The NSSN sends solidarity to Carillion workers after the company went into administration. No worker should lose their job or pension because of mismanagement. Carillion like many others, have benefited from privatisation. But it’s the workers who have paid the price, such as the 200 outsourced employees at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, who took strike action in 2012 against job losses and pay cuts.
We call for all Carillion’s outsourced workers to be taken back in-house in the public sector and employed directly. We also support the demand of Mick Cash, the general secretary of the transport union RMT: “The infrastructure and support works must be immediately taken in house with the workforce protected.” Correctly, the RMT is also calling on Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan to take Carillion’s London rail contracts into “direct public ownership through Transport for London with guaranteed protection for the workforce, their jobs, pay, conditions and their pensions.”
The Blacklist Support Group exposed blacklisting employers such as Carillion through a heroic campaign. We support their call that “the government should bail out the NHS not Carillon or their bankers. The government should nationalise Carillon now at the current market value of their shares (nothing) and go further by banning all of the construction companies involved in the blacklisting human rights conspiracy from any publicly funded contracts.”
This scandal shows once and for all that the parasitic privateer companies must be forced out of the NHS and the rest of the public sector. Last summer – porters, cleaners and domestics went on strike at Serco in Royal Barts NHS Trust. One of their main demands was to be again directly employed by the NHS.
We welcome the stand of Jeremy Corbyn and call on him and the union leaders to put themselves at the head of the NHS demonstration in London on Saturday February 3rd. We appeal to them to finance buses and trains that can transport protesters to London and help build a mass mobilisation that can take on the Tories and their NHS cuts.
‘NHS Winter Crisis’ day of action Saturday February 3rd: includes Emergency Demonstration in London (Assemble 12noon Gower Street WC16), coupled with regional action and demonstrations in response to winter crisis (also supporting NHS unions’ pay claim) – called by Health Campaigns Together and People’s Assembly
Unite
Support Ian Allinson: ‘Discrimination’ of union reps sparks 11 days of strike action at Fujitsu in Manchester (11 Jan) – More than 250 Unite members in Manchester have voted for 11 days of strike action at IT giant Fujitsu in one of the longest running industrial disputes in the UK. One of the features of this dispute has been a ‘victimisation culture’ of union reps, which has included the dismissal of Unite rep of 26 years standing Ian Allinson read more Keep up to date with Unite: Our union in Fujitsu website
Conference: ‘Turkey under the state of emergency – campaigning to win change’ – called by Solidarity with the People of Turkey (SPOT) – 9.30am Saturday 20th January details here
NSSN news
Leicester National Shops Steward Network (NSSN)/BFAWU public meeting: ‘McDonalds Strike Victory: How £10/hr was Won’ – 7.30pm Thursday 18th January, Secular Hall, 75 Humberstone Gate, LE1 1WB
McDonald’s workers employed at company-owned restaurants will be receiving their biggest increase in pay in ten years on 22 January. Workers organised in the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) took historic strike action at stores in Crayford and Cambridge on 4 September last year over pay, conditions and bullying. As a result they have now won a significant pay rise for themselves and all McDonald’s workers in the UK.
Join us for a discussion of how the campaign was won, the gi economy, and how we can put an end to workplace exploitation.
