308: VIDEO - TUC Rally ‘Call demo to support Junior Doctors!’

Sunday’s NSSN rally before the start of TUC Congress in Brighton was a fantastic success. Militant trade unionists from both the leadership of some of the most fighting unions and the rank and file spoke to 250 Congress delegates and union and anti-cuts campaigners. Everyone sent their best wishes to PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka who was admitted to hospital last week.

There were barnstorming speeches from PCS President Janice Godrich, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash, BFAWU General Secretary Ronnie Draper (suspended and now reinstated by Labour) and POA General Secretary Steve Gillan alongside those off junior doctors and workers from Greenwich council in Unite and RMT on Southern Rail who have been striking against cuts. We were also delighted to give a platform to speakers from Youth Fight for Jobs and Tamil Solidarity as well as Dave Smith from the Blacklist Support Group. Nancy Taaffe made a financial appeal for the Butterfields tenants and RMT President Sean Hoyle appealed to the audience to support the NSSN.

NSSN Secretary Linda Taaffe chaired the rally while the Network’s Chair Rob Williams was the last speaker.

The junior doctors stole the show and left everyone in no doubt that they do want the unions to organise solidarity to support them with their dispute. The NSSN welcomes the emergency motion that was carried at Congress in support of the BMA but we think it should go further in calling a national demonstration in support of the junior doctors and in defence of the NHS against the latest brutal Tory NHS cuts. It would have also been far better for the TUC to have invited a junior doctor to speak to delegates.

Unfortunately, Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was unable to attend as planned because he was delayed by a traffic jam due to a road accident. But Ronnie Draper read out a statement from John that showed his and Jeremy Corbyn’s ties with the unions and their members and why #KeepCorbyn was a major theme of the rally.

He highlighted the current struggles of the railworkers, teaching assistants and the junior doctors and ended with these words:-

“I repeat my promise to you that whether it is in Parliament or the picket line, Jeremy Corbyn and I will be with you.”

NSSN news

North East NSSN public meeting: ‘Co-ordinate the strikes to fight the Tories’ #KeepCorbyn – Saturday 17th September 1pm Old George pub Newcastle

This is a video of the 10th annual NSSN Conference which took place on Saturday July 2nd in London on the themes: “Cameron’s gone – now get rid of the rest of the Tories! Link the strikes!’

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. Affiliation letter is below

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]

Union News

BMA Junior Doctors

Strikes suspended September 12-16 but action continues read BMA statement Please sign this petition to support the junior doctors

BURSARY OR BUST: Continuing the fight to save NHS bursaries https://www.facebook.com/NHSbursarycutsforum/

IWGB

SIGN PETITION: UBER-EATS: STOP VICTIMISING YOUR WORKERS – reinstate Imran Siddiqui NOW Watch video and here

RMT

Hammersmith & City and Circle Line Drivers’ strike to go ahead (15 Sept) – Following an overwhelming vote for action by RMT drivers on the Hammersmith and City and Circle Lines, and a failure to reach an agreement in talks held through ACAS right up to the wire yesterday, the union has confirmed this morning that 24 hours of strike action will go ahead from this evening. All affected members have been instructed NOT TO BOOK ON for any shifts that commence between 21:30 hours on Thursday 15th September 2016 and 21:29 hours on Friday 16th September read more

Rail union RMT takes fight for guards and rail safety onto the floor of TUC Congress in Brighton (14 Sept) – RAIL UNION RMT will today take a motion onto the floor of the annual TUC Congress in Brighton calling for full support for the guards on Southern Rail fighting for jobs and safety with a demand for public ownership of buses and rail to end the privatised chaos that is paralysing Britain’s transport services. The motion also applauds the long-running fight by guards and their colleagues on Scotrail for safe rail services across Scotland and pledges support for all groups of workers on rail and tube standing firm against profiteering and cuts read more

TSSA

Dail’s Refusal to Talk Forces Bus Workers to Strike Again (14 Sept) – TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes praised the determination of Dublin bus workers who are about to be forced out on strike for a second week as they seek to get wage justice. And he condemns the Irish government for refusing to respond to intervene in the dispute so that Dublin Bus can put a better offer on the table read more

