New Look Morning Star Out June 1st

The "new look" Morning Star will be published on June 1st.

The following is a statement by Bill Benfield, the Morning Star's editor who has overseen the changes, which include more pages midweek and at weekend in a new weekend edition; better use of colour and new typeface and layout.

Workers Uniting Group supporters can check out the Morning Star at the new website:

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php

"We have been, according to our detractors, a clique of Stalinists, a nest of revisionists, a set of counter-revolutionaries, a bunch of state capitalist stooges, a pack of bitter geriatrics living in the past and a group of head-in-the-clouds idealists, fantasists with only a failed socialist Soviet Union to reminisce about.

During our existence, we have survived fire, flood, boycott, imprisonment of our staff, government bans and proscriptions, distribution embargoes, libel actions, physical attacks, receiverships, advertising embargoes and political misrepresentation and we are still here.

So perhaps we are doing something right.

But the one thing that we have never been accused of is a lack of ambition, which is probably just as well for a tiny, perennially broke newspaper forever teetering on the edge of bankruptcy setting out to tilt at the biggest windmill that there is - free-market capitalism red in tooth and claw, if not in politics.

And it's all made more difficult because we march to a different drummer than the rest of the national press.

In an economy in which newspapers number their readers in the millions and their revenue in the tens of millions, we count our readers in the thousands and our revenue in minus numbers, relieved only by the unstinting efforts of our readers and supporters to raise the money to keep us going and the occasional legacy which brings our head momentarily above the water level every now and again.

But, when the going gets tough, that's when we have to raise our game. No battening down of hatches at William Rust House, I'm afraid.

And the going is getting pretty tough at the moment, with unemployment soaring and set to climb even higher, manufacturing at a new low every month and MPs and bankers attempting to outdo each other in the standards of living stakes, both with public money, be it in dodgy bonuses or outrageous allowances.

So it's time to dust down the ambition and raise our game again.

Once more, the Morning Star is going against the trend.

Where other papers are cutting back, we are expanding our pagination. Where the rest of the press is sacking staff, we have taken on 20 per cent more.

It's a new-look Morning Star from now on, with 33 per cent more pages during the week, 50 per cent more colour and a weekend edition of at least 20 pages, rising to 24 when the occasion demands.

Thanks to the generosity of a small consortium of readers, we are going all out to spread the message that socialism is the only sane future for the world and that future is not only possible, it's essential.

We've revamped the page designs and are continually revamping the content. We are whacking out thousands of new copies into new outlets every day and fighting for a socialist future in which people, not transnational companies and big banks, decide on the way forward for the world. And our ears are all open. If you like what we are doing with your paper, write in and tell us.

If you don't like it, tell us how you want it done differently. We will listen and, if what you tell us makes sense, we'll act on it.

We are going to have to win thousands of new readers if we are to sustain the bigger and brighter Morning Star. And we are up for the battle if you are.

We are going to be talking in a voice that many of our readers won't immediately recognise and dressing the paper in bright and unfamiliar clothes.

But every reader, young or old, will still recognise the message that should be coming out, loud and clear, from all our pages.

And that is that the world belongs to working people and, if they take the chance, they can and will make it a world of justice, freedom and equality.

It's by no means an easy battle to fight. And we are by no means the biggest fighter.

But we are your voice and we intend to make it the loudest and most convincing voice that we can.

So welcome to the new-look Morning Star. Some of you have read our paper for decades, others for just weeks. But all of you have a part to play in a renewed battle for peace and socialism. We know that you will fight your corner and we are doing our best to give you a revived and resharpened weapon to use in that fight."

Rob Williams overwhelmingly backed by Linamar workers

Linamar workers in Swansea have voted for an all out strike in support of their sacked convenor Rob Williams.

The yes vote was 139 and the no vote was 19, with a turn out of 88%. Unite Joint GS Tony Woodley addressed the workforce prior to the ballot taking place.

Linamar management, have threatened the workers with the sack if they took strike action to get Rob his job back.

Messages of support to Rob Williams: robbo@redwills.freeserve.co.uk

Hardship fund details are: Cheques payable to "TGWU branch 4/1" – c/o 31, Waun Wen Terrace, Swansea SA1 1DX or pay into Unity Trust Bank - sort code 086001 account number 20055051.

Derek Simpson voices concern over Vauxhall deal - and where was Mandy?

Unite has expressed it fear for UK jobs after a deal was announced to save the European arm of General Motors.

Germany has agreed a deal with Canadian car parts maker Magna International to take over most of GM Europe, which owns Vauxhall and Germany-based Opel.

The UK government says it is optimistic Vauxhall, which employs 5,500 people in Luton and Ellesmere Port, can be saved.

But Derek Simpson, said he fears German plants will be saved rather than UK factories and is questioning why Lord Mandelson wasn't in Germany fighting to protect jobs in the UK.

Under the deal struck late on Friday night, the German government will provide an emergency loan of £1.3bn while the European arm of GM is sold to Magna, with investment backing from Russia.

Derek Simpson told the BBC: "I'm not entirely certain where it leaves Vauxhall. If there is overcapacity in Europe and Magna and the people associated appear to be making very strong commitments not just to Opel but particularly to the German plants, doubtlessly based on the support of the German government, it makes you wonder where the cut in capacity will come.

"That's the great worry - that the German plants will be saved and that just puts more pressure on everywhere else, obviously including the UK."

While there was no reason why Vauxhall could not be saved, he said it was "easier, cheaper and quicker to dismiss UK workers than elsewhere in Western developed Europe".

Derek said the British government could have been more involved in the negotiations, which took place in Berlin and were attended by German chancellor Angela Merkel and other ministers as well as car firm representatives but not Lord Mandelson.

He added: "I want to know, clearly quite frankly what the UK government's doing to try and ensure that the Vauxhall plants here are indeed as safe."

GM in the US is expected to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

Speaking after the deal was announced, UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said Magna had made it clear it was committed to continued production in the UK.

He added that he would be seeking a meeting to "reinforce that commitment".
But he added: "Of course it will involve change, there is excess capacity."

Labour Research - Pay Deals

Wage levels holding steady but new pay deals are suffering

The Labour Research Department (LRD) Payline database shows that the median pay settlement increase for the month of April was just 2%. The three-month median increase from February to April was 2.5%. April also saw a total of 22 pay freezes and three pay cuts recorded on Payline in a single month – the largest number since January, when there were 25 freezes and no cuts (but in January freezes made up only 20% of recorded deals).

There are 53 newly negotiated settlements in April and they show a median increase of 0.5%. Of these, 20 are pay freezes and two are pay cuts. This means that the median increase is being held up by staged agreements whose terms were reached in the past. There are also two cases where a staged increase due in April has been deferred and one where pay has been cut.

On the basis of incomplete figures for May, the monthly rate of increase is 3% and the three-month median increase to May is 2.3%. Only one wage freeze and no pay cuts have been registered on Payline for May.

