NSSN 317: Solidarity with striking Durham Teaching Assistants!

Support the Durham Teaching Assistants from Unison and ATL who are on strike again today and tomorrow to stop wage cuts of 23%.

Watch this video by Reel News and subscribe and donate to this video activist collective that publicises workers’ struggles

Unison: Schools to close as Durham teaching assistants take second two-day strike action

Donate to the Durham TAs’ fund here

Durham TAs Facebook page here

Donate to Derby hardship fund here

Derby Unison branch Facebook page here

 

Crossrail day of action – Friday November 25th. Meet 7.30am Crossrail HQ 25, Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5LQ. Construction workers are getting organised to demand a 2nd Tier payment and decent health & safety on the biggest publicly-funded project in Western Europe  read more

 

NSSN news

Early notice – 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

This is a video of the NSSN TUC Congress Rally on 11 September – Tories Out! Keep Corbyn!

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

RMT

The NSSN calls on all our supporters and affiliates to support RMT members who are in dispute with Southern Rail. The latest strike was yesterday and today – the next strike dates are Tuesday 6th December to Thursday 8th December, Thursday 22nd December to Saturday 24th December and Saturday 31st December 2016 to Monday 2nd January 2017 read more here. Please send messages of support and donations to the RMT – [email protected] RMT Unity House 39 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD  Latest phase of Southern RMT guards strike “solid and determined” this morning

RMT says cost of resolving Southern guards dispute a “tiny fraction” of Government bail-out and parent company profits

RMT writes to Scottish Transport Minister calling for urgent talks on plans to bring Scotrail into public ownership (21 Nov) – SCOTLAND’S BIGGEST RAIL UNION today wrote to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf calling for urgent talks on a plan to bring Scotrail into public ownership – drawing a line under the disastrous performance of the Dutch-owned Abellio outfit read more

 

Unison

Strike action set to resume in Scotland’s colleges (22 Nov) – disruption looms for Scotland’s colleges if employers fail to give support staff a fair deal. UNISON, the trade union for college support staff, has today (Tuesday) written to Colleges Scotland Employers’ Association and Scottish Ministers to urge a fair negotiated settlement to this long running dispute read more

Sandwell Council workers agree strike action over ‘privatisation’ of children’s services (21 Nov) – Members of Unison, GMB and Unite voted overwhelmingly in favour of the strike action, in response to the decision to set up a private Children’s Trust. Earlier this year it was decided that Sandwell’s struggling children’s services department, rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in June 2015, would be taken over by an independent trust. The move was based on recommendations made by commissioner Eleanor Brazil, who was drafted in to oversee Sandwell’s children’s services read more in Express & Star

Unison consults West Dunbartonshire council admin staff on industrial action (18 Nov) – UNISON West Dunbartonshire Branch has launched a consultative ballot of administrative workers seeking their views on taking industrial action including strike action. The move comes in response to the council creating a Corporate Administration Service which brings together virtually all administrative staff in the council into one team on generic job descriptions read more

Glasgow Unison janitors on new 14-day strike & ICT staff action – Unison School Janitors will strike from 14 November for two weeks in working context payment dispute Glasgow Evening Times: Plans to privatise council IT services called in for scrutiny by opposition    Unison Glasgow City Branch Facebook group

Send messages of support to [email protected]

Support Barnet library workers, who were on strike on November 5th and 12th against closures and redundancies www.facebook.com/BarnetUNISON   www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp

Sign petition to support the Kinsley School cleaners in Wakefield on indefinite strike since September 6th sign here   Facebook Group  Donate to strike fund – send to Wakefield Unison, 18 Gills Yard, Wakefield WF1 3BZ

 

NUJ

Newsquest south London staff on a work to rule after strike – Journalists on Newsquest south London titles returned to their office following ten days’ strike action and will be working to rule. The dispute followed the company putting all but a handful of the 29 staff at risk of redundancy and proposed a “restructure” resulting in 12 reporters covering news, sport and leisure across 11 newspapers and associated websites under a single content editor read more  To send messages of support and donations to the hardship fund, email Bernard Roche at [email protected] noting the amount and send the money to Account number 20143387 Sort code 608301

 

PCS

Vote now to oppose redundancy pay cuts (22 Nov) – With less than a week to go in the PCS consultative ballot tens of thousands of PCS members are expected to vote against the government’s deep cuts to civil service redundancy pay. Our ballot, which ends at noon on Monday (28 November), is an opportunity for about 160,000 affected members to register their disgust and strength of feeling at the government’s imposition of cuts of at least 25% to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme read more

