The ‘Strong and Stable’ Conservative Government of Theresa May is hanging by a thread! The incredible response to Jeremy Corbyn’s General Election campaign showed once and for all that workers and their families are furious after 7 years of Tory austerity and a lost decade where our incomes have been cut by a fifth.
But while the Tories may be wounded, weak and more divided, they’re not out yet. How can we get rid of them? We have to mobilise the workers and the young people who were inspired to vote for Corbyn’s anti-austerity Labour manifesto – many because of his promise to abolish tuition fees.
The NSSN calls on the TUC and the unions to organise an emergency national demonstration against the Tories and to demand that Corbyn be given the chance to put his anti-austerity programme – including stopping the NHS and schools cuts, abolishing tuition fees, breaking the 1% public sector pay cap and repealing the Trade Union Act – to Parliament. The NSSN will support any such protests and demonstrations but its vital that the TUC and the unions call them under their own banner to use their authority to maximise the turnout and mobilise the power of the trade union and labour movement.
They should also plan co-ordinated strike action to break the 1% public sector pay cap.
BFAWU President Ian Hodson, in his address to his union conference on Sunday called on the TUC to “organise a mass movement on to the streets to say that this is a weak government with no mandate” and “If we stand together we will have a Red October with Jeremy Corbyn as our Prime Minister!”
There will be hundreds of trade union and anti-cuts campaigners at our annual conference on Saturday July 1st. As usual, we will be giving a platform to workers’ struggles, both here and internationally, to build support and solidarity. But this year, it will also be a ‘council of war’ to discuss how we organise to take on May and the Tories.
The NSSN supports Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘Workers Charter’ – We have produced a bulletin which we encourage our supporters to take into their workplaces. Email us on [email protected] to get some
Watch NSSN video on Jeremy’s ‘Workers Charter’
Not one day more #toriesout national demonstration – Assemble 12pm, Saturday 1 July 2017 BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA. March to Parliament Square http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/not_one_day_more_toriesout_national_demonstration
FBU
Statement on Grenfell Tower fire (14 June) – Following a major fire at the Grenfell Tower residential block in West London, which began in the early hours of Wednesday morning (14 June) and where a number of fatalities have been confirmed, the Fire Brigades Union released the following statement from general secretary Matt Wrack. “People will be in shock this morning as the horrific events at Grenfell Tower continue to unfold. The thoughts of firefighters from all over the UK will be with the victims of this devastating tragedy and their families. Lives have been lost, many people have suffered serious injuries and others will be made homeless as a result of the fire. “Firefighters and other emergency services have been working through the night to secure the building and to save as many lives as possible. They will be doing a particularly difficult job witnessing brutal scenes of such tragedy, with the professionalism we have come to expect from them. The thoughts of everyone in the fire service family will be with their colleagues in London this morning who are doing a sterling job under very difficult circumstances. “A full investigation will need to be undertaken at the first possible opportunity to establish exactly what happened and what can be done to prevent such an incident happening again.”
The 11th annual NSSN Conference will be on Saturday July 1st 2017 from 11am in Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. It is open to all trade union and anti-cuts campaigners Facebook event. Speakers include: Len McCluskey Unite General Secretary (invited), Ronnie Draper BFAWU General Secretary, Steve Gillan POA General Secretary, Chris Baugh PCS Assistant General Secretary, Sean Hoyle RMT President, Linda Taaffe NSSN National Secretary, Rob Williams NSSN National Chair, Xaquín García Sinde Ganemos CCOO in Spain and Stephen Nugent from the Bus Eireann Irish strike. Attendance fee is £6 each. Register in advance by emailing [email protected] or on the day.
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]
United Voices of the World Union
VICTORY TO LSE CLEANERS! – UVW is proud to announce that the LSE cleaners will be BROUGHT IN-HOUSE and become employees of the LSE from Spring 2018! This will ensure they get, among other things, 41 days annual leave, 6 months full pay sick pay and 6 months half pay sick pay, plus proper employer pension contributions of up to 13% of their salary.
This is the most significant victory for any group of workers in UK higher education today, and will hopefully set a precedent to follow for other degraded outsourced workers across the country.
This announcement comes on the back of an awe-inspiring 10 month battle for dignity and equality waged by the cleaners, through their union UVW which represents the near entirety of the unionised cleaners on the LSE campus.