April traditionally sees large numbers of pay deals, with 104 settlements recorded on Payline. Freezes made up approximately 21% of settlements, while 2.9% were cuts. But May normally sees many fewer deals, which may mean that the May figures are less significant than the April ones.

“April figures, particularly for new deals, show that wages are being hit hard. It is too early and evidence is too limited to be able to say whether the May figures reflect any change in the economic pressure on employers and union negotiators or any signs that the recession may be turning a corner,” said Lewis Emery, LRD’s pay and conditions researcher. “But it is also clear that some good pay deals are still being done,” he added.

Both April and May have seen a number of pay deals coming in at levels considerably above inflation, reflecting the very mixed picture on pay at the moment, and explaining why overall medians are remaining fairly steady in relation to inflation measures.

Examples of good deals include Hull Trains (7.41%, the second stage of a two-year deal) and Stagecoach (Peterborough) drivers (6.25% for the year to April 2010). Eggborough Power Station has agreed a 3.66% deal with workers in the first stage of a new three-year deal. And Community Housing Group workers will get 5%.

Help Save Vauxhall

Help Save Vauxhall

With thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs now on the line at Vauxhall's plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton, we need our government to show it is not prepared to stand by and let these jobs disappear. With its actions at LDV, the government has shown that it has accepted the need - and principle - of getting involved in saving manufacturing jobs.

That's a good start, but the government needs to do more. Use your voice - send a message to government today by going to:

http://www.savemanufacturing.co.uk/message

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson need to hear from you. They represent the government; together we represent the workers. It is up to us to make our voices heard, and persuade them that government intervention is crucial if British manufacturing is to survive the economic downturn.

Send a message to government - and make your voice heard by going to:

http://www.savemanufacturing.co.uk/message

In a recent radio interview Lord Mandelson warned of "painful change" at Vauxhall in the future if GM's operation is sold. He also said that he was 'working hard' to secure the future of Vauxhall's plants.

We need to make sure he does that - send him a message by going to:

http://www.savemanufacturing.co.uk/message

Thank you,

Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley
Unite the Union

TUC Report - Life in the Middle

Life in the Middle - The Untold Story of Britain's Average Earners

Thirty years ago, millions of middle earners delivered an historic election victory to Margaret Thatcher by ditching their Labour allegiance. Eighteen years later, that same group of voters switched back and helped Tony Blair to a huge parliamentary majority.

It will be middle earners who once again determine the outcome of the next general election. But how has 'Middle Income Britain' been treated in return for their allegiance since 1979? Based on original research, Life in the Middle reveals a complex story of political promises only half met and a social group increasingly ignored in public debate, despite their continued political importance.

Executive Summary

In May 1979 Mrs Thatcher won an historic general election with an appeal to a group of voters she dubbed 'Middle England'. In 1997 a re-invented Labour Party wooed back these lost voters - a mix of aspirational white collar and skilled manual workers - to bring Tony Blair a landslide victory. This was a group labelled by statisticians and sociologists as the C1s and C2s - people who were both somewhere in the middle of the UK's class and occupational hierarchy and earning middle incomes.

And yet the term 'Middle England' - more commonly 'Middle Britain' now - has changed its meaning over the years in the minds of politicians and journalists to mean a group that sits not in the middle but in the upper half of the income distribution. Middle Britain has become shorthand for the conservative, well-todo citizen. Subtly and gradually, it is this different Middle Britain that has come to dominate cultural and political debate. But the original and real middle is still with us and they will still play a crucial role in the next election as a group of swing voters who will determine whether the Labour or Conservative Party forms the next government.

This pamphlet revisits that group to understand how they have fared since the 1979 election and to ask whether they have been well rewarded for the victories they have secured for the country's political leaders.

To do this, the pamphlet returns the term 'Middle Britain' to its roots by defining it as the group that straddles the middle person in the income hierarchy - the point which divides the population in two, with a half falling below and a half above this income level. To distinguish the group from the more common usage of the term 'Middle Britain' in use today, we call it 'Middle Income Britain'.

With the aid of a special survey of Middle Income Britain conducted by YouGov for the TUC, this pamphlet shows that the group differs very significantly from those just above them on the income scale. Middle Income Britain is much less likely to have had a university education, more likely to have experienced unemployment, much less likely to enjoy a final salary pension scheme and much less likely to hold shares and have significant levels of savings.

Although Middle Income Britain is materially better off, better housed and educated than their parents' generation, they have slipped further behind more privileged groups in a number of important aspects of social and economic life. Significantly, their relative incomes have fallen behind, opening up new income and wealth gaps between Middle Income and better off Britain, but most especially with the rich, the group that has prospered most in the last three decades.

The reason for this is the remarkable degree of economic repositioning which has changed the social shape of Britain since 1979. Although most of these changes took place before 1997, Labour has been unable to reverse them.

In the immediate post-war years British society resembled a 'pyramid' with a small and privileged group at the top, a larger but still small and comfortable middle and a large majority at the bottom. By the end of the 1970s, with the long term decline of the manual working class and the spreading of affluence, Britain had moved closer to a 'diamond' shape with a small group of the rich and the poor and a much fatter middle.

Since then there have been further significant shifts; first the rise of a small group of the super-rich; second, a much greater concentration of the population by income in the bottom half of the distribution. As a result, in just 30 years Britain has moved backwards from a 'diamond' to an 'onion-shaped' society.

There are two key causes of this repositioning. First, the last 30 years has seen a steady rise in the gap in earnings between the top and the bottom, together with a 'hollowing out of the middle' - a loss of jobs paying middling wages and the concentration of employment in high and low paying jobs. At the same time there has been a steady fall in the share of national output taken by wages, especially amongst wage-earners in the bottom half of the distribution.

Secondly, although all households enjoy greater absolute opportunities in modern Britain, relative social mobility has declined. The spread of opportunities - especially in education and through the growth of well-paid, secure professional work - has benefited higher earners to a greater extent than the bottom two-thirds. Middle Income Britain is aware of this - 40 per cent of survey respondents in this group say their job has a lower status than their father's, with only 29 per cent saying it has a higher status. Britain's longstanding 'cycle of privilege' (alongside its 'cycle of disadvantage') has become more entrenched, with higher earners securing the best schools, universities and jobs for their own offspring.

This may stand as the greatest failing of the last thirty years given that so much political rhetoric has suggested to Middle Income Britain that the policies on offer would secure them a bigger share of growing national wealth and well-being for them and their children. One might assume that the 'Middle Income Britain' of the 1970s and 1980s has genuinely been transformed into the well-to-do 'Middle Britain' of current imagining. In fact, this is not the case.

Maybe because of this, Middle Income Britain holds noticeably different values than those above them in the income hierarchy. The group is more pro-state and strongly supports government action to tackle inequality - if a little more circumspect about the methods.

