Unions & Greens: Policy Fest session

 

Here is a Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/884119599006848 

Here is the Policy Fest sign up link (people need to sign up!): https://actionnetwork.org/events/policy-fest-winter-2021

Unions & Greens: Policy Fest session

Covid19, Schools and School Workers.

Vix Lothion (Green Party education spokesperson), speaking at Green Party Trade Union group meeting 2 January 2021 on Covid19, Schools and School Workers. Followed questions and discussion. Chaired by Matthew Hull.

OXCITYLIVINGWAGE SECURITY AT READING HOSPITAL TO STAGE SECOND WAVE OF STRIKES IN ‘DAVID AND GOLIATH’ PAY BATTLE

 FWD: OXCITYLIVINGWAGE SECURITY AT READING HOSPITAL TO STAGE SECOND WAVE OF STRIKES IN ‘DAVID AND GOLIATH’ PAY BATTLE - UNITE PRESS RELEASE

I

Dear all - these workers are paid a little over the living wage and are on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.

It looks likely that they will be organising a 'virtual picket line' on the evening of 13th January (details to follow).

Report from Reading Trades Council

https://readingtradesunioncouncil.blogspot.com/2020/12/rtuc-back-striking-security-staff-at.html

Unite Press Release

Immediate release: Tuesday 22 December 2020

Security guards at Reading hospital to stage second wave of strikes in ‘David and Goliath’ pay battle

Security staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, locked in a ‘David and Goliath’ pay battle with their employer, will be striking over 20 days during January and February.

The 23 security guards are striking from 07.00 on Monday 4 January over the failure of their employer Kingdom Services Group Ltd to make a decent pay offer for 2020. Their strike action will end at 19.00 on Friday 12 February.

They have already taken five days of strike action which ended on Friday (18 December).

The security personnel, members of Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, provide security for Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Unite condemned the employer for using agency staff to undermine the strike, which, the union says, is legally questionable during industrial action.

The lowly-paid security guards have voted unanimously to take strike action against Kingdom Services Group, a major corporate service provider with a £100 million plus turnover.

Unite regional officer Jesika Parmar said: “Our members will continue their ‘David and Goliath’ struggle in the new year with strike action over 20 days in January and February.

“Our members are seeking a modest pay increase to £12 an hour for security officers and £13.00 an hour for security supervisors, but standing in the way of this reasonable demand for a living wage is a management which is part of a global organisation with a £100 million turnover.

“Our lowly-paid members provide security 24/7 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital which is on the Covid-19 frontline. However, the company continues to refuse to engage in meaningful talks over the 2020 pay award and other issues, such as harmonisation of sick pay, and enhanced pay for working nights, weekends and overtime.

“Our members were very reluctant to take industrial action during a national crisis, but strongly felt that the bosses were using coronavirus as an excuse to drive down pay and employment conditions which is totally unacceptable.

“We strongly deplore the action by Kingdom Services Group for its involvement in using agency staff to undermine a legitimate industrial dispute which we are legally challenging.

“Such action will cause reputational damage to the company and, indirectly, to the bosses of the trust who are presiding over this outsourced culture.

“We would like to thank the people of Reading for the great support that they have given to our members – it has been a real Christmas tonic that is deeply appreciated.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The exact times of the strike action are:

• from 07:00  on 4 January 2021 until 19.00 on 8 January
• from 07:00  on 11 January until 19.00 on 15 January
• from 07:00  on 1 February  until  19.00 on 5 February
• from 07:00 on 8 February  until 19.00 on 12 February

The company’s website states: ‘Kingdom is one of the largest, independent and privately owned companies specialising in security solutions, facilities management, environmental protection and recruitment within the UK, Ireland and South Asia. We operate on a £100 million+ turnover.’

For more information please contact Unite senior communications officer Shaun Noble on 020 3371 2060 or 07768 693940. Unite press office is on:  020 3371 2065.

Please note the numbers above are for journalists’ enquiries only.

Email: shaun.noble@unitetheunion.org

Twitter: @unitetheunion Facebook: unitetheunion1 Web: unitetheunion.org

Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.

TUCAN comment following the conclusion of the inquest into the tragic death of Ella Kissi-Debra

 

New release – 16 December 2020 – No Embargo

TRADE UNION CLEAN AIR NETWORK (TUCAN)

TUCAN comment following the conclusion of the inquest into the tragic death of Ella Kissi-Debra

Our thoughts are with Ella’s family and friends at the conclusion of this inquest’s ground breaking verdict and our congratulations go to Ella’s mother, Rosamund, for her determination with her prolonged campaign for the truth to be heard.

Commenting on the verdict, Graham Petersen, TUCAN, said: “The result of the inquest shows in an all too tragic way what we and many others have been saying for far too many years – the polluted air we have to breathe can and does kill and government must act to ensure the pollutants are reduced and removed.

“TUCAN says the Government must also focus on those employers and industries whose operations contribute to the polluted air of local communities and their own workforce.  Key to all this are our trade unions and their representatives who are in an informed position to discuss and help implement positive actions at work.

