Court, Skinner St, Leeds, LS1 4ND https://www.facebook.com/events/514766158692960/
The last two pink NSSN ‘£10 Now’ t-shirts are available for £8. Both are women’s large sizes. First come first served! Order by emailing [email protected]
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month. You can set up a similar standing order to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790. Our address is NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE.
Download the ‘Join the NSSN’ leaflet here
And if you can, come to one of our regional Conferences. If there is not one in your area, get in touch to either assist in organising or have a speaker at one of your meetings or events. Contact Rob or Linda on [email protected]
More Union News
NUT
Reinstate Simon O’Hara, no Academy at Small Heath School – Staff at Small Heath school in Birmingham have taken 5 days of strike action against the threat of their school becoming an academy. Management have refused to engage in any meaningful discussions with unions over this. Two days after NUT members voted for a further 4 days of action management suspended the NUT rep Simon O’Hara. We call for an immediate lifting of Simon’s suspension and for the management to lift the threat of making the school an academy sign petition here
CWU
CWU to Royal Mail: ‘Obey the Court’ (12 Jan) – Members at a delivery office in eastern Scotland will be taking a second bout of strike action next week to force Royal Mail to an employment tribunal and reinstate a postman who was illegally sacked. A judge has twice ordered the company to restore David Mitchell to his position at the office in Cupar, Fife, and twice local management have refused, leaving David’s colleagues with no option other than to take action, which could spread to other offices within the branch and other branches in Scotland. Members at Cupar – which lies south of Dundee and east of Perth –voted by an overwhelming 97 per cent for action, and struck for a day before Christmas. This will be followed up by a 24-hour strike starting next Monday morning at 8.30am read more
Post Office strikes delay job cuts (7 Jan) – Two “rock-solid” strikes by Leeds Supply Chain workers have pushed back management plans to close their site, according to CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey. “The closure was initially earmarked for the end of January, but following the determined action by our members over the festive period, the business has now pushed that date back to April 5th to allow for more talks,” he explained read more
ASLEF
Arriva Trains Wales strike (12 Jan) – ASLEF today announced that, in the light of Arriva Trains Wales’ failure to offer a satisfactory resolution to the long and ongoing dispute with its drivers, our members will withdraw their labour for 24 hours on Monday 1 February read more
Unite
Head teachers urged to support the ‘Save Greenwich’s mobile library’ campaign (11 Jan) – Head teachers in Greenwich are being urged to support the campaign to save the council’s mobile library service which deliveries at least 22,000 books a year to children and those with mobility problems in the borough read more
Strike action by recycling workers in Bath and North Somerset set to continue after paltry pay offer is rejected (8 Jan) – Strike action by recycling collectors at Kier Ltd in Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) will continue after members of Britain’s biggest union, Unite, reject the company’s latest paltry pay offer in an ongoing £2 an hour pay disparity dispute. The workers, operating out of the Keynsham depot, voted overwhelmingly for strike action with 86 per cent in favour and 100 per cent in favour of action short of strike at the end of December 2015, over pay inequality which sees them being paid up to 25 per cent less than employees at the nearby Bristol site read more
Offshore strike avoided as contractors accept improved conditions (8 Jan) – Unite, the UK’s biggest offshore trade union, has today (Friday 8 January) repeated its call for the industry to end its year-long imposition of cuts after members in the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) agreement accepted improvements to their terms and conditions. Following a consultative ballot, OCA members, who provide critical maintenance across installations in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), voted to accept improved holiday entitlement and a joint review of the ‘three and three’ equal time shift rotations by over 50 per cent read more
GMB
Strike Ballot At United Utilities (Jan 12) – GMB Members At United Utilities Official Industrial Action Ballot Over Cuts To Pension Scheme From 1st April 2016. The company claim that the scheme as it stands now, without any potential increases in future costs, is unsustainable despite evidence to the contrary says GMB. GMB members employed by United Utilities (UU) in the North West are to take part in an official ballot for industrial action on the company’s plan for all staff to move from a defined benefit final salary pension to a defined contribution pension scheme after 31 March 2016. This ballot coincides with strike ballots for the other unions in the company read more
Unison
Lambeth Library staff to strike over library cuts (Jan 12) – Lambeth Libraries staff have voted overwhelmingly for strike action to save jobs and keep all 10 Lambeth libraries open. Staff voted 89% to strike against plans to close libraries and cut jobs. Unison will now be discussing extended strike action with the library workers in the borough. This strike vote follows a significant community campaign to keep the libraries open as well as a walk out by staff in December when news circulated that books were already being taken out of one of the libraries read more
FE members urged to vote Yes in industrial action ballot (Jan 7) – Members working in further education in England urged to vote Yes to industrial action ballot following 0% ‘pay offer’ read more
TSSA
TSSA to Ballot over Rail Safety in Scotland (12 Jan) – Rail workers in Scotland will be balloted on industrial action next week if the ScotRail Alliance press ahead with their cuts to numbers of safety critical Control staff. Rail workers in Scotland will be balloted on industrial action next week if the ScotRail Alliance press ahead with their cuts to numbers of safety critical Control staff read more
UCU
Aberdeen University staff back strike action again in dispute over job losses (Jan 8) – UCU members at Aberdeen University voted again for industrial action in a row over job losses. Three-quarters (74%) of members backed strike action and four out of five (79%) said they were prepared to take action short of a strike. The dispute centres on the university’s refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies, despite making savings of around £8 million read more
Save London Metropolitan University – London Metropolitan University UCU will begin balloting next week over threatened redundancies and the closure of the Aldgate Campus. The union is arguing for a two campus university model that keeps the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design in Aldgate, saves jobs and reviews the decision to cut courses. Please join supporters such as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and take a photo of yourself with this poster, sending it to [email protected], and sharing with friends and colleagues. Defend the Cass: ‘Occupy The Cass’ is a collective group of students at London Met exercising our right to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest https://www.facebook.com/occupycasslmu/?fref=ts Sign the petition
Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Secondary Teachers In West Dunbartonshire Strike on January 12 – Secondary teachers in West Dunbartonshire went on strike over restructuring plans which will:
- cut the number of Depute Headteacher posts
- cut Principal teacher posts from subject departments
- and cut the number of pastoral care posts in each of the authority’s Secondary schools.
