Brent SOS join libraries demonstration in Central London

Brent SOS join libraries demonstration in Central London

acknowledgements to http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/

Some of the Green Party contingent

Writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen addresses the crowd

Sian Berry holds up the Green Party's demands (Photo: Sarah Cox)

March for libraries, museums and galleries from Ian Clark on Vimeo.

Brent Library campaigners were among 2000-3000 people who joined yesterday's march in protest against 'culture cuts' to libraries, museums and galleries. Some cuts come as funding cuts or closures others through the backdoor as out-sourcing and privatisation.

Brent Council closed six of its twelve libraries in the first round of local government austerity cuts. Of the six here are now volunteer libraries at Barham, Preston and Kensal Rise and Cricklewood is on its way.

Neasden Library is particularly missed serving a poor area with many children, as is Tokyngton in Cllr Butt's ward.

In her speech Sian Berry, Green Party Assembly member,  praised library volunteers (she is one too) who had fought to keep library facilities open. She acknowledged it was hard work and would be unnecessary if we had a properly resourced, professionally staffed, comprehensive system.

The rally was addressed by Barnet library staff who were on strike on Saturday. The crowd were warned that cuts and closures, if they had not already arrived, were 'coming to a library near you'.

Andreas Malm, author of Fossil Capital, will join us on Wednesday 16th November in London.

We are delighted that Andreas Malm, author of Fossil Capital, will join us on Wednesday 16th November in London. Book tickets below.

Andreas Malm will outline some of the key ideas in his book and join a conversation about the urgent need for change. Andreas Malm's brilliant book Fossil Capital suggests that the origin of the current climate crisis can be found in the coupling of fossil fuels with capitalism in 19^th century industrial Britain.

More provocatively he argues that the choice of coal to power early industrial capitalism was a conscious, rather than inevitable decision. This choice and the resultant consequence of global warming, were made in order to undermine and challenge working class resistance to early 19th century capitalism. 

In the 21st century with temperatures continuing to rise and 2016 once again the hottest year on record by some margin, the issue of an alternative to Fossil Capital is more urgent than ever.

The CACC trade union group are delighted to be in conversation with Andreas Malm to discuss this question. Is there an alternative to the dangerous relationship between fossil fuels and capitalism? What does an alternative look like? Is it possible? Can trade unions play a central role? Hope you are able to join us. 

Book tickets here: Event Brite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/andreas-malm-in-conversation-what-is-the-alternative-to-fossil-capital-tickets-28930075635

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1322590404440726/

UCU and London Metropolitan University: academic boycott

UCU and London Metropolitan University: academic boycott

Many of you will be aware of the long standing dispute between UCU and London Metropolitan University. The university is implementing a far reaching restructuring which increases workload for many staff while making others redundant. Among the many talented staff losing their jobs are two of UCU's most senior representatives, themselves staunch critics in recent years of the university.

Given the failure of the University to consult or negotiate properly with UCU, the higher education committee (HEC) has now voted to invoke UCU's censure and academic boycott policy. In short this means that unless the university now takes active steps to resolve our dispute, UCU will soon be asking members of UCU and our sister academic unions around the globe to boycott all aspects of the university's work. 

Given the seriousness of this measure, the union is continuing to press London Metropolitan University to change course before it is too late. I hope they heed our warnings before further damage is done to the global reputation of this university.

Although the union will do all it can to resolve this dispute, I wanted to put members on notice that we - and our colleagues at London Met - may need your support in the coming weeks.

I will keep you advised of progress.

Sally Hunt

UCU general secretary

Here's the latest news from Britain's biggest, campaigning pensioners' organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC)

Here's the latest news from Britain's biggest, campaigning pensioners' organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Campaign Bulletin November 2016

Please find a link to the November 2016 issue of the NPC's Campaign! Bulletin http://npcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Campaign-Bulletin-114.pdf. We have also produced a print friendly version which reduces the amount of ink needed when the document is printed out. This can be found here http://npcuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Campaign-Bulletin-114-BW.pdf. If you wish to look at the document on screen, it is best viewed at around 121%. However, you will require the Adobe Acrobat Reader software in order to open the file. If you have any further queries please get in touch. Best wishes Neil Duncan-Jordan National Officer NPC

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Challenge issued to NASUWT as NUT and ATL set to ballot on education union merger

Challenge issued to NASUWT as NUT and ATL set to ballot on education union merger (acknowledgements to http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/)

Hank Roberts, a long-time exponent of the need for one education union and Organising Secretary of  UNIFY has issued the following statement ahead the special conferences of the ATL and NUT to be held on Saturday. The conferences will decide whether to ballot members on proposals to merge the two unions.

Special conferences of the ATL and NUT will be held in London on November 5th. It will be an historic day for the education unions. Prediction is fraught with dangers but may I be so bold as to predict that both unions will have an overwhelming majority for going forward to a ballot of their respective memberships. Further I have no doubt that the respective memberships will return a yes vote in their ballots. Opinion polls over the years have repeatedly shown a majority in favour of uniting the unions. And why wouldn’t they? Our experience shows we have suffered because of our division in the face of ruthless government attacks on education. 

The question is why has it taken this long to break the logjam? I and others in 1996 set up a cross union body campaigning for professional unity. We called it Professional Unity 2000 in the somewhat optimistic belief that it was such a self-evidently good idea we would be able to achieve it by the year 2000.

In the event it has taken us 20 years and we detailed some of the history and events surrounding this in our 20th anniversary issue of our magazine UNIFY which was handed out at this year’s annual education union conferences.

Our immediate task is to win the ballots by the biggest majority possible and, immediately the ink is dry on our agreement, for the new union to take our great cause to the rest of our colleagues in the other education unions. The new union, the National Education Union, will have 500,000 members and be the fourth largest union in the TUC. But a union of all of us working in education would be over 1 million. A mighty force to be reckoned with. It would not be a magic solution to all our problems, but it would make a major difference to getting the Government to take our voice seriously. 

The other education unions need to reflect on the results of this and why it happened, in particular the NASUWT. My challenge to Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary is; you say the majority of your NASUWT members don’t believe in and don’t want a single united education union. In that case prove it. Commission an independent opinion poll of your members.

If they back your stance you can legitimately continue with NASUWT as a separate union with you as its head. If they don’t, start informal talks towards building unity further. The education barbarians are not just at the gates, they are in the stockades. We need to unite to have any chance of saving state education, and to build a future education system worthy of our children.

a social democrat fantasy world?

The Guardian has a slightly better record than most other English national newspapers in reporting on green political issues, but it all too often it misunderstands and misrepresents them. Zoe Williams does this in her article on the Richmond by-election, (“Division haunts the left. Richmond is our chance to lay it to rest” 31/10/2016), when she writes of “…the unions and the greens on opposite sides, one fighting for jobs, the other for the climate.” Perhaps she has not heard that the TUC advocates a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon economy whereby workers can change employment from industries that contribute to climate change to those that help to reduce its impacts. 

Maybe she is also unaware of the “1 Million Climate jobs” publication by the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union group which sets out a detailed, credibly researched, argument detailing how a ‘just transition’ could be brought about; at least 8 major unions have supported the production of this plan. 

I could go on and cite other instances of Unions and greens making common cause over such issues and I have no intention of glossing over the fact that there are disagreements on some points, including airport expansion. However the matter is more complicated than a simple binary opposition of ‘greens versus unions’. I thought I might find some recognition of this in a Guardian opinion piece.

Yrs. sincerely

P.Murry,