As unions start to discuss what action can be taken against this weak and divided Tory Government, three important disputes either start this week or move up a gear. Today, the day before the NHS turns 69, workers at Barts Trust in London employed by Serco started action with huge picket lines and a buoyant protest. Manchester maintenance workers have escalated their dispute to all out action. And Mixed Fleet cabin crew in British Airways have resumed their action after management refused to lift sanctions on striking workers.
The NSSN supports all these disputes and have been on the picket lines. We appeal to our supporters and affiliates to send your solidarity and financial support to these workers.
Workers across four London hospitals take strike action in battle against low pay (3 July) – Low paid workers at Barts Health NHS Trust employed by Serco, who are demanding a proper pay increase, held a protest on 4 July and take part in strikes over three days across four London hospitals. Send messages of support to Unite branch secretary Len Hockey [email protected]
Mears Manchester housing workers set to begin all out strike action (3 July) – Unite, the UK’s largest construction union, announced today (Monday 3 July) a dramatic escalation in strike action as part of a long running dispute with private contractor Mears and joint venture company Manchester Working (operated by Mears) over pay differentials and attacks on terms and conditions. The 170 plus housing maintenance workers employed by the two organisations will be striking continuously for four weeks from Saturday 8 July to Friday 4 August. Today’s announcement comes as workers take part in the eighteenth day of strike action of the dispute read more
British Airways accused of seeking to ‘punish’ workers on ‘poverty pay’ (30 June) – Unite accused British Airways of seeking to ‘punish’ workers on ‘poverty pay’ as mixed fleet cabin crew geared up for tomorrow’s (Saturday 1 July) start of a 16-day strike over pay and the sanctioning of striking workers. The strike is the latest in a long-running dispute involving members of British Airways’ mixed fleet cabin crew working on short and long haul flights out of Heathrow. The planned 16-day strike has forced British Airways to cancel flights and apply for permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ‘wet lease’ nine Qatar Airways aircraft read more
Victory for the Irish anti-water charge protestors who were facing trial for a protest in Jobstown! The first batch of six cases were found not guilty – the campaign now wants the charges dropped for all the accused
Please send messages of support: https://sites.google.com/view/jobstownnotguilty/ https://www.facebook.com/Jobstown-Not-Guilty-1056889327677242/
NSSN TUC Rally Brighton: ‘Fight together to get the Tories out!’ – 1pm Sunday September 10th in the Arundel Suite in the Holiday Inn, 137 King’s Rd BN1 2JF. Confirmed speakers: Mark Serwotka PCS General Secretary, Steve Gillan POA General Secretary and Ronnie Draper BFAWU General Secretary
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
PCS
Help save Public Lending Right Stockton (28 Jun) – PCS has raised concerns that plans to relocate the Public Lending Right system, which gives UK authors a legal right to receive payment for the loans of their books by public libraries, will further contribute to job losses in Stockton-on-Tees, an area already suffering with high unemployment. A public consultation exercise is underway to relocate the PLR, an arm of the British Library, from Stockton to Boston Spa by 2020 read more
Support Sheffield Eastern Avenue jobcentre – PCS members have been on strike over plans to close 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
RMT
RMT demands an end to the public sector pay cap (4 July) – TRANSPORT UNION RMT today called on the Government to lift the seven-year pay cap across all employers in the public sector and to increase pay for these long suffering workers above the RPI rate of inflation. RMT organises workers in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Tyne & Wear Metro and Orkney Ferries who have all seen their pay drop well behind inflation and consequent increases in the cost of living since the Tory-Lib Dem coalition embarked on a punitive policy of public sector pay restraint in 2010 to pay for an economic crisis caused by the financial services sector read more
RMT releases proposed deal to break Southern Rail deadlock as it reveals that 8000 trains a year are running without protection of second member of staff (4 July) – On the day that the RMT General Secretary Mick Cash meets MPs on the Southern Rail Cross Party Group and when MPs later debate the government sponsored Gibb report, RMT has released a fresh proposal to break the deadlock in the long-running Southern Rail dispute. The union also revealed that at least as many as 158 trains a week, or 8216 a year, on affected services are running without a second person on-board raising renewed concerns about safety, security and passenger accessibility read more
RMT members on the picket line at the Freightliner Coatbridge depot this morning in strike over bullying and harassment read more
RMT to fight dangerous cuts to Scotrail CCTV staff (29 June) – RAIL UNION RMT has today responded with anger to confirmation that Scotrail are proposing to reduce their workforce by 22 posts at Paisley and Dunfermline CCTV locations. RMT has pledged to fight the cuts. The information has come to light, and been confirmed, within the last 24 hours following a consultation briefing between management and staff read more