This dispute saw the largest number of cleaners – all of whom are migrant and BAME workers and most of whom had never been unionised before – in UK history strike from a single workplace, and saw the the cleaners take 7 days of strike action in total, with 3 more pledged for the LSE’s student graduation days in July. There were also several protests and two occupations through the course of this dispute.
The cleaners were heavily supported by the student led Justice for LSE Cleaners Campaign and the wider trade union movement
Website: www.uvwunion.org.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/uvwunion Twitter: @UVWunion
Union News
PCS
Week-long strike at Sheffield Eastern Avenue jobcentre begins (12 Jun) – Following an earlier one day’s strike action last Friday (2 June), PCS members are on strike all this week in their dispute over plans to close the jobcentre. PCS members at the jobcentre on Eastern Avenue in Sheffield are taking action to protest against the planned closure of the jobcentre, which provides vital services to the local community. Out of around 50 members who were on strike today, about 35 were out on the picket line outside the jobcentre on Eastern Avenue If you’re in the area, please come along to the picket lines outside the jobcentre. Messages of support should be sent to [email protected]. Donations to the PCS Fighting Fund should be sent PCS DWP Group, 3rd Floor, Town Centre House, Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8LY or can be made online via the PCS website read full post on PCS website Shadow chancellor gives support to Eastern Avenue strikers
Statement on incident at Jobcentre Plus in Newcastle (9 Jun) – Members will have seen the breaking news that staff were being held at knifepoint at Byker Jobcentre in Newcastle Upon Tyne, this morning. PCS is pleased to confirm that police were quick to respond, all staff are confirmed as safe and have been evacuated, but the jobcentre remains closed as a precaution. DWP management and PCS are with the members now to support them and no injuries have been reported. Northumbria Police have said that this incident is not terror-related read more
Month of EHRC strikes comes to an end in Manchester (9 Jun) – Members at the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Manchester held their last picket line this morning (9 June) in a series of strikes that began in Glasgow on 15 May then rolled on to London and Cardiff. The dispute is centred around our demand to reinstate eight workers sacked by e-mail in February from an organisation with 47 current vacancies read more Tweet to @savetheehrc and use #reinstatethe8 and #sackedbyemail
Send a message of support to [email protected]
Make a donation to our Fighting Fund which is used to support our members who take strike action and come to the fundraising social from 7pm on Friday 16 June at the Bread & Roses pub 68 Clapham Manor St, Clapham, London SW4 6DZ
RMT
RMT SOS 2020 Demo at Streamline in Aberdeen this morning (14 June) – Maritime union RMT stepping up the pressure on shipping companies who charter vessels with crew working on board for rates of pay below the legal UK minimum wage read more
RMT to ballot Piccadilly Line/Tube Lines workshop staff for action over two-tier workforce (14 June) – Tube union RMT will begin balloting workshop staff in the Piccadilly Line workshops at Northfields and Cockfosters Depots today for both strike action and action short of a strike over an attempt by Tube Lines to create a two-tier workforce by driving a coach and horses through current agreements and recruiting 35 new staff on fixed term contracts. The ballot will close on the 4th July read more
RMT demands minority Government reverse £3 billion TFL cuts as union meet management today over tube safety (13 June) – TUBE UNION RMT has ramped up pressure on the minority to Government to reverse over £3 billion of cuts across Transport for London as officials prepared for a meeting today with tube managers to discuss safety and security measures in light of the horrific terrorist attacks in Manchester and London Bridge. Union concerns after the North Greenwich bomb incident will also top the agenda. With the government losing its majority on Thursday, RMT says that it has no mandate whatsoever for savage austerity cuts to the TFL budget which the union says will continue to threaten jobs, security and safety at this time of heightened alert read more
Defend the London Bridge Three – In light of the deplorable treatment of our three members including Brother Cornell’s dismissal after 10 years’ service via an utter miscarriage of justice, your union has taken the decision to escalate this dispute and ballot ALL Stations Grades and Revenue Control Inspector members for strike action and industrial action short of a strike. Vote Yes X For Strike Action & Actions Short of a Strike. The ballot papers closing date is Tuesday 13th June 2017. *Please ensure you vote as the new Anti-Trade Union Laws brought in by the government this March 2017 WILL MEAN THE BALLOT MAY FAIL IF YOU DON’T!!! read more