Speakers:
Ronnie Draper: General Secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
George Atwall: East Midlands BFAWU Regional Organiser
Caroline Vincent: NSSN
Advanced notice: the 2018 National Shop Stewards Network Annual Conference will be from 11am-4.30pm on Saturday June 30th in Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London. It is open to all trade union and anti-cuts campaigners
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]
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Follow us on twitter via @NSSN_AntiCuts and Facebook
Union News
More RMT
RMT strike action solid in rail safety disputes this morning as Grayling continues to refuse to respond to call for summit talks (12 Jan) – RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said; “RMT members remain rock solid in each of the separate disputes across the country over rail safety this morning, on the final day of this phase of action, as we continue to fight to put public safety, security and access before the profits of the train operating companies read more
National dispute fund (DOO disputes) – If you would like to donate to the RMT National Dispute Fund which makes payments to support their striking members taking part in National DOO disputes then you can donate via PayPal using the donate button below or make a cheque payable to RMT National Dispute Fund and send it to the address below. Alternatively, you can ring their Freephone helpline on 0800 376 3706 who will be happy to process a credit card payment for you, or, if you would like to pay via internet banking, please email [email protected] for further details. Vicky Thompson, Finance Manager RMT, 39 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD. Tel: 020-7529-8843
Arriva Cross Country industrial action suspended after progress in talks (11 Jan) – RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that all industrial action in the long running dispute with Arriva Cross Country over rostering has been suspended following significant progress in talks with the company read more
TSSA
TSSA call strike at Cross Country Trains for Friday 26 January (15 Jan) – TSSA members employed as managers in Cross Country that are not covered by collective bargaining have delivered a clear verdict on the unfair 1% pay increase they have received from the company. In a turnout of 78%, 50 members (71.4% of those voting) voted for strike action, with 20 (28.6%) against, and 62 (87.3% of those voting) voted for action short of a strike with just 9 (12.6%) voting against. TSSA has therefore given notice of a strike on Friday 26 January 2018 read more
More Unite
Workers at Stamford engineering company in ‘massive vote’ for strike action (12 Jan) – The workers at Cummins Generator Technologies in Stamford have voted by an overwhelming 93 per cent for strike action over the failure of management to negotiate constructively over plans to shed 300 jobs. Unite which represents more than 260 workers, said it had a massive mandate for strike action on a 91 per cent turnout. The vote for industrial action short of a strike was 96 per cent. The union said today (Friday 12 January) it would be announcing dates for strike action very soon read more
Unite to recommend local government members reject pay offer (12 Jan) – Unite is to hold a consultative ballot of its members in local government covered by the “green book” with a recommendation that they reject the current pay offer. Members of Unite’s, National Industrial Sector Committee for local authorities, yesterday (Thursday 11 January) voted unanimously to reject the pay offer and to hold a consultative ballot of all affected members covered by the National Joint Committee (green book) agreement, with a recommendation that the offer is rejected. Local government employers had made an offer of a two per cent increase from 1 April 2018 for the majority of local government and school support staff and a further two per cent in April 2019. The offer covers staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland read more
Support Manchester Mears housing workers – send messages of support to Unite rep Colin Pitt: [email protected] and Unite regional officer [email protected] and post donations to: Unite House, Merchants Quay, Salford Quays, Salford M50 3SG
Support North West bus strikes at First Manchester – Send messages of support and donations via Neil Clarke, [email protected] c/o Unite, Jack Jones House, 2 Churchill Way, Liverpool L3 8EF
PCS
PCS calls for Carillion contracts to be taken in-house (15 Jan) – PCS, which represents workers employed by collapsed multinational Carillion in various government departments, has today (15) called upon the government to immediately take those contracts back in-house and guarantee all the workers their full employment rights. Carillion had contracts in areas like the prison service, the defence sector, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Police. The company which employs 20,000 people across the UK went into liquidation this morning, threatening thousands of jobs. PCS is writing to the Cabinet Office seeking urgent talks and guarantees for its Carillion members read more
Support DWP strikes:
- Send messages of support to [email protected]
- Send donations to the strike fund to PCS DWP Group, 3rd Floor, Town Centre House, Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8LY
CWU
Catch up on the latest with the CWU’s campaigns and disputes: Royal Mail Four Pillars, BT Pensions and Close the Gap/Justice for Agency Workers in BT
POA
Sign the petition against the Government reducing the Prison Officer Pension
FBU
Firefighters anger at 40% rise in London fire deaths (11 Jan) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says its London members are deeply upset and angry to learn that the number of people killed in fires has risen sharply in the capital, according to the latest figures released by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) this week. In 2016, the latest year for which figures have been made available, there were 46 deaths in London caused by fire, up from 33 the previous year – a 40% increase. The figures, published in the LFBs Fire Facts briefing, do not include the 71 victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster read more
NEU
Support 2-day strike this week against academisation of Village School – Teachers and support staff will be taking two days of strike action against the proposed academisation of The Village School in Brent. Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, will be attending a rally this Tuesday in support of the campaign to stop the proposals.