To prevent Middle Income Britain slipping further behind the richest third, and improve their relative income and wider opportunities, government should ensure that all groups in society share in growing prosperity, not just the winners from structural economic change and movements in political favouritism. To achieve this requires a new set of government goals and policies:

? There should be a clear set of five-, ten- and twenty-year targets for reducing income and wealth inequalities to sit alongside the poverty reduction targets.

? There should be a new priority to tackle the 'cycle of privilege' and the stranglehold of the public school near-monopoly on the top universities and jobs, by setting targets in universities and key professions for the proportion of entrants with a comprehensive education and/or a low income/middle income background.

? To monitor progress, the Government should establish an Inequality Commission to determine, monitor and control pay relativities and wider inequalities.

? The Government should recast the tax system by reinstating a commitment to the principle of progressive taxation and raising a higher proportion of tax revenue from a reformed system of capital taxation.

? The Government should use the proceeds of higher capital taxation to build the asset base of those in the bottom half of the distribution by, for example, providing more bursaries at top universities and companies.

Report (1,300 words) issued 28 May 2009

Obama Express's Support For Union Organising

After President Barack Obama recently expressed support for a hotel union organising drive, he met privately with the former doorman of the Indianapolis Westin who has spoken out in favor of the union.

William Selm, who lost his job at the Downtown hotel after his work was outsourced to a contractor, said he was summoned backstage to meet the president after his speech at the Westin.

"He said, 'It's a terrible thing that happened to you, about workers being intimidated,' " Selm said Monday. "Then he said, 'You're in my corner.' "

Obama visited the Westin for a pair of fundraisers Sunday night following his speech at the University of Notre Dame's graduation ceremony in South Bend.

The Westin Indianapolis is one of three hotels being targeted by UNITE HERE.

In a nod to the unionisation efforts, Obama said, "There are workers here from Indianapolis hotels who are seeking to unionise, including some right here at the Westin. And I want to recognise these workers and offer my support for their efforts. Where are they? Raise your hands, guys."

Selm said meeting the president "was quite an honor and a surprise." Selm said he and several other hotel workers received free tickets to the fundraiser, which normally cost $250 to $5,000.

UNITE HERE, through its Hotel Workers Rising organising arm, also is trying to organize workers at the Downtown Hyatt Regency and the Sheraton at Keystone at the Crossing, but has been unable to agree with the hotels on a process for conducting a union vote. No Indianapolis hotels are currently unionized.

Westin General Manager Dale McCarty couldn't be reached for comment.

The New York-based union represents 450,000 workers in the hotel, apparel, casino, laundry and food service industries.

Good article by Seumas Milne in the Guardian

The return of the strike
From factories to universities, those at the sharp end of the economic slump are rediscovering the power of direct action


Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 May 2009 10.00 BST
Success seems to be catching. While politicians and the media remain transfixed by the scandal of MPs' expense scams, those at the sharp end of the economic slump are getting on with defending their interests – and scoring some significant, if little-noticed, victories in the process.

Last week, thousands of engineering construction workers staged unofficial strikes across the country after the Dutch contractor Hertel refused to take on locally based workers at ExxonMobil and Total's South Hook liquefied natural gas terminal in Wales – and insisted on bringing in its own Polish workforce to undercut union agreements. Within 24 hours of the walkouts spreading to half a dozen energy plants throughout Britain, the employer had backed down and the strikes were called off.

The latest stoppages followed the pattern set earlier this year, when unofficial industrial action closed down refineries and power stations all over Britain in protest against the attempt by a Sicilian contractor to ship in a non-union Italian and Portuguese workforce in place of local workers at Total's Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire. As at South Hook, the employer caved in and found new work on the contract for locally based labour without loss to the Italian and Portuguese.

This was the strike, widely, but wrongly, reported as anti-foreigner because some pickets held "British jobs for British workers" placards. In fact, as has become clearer since, both disputes were aimed at halting the exploitation of EU directives and European court judgements to attack the terms and conditions of all organised workers in Britain, British and migrant alike. And both were successful.

So were the hundreds of workers who occupied three Visteon factories at Enfield, Basildon and Belfast in April when the spun-off Ford supplier's UK subsidiary went bust. Nearly 600 workers were thrown out of a job with less than an hour's notice and not even a week's pay. Earlier this month, after weeks of sit-ins, pickets, eviction orders and police raids, the employer – with Ford at its shoulder – coughed up substantial redundancy payoffs and compensation to settle the dispute. No wonder the corporate human resources journal Personneltoday warned "employers should beware – if successful today, Visteon workers stand to set a very public and very dangerous precedent".

But of course it's not just in industry that direct action and sit-ins have been delivering results since the current crisis became critical. From January to March, British universities saw the largest wave of student occupations since the 1960s. Then, Vietnam was the trigger; this year, it was the carnage inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. Students ended up staging occupations at 35 universities, from Sussex to Glasgow, and most won concessions from the authorities: from scholarships for Palestinian students to disinvestment from companies linked to the Israeli occupation.

Now, none of this may yet have reached the level of industrial or student activism in, say, France. But after years in which the message has been that militancy doesn't pay, even relatively small-scale breakthroughs can be infectious. And with the prospect of many months of heavy job losses to come and a political class that still seems intent on business as usual, more action in the workplace is going to be essential.

Unite For Jobs - Keep the pressure on!

On Saturday May 16th 7000 people took to the streets of Birmingham.

United in the belief that the Government needs to provide more support for our jobs, we marched for each other, for our jobs and communities.

Our march was a tremendous success and a real show of unity.

Now we need to build on this momentum - by writing to your MP asking them to support our Unite for Jobs campaign.

Click on

http://action.unitetheunion.com/edm

Our campaign is about putting people first. Over the past few weeks thousands upon thousands of people have left messages on our website - it is their stories that have resonated; the tragedy of redundancy, the stress of threat to livelihood and the morale-crushing pain of long term employment.

They are the voices of this recession, the reason why we act and ultimately show the importance of our Union

The Unite for Jobs campaign has been about telling their story - through photos, email and blogs we've shown who really suffers in this recession.

But change comes through action.

That's why we marched - sending the message that without an active Government safeguarding Britain's jobs and talents, we all suffer - socially and economically.

Now we'd like Unite members to contact their MP to send this message personally. We've set up a tool that lets you email your MP. Send a message to them through:

http://action.unitetheunion.com/edm

The power of our Union comes through collective action and a unified call for change.

There is not a town, street or family in the land untouched in some way by this recession, but if we stand together we can emerge from this downturn stronger and fairer than before.

The Unite march in Birmingham was a great success but we need to build on this momentum.

Please email your MP and help rally political support to our call for change.

Thompsons and Rowley's merge to create union giant

Thompsons and Rowley Ashworth, two of Unite's legal advisors have merged.

This from the Lawyer magazine.

Thompsons has merged with rival Rowley Ashworth, making the largest trade union firm in the UK.

Thompsons head of policy and public affairs Tom Jones said it was a “coming together” of two like-minded firms.

“The logic to this is that our clients overlap,” he said. “They were the other major trade union law firm.”