“However, we feel the government must take the lead in this firstly by acknowledging the extent of the problem and then taking steps to ensure employers and the authorities act quickly and decisively to reduce the potential for ill health and further deaths.”

The ways in which air pollution can be an issue at your job have not been well discussed and part of TUCAN’s mission is to broaden that understanding. Whether someone is just commuting, working in an office or shop, working on a construction project, driving to and from work or on the road all day they are all going to be exposed to harmful emissions, notably nitrogen oxide and fine particulate matter, and that exposure does not have to be very high for it to affect our health.

Notes

The Hazards Campaign is a founder member of the Trade Union Clean Air Network TUCAN

Contact: Hilda Palmer:  07929800240

Trade Union Clean Air Network:

https://www.greenerjobsalliance.co.uk/air-pollution/

TUCAN Charter:

http://www.greenerjobsalliance.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GJA-TU-Clean-Air-Charter-EMAIL.pdf

Hazards magazine on clearing the air:

https://www.hazards.org/chemicals/diediesel.htm

Air pollution—a wicked problem: Professor Stephen Holgate, Royal College of Physicians Special Advisor on air quality and UKRI Clean Air Champion, University of Southampton.

https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j2814

SOLIDARITY WITH BRIGHTON UCU

 

SOLIDARITY WITH BRIGHTON UCU

Monday 7th December, 8.30-10am Pickets United: joint virtual picket with Brighton University and Rolls Royce strikers To attend the picket online, register here... There are two events this week  in solidarity with Brighton University UCU’s fight against redundancies.📷On Monday Brighton UCU will pioneer an experiment in picketing. In what we believe will be the first instance ever of digital secondary picketing, our real-world picket at the Grand Parade building in central Brighton from 8.30-10am will be Zoom-linked with the picket of Rolls Royce strikers in Barnoldswick, Lancashire. We are inviting delegations from UCU branches and other trade unions to join us online to bring solidarity and, if possible, donations to our strike fund. To attend the picket online, register here...Thursday 10 December 12 noon Brighton UCU online strike rally  'Fightin’ Brighton: Fighting for our universities - students and staff together’ With John McDonnell MP, speakers from UCU branches at UEL, Goldsmiths, SOAS Unison, and students involved in rent strikes and protests at various universities To attend the rally, register here... Details of our JustGiving page... Bank account details for payments into our strike fund: UCU Brighton University SO224; Sort code: 608301; Ac/no. 40000280 In solidarity - MarkAbel Chair UCU Coordinating Committee University of Brighton 📷📷📷Copyright © 2020 UCU London Retired Members Branch, All rights reserved. UCU London Retired Members Branch - members and supporters

messages of solidarity and support to colleagues fighting to defend jobs and conditions throughout our union.

 

View online

Receiving support from UCU colleagues across the UK makes a real difference to members fighting local disputes. Please help spread the word, and send messages of solidarity and support to colleagues fighting to defend jobs and conditions throughout our union. University of Brighton: No compulsory redundancies in IT support Brighton members will be on strike on Wednesday 2 December in the first of five days of strike action against compulsory redundancies of IT staff. The university is refusing to redeploy UCU members into posts in a new structure in order to sack them. Help fill the Brighton UCU wall of support Send a message here Join the online solidarity rally: 12pm, Wednesday 2 December Tweet support to @BrightonUCU Mass redundancies at Solent University In what is regarded by the branch as an existential threat to the future of Solent University, management have put 18.5% of staff at risk of redundancy, and plans to make 109 job cuts (9.2%) with dismissal letters expected to be sent just before Christmas. Members are currently being consulted as to whether they would be prepared to take action. Please show your support: find out more about the dispute send solidarity  tweet support: @ucu_solent Campus safety at the University of Birmingham Members at University of Birmingham are being balloted for industrial action over safety concerns as staff have been forced to work on campus and deliver face-to-face teaching. The union is asking members whether they will take action short of a strike by working and teaching online only, with a move to full strike action if staff are penalised for doing so. Please show them some solidarity: find out more here tweet support to @BirminghamUCU University of Manchester policy changes Following seven months of intense negotiations with management members at the University of Manchester are being consulted on whether to accept or reject the employers’ offer on a range of changes to terms and conditions including pay, progression, redundancies, and redeployment. Send solidarity: by email Twitter: @um_ucu  Northern Ireland further education All six of Northern Ireland's further education college branches are in a collective dispute with their employers over a below-inflation pay offer linked to unacceptable conditions which would remove workload protections and force trade unions to surrender collective bargaining rights. The changes mean there would be no limit on the number of hours a lecturer could be asked to teach each week. Watch and share Emma Shirrin MLA question Minister Dodds about lecturers' struggle for fair pay and working conditions. University of East London (UEL): no to compulsory redundancies and NO to unmanageable workloads In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic UEL has placed hundreds of staff at risk of compulsory redundancy, with another 84 staff leaving with voluntary severance. The staff remaining have now been left with unsustainable workloads and the university continues to undermine and disrespect staff by attempting to impose new workload models and calculations without negotiation. UEL have backed down on the branch reps under threat, who are now allowed to serve their notice. Let's keep the pressure on and save their jobs too. Send #saveUEL tweets in support to the branch @EastLondonUCU Follow @saveUEL for unofficial news and updates Goldsmiths UCU restructuring dispute Staff at Goldsmiths are balloting on industrial action over a planned restructuring which will cut investment in staff and intensify workloads. Read about the issues here Follow the branch on Twitter @GoldsmithsUCU Great result at Northumbria UCU As announced last week, Northumbria University UCU has become the first union branch in the UK to win a ballot over health and safety relating to Covid-19. 66.5% of members voted to strike, on a turnout of 67.3%. Congratulations to Northumbria UCU, and thank you to all those who sent their support.  Support striking colleagues: donate to the UCU fighting fund Colleagues who can afford to do so are asked to consider a donation to the UCU fighting fund. The link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes. As always, members are asked to contribute whatever their circumstances allow. A donation in solidarity of any amount will be gratefully received by members taking action. Best regards Justine Stephens UCU head of campaigns

