Disputes and Campaigns
March 24: PCS Rallies etc Budget Day
Besides
the usual picket lines and leafleting sessions onthe Budget day strike
PCS is planning lunchtime (11:00 am on) rallies (all public / private
sector unions, Trades Councils etc welcome) at these locations amongst
others : -
.First ever PCS civil service compensation scheme protest rally in Bournemouth
.PCSmarch in Bristol
.Rally/protest at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff
.High profile demonstrations at major civil service sites across the
country as Alastair Darling makes his budget speech including:
.The Houses ofParliament
.ExchangeSquare, Manchester
ClaytonSquare, Liverpool
Details on PCS web-site
go to home page Compensation Scheme latest update Compensation scheme
action plan
Cut NSL profits - not jobs
(Camden UNISON Branch Health & Safety Officer)
Camden
UNISON press release, Friday 19th March 2010
CCTV staff employed by NSL Parking Services will demonstrate about job
cuts outside the Council's Executive meeting at Camden Town Hall, Judd
Street on Wednesday 24 March from 6.00-7.00pm.
NSL management claim that they must cut costs on the Camden contract
- the most lucrative contract ever awarded by Camden Council, valued
at £44 million over 6 years. As a result they are looking to axe
nearly 20 posts in a section where the vast majority of the workforce
are UNISON members.
NSL are threatening to make between 9 and 18 CCTV operators redundant
and these workers are angry that the company gave them only two weeks
notice with virtually no information about their employment rights.
NSL are only offering statutory redundancy pay for those who chose to
take voluntary redundancy and refuse to pay financial compensation to
those who are transferred to another contract on a lower salary.
So these workers have decided to take their protest to the Town Hall
to let NSL and Camden know of their anger about being treated so badly
after their work helped NSL win one of the most profitable parking contracts
in the country.
NSL recently lost out on the highly lucrative Westminster parking contract,
when the council announced their preferred bidder was Mouchel. However
Westminster has now cancelled the tendering of this contract due to
a legal flaw and must start the tendering process again from scratch.
For more information contact Sarah Friday, Camden UNISON branch officer
on 07776 37 43 45 or George Binette, Camden UNISON branch secretary
on 020 7974 1633 or 07905 826304
Fujitsu settlement
I'm writing on behalf of all the UNITE members at Fujitsu to thank you for your support during our dispute over Jobs, Pay and Pensions. Members have voted by 81% on a 72% turnout to accept proposals tabled by ACAS to settle the dispute. The news page of our web site (www.ourunion.org.uk/news) includes both a link to the UNITE press release and a copy of the ACAS proposals.
Whilst the ACAS brokered proposals do not fully satisfy our members’ aspirations, there have been significant changes in the company’s position on jobs, pay and pensions over the course of the dispute.
We could not have achieved what we did without the magnificent support and solidarity we received. We raised around £20,000, which allowed us to provide substantial Hardship Payments to the members most in need.
We come out of this dispute with a larger membership and a stronger organisation than ever before.
Support such as yours makes a real difference.
Thanks again
Ian Allinson, Chair, UNITE Fujitsu UK Combine Committee
Beating the Blacklist
Click here for information on the campaign to expose and root out the use of blacklists to intimidate workers' reps
Aid for the people of Gaza
Click here for useful contacts
RMT
Click here for news of disputes on the London Underground
Click here for other RMT news, and here for the campaign to keep the Tyne & Wear Metro public.
Unison
A shop steward sacked at Whipps Cross hospital in East London has won re-instatement after co-workers threatened to ballot on industrial action. More
Victimised trade unionists
Click here for details of trade unionists who face victimisation for carrying out their duties
Construction Safety Campaign
"The recession is having major effects on construction companies. This must not be allowed to be transferred into further safety cuts which would worsen the employers' dreadful safety record. Attend our meeting and support our campaign". Contact "Construction Safety Campaign", PO Box 23844, London, SE15 3WR or phone 07747795954
Justice for the Shrewsbury 24
After the 1972 Building Workers’ National Strike 24 Trade Unionists were tried at Shrewsbury in a hostile act perpetrated by a Tory Government to criminalise picketing. A number of these men were given severe prison sentences. Best known of them were Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson, who became referred to as the “Shrewsbury 2.” Des died as a direct result of the treatment that was meted out to him during his lengthy incarceration. Successive Governments both Tory and Labour, have remained unresponsive to the calls for these perverse judgements to be set aside, and for these men to be cleared. There is now a renewal of the campaign, even after all this time, and the death of some of those involved, to secure justice for these Trade Union Comrades.
The time has come to get justice for all of the 24 Trade Unionists who were political pawns whose only crime was to support their Union by picketing. The campaign is also calling for a Public Inquiry to expose the role of successive governments and the secret services in the events surrounding this important time in labour history.
Campaigners have established a facebook group "Justice
for the Shrewsbury 24" at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=102601036784&ref=ts
. The group currently has 698 members and if you could encourage more
people to join would be fantastic as campaigners also post information
etc. on there. You can also affiliate to the campaign. You could set
up another support group in your area and spread the word amongst colleagues
etc. For videos of the campaign and more information, also visit the
site for PCS activists in Shropshire, http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/pcsshropshirewordpress/index.php/2009/07/17/shrewsbury-24-campaign-video/