Thompsons counts Unison, Unite and the GMB as clients, as did Rowley. The unions refer personal injury (PI) work to the firm from their members.

Both firms have offices in the same location, which will be consolidated into a single site.

The combined firm, which will be known as Thompsons, will employ more than 1,000 people and have 26 offices across the UK, including recent openings in Dagenham and an associated office in Aberdeen.

Jones said all Rowley equity partners will transfer to Thompsons and Rowley managing partner Keith Roberts will assume an equity partner position, although it remains unclear whether he will take a management role.

“We have a corporate structure and they’ll slot into that,” Jones said.

The merger comes a year after Thompsons united with Manchester PI outfit Whittles, taking on 65 staff. Whittles managing partner Chris Strogen joined Thompsons’ equity.

According to one source, the trade union legal sector is a “depleting market” with Thompsons sweeping up several rival firms.

“Russell Jones & Walker is the only real competition to Thompsons,” the source added. Jones, however, denied that the firm was on an acquisition trail.

Workers Uniting and Ver.di Pledge Solidarity With Workers in Bangladesh

Workers Uniting Pledges Solidarity With Workers in Bangladesh

Press release from Workers Uniting

PITTSBURGH, May 22

The new global union, Workers Uniting, made up of Unite, Britain's biggest union, and the United Steelworkers, North America's largest private sector union, together with the German union, Verdi, has signed an unprecedented Joint International Solidarity Statement, in support of exploited workers in Bangladesh.

The statement is in support of the poorest and most exploited workers in the world in Bangladesh, where more than 650 mostly young women workers sew clothing at the R L Denim factory for Metro Group and their Macro Cash & Carry stores.

This declaration sends a clear message that the unions representing some 5.5 million workers are not only dedicated to protecting and growing the rights of their own members, but will also fight to protect the rights of workers across the developing world.

Unite's joint general secretary, Derek Simpson said: "The race to the bottom is out of control, these women in Bangladesh, are having to work for as little pay as the employers can get away with. Workers Uniting, as a global union must make a stand not just for our members, but for the rights of workers across the developing world.

"We have been told there is evidence that these women have been beaten, kicked and routinely work 13 to 15 hours a day. If they ask for maternity leave, they are kicked out into the street. Adding to the injustice, if production quotas are not met, they are forced to work overtime without pay."

USW International President Leo W. Gerard, citing the work of the National Labor Committee (NLC) which uncovered the abuses, stated, "The race to the bottom in the global sweatshop economy is out of control, bringing more misery to the poorest of the poor. We are demanding that this corporate exploitation be stopped and these workers be given their basic human rights not only to be protected by local labor laws but also by the ILO's internationally recognized worker rights standards."

After years of profiting from the exploitation, the Metro Group is pulling its work out of the factory just when these workers are on the verge of winning their legal right to a democratic voice in the workplace.

Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary said: "This is an unbearable situation in which the Metro Group is trying to further punish the workers in order to deliver a message that any workers who dare ask for their legal rights will be fired and thrown onto the street.

"Metro Group must pay the workers every cent of back wages, bring work back to the factory and rehire everyone. Anything less is totally unacceptable."

Here is a link to the declaration: http://nlcnet.org/article.php?id=645

Ken Gill former GS of MSF, TUC President and a great trade unionist.

A fine tribute in the Morning Star to the late Ken Gill who died at the weekend.

Ken was one of the great trade unionist's of his generation and helped found one of the principle unions (AEEU, MSF, GPMU, Unifi ans TGWU) which today form Unite The Union.

Ken Gill: 1927-2009

Ken Gill was born on August 29 1927 in Melksham, Wiltshire. During the second world war, aged 15, he became an apprentice draughtsman.

Gill was politicised at an early age, having experienced poverty in his childhood during the Great Depression and having lost his older brother Lesley, who was an airman in bomber command, during a raid over Germany.

During the war, his family took as a lodger a Welsh miner and Communist, who convinced the young Gill of the cause of socialism. At the end of the war, he became an election agent for the local Labour candidate in Melksham.

Gill was well known for his ability as a caricaturist, but his artistic talent was not limited to cartoons. As a child, his entry to a Daily Sketch competition of children's art was disqualified because the judges did not believe that a child could produce a work of such maturity.

As a working-class lad at that time, artistic talent was not a path to a creative career but to a seat in a drawing office and he duly "did his time" at a mechanical handling firm.

He continued in this field of engineering when he came to London, using his artistic skills to provide prospective customers with freehand perspective drawings.

In 1949 at the end of his apprenticeship, he moved to London and in 1950 he married Jacqueline Manley (nee Kemellardski), the former wife of Michael Manley, who later became prime minister of Jamaica.

In his early thirties, Gill became a director of a successful engineering firm, proving his skills as a salesman and negotiator.

However, his political commitments and involvement in trade unionism led him in a different direction.

He was elected as a regional official of the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians Association (DATA) in 1962 and was posted to Liverpool, with responsibility for Merseyside and Northern Ireland.

A wave of industrial militancy was sweeping both regions at the time, and Gill found himself leading workers in a series of industrial battles.

His success as a persuasive, militant but shrewd union official brought him higher office in 1968, when he was elected as deputy general secretary.

Two years earlier, he married Tess Gill, a civil rights lawyer and leading figure in the British women's movement. They had three children, Joe, Tom and Emma.

In 1974, Gill became general secretary of DATA's successor, the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Staffs Association (TASS).

Faced with technological change and industrial decline during the 1980s, Gill reinvented TASS during the early part of that decade, taking in a range of unions, such as the Gold and Silver Workers, the Metal Mechanics, the Sheet Metal Workers and the Tobacco Workers Union.

In 1988, Gill and his long-time rival for the leadership of "white-collar" unionism Clive Jenkins - who was Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs general secretary - buried the hatchet and brought their two unions together to create one new union, Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF), with each as a joint general secretary.

Jenkins retired first and Gill became general secretary, serving from 1988-92. By the time Gill retired in 1992, it had become a large multi-industry union, eventually joining Amicus.

In 1974 Gill was the first and only Communist to be elected to the TUC general council with over seven million votes. He joined other leftwingers there and led a militant broad left grouping which spearheaded a number of ideological and economic battles during the militant '70s.

He was one of the most prominent members of the so-called "awkward squad" who made the industrial relations work of successive governments such a difficult task.

With the election of a number of leftwingers to the leadership of the big trade unions during the '70s, there was an expansion of "broad left" grass-roots groups, dominated by the Communist Party, particularly in the AEU, ACTT, TASS, ETU and UCATT. These groups worked around rank-and-file papers such as Engineering Voice, Flashlight and the Power Worker.

Gill spearheaded trade union opposition to the Labour government's demand for a social contract at the 1974 TUC and mass demonstrations against Barbara Castle's contentious industrial relations Bill, In Place Of Strife.

He was instrumental in promoting the Communist Party's alternative economic strategy within the trade union movement. This proposed a more radical socialist agenda as the answer to the economic woes and serious attempts were made through the trade unions to make it Labour Party policy.