Support the Dublin Bus Workers Facebook Group

PCS

PCS tells TUC: strike to break pay cap (14 Sept) – PCS has called on the TUC to actively supporting and coordinating strike action across the trade union movement to break the government’s disastrous 1% public sector pay cap. Motion 29 to TUC Congress today (14 September), proposed by our assistant general secretary Chris Baugh explained how the government’s pay policy has been disastrous for economic growth, increased inequality, and led to a 20% real-terms drop in living standards for millions of public sector workers. He pointed to a 2-year pay freeze in 2010, and a 1% pay cap since 2012 due to run until 2019 read more

Wage win for Wallace collection workers (14 Sept) – PCS members at the Wallace Collection in London have won a significant wage rise and will be paid the London Living Wage following a PCS campaign read more

Second solid strike day for Met Police security guards (13 Sept) – The second of a four-day series of strikes sees all members walk out at Bow and Hendon control centres. Today (13 September) was the second strike day in the dispute over pay for security guards working at the Met Police control centres in Hendon and Bow, employed by private company Engie. Members also took action last Friday (9 September) and further walk-outs are planned for Friday 16 and Thursday 22 September read more

Show your support on picket lines in: Hendon – Peel Centre, Aerodrome Road The Hyde, NW9 5JE

Bow – Metropolitan Police, 2a Wellington Way E3 4ND

You can also:

Donate to our commercial sector hardship fund, account number: 20244707, sort code: 60-83-01

Send cheques to the PCS London and south east region, 160 Falcon Road, London SW11 2LN

Email messages of support to [email protected]

PCS activist Lee Rock back at work after winning reinstatement (12 Sept) – Long-standing PCS activist, Lee Rock, who was sacked by the Department for Work and Pensions in February 2013, has returned to work following his reinstatement read more

Unite

Bromley council’s plan to run-down and break-up local libraries falls apart (13 Sept) – Unite has won a significant victory in Bromley against the fragmentation of the borough’s library service. The proposal from the council to turn 8 community libraries into volunteer outfits, effectively killing them off as properly resourced libraries, has been thrown into disarray read more

Tower Transit bus workers in London to strike again on September 19

Prudential staff in Reading to strike for two days over outsourcing jobs to India (9 Sept) – Prudential employees, based in Reading, will stage two 24-hour strikes over plans to offshore an estimated 82 jobs dealing with annuities to India. Staff, members of Unite, the country’s largest union, will strike for 24 hours from 00.01 on Friday 16 September over the proposal to offshore back office annuity work to Mumbai. A second 24 hour strike is set to go-ahead from 00.01 on Friday 23 September read more

NUT

Read NUT General Secretary Kevin Courtney’s statement on Tory grammar school plans here

Support Simon O’Hara — victimised teacher at Small Heath School in Birmingham

BFAWU

Reinstate Kumaran Bose – sacked by Samworths! The NSSN is supporting the BFAWU’s campaign in support of Kumaran Bose who was dismissed for speaking out and for organising a union in his workplace read more Facebook group

Unison

Derby school staff lobby Parliament (14 Sept) – Hundreds rally at Westminster and take their case to MPs over 25% pay cut. “They brought us all into the staff room and when they told us people started crying. Some ran out the room,” recalls Louise Fox, a teaching assistant from Derby. “There were single parents who knew they’d have to leave the job they love and had been doing for years.” Read more

Support school support staff against pay cuts – Join teaching assistants Facebook Group here

UCU

Dispute at Hull College over redundancies (8 Sept) – UCU members at Hull College have today announced an official dispute following the college’s plans to make over 100 redundancies. The news comes on top of recent rounds of job losses that have seen 385 jobs go since 2011. The college’s plans will result in up to 60 lecturers losing their jobs and see all three college nurseries closes read more

Stop the sackings of union reps at London Met – #savelondonmet #saveourreps Yesterday (April 30) our branch chair Mark Campbell and secretary David Hardman were made redundant in what is an outrageous attack on their strenuous and tireless trade union activities defending jobs and education at London Met read more Sign petition Since launching this petition, the situation at London Met has now deteriorated further. University management have commenced a further round of compulsory redundancies that threaten the jobs of almost 400 academic and administrative staff – some one-third of all substantive university staff. They have also stated their intention to further increase the use of zero-hour contracts and reduce research to that which explicitly ‘generates a profit’. Please see details here