Unite
Support action at Barts Healthcare! – It will be the largest strike in the NHS this year of almost all migrant workers, mostly female from East and West Africa. Key dates – 1. 4 July when we will have a demo in front of the Barts hospital when the strike starts (24 hour strike) 2. 11 July – a large march from RLH to Barts a week later when the all-out strike begins read more
Unite warns of further pension strikes at BMW should talks fail (13 June) – A further wave of strikes involving car workers at the car giant BMW are ‘almost certain’ should further talks fail, Unite warned today (Tuesday 13 June). Unite shop stewards from BMW car plants in Cowley, Goodwood near Chichester, Hams Hall in the West Midlands and Swindon, met today to discuss the next steps in a dispute over BMW’s plans to close the final salary scheme. The meeting followed news yesterday that workers had rejected BMW’s latest offer by 56.6 per cent read more
Unite hold talks at Acas in attempt to stop strike action at Chivas (13 June) – Scotland’s biggest union Unite will today hold talks at the conciliation service Acas in an attempt to bring to a close an ongoing dispute with Chivas over pay and harmonisation. Drinks giant Chivas has agreed to take part in talks at Acas following workers’ rejection of a ‘derisory’ pay offer from the company. In March this year, members of Unite were offered a 1.5 per cent increase backdated to July 2016, followed by three years of rises that would barely keep pace with inflation, and could see them lose money in real terms. The workers would also lose a holiday premium from June this year. Workers voted overwhelmingly to reject the company’s offer read more
Refuse workers win landmark victory in ‘overtime pay’ case, says Unite (13 June) – Veolia Environmental Services was accused by Unite, the country’s largest union, of hiding behind Brexit when it failed to incorporate overtime pay into annual holiday pay citing ‘Brexit legal uncertainty’. Unite hailed an employment tribunal ruling last week as a ‘landmark victory’ which will have implications for the union’s several thousand members working on French-owned Veolia’s council waste and refuse contracts across the UK read more
Support Sierra Windows strike – NSSN supporters visited the picket lines at Sierra Glass in Paignton again on May 31st. Workers are on strike again tomorrow June 7th and Wednesday and there will be further 48 hours strikes scheduled for 15, 22 and 29 June and then 5, 12, 19 and 26 July “Workers were particularly pleased we had highlighted that there had been no pay raise for them since 2008 as this is not being mentioned elsewhere. To reinforce the point I was introduced to a striker who had been on the job for 30 years and was still on the minimum wage. The mood on the line is still good, especially as workers at a sister company, DB Glass, in nearby Newton Abbot are now also joining the strike. We believe it is essential that direct links are made by the strikers at both plants and have offered to help. Both Sierra and DB Windows are out of the EPWIN Group which is a big employer with its headquarters and main works in Telford. It also has a permanent stall at The Building Centre 26 Store St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BT. Strikers have asked if we can raise the profile of the dispute by leafletting EPWINS workforce and customers around the country. Email messages of support and donations to Unite rep John Berry [email protected]
Unite begins strike ballot for Bank of England staff in pay dispute (1 June) – staff at the Bank of England will from today start voting in an industrial action ballot as Unite, the union representing staff at the bank calls on their employer to give them a decent pay deal read more
Support Manchester Mears strike
Unison
Support ongoing Glasgow Unison janitors’ dispute – Facebook group and website
Support the Kinsley School cleaners in Wakefield on indefinite strike since September 6th – Facebook Group. Donate to strike fund – send to Wakefield Unison, 18 Gills Yard, Wakefield WF1 3BZ
GMB
BA ‘Pennywise But Pound Foolish’ Over Fresh Outsourcing Move (June 13) – Company appears to have learnt nothing after 75,000 passengers were stranded. GMB, the aviation union, has branded British Airways ‘pennywise and pound foolish’ as the company plans to outsource yet more jobs – despite an IT meltdown last week which left 75,000 passengers stranded. Today BA announced more than 1,000 jobs from call centres in Newcastle and Manchester are in line to be outsourced to Capita read more
Danish Protest After Bosses ‘Wash Hands’ Of Undercutting (June 12) – Members of GMB and Unite are again protesting in Copenhagen, Denmark tomorrow (Tuesday 13 June) after the financier of major energy from waste plants in the UK, tried to ‘wash its hands’ of the undercutting of pay and conditions on a number of projects. Pay rates of construction workers are being undercut through social dumping on plants in Rotherham, Yorkshire and Sandwich in Kent. Pay rates being offered via sub-contractors are reportedly up to 61 per cent below the agreed rates of the relevant collective agreements read more