There were strong fears within the Labour Party that this new militant trade unionism would seriously undermine the party. Prime minister Harold Wilson alluded to leaders like Gill when he spoke of "a tightly knit group of politically motivated men" out to undermine democracy.

In 1985, Cathy Massiter, a former MI5 officer who had resigned from her job the previous year, appeared on a Channel 4 documentary detailing how the security services had phone-tapped the homes of trade unionists, peace campaigners and civil libertarians, including two senior members of the current government - Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman, who both happened to be close friends of Tess Gill - despite the fact they had done nothing illegal.

In Gill's case, they burgled his home to plant a bugging device. The allegations were confirmed in Peter Wright's book Spycatcher, when the former intelligence officer boldly wrote that "we bugged and burgled our way across London at the state's behest."

Gill actually raised the issue directly with then home secretary Leon Brittan to little effect.

Despite being among the most prominent Communists in the country, Gill always saw himself first of all as a trade unionist.

The Communist Party at the time still played a powerful role on the industrial stage even though it had declined as a political force.

Gill fought within the TUC for the trade union movement to take more progressive positions internationally, and to support anti-racism and equality within the movement itself.

He and his union were active supporters of the fight against South African apartheid.

On Gill's initiative in 1988, the union paid the deposit for the stadium concert that celebrated Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday while he still languished on Robben Island, placing the issue of apartheid in front of the British people as never before.

This was acknowledged by Mandela when, after being freed and on his first British visit, he chose the union's conference hall to meet and thank ANC exiles and activists.

Gill hardly fitted the cliche image of a Communist. While he could be forceful and committed, he was rarely dogmatic or unnecessarily aggressive. He was tall, with a rugged handsomeness and his soft Wiltshire drawl and ready laughter belied his steely determination. His charm and persuasiveness easily disarmed many of his harshest critics. He was always a popular and well-liked member of the general council even if the colour of his politics weren't.

Gill believed vehemently that the unions were a necessary basis of any radical social change. But he also believed that the Labour Party was central.

"If you cannot win back the (Labour) Party," he said, "then you are certainly not going to be able to start another mass party."

He never relinquished his hobby of cartooning and drew his colleagues during the interminable speeches and discussions at union conferences. They captured the idiosyncrasies of their subjects and they now form a unique archive. The TUC in 2007, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, held an exhibition of his work.

Gill retired as a trade union official in 1992. But this didn't mean withdrawing to a country retreat or taking a seat in the House of Lords. He continued campaigning on radical issues, marching and speaking out against the Iraq war, right up until his illness confined him to his home.

He was particularly keen on promoting solidarity with Cuba. For over a decade, he was chairman of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign in Britain and met Fidel Castro on several occasions.

As chairman of the People's Press Printing Society management committee, he was expelled from the Communist Party of Great Britain for defending the Morning Star against the Eurocommunist leadership of the party.

He was later active in formulating the paper's broader appeal.

After his divorce from Tess Gill, in the '80s, he married Norma Bramley, a politically active teacher with whom he lived happily until the end of his life.

It was Norma who cared for Gill during his long battle with cancer, which he met with good humour to the last.

VIC BECOMES VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN

VIC BECOMES VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN AT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
 
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign to Build Broad-Based Support for Democracy and Social Progress in Venezuela.
 
In a move which has been welcomed by representatives of the Venezuelan Government, delegates voted unanimously at the third Venezuela Information Centre (VIC) AGM on Saturday 16 May to change the name of the organisation to the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign (VSC.)
 
Commenting on the decision, Ken Livingstone, VSC President, said “President Chavez's government has inspired people at home and around the world with its combination of radical social progress and democracy in Venezuela. Although it has been strengthened by the shift in the world economy from the US to the East, the replacement of Bush by President Obama and repeated election victories in Venezuela, anti-democratic vested interests remain committed to trying to overthrow the elected government of Venezuela. The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign will explain the truth about the social transformation in Venezuela and defend the rights of its people to decide their own government and policies.”
 
Jennie Bremner, VSC’s new Chair and Unite the Union Assistant General Secretary, said “Unite and other trade unions in Britain have been inspired the social progress being made in Venezuela, which show that another world is possible. Through the work of VSC, we will build the broadest possible support in the labour movement and beyond for the progressive changes taking place there.
With the dawn of the Obama Presidency and hope of a new approach to US-Venezuela relations, our continuing campaign for Britain and Europe to adopt a policy of constructive engagement with Venezuela is needed as much as ever.”
 
Dr. Francisco Dominguez, VSC’s new Secretary, added “The new name and aims of the organisation more accurately reflect what the organisation does and our unconditional support for the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future free from external interference, and to also actively defend the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution. In the next year we will be redoubling our efforts to both counter negative misrepresentations of Venezuela and raise awareness of the social progress being made.”
 
The meeting also heard from guest speakers Alvaro Sanchez, of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and Mariano Baque, Secretary of the CTE trade union federation in Ecuador, who thanked delegates for their solidarity and gave the event an update on the inspiring changes taking place across Venezuela and Latin America as a whole.
 
Notes to Editors:
1 The aims of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign shall be:
a) To defend Venezuela's sovereignty and independence;
b) To support the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their own future free from external intervention;
c) To defend the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution;
d) To provide accurate and up-to-date information in support of democracy and social progress in Venezuela;
e) To support and build activity around these objectives throughout Britain, within parliament, regional and local government, the trade unions. amongst women, lesbian and gay communities, Black, Asian and Latin American communities, students and others.
2. The AGM also passed a number of motions and amendments on further advancing solidarity work, which can be found on the website here . The annual report of the organisation’s work can be found here .
3. For further comment or information please contact Matt Willgress, VIC Co-ordinator, on 02074208963 or info@vicuk.org .
 

LETTER OF COMPLAINT TO CLEAR CHANNEL

SIGN UP TO SEND A LETTER OF COMPLAINT TO CLEAR CHANNEL

Clear Channel - the US company that has outdoor billboard advertisements all over the UK is profiting from the BNP by selling them advertising space on their billboards across the country.

Clear Channel proudly display a statement about corporate responsibility on their website – but their actions show that they have not lived up to those words.

You can write to Clear Channel to tell get the advertisements pulled.   Send a letter via:

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/integrity

Unite For Jobs - March and Rally Reports

Sunday Mercury
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2009/05/17/birmingham-jobs-march-attracts-7-000-protesters-66331-23640753/

Sunday Mirror
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/05/17/more-than-7-000-brave-rain-for-unite-s-march-for-jobs-in-birmingham-115875-21365399/

Sky News
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Workers-March-Against-Job-Cuts---Birmingham-Protest-Is-Campaign-By-Unite/Article/200905315282887

BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8053083.stm

Morning Star
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/britain/marchers_demand_action_to_save_jobs

Unite For Jobs March & Rally

Great march and rally today.

