Aberdeen Bus Strike
Talks at Acas failed to resolve the First Bus dispute in Aberdeen and a one day strike is taking place today (Thursday).
Unite members will be demonstrating at the First Group AGM in Aberdeen at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. 70% of Unite members voted to back the strike.
Unite demands urgent Government support for Jaguar - Halewood
The Government must support Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) application for financial support as a "matter of urgency", Unite has said after the premium car maker announced 300 job cuts.
JLR is to cease production of the X-Type Jaguar, known as the baby Jaguar, by the end of the year at the Halewood plant in Merseyside and will seek voluntary redundancies.
The company will also shut down the plant, which employs around 2,000 staff, for at least three weeks between September and December, as JLR suffers in the recession with sales down 28%.
Unite is demanding that the £300 million loan for investment in green technology, approved in April, must be underwritten by the Government. However, terms with JLR, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, are yet to be agreed, with the Government believed to be seeking conditions that would give them significant power in the running of the company.
And finally.........
French Workers Threaten To Blow Up Factory
On Monday this week French workers barricaded themselves inside a car parts factory which has gone bust and said they would blow the plant up with gas canisters unless they receive a bigger pay-off.
“Are we capable of blowing up the factory?” asked CGT union official Guy Eyermann during a meeting of about a hundred workers who have been occupying the factory in Chatellerault for several weeks. “Yes, we are capable.”
They insisted the string of gas canisters they have strung together are full - despite claims from officials that they are bluffing with depressurised gas bottles - and will be used to blow up the plant if necessary.
“Let them come and see,” said Eyermann. “These are serious threats.”
The small east-central town on Monday beefed up emergency services, bringing in extra firefighters to the local emergency centre, after the workers at the New Fabris plant set a July 31 deadline for their demands to be met.
The 366 workers said on Sunday they would carry out their threat unless carmakers Renault and PSA-Peugeot - who accounted for 90 per cent of business - pay them 30,000 euro each when they lose their jobs.
The threat comes after a recent wave of “bossnappings” across France earlier this year in which managers have been held hostage by workers over factory closures.
The Chatellerault factory houses car parts worth an estimated two million euros, as well as a new Renault machine believed to be worth a further two million, Eyermann said.
The workers have blockaded the entrance to try to stop any attempt to take the equipment out.
The New Fabris workers, whose employer was declared bankrupt on June 16, claim that Renault and Peugeot paid around 30,000 euros each to 200 workers laid off from another supplier, the aluminium specialist Rencast.
But both Renault and Peugeot said Monday it was not their responsibility to pay out compensation to the New Fabris workers.
PSA Peugeot-Citroen does “not have to take the place of the state or of share-holders,” a spokesman said.
A Renault spokesman also said that the carmaker, like Peugeot, had already helped Fabris financially but should not be expected to pay compensation to the firms’ workers.
Eyermann said two coachloads of workers visited Peugeot headquarters last week and a similar delegation would go Thursday to visit Renault bosses and the employment ministry to try to negotiate a settlement.
They hope to force the state to put pressure on the carmakers, which both received public funds to help them through the global downturn.
New Fabris company director Pierre Reau said that currently the firm would only able to pay between 10,000 and 15,000 euro in redundancy to workers with 20 or more years experience, and some junior workers would get just 3000 euro.
“I understand their distress,” he said, adding that a dramatic and sudden fall in orders had led to the company’s downfall.
Founded in 1947 by two brothers, Eugene and Quentin Fabris, New Fabris started out making sewing machine parts, before branching out into the auto sector, employing up to 800 workers in the 1990s.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ask your MP to Sign Statement Against Coup in Honduras
Its quick and its easy. Get your MP to sign up! Cut and paste the URL.....
http://www.vicuk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=490&Itemid=30javascript:void(0)
http://www.vicuk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=490&Itemid=30javascript:void(0)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Response to Guns And Democracy
On June 30th The Independent ran a nasty editoral headed 'Guns And Democracy" which gave tacit support for the military coup in Honduras - aligning the coup with the problems faced in some desperate African states.