Date: Tuesday 16 January – Picket: Time: from 8:00am, attended by NEU (NUT Section) National President Louise Regan. Place: The Village Special School, Grove Park, Kingsbury, NW9 0JY
Strike Rally: Time: 9.30 am, attended by Kevin Courtney, NEU Joint General Secretary. Place: Jain Centre, 64-68 Colindale Avenue NW9 5DR read more
Support the Newham strikes against academisation: A number of schools in Newham have been on strike against threats of academisation, including Avenue Primary, Royal Docks and Cumberland primary. You can send messages of support to [email protected]
GMB
GMB Sellafield firefighters announce two more strike dates in january over pay dispute (9 Jan) – GMB has said over and over again that it is willing to negotiate for as long as it takes to reach some kind of offer that is capable of potentially reaching a resolution to this dispute, even in the short term. GMB, the union for Sellafield firefighters, has announced two further strike dates in a long running dispute in relation to the pay at Sellafield Nuclear Plant in West Cumbria. The firefighters will take industrial action on Thursday 11th and Monday 22nd January 2018, from 06.00 hrs until 18.00 hrs on both days. The strikes are the latest in the long-running dispute between the firefighters and Sellafield management read more
BECTU
Picturehouse dispute continues in 2018 (15 Jan) – The long running Living Wage dispute affecting several Picturehouse venues is continuing into 2018. More strike action has been called at London sites after members voted earlier this month to renew the union’s strike mandate. Extensive strike action will run from 20 January until 2 February at sites in Brixton, Central London, Crouch End, East Dulwich and Hackney. In a further attempt to break the dispute, the company’s response to the official notice of strike action has been to state that the Ritzy Cinema will close for a two week period hitting union members’ income very hard. Seventeen months into this second phase of the campaign for the Living Wage, the company is still refusing to sit down and talk with BECTU. Last summer the company sacked four union representatives at the Ritzy read more
Keep supporting the Picturehouse workers – they have voted by huge majorities to continue their action: read the latest on Brixton Ritzy Facebook Page and those of Hackney, Crouch End, Central, Dulwich East and Duke of York Brighton
Donate to the Picturehouse Cinema strike fund: https://www.crowdpac.co.uk/campaigns/250/picturehousestrike
NUJ
Support the Swindon Newsquest strike – Messages of support and solidarity can be sent to: [email protected]. Tweet your support to @AdverStrike #Cutsquest. Donations for the strike fund can be sent to: Unity Trust Bank, Account name: NUJ Wiltshire Branch, Account number: 35016904 Bank sort code: 608301
Unison
Support the Birmingham Homecare Workers – This Saturday (January 20th) will see the first strike by Home Care workers take place in a dispute with the Council over proposed shift rotas and redundancies. The strike actions will be between 11am and 2.30 pm. As not all workers are on duty at the same time, not all 350 will be on strike at once. As there are no workplaces to picket Birmingham Unison is holding a strike rally in Victoria Square in the city centre on the day from 12-2pm. Banner Theatre will be playing at the rally and there will be speakers and a march read more on Birmingham Unison website Facebook page
Support the Royal Devon and Exeter porters, who have taken strike action against the imposition of 12 hour shifts. Donate to their hardship fund. Send a cheque to the branch at: UNISON Office, Baker House , Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter EX2 5DW. Or make a direct donation to the branch account
Account Name: UNISON Royal Devon and Exeter Health 10296 Branch
Account Number: 20323929 Sort Code: 60-83-01
UCU
Industrial action suspended at University of Manchester (9 Jan) – UCU has written to University of Manchester vice-chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell informing her it is suspending industrial action until the end of February to allow for further talks to try and resolve the position of one staff member facing the threat of compulsory redundancy. The university had announced plans to make as many as 171 members of staff redundant in May. However, following two days of strike action in October, the university said no academics would be made compulsorily redundant. Following the strikes, UCU members have been engaged in “action short of a strike” that has seen them work only their contracted hours and not take on extra voluntary activities. That action has been suspended and the union said it hoped the move would allow for constructive talks to explore redeployment options for the member of staff still at risk read more
IWGB
Strike and protest on January 25th to end outsourcing at University of London – Picket line from 2pm, Protest from 6pm. The University of London continues to deny the outsourced workers that keep the institution running the terms and conditions afforded to their colleagues that are directly employed by the university. Outsourced workers suffer from far worse pensions, holiday entitlements, sickness entitlements, and maternity and paternity leave than in-house employees read more in Facebook event
United Voices of the World union
The cleaners at Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH) will strike if necessary in pursuit of the London Living Wage of £10.20 per hour. They are currently only paid the minimum poverty wage of £7.50 per hour – LHH is a large company located in the heart of London’s financial district, just next to Monument tube station. It outsources the cleaners to City Central Cleaning & Support Services Ltd. The cleaners’ request for the LLW was rejected without explanation, and despite LHH’s profits of £2 million with a huge 132% increase in revenue this year. Consequently, the cleaners, members of UVW, have voted to strike and will do so indefinitely until their reasonable demand is met. They have predictably but unlawfully been threatened with potential dismissal if they participate in a strike, for which they are currently taking their employer to court read more
Blacklisting & Victimisation
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)
Blacklist Support Group statement on Carillion and other news:
Carillon admitted in the High Court that they blacklisted workers who complained about safety on their building sites, while at the same time milking public sector contracts for millions. Workers on projects run by Carillon need to be paid and are entitled to their pensions but no more public money should be given to the bosses of the disgraced company. In any civilized society, these people would be facing criminal charges.