Well done to all Unite members and all who turned out for this historic occasion.

Good to see the Corus members out in force too.

Pity the Scottish coaches didn't make it because of road works on the M6! Yes, emergency road works!

Good to have the comrades from the USW (they were the ones wearing sunglasses in the rain!) with us as well.

Good speeches from Tony Woodley, Derek Simpson, Brendan Barber and the reps from Corus and Vauxhall's!

Lots of press coverage on the web - with the BBC saying 2000 there, Teletext say more than 7000, Birmingham Post saying 5000.

A good day for our union all round. Pity it rained at the rally!

Unite For Jobs - Morning Star article.

Tomorrow is too late
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley

The fight to save jobs has begun. Unite will be leading thousands of trade unionists through the streets of Birmingham this week to demand real government action to save industry now.

Our philosophy is simple - workers should not have to foot the bill for the bankers' blunders.

Ministers have started to move, but so far very little has been accomplished. Unless this changes, it will soon be too late for hundreds of workplaces and thousands of jobs.

Extending a loan to Birmingham van-maker LDV, so that 900 skilled workers would get a chance to fight for their future, cost just £4m. This is the kind of figure that our bailed-out bankers used to pocket as a bonus.

That modest investment also brought hope to thousands more workers in the beleaguered motor industry supply chain.

Once scrapped, those skilled jobs would never have come back. The prospects for a genuinely green van-maker, producing the first hybrid vans in Europe, would have vanished alongside them.

But our struggle to secure this support was more painful than it should have been.

When action is needed to save manufacturing and the jobs and skills that depend on it, the government machine is too often far too slow in translating pledges into deeds.

LDV is not yet out of the woods. Jobs at Ellesmere Port and Luton are under threat from the imminent bankruptcy of General Motors in the US. And last week, 2,000 people on Teesside were told that their work at Corus would soon be gone.

LDV can be saved because there is a serious and interested buyer for this company, which will keep jobs in Britain.

But LDV's problems are only the tip of the iceberg. Across all industries - but particularly in manufacturing - jobs are under threat.

Manufacturing is paying the price for a crisis brought on by the bankers in the City. That is why we are marching through Birmingham on Saturday, and why we will be joined by thousands from across the country who share our fear that unless the government acts soon, our skills base will evaporate.

Also, as the job losses and home repossessions mount up, confidence in the economy will fail to return.

Measures we want to see taken include subsidised short-time working for companies in trouble. This will prevent them laying off employees and closing plants which we know will never reopen.

We also need more financial help for manufacturing and action to get the credit flowing from the banks again. We've put enough cash into the banks over the last six months. It is past time to see some of it coming out again, in loans to industry.

If taxpayers' money can be used to bail out the banks, it should also be available to help vital industries through the recession.

It makes more sense than paying workers to sit on the dole for months to come.

Our members are backing the short-time working subsidy, and they won't be alone because it is the logical thing to do.

A snap poll of 2500 Unite members revealed that nearly nine in every 10 want the government to do more to keep people in work during the recession.

A further 86 per cent support a government fund to help skilled workers stay in their jobs.

It wasn't just manufacturing workers who called for this. Workers in finance, IT and transport all insisted that jobs should be a top priority.

We found that 68 per cent of Unite members knew someone who had recently lost their job because of the recession, while 77 per cent worried about the security of their own jobs.

The polling figures are a strong message to Labour that it can and must do more to win the support of working families.

We are calling on Unite members from all parts of the country to join the demonstration and urge the government to put concrete aid for the industry at the top of the agenda. And of course, we welcome the support of trade unionists from other unions. You can all join us on Saturday.

Birmingham on May 16 is a chance to give ministers a united message - act now to save industry. Tomorrow could be too late.

Filling the streets of Birmingham on May 16 is the least we can do for the employees of LDV, Visteon, Corus and United Biscuits and for the workers in our high street shops, banks, schools and hospitals.

We will be standing shoulder to shoulder with workers who are staring redundancy in the face through no fault of their own.

Please join us - and stand up for our future as a manufacturing country, and for the jobs and talents of our workers.

For more information on the March for Jobs visit actionunitetheunion.com

Unite Wins Court Case To Protect Long Serving Workers

Following a judgement in the Court of Appeal today, companies can take employees’ length of service in to consideration when dealing with redundancies.

Clarifying the fate of several hundred Rolls Royce workers facing redundancy, three judges said that how long they had worked at the company was an acceptable factor to consider – even though it gave older staff an advantage over younger colleagues.

The issue has perplexed employers since new laws banning workplace discrimination on the basis of age were introduced in 2006.

Many businesses, including Rolls Royce, were concerned that using length of service as a criteria in redundancy selections would fall foul of age laws because it automatically puts younger workers in a weaker position.

But today the Court of Appeal, ruled that length of service can be used as one of a range of determining factors in redundancy selections.

The decision will also benefit older workers who will now have an extra layer of protection against lay-offs. Unite said older employees deserve this additional protection because if laid off, they were less likely to find new jobs in the current market.

At Rolls Royce, managers scored each worker under threat of redundancy against five categories – achievement, self-motivation, expertise, versatility and personal contribution.

The scores would then be used to select redundancies with lower scorers facing redundancy first.

But at the end of the assessment, workers were given an additional point for each year they had worked at Rolls Royce, the controversial criterion that led to today’s court case. Similar systems are used in many companies.

Derek Simpson said: “We are delighted with this decision. The ruling sets a precedent, where other factors are equal, for protecting older workers from the effects of redundancy.

Unite For Jobs - YouTube If You Want To!

Great Unite YouTube clip for Saturday's March For Jobs.

http://action.unitetheunion.com/page/s/gotothemarch

Unite @ctivist Euro election special

Unite @ctivist Euro election special

Can be viewed at

http://unite.newsweaver.co.uk/oyvm7lmljw8-47daw5oyt3?email=true

2000 Jobs At Risk At Corus - "Disasterous news" Says Unite

2,000 jobs are at risk at the Corus steel mill in Teeside after the plant's main customer walked away from "contract"

Teesside Cast Products, which is owned by Corus, has a ten-year contract to supply steel to a consortium of four buyers. However, the consortium has now ripped up the deal, and Corus say that substantial redundancies may now be necessary.

The company, which is owned by India's Tata Group, said that it had begun legal proceedings against Marcegaglia, Dongkuk Steel Mills, Duferco Participations Holding and Alvory to force them to honour their agreement. The four buyers account for 78 per cent of Teesside's 3.5 million tonnes of steel production a year.

Unite National Officer Terry Pye said: Terry Pye, said: “The failure of the consortium to live up to its obligations is potentially disastrous news for these workers at Corus' Teesside plant. The unions will be meeting Corus early next week where we will be urging the company to do everything possible to protect the jobs of the workers at the Teesside plant.

"Our members have worked extremely hard for this consortium and they will be outraged by its decision to pull out of this legally binding agreement and jeopardise the livelihoods of so many workers.”