Support the strike at Optare

 Support the strike at Optare

 Optare make Electric Buses at their factory in Leeds. The company is owned by Ashok Leyland which is owned by millionaire business brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja who are reported to have a net worth of £19 billion between them according to Asian Media and Marketing group. 

The workers at the factory who have been working a normal 40 hour week throughout the pandemic asked for a pay rise in line with the Bank of England’s inflation rate of 2%. Optare offered 1% so they went on strike.

The strike is however not just about pay Many of the jobs in the factory have been outsourced away from the permanent workforce and given to part time contractors on worse pay and conditions. This outsourcing can cause chaos with production. A worker at the plant explained that 167 pieces of glass had to be removed from a vehicle because it didn’t have the correct laminate and the outsourced workers hadn’t been trained to lift the glass properly which resulted in a lot of smashed bus windows and waste of money. 

The workforce wants to be able to produce excellent electric buses and are fed up with the chaos. In the last few months Marcus Rashford’s campaign for kids to get school meals has highlighted the struggle that working families are facing at the moment, even families in work are having to use food banks as wages in the UK are low and many companies have used the pandemic to reduce hours or sack people and rehire them on lower wages or longer hours. 

The workers at Optare just want a decent living wage. Does this have anything to do with the struggle against climate disaster? Rebels have already stared debating the way forward for XR after the pandemic and reviewing tactics. In Australia in Sept 2019 380 dockworkers from the Maritime Union walked out of work for 4 hours as part of a climate strike. 

They attended rallies with their official union placards saying” Stop Blocking Offshore Wind Climate jobs now” The Maritime union also represents oil and gas workers and says it’s trying to get ahead of the curve on climate action and has official union policy to limit warming to 1.5degrees.

 The Optare workers and the strikers at Rolls Royce who make jet engines are fighting for jobs and decent pay but in both factories, there is the beginnings of a serious debate on repurposing and a just transition. Factories can be tooled up to produce wind turbines or other necessary parts of green energy solutions and it is a mistake to think that workers even in fossil fuel industries can’t be won to action on climate. Some British unions have already supported climate action. The rail, lecturers’ and teaching unions have supported the climate strikes. Workers at the Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS ) who were on strike against being outsourced and for a London living wage when the last rebellion was on marched to one of the rallies with a banner that said “ Fighting for a green fair and just society” and chanting a “living wage on a living planet “.

 The strikers at Optare need support because they have a right to a decent wage to feed their families. No one in the movement for climate justice wants to see workers who are involved in new green technologies working hard with poor wages and conditions. 

We want decent permanent Green Jobs. We want Green Industry. We want a just and fair system for people to live in peace and safety. Supporting the Optare strikers is not separate to our struggle against climate disaster. XR rebels should send messages of solidarity to the Optare workers - we need them and they need us.

 Donations to the strike fund can be made. The account name is Unite NE/200/1 Optare branch account number 20327132 sort code 60-83-01 and the bank is Unity Trust Bank Messages of support can be sent to: Richard.bedford@unitetheunion.org 

Rebels can add their name to the list of signatories below. Signatories 

Mary Littlefield, Unite Community Norfolk Vice Chair and XR Rebel

 Wendy Smith, Unite member and XR rebel

 Tim Knight-Hughes, Unite member and XR rebel 

Tony Staunton, President, Plymouth Trades Union Council 

Hugh Stanners, NEU member and XR rebel 

Steve Wilkins Secretary Medway Trades Union Council 

Jamie Osborn, Unite member and XR rebel 

Raymond Morell, Unite Branch Chair, Aerospace, Edinburgh

 Ian Allinson, former Unite EC member, President of Manchester TUC

 Dave Sherry Vice Chair Glassgow Unite Retired Members Branch 

Jonathan Warner Unite member

 Nicola Redwood Chair Unite SE London Medical branch, Health RISC and NISC delegate and Co Chair Unite Rank and File 

James Eaden President Chesterfield and District Trades Council

 Arthur Nicoll Co-Chair, Dundee City UNISON

 Angela Brown, Unite Manchester Construction branch member