Sign the petition to end privatisation at the Imperial War Museums sign here

 

Unite

Workers vote for industrial action at ‘Scrooge’ Diageo (21 Nov) – Workers at drinks giant Diageo have voted to take industrial action over plans to slash their pensions at a time when the company is making massive profits. Members of Unite the union voted by an overwhelming majority for industrial action at the company, whose brands include Johnnie Walker, Bells, Smirnoff and Guinness. Unite members across Diageo’s UK sites voted 82 per cent in favour of industrial action short of a strike, and 77 per cent in favour of strike action read more

Sanctuary: We’ll Dismiss and Re-Engage Staff (21 Nov) – Sanctuary Supported Living (SSL) staff have received letters from their employer threatening a possible dismissal and re-engagement if they do not agree to huge pay cuts, even though the project makes an annual surplus. The SSL project contributes to the parent organisation’s surpluses of over £50 million pa read more

Support Fujitsu workers – Unite members at Fujitsu in the UK are fighting job cuts and to protect their rights when the company terminates our works council in January. In Manchester members are striking over pay, pensions and job security. Latest news: http://www.ouruniontest.wordpress.com Supporters can find the “appeal for support” leaflet and details of how to send messages of support and donate to the Manchester strike fund here: https://ouruniontest.wordpress.com/manchester-dispute/   Facebook Group

 

GMB

G4S 3 day strike at St George’s Hospital, 22nd-24th November (21 Nov) – GMB members working for G4S Patient Transport at St George’s Hospital in Tooting are to strike for 3 days starting next Tuesday 22nd November until Thursday 24th November over poor pay and conditions relative to other workers at the site. This follows on from a one day strike on 1st November. The workers, represented by GMB, the union for workers in the NHS, rejected a last-minute offer from G4S and St George’s NHS Trust. The deal failed to put the workers on a similar footing with other Patient Transport drivers in the area, or with other NHS workers at St George’s read more

Christmas Presents Won’t Make It Under The Tree If Scrooge Bosses Don’t Cough Up, Warns GMB And Unite (21 Nov) – Unions warn of Yuletide gift chaos if paltry pay offer leads to strike. Thousands Christmas trees across the country may not have presents under them on December 25 if miserly bosses don’t get their act together, warn GMB and Unite. The two unions say members in corrugated packaging are ready to strike over pay – and told customers of major retailers to expect their festive purchases to be thrown into chaos read more

Talks Turn Bitter As York Sweet Makers’ Strike Continues (Nov 20) – Union members set to continue strike at Tangerine’s York factory making Mint Humbugs, Sherbert Fountains, Butterkist Popcorn and Princess Marshmallows read more

 

FBU

Pensions: video update on legal challenge (17 Nov) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) are challenging the government in court over the transitional protection arrangements it introduced as part of the imposed 2015 Firefighters’ Pension Scheme. The FBU believes the changes to the pension are discriminatory on age grounds. In this video update, Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, gives a comprehensive update on the union’s legal challenge as it believes the government’s changes to firefighters’ pension are discriminatory read more

FBU lobby of Parliament: for professional standards throughout the fire and rescue service – to protect firefighters’ safety and to improve the service to the public – Tuesday 29 November for rally at Cathedral Hall at Westminster Cathedral at 11.30am, before proceeding to Parliament

 

BFAWU

Sheffield Fight for £10 living wage demonstration – 1pm Saturday December 17th Devonshire Green www.facebook.com/Sheff4Ten

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

 

NUT

NUT North West ‘Invest don’t cut’ rally – Saturday 26 November: 12:00, Sackville Gardens, Manchester, M1 3HB leaflet

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

 

UCU

Russell Group universities worst offenders when it comes to insecure contracts (16 Nov) – The UK’s elite universities are the worst offenders when it comes to employing academics on precarious contracts reveals new analysis released today. Three-fifths (59%) of academics at the research-intensive Russell Group of universities are employed on insecure contracts, compared to an average of 53% across UK higher education read more

Support the reinstatement of London Met union reps: Mark Campbell and David Hardman https://uculondonmet.wordpress.com/

 

CWU

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. 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

 

Nationalise Tata – support the Steelworkers

For latest developments, follow Facebook group

 