Steelworkers' union boss Michael Leahy expressed "full support" for Corus in its attempt to pursue the consortium to honour the contract, adding: "Community has also instructed its own lawyers to investigate what action can be taken against the consortium to get justice for our members."

He attacked the consortium's "irresponsible" action, which he warned would have a devastating effect on the workers and the whole community in Teesside.

The company says that that if it was unsuccessful it would "mothball" its 3,000-acre Teesside facility, and said: "Any decision to mothball is likely to lead to a very significant number of redundancies."

There's no ignoring the EU - Glyn Ford article in Saturday's Morning Star

There's no ignoring the EU
Glyn Ford MEP

The European elections next month will help shape the future of our continent and the world in which we live.

There are several arguments as to why the left should vote for candidates committed to engaging positively in Europe in these elections.

There is the "stop the BNP" defence. The neofascists will make a breakthrough unless the left mobilises and campaigns to persuade voters to hold their noses and go out and vote new Labour.

As the national treasurer of the Anti-Nazi League and a member of the steering committee of Unite Against Fascism, I buy the argument.

There is an acute danger that the BNP will win six to eight seats in the June 4 elections unless we mobilise to stop them, aided by the current anti-politician media feeding frenzy, the complicity of government in allowing and encouraging the bankers' greed and stupidity, and the consequent xenophobic cheap chant of "British jobs for British workers" rather than labour and trade movement action to ensure "Decent jobs for workers in Britain." Don't moan, organise.

Then there is the usual litany of the good things Europe has done for us. The social chapter plus health and safety legislation have led to better social protection, with longer maternity and paternity leave.

The adoption of the information and consultation directive means that trade unions get to be consulted on company plans rather that hear them on the local radio or read them in the newspapers.

The agency and temporary workers directive extends employment protection to groups of workers previously in a legal limbo and thus open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers.

The ongoing battle in the European Parliament to force upon a reluctant Council of Ministers a revision of the Working Time Directive could end an opt-out that means workers can work excessive hours leading to accidents in the workplace.

There is also the struggle to come to ensure a thorough revision of the Posted Workers Directive. Although originally designed to regulate the treatment of workers from one member state temporarily transferred to work in another, a series of legal judgements have turned it into a Trojan horse in the hands of multinational capital.

The European court judgements in the Viking, Laval, Rüffert and Luxembourg cases have meant the directive has been used to smuggle low wages and long working hours across member state boundaries. It is this that lay behind the dispute at Lindsay oil refinery earlier this year.

The prospect is that further judgements will only exacerbate the situation. The court can't be changed but the law can.

Socialist, Green and Communist MEPs, backed by Unite, the TUC and the ETUC, are campaigning to get colleagues and candidates to sign up to block endorsement of the new European Commission, which is due to take office later this year, unless and until there is a commitment to the necessary revision of the Posted Workers Directive in the commission's new work programme.

There is another reason for holding your nose and it's the most important for serious left activists. It's the argument about base and superstructure.

The evolution of industrial capitalism has changed the ground on which our battles have to be fought. In the late 19th century, capital and labour often fought out their struggles on the streets of our towns and cities, the factory floor and the council chamber. Then the battleground moved on to state and nation with socialists in western Europe attempting the parliamentary road to socialism.

Yet, if socialism in one country was ever to be possible in Europe, it is certainly one whose windows of opportunities are now firmly closed. Europe's industrial union - some call it the single market - is not some theoretical artifice born of wild federalist romantics. It is the product of hard-nosed businessmen, and a few women, driven to create process innovations giving economies of scale equalling and overtaking those of Japan and the United States.

But alongside scaling up production by an order of magnitude, this must be matched by the size of the domestic market.

Europe's economic, monetary and political union is the inevitable result not of the ideals of the supposed founding fathers of the union, but rather ruthless multinational capital a generation on.

Europe is not an optional add-on to nation state politics. It is increasingly the main game. Important skirmishes do still take place in Westminster and Whitehall. It will still make a difference whether Gordon Brown, Alan Johnson or David Cameron is in 10 Downing Street.

Yet the big battles will take place in and between Brussels and Beijing, Washington and Tokyo, with clashes between labour and capital at the European level and simultaneous co-operation and competition with and between the other key global actors.

As Bill Clinton said, "It's the economy, stupid." The political superstructure of the 21st century must be built on today's economic base. It would be easier if it was within the framework of the medium-sized nation state, but it isn't. It's complicated, messy and confusing. And the longer we fight on yesterday's battlegrounds, the more we handicap ourselves for tomorrow's struggle.

If we are to tackle climate change, deal with global nuclear disarmament and replace the threat of pre-emptive deterrence with negotiated resolutions, we need a strong European Union.

This necessity is merely reinforced by the welcome election of Barack Obama in the US. While new Bushes may haunt the future, even the most radical US president in half a century still intends to force the deployment of "star wars" technologies in Europe that will threaten us all and a new arms race. We need a strong Europe capable of saying No.

The parliamentary road to socialism is still open, but it goes through Brussels not Westminster.

Glyn Ford is Labour MEP for the South West.

Unite To Ballot Members In Rob Williams Sacking

Unite members at the Linamar plant in Swansea are to be balloted for industrial action after bosses sacked Unite convener Rob Williams.

Rob Williams was first dismissed last week after management at the car parts factory complained there had been a breach of trust between Williams and the management.

An unofficial walk-out by Unite members forced executives at company to back down, reinstating Rob Williams with no loss of pay. Williams had locked himself into his union office when the police were called to evict him from the premesis. Workers stopped them from evicting him.

Talks in London between Tony Woodley and Linamar chief Brian Wade broke down when the company insisted on dissmissing Rob.

Linamar, which took over Visteon's Swansea plant last year, has begun to force through mass redundancies among its workforce.

Some 140 staff at Linamar have already been made redundant this year and the company has tried to deny the remaining workers a 5.25% pay rise that their contracts entitle them to as former Ford employees.

Message of support please to

robbo@redwills.freeserve.co.uk

Unite's Fair Tips Campaign Proves A Winner!

Following Unite's Fair Tips campaign restaurants and bars will soon be banned from using tips to top up the wages of staff paid less than the minimum wage, the government has confirmed.

The government said a change in law would come into effect on 1 October excluding the use of all service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges in payment of the national minimum wage.

Some restaurants use tips to bring the wages of staff up to the minimum hourly rate of £5.73 an hour. under the NMW.

Some staff are paid as little as £3 an hour, as their wage.

The restaurant industry in a scaremongering tactic warned that thousands of jobs would go if they had to comply. Just like they said when the NMW was introduced!

Derek Simpson said: "Hardworking waiting staff will be delighted to learn that bad employers can no longer line their pockets with the money that customers intended to go to workers."

Unite's Fair Tips Campaign without doubt helped win this change.