When you invite blacklisting human rights abusers to run the NHS and school meals, don’t be surprised when vampire capitalism attempts to suck the taxpayer dry. The government should bail out the NHS not Carillon or their bankers. The government should nationalise Carillon now at the current market value of their shares (nothing) and go further by banning all of the construction companies involved in the blacklisting human rights conspiracy from any publicly funded contracts.
Roy Bentham, blacklisted carpenter from Liverpool and BSG joint secretary commented:
“Carillion going bust to me is Karma. No tears crocodile or otherwise from me. They were up to their neck in blacklisting union members for raising safety concerns. They got caught and said sorry but they were only sorry for being caught. The fact I couldn’t get employment on the Liverpool Royal Hospital or Anfield shows they never changed their spots. The fact that the manager who placed me on the Consulting Association files back in 1995 was still working there up until this morning shows how serious they took this as a human rights abuse. No one disciplined, never mind sacked over the scandal tells you all you need to know”.
Dave Smith, BSG joint secretary posted on his FB page:
“Carillon blacklisted me after I raised concerns about safety on their building sites; it ended up in the European Court of Human Rights. At the very same time the company were milking public sector contracts including in the NHS. Not another penny of taxpayers money should be given to these wretches”.
In other blacklisting news:
- New Report from well-respected think-tank the Institute for Employment Rights calls for major cages in employment law and a public inquiry into blacklisting – authors: Dave Smith (BSG secretary) and Alex Just (employment law expert who worked on the High Court litigation).
http://www.ier.org.uk/node/3635
- Balfour Beatty Crossrail dispute
Just before Christmas Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick were hit by industrial action after the company dismissed over 50 electricians without proper consultation at Crossrail. Around 150 Balfour Beatty workers refused to cross the picket line at Woolwich station in solidarity and another 70 workers for VVB Electrical walked off the job in support at the North Woolwich, City Airport and Plumstead portals. Following a fun industrial action ballot, Balfour Beatty have now been hit by an official strike at Woolwich in an ongoing dispute over bonus payments.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/crossrail-staff-stage-solidarity-strike
https://freedomnews.org.uk/hundreds-refuse-to-cross-picket-line-in-wildcat-crossrail-strike/
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/strike-action-set-to-delay-crossrail-project/
- More evidence of corporate infiltration of peaceful and lawful political campaigns
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/corporate-spying-revelations-raise-fresh-blacklisting-questions/
- Ken O’Shea R.I.P.
Blacklist Support Group send their condolences to the family of Shrewsbury Picket Ken O’Shea, who recently passed away.
http://www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk/2017/12/ken-oshea-r-p/
- Spycops – Serious concern over ongoing delaying tactics at inquiry into undercover political policing
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/help-victims-of-police-spying/
- Mears & Manchester strike fund
http://shopstewards.net/2017/11/4662/
Messages of support to Colin Pitt [email protected]
Donations to: UCATT UD.393 Manchester 1st Branch c/o UNITE, 2 Churchill Way, Liverpool, L3 8EF
- Bits & pieces
Congratulations to the McStrikers organized by the Bakers union. The first ever strike in McDonalds has resulted in an above inflation pay rise.
Bogus self-employment – http://novaramedia.com/2017/12/18/were-talking-about-billions-stolen-from-workers-organising-in-the-construction-industry/
Last but by no means least, well done to the blacklisted workers and supporters including Lee Fowler, Joanne Fowler, Darren O’Grady, Phil Rowan & Shaun Dey who travelled of Barcelona as part of a trade union delegation just before Christmas to show solidarity with those assaulted by the police in the recent referendum.
Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt
Book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
International
Stop Repression in Hong Kong and China please send solidarity
Tunisia: Explosion of protests against government financial measures read more
Diary
2018
June
30 National Shop Stewards Network 2018 Annual Conference 11am-4.30pm Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, 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