The offending article said:
"The ousting of the Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the country's military at the weekend has been condemned by many members of the international community as an affront to democracy. But despite a natural distaste for any military coup, it is possible that the army might have actually done Honduran democracy a service.
President Zelaya was planning a referendum to give him power to alter the constitution. But the proposed alterations were perilously vague, with opponents accusing Mr Zelaya of wanting to scrap the four-year presidential term limit. The country's courts and congress had called the vote illegal.
This is an increasingly familiar turn of events in emerging democracies: an elected leader, facing the end of his time in office, decides that the country cannot do without him and resorts to dubious measures to retain power. The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, won a referendum in February altering his country's constitution and abolishing term limits. He now talks about ruling beyond 2030.
Elected leaders who refuse to give up power have been the curse of sub-Saharan Africa for decades. Some have resorted to bribery, intimidation, or simple fraud – whatever it takes to retain power. That depressing pattern was what prompted the wealthy Sudanese mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim to offer a prize of $5m a year to African leaders who voluntarily leave office. There are increasing examples of African states that have managed to combine free elections with transfers of power; Mozambique, Senegal and Ghana are among those that have shown it is possible, and are stronger and more attractive for investors as a result. But there are others, such as Nigeria and Kenya, which have highlighted the fact that voting and democracy do not amount to the same thing.
Honduras underlines that free votes only count if accompanied by a confident parliament, an independent judiciary, an unfettered media and impartial electoral monitors. The true test of a democracy's health is not the holding of elections. It is the possibility of power peaceably changing hands."
In response Jennie Bremnar, Unite AGS and Chair of Venezuala Solidarity Campaign wrote to the newspaper - but the Indie failed to publish her letter.
As the Workers Uniting Group have been campaigining against the coup and supporting the VSC campaign and demo's we thought Workers Uniting Group supporters might wish to read her response.
"Your leading piece ('Guns and Democracy,' 30 June) on the coup in Honduras was out of step with the view of governments and civil society throughout the world, including the British government, which has condemned the coup against Honduras' elected president.
Indeed, neighbouring countries in Central America have gone as far as to cease trading with Honduras, and other members of the ALBA block of nations in Latin America and the Caribbean – such as Venezuela and Bolivia – have withdrawn their Ambassadors to Honduras .
In recent years, trade unionists and others around the world have been inspired by the social progress being made in many countries in Latin America, led by the progressive process in Venezuela, which is also misrepresented in your piece. The people of Honduras too should have the right to elect the government they choose - a right we take for granted.
Jennie Bremner
Unite the Union Assistant General Secretary and Chair of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
The offending article said:
"The ousting of the Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the country's military at the weekend has been condemned by many members of the international community as an affront to democracy. But despite a natural distaste for any military coup, it is possible that the army might have actually done Honduran democracy a service.
President Zelaya was planning a referendum to give him power to alter the constitution. But the proposed alterations were perilously vague, with opponents accusing Mr Zelaya of wanting to scrap the four-year presidential term limit. The country's courts and congress had called the vote illegal.
This is an increasingly familiar turn of events in emerging democracies: an elected leader, facing the end of his time in office, decides that the country cannot do without him and resorts to dubious measures to retain power. The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, won a referendum in February altering his country's constitution and abolishing term limits. He now talks about ruling beyond 2030.
Elected leaders who refuse to give up power have been the curse of sub-Saharan Africa for decades. Some have resorted to bribery, intimidation, or simple fraud – whatever it takes to retain power. That depressing pattern was what prompted the wealthy Sudanese mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim to offer a prize of $5m a year to African leaders who voluntarily leave office. There are increasing examples of African states that have managed to combine free elections with transfers of power; Mozambique, Senegal and Ghana are among those that have shown it is possible, and are stronger and more attractive for investors as a result. But there are others, such as Nigeria and Kenya, which have highlighted the fact that voting and democracy do not amount to the same thing.
Honduras underlines that free votes only count if accompanied by a confident parliament, an independent judiciary, an unfettered media and impartial electoral monitors. The true test of a democracy's health is not the holding of elections. It is the possibility of power peaceably changing hands."