One Hat For Labor

Excellent - but lenghty - article on the re-unification of the US trade union movement (too long to cut and paste!), but well worth reading.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090518/moberg

Visteon workers vote to back deal

Visteon workers at the companies West Belfast site have voted to accept a deal to end a dispute over the closure of the factory. Member backed the deal by 147 to 34 votes.

The deal includes enhanced redundancy payments, as well as compensation in lieu of notice and holiday pay.

Those who were employed after Visteon took over the plant nine years ago say their pay-off is not fair compared to those who started working under original owners Ford. The deal means some workers will get six months pay, while the majority will get 12 months pay.

Tony Woodley, the general secretary of trade union Unite, said the criticisms were "understandable but not realistic".

"The factory went into administration with five minutes notice, the administrators were going to give our people statutory redundancy pay," he said.

"We worked our socks off, without all of this efforts we wouldn't be having 23 people disappointed, we be having 610 people disappointed.

"Twenty-three people would have had two weeks pay, now its at least six months pay."

Meanwhile, the rest of the workforce which has occupied the plant since the dispute began more than four weeks ago, say they will wait until the agreement is ratified at national level and redundancy payments begin before they leave the site.

Over 100 jobs saved at Cambridge firm

More than 100 jobs under threat at Cambridge University Press (CUP) have been saved.

Unite members have been campaigning to save the 425 year old press and the company proposal to axe over 170 jobs, which would have meant the near closure of the company.

But, following talks with the Unite CUP will now be making just 58 staff redundant in total, including 48 from the printing section.

A further 25 print staff will now be moved to different parts of the business, with around 25 employees having already left the firm to seek new employment since the job cuts were announced.

Ann Field, Unite’s national officer said: “The prospect of losing printing at Cambridge University Press after 425 years of continuous activity was horrific for the workforce, for the community, and for the many generations of Cambridge workers and their families who have supported the university and its press.

“Although the loss of any jobs will be painful for people affected, Unite members, chapel reps and union officials are glad that more jobs have been saved and that printing will continue, including an element of colour work.”

CUP boss Steve Bourne added: “Whilst we are all pleased that the number of redundancies is far lower than we originally anticipated, it is still a difficult time for all involved and we will be doing all we can to support our colleagues during this process.

“I would like to thank our staff, their union representatives working in the printing business and the union Unite for working with us so constructively."

Well done to the Unite chapels and officials at CUP for fighting and campaigning so hard to save these jobs and the 425 years old press.

Unite: Visteon workers win justice

Visteon workers win justice - and show fighting back works

A statement from Unite.

The dramatic fight for justice for 610 Visteon workers is on the brink of settlement with the tabling of a new and vastly improved offer by the company to the workers. The workers, members of Unite the union, were sacked last month with only minute's notice, in the process denied their rightful redundancy pay and their pensions hit.

Since then the workers, supported fully by Unite, have led a high profile fight-back for just compensation, including the right to be considered for jobs at Ford, the former employer of the vast majority of the workforce.

Unite has been campaigning to ensure that neither Visteon nor Ford, given its historic, continuous association with the workforce, could walk away from the workers without paying them what is rightfully and morally theirs.

Now a renewed deal, which goes beyond even the Ford redundancy terms, has been accepted unanimously by the union's convenors and shop stewards.

Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite said: "This is a tremendous victory for these workers, and a demonstration to workers everywhere that when you fight for justice you can win. The deal now on the table is a massive improvement from where we started, which was 610 men and women thrown on the dole with only the expectation of basic state redundancy pay. By going beyond even what Ford workers themselves can expect in redundancy pay, Visteon has acknowledged the loyalty and commitment this workforce has shown to both them and to Ford before them.

"It can never replace their jobs, or alter the fact that 610 people have lost their jobs and their pensions have been hit, but it will provide these workers with compensation for the abysmal treatment they suffered and some security as they rebuild their working lives. This should send a message to employers everywhere - you will not get away with treating our members like cannon fodder."

Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite said: “This is a proud moment for these workers and their union. It shows that even in the bleakest of circumstances, if you stand up to defend what is right you will very often win.

"The support for these workers and their cause has been astonishing - the British people recognise when a wrong has been committed and they wanted it put right.

"Ultimately, Visteon and Ford accepted that they could not wash their hands of these workers and have gone a long way towards doing the decent thing by the workers and their families.

"We are confident that this dispute will now be settled in an orderly fashion and the workers will receive their compensation as quickly as possible."

The proposed settlement deal will see a considerable lift in the redundancy package offered to workers with long service and who previously worked for Ford. Some 510 out of the 610-strong workforce are former Ford employees. For those workers with shorter service, they can expect to receive ten times what they would have received in statutory redundancy pay. Ford has also agreed to give preferential treatment to former Visteon workers who may apply for work at Ford's UK plants in the future.

The new offer will be put to the workers in the coming days with Unite's joint negotiating committee recommending to members that they accept the deal. Following any agreement of the deal by the workforce, the pickets will withdraw from the plants.

Unite National Officer Roger Madison said the deal was "ten times what people were being offered originally".
"It's really great news and we're hoping that the guys will accept this," he said.

"They've only been offered this because of the actions taken, especially by the people in west Belfast - to lock themselves in a plant for nearly a month is refreshing - it's old-fashioned trade unionism."

Latest Unite e-activist now availble

New Unite e-activist is now available at

http://unite.newsweaver.co.uk/-ic7l1i3x8w-47daw5oyt3

Treatment of Visteon Workers - "brutal" - Unite activist sacked.

Visteon condemned for "brutal" treatment of workers

Angela Smith MP delivered told Parliament last night that the treatment of former Visteon factory workers was "brutal".

The Labour MP for Basildon, told the House of Commons about the plight of about 170 employees, in Basildon, who lost their jobs when the car parts firm went bust almost a month ago.

She said: “The company was brutal. It gave employees only a few minutes to clear their belongings. Being unemployed at such short notice is so dreadful, more than you can imagine. Visteon has behaved absolutely disgracefully.”

Linmar Convenor sacked - then re-instated

In another twist in the Visteon story Rob Williams, a Unite convenor of the Linamar car parts factory in Swansea, was dissmissed earlier this week.

Rob was told that he was being sacked for “irretrievable breakdown of trust”.

Day shift production workers walked out at the blatant victimisation. Management also called in police to try to forcibly remove Rob from the building but workers blockaded the union office where Rob had locked himself in.

Rob Williams has been active in supporting the sacked Visteon workers.

Supporters say that his sacking is linked to his prominant role in the Visteon campaign.

Rob Williams said: "The company called me into the office and the plant manager and the group president gave me a letter just terminating me, without representation, without any disciplinary procedure.

They accepted that I haven't committed any acts of gross misconduct and basically said it's because everything they try and do in the plant the union challenges, so it's blatantly for trade union activities.

Workers Uniting Group now understands that following negotiations between Unite and Linamar Rob now remains in his job and as Convenor of the factory.More negotiations have been scheduled for a week's time (Wednesday 6 May).

Messages of support to Rob Williams: robbo@redwills.freeserve.co.uk