The EIS recently balloted its Secondary members in West Dunbartonshire on the council’s proposals and 88% of those voting supported a move to industrial action. Send the Teachers Trade Union a message of support at [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Support-Striking-Teachers-in-West-Dunbartonshire-957204854353272/?fref=ts
ASCL, ATL, NAHT, NUT, UCAC and Voice
Funding cuts will hit teacher quality, say education unions – Teaching and school leadership unions join together today in a statement to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), warning the Government risks undermining teaching standards due to a real terms reduction in funding and the continued erosion of teachers’ pay. Unions representing the full spectrum of the teaching profession in England and Wales are opposed to the Government’s wish to continue to limit teachers’ annual pay increases to an average of 1% for a further four years, following five years of imposed pay restraint. ASCL, ATL, NAHT, NUT, UCAC and Voice have submitted a joint document to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) which makes the following points read more from NUT website
NAPO
Disingenous Ingeous? (8 Jan) – Hot after the Xmas break during which Napo got some respectable coverage in national media and local radio outlets, comes more dreadful news from Staffordshire and West Midlands and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northampton and Rutland CRC’s. They have announced an intention to reduce 90 front line practitioner posts across the former, and substantial (but as yet unknown) reductions in Leicester at the latter. This development has emerged over the last day and while we and local Napo branches seek to obtain more details, I can confirm that Mike McClelland and Chas Berry will be meeting with members at the earliest opportunity starting with a visit to Leicester next Wednesday read more from NAPO General Secretary Ian Lawrence’s blog
IWGB
Cleaners at Southwark Crown Court have voted 100% to strike over London Living wage – more news soon
Other News
Public meeting marks 30th anniversary of Wapping dispute (5 Jan) – A special public meeting on 14 January will mark the 30th anniversary of the most traumatic upheaval in the history of the UK media – the Wapping dispute. On 24 January, 1986 Rupert Murdoch’s News International group, publisher of 4 national papers, sacked nearly 6,000 staff as it switched production overnight to a new non-union factory in Wapping, East London. The workers fought a bitter year-long battle but failed to win back their jobs.
Speakers at the public meeting at 6.30pm on 14 January include John Hendy, leading employment law barrister and chair of the Institute of Employment Rights; John Lang, former sacked News International striker; Pete Kavanagh and Louisa Bull, Unite London and Eastern region officers. It takes place at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Bancroft Road, London E1 4DQ, which is hosting an exhibition about the dispute more from PCS website
Stop the aid blockade at Dunkirk’s refugee camp Sign petition here
Blacklisting & Victimisation
Buy the book ‘Blacklisted: The Secret War between Big Business and Union Activists’ Author: Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain. Blacklisted tells the controversial story of the illegal strategies that transnational construction companies used to keep union activists away from work. See the official trailer from ReelNews
Blacklist Support Group financial appeal: the Blacklist support group is desperately short of funds, to continue the incredible work in 2015 we need more finance, would you please consider making a donation, raise it at your branches and trade councils. Please make cheques payable to Joint sites committee and send to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford Essex CM1 4XA. Please forward onto your contacts many thanks Steve Kelly (JSC Treasurer)
Blacklisted Liverpool football fans protest against Carillion at televised Liverpool v Man Utd match – Sunday January 17th
Liverpool football fans who have been blacklisted by construction companies for being members of a trade union or raising concerns about safety on building sites will be holding a protest against the use of Carillion to build the new stand at Anfield at the Liverpool v Man United this Sunday.
Two struggles, One fight for justice.
Blacklist Support Group are linking up with the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and the Merseyside Construction Committee to protest against the use of the notorious blacklisting firm Carillion to build the new stand at the televised Liverpool v Man Utd match this coming Sunday. Football is a working class game. Undercover police have conspired to infiltrate both trade unions and the grieving Hillsborough families and their campaigns.
Sunday 17th January 2016
11-12:30
Main Stand Anfield
Liverpool Football Club
Assemble: outside Albert Pub next to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign shop.
Speakers: Sheila Coleman, Ricky Tomlinson, Dave Smith (blacklisted by Carillion), Joe Rollins of the Orgreave Justice Campaign and Ian Prowse with the latter singing the iconic ‘My name is Dessie Warren’ song.
https://www.facebook.com/events/174465909578325/
Blacklisted book http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70
Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
International (also see Labourstart)
It’s time to end modern slavery sign here
Workers taste bitter repression at International Flavors & Fragrances in Turkey! read more
Diary (see & use false economy)
2016
February
27 Yorkshire NSSN Conference: Stop the Union Busters / Organise the Unorganised – 10am Cosmopolitan Hotel 2 Lower Briggate, LS1 4AE Leeds https://www.facebook.com/events/514766158692960/
July
2 10th annual NSSN Conference in Conway Hall, London
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