Support RMT DOO strikes on Arriva Rail North: Saturday 8th July, Sunday 9th July and Monday 10th July read more; Southern Rail: for 24 hours on Monday 10th July 2017 read more and Merseyrail: Saturday 8th July, Monday 10th July and Sunday 23rd July read more
ASLEF
Update: Southern Rail Overtime ban (28 June) – Commenting on the train driver overtime ban which is due to take effect on Southern Rail from tomorrow (June 29th) ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said ‘the ban reflects the total loss of trust and goodwill between train drivers and the company. Drivers work overtime on an entirely voluntary basis and have no contractual obligation to do so.’ Read more
TSSA
Industrial action & Berlin protest looms over dispute in UK rail freight sector (3 July) – TSSA officials will meet with bosses of rail freight company DB Cargo today (Monday) morning in a last bid to resolve a dispute over the company’s compulsory redundancy strategy and imposition of new, non-negotiated contracts on remaining staff. TSSA is warning members not to sign any new contract of employment offered to them by DB from today, as they will be agreeing to downgrade their terms and conditions and help DB with it’s efforts to union-bust read more
More Unite
Unite hails victory in Woolwich Ferry dispute as a tribute to ‘worker solidarity’ (4 July) – The long-running Woolwich Ferry ‘bullying culture’ dispute has been settled, following ‘a remarkable display of worker solidarity’, Unite announced today (Tuesday 4 July). The deal hammered out between Unite and Briggs Marine Contractors Ltd has seen one manager being dismissed following a disciplinary hearing; a senior manager leaving the site; and a ‘fair’ settlement for the female employee who suffered sexual harassment read more
Bank of England staff to strike for first time in half a century (3 July) – Staff at the Bank of England have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a ballot calling on their employer to give them a decent pay deal. In the industrial action ballot 95 per cent voted for strike action which will be the first strike action at the bank in over 50 years. Unite has informed the Bank of England that its members working in the maintenance, parlours and security departments will be taking four days of strike action on 31 July, 1, 2 and 3 August 2017. If the bank fails to resolve the pay dispute the union will be consulting its members across other departments of the bank as part of the escalation plan. Unite has today (3 July) called on Mark Carney to “get his own house in order” and personally intervene to settle this long-running dispute for the stake of the stability of the bank and the interests of its committed workforce read more
Birmingham council refuse workers to strike over job losses and ‘bullying culture’ tomorrow (29 June) – Refuse workers at Birmingham city council will strike tomorrow (Friday 30 June), as the council swings the axe on 121 waste collection jobs amid claims of ‘a bullying culture’ and financial incompetence. Unite, the country’s largest union, confirmed today (Thursday 29 June) that the strike was going-ahead and accused the council of ‘playing fast-and-loose’ over the union’s genuine offer to engage in talks with the conciliation service, Acas. The refuse workers, members of Unite, will strike at 10:45 ending at 15:37 tomorrow (Friday 30 June). This stoppage will be followed by a series of two hour stoppages commencing at 06:00 on: 3, 11, 19 and 27 July and 4 August. There will also be an overtime ban with workers adhering to their contracted hours (06.00 to 15.37), plus returning to depots for all lunch and tea breaks read more
FBU
Firefighters’ union declares new pay offer inadequate (4 July) – A four year pay settlement offered to firefighters has today been deemed inadequate by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) who say it fails to address the concerns of members. While the firefighters’ union acknowledges that the move is the first public sector pay offer to breach the 1% pay cap, they say the offer fails to take into account the extra work firefighters have taken on in recent years, including responding to new types of terror attacks and medical emergencies read more
Queen’s Speech: Firefighters tell government to stop disastrous cuts in dire warning over future of the fire service (28 June) – Firefighters have called on MPs to support an amendment to the Queen’s Speech today that will protect the fire and rescue service in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which represents the vast majority of firefighters in the UK, is supporting a Labour Party amendment to the Queen’s speech that calls on the government to halt fire service cuts and re-instate firefighter posts that have been previously cut. The necessary funding should be provided by central government to ensure this read more
Unison
Kirklees Council’s Children’s Social Work Teams strike for 48 hours on Wednesday 5th/Thursday 6th July 2017 – The strike is over vacancies, workloads, grading, inadequate workplaces, use of agency staff and has been ongoing since 2012. Workloads have doubled in that period whilst staffing levels have fallen. The general feeling amongst members is that “enough is enough”. All Kirklees UNISON members are urged to show their support for the dispute. For too long the Council have expected staff to provide services, with less staff, higher workloads and less resources. Staff are leaving the Council and coming back as agency social workers and earning £10,000 per year more. 10 agency social workers were recently paid £498,000 for a six month contract read more