BECTU

Brixton and Hackney workers strike again – They are striking over the first 5 days of Fantastic Beasts because they believe everyone has the right to be able to afford to watch wonderful films full of hope like the Harry Potter series Brixton Facebook Page   Hackney Facebook Page   Support the Picturehouse Strike Fund – donate now

 

Defend the NHS

‘It’s Our NHS’ – National Demonstration to defend the NHS in London on March 4th 2017 – called by ‘Health Campaigns Together’ an umbrella organisation of different local campaigns against NHS cuts https://www.facebook.com/events/1771664639725061/  http://www.healthcampaignstogether.com/index.php

Sign petition against NHS cuts here

 

IWGB

City Sprint Delivery firm latest in employment law line of fire. Lawyers for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain will argue at the London Central Employment Tribunal this week that couriers working for CitySprint should be granted full rights. Read more here  and on IWGB Couriers and Logistics Branch Facebook Group  Guardian: CitySprint faces tribunal over rights of freelance workers

 

United Voices of the World

Cleaners at the LSE are poised to strike for the first time in the history of the prestigious university! Fed up with being treated like they are second class, the cleaners boldly put the LSE and their contractor Noonan on notice that if no response to their demands for equality was forthcoming by Friday 18th November then they would instruct their union UVW to declare a formal trade dispute. The LSE and Noonan did provide responses before the deadline given but unfortunately the responses were as vacuous as they were disrespectful. The cleaners’ are asking for nothing more than to be treated and paid as equals: they are asking only for equality. And yet the LSE and Noonan refused to confirm a timescale of implementation for the cleaners’ demands or even that they intended to implement them at all. In good faith and to demonstrate they are taking every possible and reasonable step to avert a strike, the cleaners have instructed UVW to extend the deadline to the LSE and Noonan, until Friday 2nd December following which the cleaners will, for the first time in history and to the LSE’s eternal shame, declare a formal trade dispute and commence the ballot for industrial action Read more on United Voices of the World Facebook Group

Check out the trailer to “The John Lewis Lie”, a new film coming to your screens soon. The film exposes the lies behind the claim that John Lewis is a partnership. John Lewis cruelly and inexcusably excludes the cleaners who are consequently denied the annual bonus that everyone loves and celebrates, and who the cleaners are forced to watch celebrate every year

Trade union victimisation: Topshop cleaners have been sacked! Support UVW’s legal proceedings – Two cleaners at billionaire BHS buster Philip Green’s flagship brand Topshop have been sacked for campaigning for a living wage. Their union UVW have started legal proceedings on their behalf for trade union victimisation. However, legal fees can cost several thousand pounds for two big claims like this and UVW runs on a shoe string budget. Therefore, if you would like to contribute towards the legal fees of the Topshop Two’s Tribunal claims then please do so via paypal by following this link  http://www.uvwunion.org.uk/emergency-appeal (you’ll see the button at the bottom of the page) or just by transferring directly to UVW’s bank account: The Co-operative Bank Account title: United Voices of the World Sort code: 08-92-99 Account: 65755617

 

 

Other News

Axe the Housing Act protest – Wednesday 23 November 12pm Old Palace Yard opposite Parliament www.facebook.com/events/361312574216291

BOOK NOW for a conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Lucas Plan! – Leading figures from the left, trade union, environmental and peace movements are coming together at a conference on November 26th with a fresh perspective on tackling current crises, using the ideas of socially useful production pioneered in the Lucas Plan. The Plan, produced by workers at the Lucas Aerospace arms company, showed how jobs could be saved by converting to make products that answer a social need, rather than weapons. To book for the conference, visit www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets.  See www.lucasplan.org.uk

 

 

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)

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: Fight for $15 national day of disruption read more

Sign petition: demand Verizon Filipino Workers Are Paid What They Earned sign here

 

Diary (see & use false economy)

 

2016

 

November

 

2017

March

4 ‘It’s Our NHS’ – National Demonstration to defend the NHS in London on March 4th 2017 – called by ‘Health Campaigns Together’ an umbrella organisation of different local campaigns against NHS cuts https://www.facebook.com/events/1771664639725061/  http://www.healthcampaignstogether.com/index.php

With Banners Held High – all day workshops, debates, exhibition gig in Wakefield in support of causes such as Justice for Mineworkers and Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign https://webmail.123-reg.co.uk/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail&folder=default0//NNIS%5B

 

July

1 11th annual NSSN Conference 11am in Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

 

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