BECTU
Support BECTU reps suspended by Picturehouse Cinema – BECTU Members were on strike again last weekend at Central (Piccadilly), Crouch End, Hackney and Ritzy but six union officials at the Ritzy in Brixton and one at Hackney Picturehouse have been suspended, a move that the union BECTU has called “appalling” read more in Brixton Buzz
Keep supporting the Picturehouse workers: read the latest on Brixton Ritzy Facebook Page and those of Hackney, Crouch End, Central, Duke of York Brighton and Dulwich East. Support the Picturehouse Strike Fund – donate now
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 BFAWU Statement On Samworth Brothers’ Sacking Of Kumaran Bose
UCU
Union says Open University must come clean over future plans (13 June) – Staff at the Open University have told the institution that it must set out exactly what plans for the future mean for staff. Complaining that proposals set out today are little more than buzzwords, UCU has demanded to know how many staff will be affected by the shake-up, and where read more
Protest at Darlington College in row over pay cuts (13 June) – Staff at Darlington College will stage a demonstration tomorrow lunchtime in a row over proposals to slash lecturers’ salaries by up to 10% read more
Sign petition: reinstate Indro Sen immediately – Indro Sen, a maths lecturer and trade union branch officer at the College of North West London (CNWL) has been dismissed for actions in assisting a former colleague at an employment tribunal case. He was voted by students as the most popular teacher, 2014-15. We demand that the College Governors and Senior Management Team reinstate Sen immediately sign here
Support the reinstatement of London Met union reps: Mark Campbell and David Hardman https://uculondonmet.wordpress.com/
NUT
Support the NUT London school strikes against cuts at Forest Hill Forest Hill in Lewisham and Plumstead Manor in Greenwich – Watch video of march & rally for Forest Hill School in Lewisham on April 22
FBU
Firefighters call for an immediate end to the pay freeze (13 June) – As Theresa May suggests she intends to bring an end to austerity, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is calling for immediate action including a specific pledge to put an end to the misery of the seven year pay freeze that has impacted on firefighters and other public services workers read more
IWGB
Postroom staff join Cordant dispute! (June 2) – Now the Postroom staff have joined the dispute against Cordant, calling for the company to honour promises to maintain pay differentials. On behalf of the affected staff, IWGB has given Cordant a deadline of Tuesday 6 June to respond positively and open negotiations read more
Other News
Support the Irish anti-water charge protestors who are facing trial for a protest in Jobstown
Please send messages of protest: https://sites.google.com/view/jobstownnotguilty/ https://www.facebook.com/Jobstown-Not-Guilty-1056889327677242/
SERTUC Public Service Committee welcomes Dr Peter Latham Book Signing: WHO STOLE THE TOWN HALL? – Tuesday 13 June 2017 – 1.30pm TUC Congress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London. Free admission details
Action Mesothelioma Day Friday 5th July – London Commemoration Service for all those who have died from asbestos 12: 30 mid day, Stratford Old Town Hall, Newham details
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.
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)
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/
Donate to ReelNews – http://reelnews.co.uk/donationssubscriptions/
International
USA: Support the IBEW NYC Spectrum workers strike – Stop Charter/Spectrum Union Busting! Defend Pensions and Benefits read more
Media blackout widens as authorities block news websites in Egypt read more on NUJ website
Indonesia: 3,000 striking miners fired read more
Diary
2017
June
24 Tamil Solidarity: Solidarity Day 10.30am – 17.30pm. At Unite the Union, 128 Theobalds Rd, Holborn, London WC1X 8TN http://www.tamilsolidarity.org/solidarity-day-2/
July
1 11th annual NSSN Conference 11am in Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Not one day more #toriesout national demonstration – Assemble 12pm, Saturday 1 July 2017 BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA. March to Parliament Square http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/not_one_day_more_toriesout_national_demonstration
8 Durham Miners Gala www.durhamminers.org
14-17 Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/festival
September
10 NSSN rally at TUC Congress
30 Construction Safety Campaign (CSC) AGM is the 30th September – Ricky Tomlinson invited speaker
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