Durham Teaching assistants call for members to reject council’s offer to settle dispute – Today (22 June), Durham County Council voted to put a new proposal to Teaching Assistants. They say it is an improved offer and will see 78% of Teaching Assistants not losing money. However, the County Durham Teaching Assistants’ Activist Committee have serious concerns about the proposal for the following reasons: 22% of TAs are still facing a pay loss. They might have their pay protected for 2 years but they have already had 21 months of extreme stress not knowing if they can keep their homes or their jobs. Our campaign has been built on solidarity and we are not comfortable with the large number of TAs still facing losses – 472 people with families and homes. Having fought together and supported each other for nearly two years, it will be very difficult for any of us to work alongside colleagues who will be facing a loss when some of us are not read more
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
RCN
Join the ‘Scrap the cap’ pay protests https://www.rcn.org.uk/nursingcounts/scrap-the-cap
CWU
14,500 attacks on Postal Workers over the last five years (3 July) – Royal Mail has revealed that over the last five years there have been around 14,500 dog attacks on postmen and woman across the UK, with around 2,500 in the last year alone. The fifth annual Dog Awareness Week launched today (Monday 3rd July) runs from 3 to 8 July 2017. The week aims to raise awareness of the issue of dog attacks on postmen and women and encourage responsible dog ownership read more
GMB
OCA Strike Looms After Ballot (June 30) – Union says its time for the OCA and its client employers to get round the table and find a solution. GMB members working for employers within the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) today voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action read more
POA
Bully boy tactics from incompetent government and directors of prison service (3 July) – The POA will be in the High Court tomorrow 4th July 2017 defending an application from the Secretary of State David Lidington to obtain a permanent injunction in an attempt to silence the POA membership from the crisis within our Prisons which has been created by this Government with failed policies and devastating cuts and the failed Directors of her Majesty’s Prison and Probation service overseeing the destruction of a service that hasn’t been witnessed in decades read more
BECTU
More strikes at Picturehouse this Friday 7 July – BECTU members at five London sites will strike again this Friday 7 July as their battle to secure the Living Wage intensifies. Union members at the Ritzy in Brixton and at the Hackney Picturehouse, Picturehouse Central and East Dulwich Picturehouse will down tools from 4pm in a strike which will run until 5am on Saturday 8 July. Members on strike will travel to the Crouch End Picturehouse where members there will be on strike from 5pm for 12 hours. The picket line at the Crouch End venue will run alongside a demonstration with guest speakers. This Friday’s strike comes ahead of the interim relief hearing in the Employment Tribunals in Croydon on Monday 10 July which will consider the circumstances of the dismissal of three BECTU representatives at the Ritzy cinema on 14 June read more Sign the petition
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
UCU
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
Fair Funding for All Schools protest: Sunday 16 July – Assemble: Victoria Embankment at Midday, Rally: Parliament Square at 1.30pm http://www.fairfundingforallschools.org/index.html
Support the NUT London school strikes against cuts at Forest Hill in Lewisham read more
IWGB
Porters and Postroom working for Cordant in University of London vote 100% YES on 78% TURNOUT! – UOL strike set to escalate. See https://www.facebook.com/uoliwgb/
United Voices of the World Union
LSE cleaners to strike for 72 hours from July 12 during students graduation over the unlawful sacking of cleaning supervisor Alba Pasmino – After the LSE cleaners recent historic victory which resulted in them being brought in-house after 7 days of strike action and the largest cleaners strike in UK history, the cleaners will be back out on strike for 3 more days during the LSE students graduation over one remaining issue of dispute: Alba Pasmino https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/ Facebook event
Other News
London Action Mesothelioma Day Friday 7th July – see details on page 3 of this month’s London Hazards magazine http://www.lhc.org.uk/london-hazards-magazine-mesothelioma-day-addition/
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
Bahrain must stop media intimidation & closures read more on NUJ website
Moroccan fish canner DOHA drops charges against union leader – now the company must reinstate 540 dismissed workers! read more
Diary
2017
July
8 Durham Miners Gala www.durhamminers.org
14-17 Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/festival
September
3 Burston Strike School Rally 2017 – Guest speakers already confirmed include John McDonnell MP, Len McCluskey, Unite General Secretary http://burstonstrikeschool.co.uk/rally2017/
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