CWU

National Post Office strike: Thousands of our Post Office members will strike this Thursday, against attacks on their job security and pensions and in defence of the Crown network and Supply Chain. There is a strike rally on Parliament Square at 12noon read more

Unite: Post Office managers to strike for 24 hours on 15 September in pensions’ dispute

Reinstate Clive Walder – Clive Walder, a longstanding leading rep in the CWU was sacked last November after 38 years of service with British Telecom. Clive is chair of the CWU Birmingham, Black Country & Worcester branch. Last week, his Employment Tribunal was dismissed on a technicality after a claim by BT, denying Clive the right of a fair hearing. This is outrageous.

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

GMB

GMB to hold protest at Marks and Spencer HQ (Sept 14) – GMB To Hold Protest At Marks And Spencer HQ On Friday 16th September 2016. This is an issue for all of Bakkavor’s customers who have strong ethical and moral standards to uphold says GMB. GMB, the union for workers in the food industry, will hold a protest at midday on Friday, 16th September 2016 at Marks and Spencer Headquarters in London over proposals to cut hours, change shift patterns and transfer employees between sites at major food supplier Bakkavor Meals read more

Dispute Looms At Rom Limited (Sept 9) – Dispute Looms At Rom Limited As Reinforcement Manufacturer Refuses Pay Increase For A Decade. Rom Ltd’s refusal to award a basic pay increase for over ten years is indefensible says GMB. GMB members at Rom Limited in Essex have voted to take industrial action unless the employer offers a pay increase for the first time in ten years read more

Nationalise Tata – support the Steelworkers

For latest developments, follow Facebook group

BECTU

Ritzy ballot result to be considered by reps – A vote on industrial action by members at the Ritzy concluded today, Tuesday 30 August. However details will not be made public until representatives have had a chance to consider members’ feedback at a meeting this Sunday 4 September read more

UCATT

UCATT Umbrella Company Campaign (9 Sept) – UCATT have launched a new umbrella company campaign under the banner “Enough is Enough”. Campaigns targetting specific sites are getting underway across the country and campaigning has already taken place in London, Scotland and Wales read more

United Voices of the World

STRIKE AT 100 WOOD STREET IS OVER! – After 58 days of strike action by the cleaners at 100 Wood Street have won their dispute. Read more on United Voices of the World Facebook Group and Website

Read more on United Voices of the World Facebook Group and Website

Other News

Butterfields Won’t Budge – Butterfields tenants in Waltham Forest in East London have been fighting eviction since January 2016. They have put up spirited resistance. But now the new landlords are bringing possession summonses. The courts are stacked against tenants in every way. Tenants have already raised funds with a comedy night, donations from various organisations, trade unions and individuals, and through crowdfunding. But the courts are another matter. The families urgently need your help to raise £15,000.

If we can’t raise money then their campaign will move straight to facing bailiffs. Can you and your organisation make a donation towards our legal challenge?

To send a message of support please contact the TRA secretary – [email protected]

To donate contact the TRA treasurer – [email protected]

Also contact Waltham Forest Trade Union Council via [email protected] or ring 07952 283 558

Get the latest information on the Facebook page – Butterfields Won’t Budge

Axe the Housing Act – Build the Housing Summit

Saturday 22 October 2016 11.30am @ NUT HQ, Hamilton House

Workshops, Discussions and planning of future actions to resist the vicious, destructive Housing and Planning act!

The Act attacks existing tenants and will push more into private renting without rights or rent controls. It will not come into full force until after April 2017 and this allows us a little time to build on nation wide consensus against it. A big and growing grassroots movement is determined to resist and defeat it. Trade unions and councils have a key part to play to stop this Act

#AxeTheHousingAct https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/axethehousingact

#WeAreNotMoving https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/wearenotmoving

#RentControl https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/rentcontrol

London Labour Film Festival 22- 24th September 2016 at the beautiful Art House Cinema, Crouch End http://londonlabourfilmfest.com/

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 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’ book new edition & new ‘Blacklisted’ film both now launch at Greenwich conference

Its a conference

Its a book launch

Its a film premier

Its an art installation

(there’s an after-party)