In response Jennie Bremnar, Unite AGS and Chair of Venezuala Solidarity Campaign wrote to the newspaper - but the Indie failed to publish her letter.
As the Workers Uniting Group have been campaigining against the coup and supporting the VSC campaign and demo's we thought Workers Uniting Group supporters might wish to read her response.
"Your leading piece ('Guns and Democracy,' 30 June) on the coup in Honduras was out of step with the view of governments and civil society throughout the world, including the British government, which has condemned the coup against Honduras' elected president.
Indeed, neighbouring countries in Central America have gone as far as to cease trading with Honduras, and other members of the ALBA block of nations in Latin America and the Caribbean – such as Venezuela and Bolivia – have withdrawn their Ambassadors to Honduras .
In recent years, trade unionists and others around the world have been inspired by the social progress being made in many countries in Latin America, led by the progressive process in Venezuela, which is also misrepresented in your piece. The people of Honduras too should have the right to elect the government they choose - a right we take for granted.
Jennie Bremner
Unite the Union Assistant General Secretary and Chair of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
Sowing the seeds of the fightback
From Morning Star, July 13th.....
Sowing the seeds of the fightback
John Haylett
Britain's construction engineering workers won a stunning victory over cowboy employers recently, winning reinstatement or re-employment of nearly 700 sacked workers at Total's Lindsey oil refinery.
That reality is uncontested, as is the fact that the willingness of the workers to stand together, walking out without ceremony at sites all over the country, made the anti-union laws inoperable.
Both unions in the industry, Unite and GMB, are committed to a national ballot for action to prevent employers from worsening workers' pay and conditions laid down in the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI), otherwise known as the blue book.
"We've got to create an industry that people want to be part of and a number of the apprentices can't see the stability that they want to see within the country"
A nationwide ballot in construction engineering would not be easy at any time, given the itinerant nature of the industry. But a secret letter sent by the employers' body, the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), to its members suggests that the unions may find matters even more difficult this year.
The letter, which was obtained by the Morning Star last month, advised employers to be obstructive, denying workforce access to full-time union officials and refusing shop stewards release time to work for a Yes vote in the ballot.
"If we could get everyone into a football stadium, we could get a vote for a national dispute without any doubt," says Les Bayliss, who is Unite assistant general secretary with executive officer responsibility for construction engineering and electrical contracting.
"We're having to work very hard with our activists and members, because it is such an itinerant workforce, to achieve a successful ballot for them to say which way they want to see the industry go," he says.
"But I'm confident that, certainly, the ECIA and ourselves can come to an agreement that recognises some of the problems inherent within the industry and which our members will find favourable and be prepared to support."
Bayliss categorises poor management as a major problem within the industry, emphasising: "We acknowledge management's right to manage, but we don't accept their right to manage badly."
That, in his opinion is what caused the problems at Lindsey, with Total relying almost exclusively on contractors to carry out the project and playing fast and loose with the blue book, especially over questions of allocation of labour.
"There were some internal disputes about allocation of labour and a number of our local officials were dealing with those through the agreed procedures," he recalls.
"Then, once the contract was moving towards the rundown and a number of the contractors were either over budget or hadn't completed the work that they had been due to complete, they started panicking and talked about getting in additional labour, but it still wasn't being managed effectively.
"They then gave redundancy notices to 51 of our members when it was clear that there was still plenty of work to be done on site."
If Total expected the workforce to roll over, it was wrong. There was a mass walkout and the company responded by ordering its subcontractors to sack the strikers and to reapply for their jobs.
This was a huge miscalculation by the transnational corporation.
By its action it showed that Total called the shots on employment by the contractors, even though it tried the classic defence of claiming to be piggy in the middle because the people on strike were not its direct employees.
And Total's refusal to abide by the provisions of the NAECI blue book, provoking the unofficial action by workers, meant that it had no recourse to anti-union legislation.
"As far as repudiation is concerned, they had a problem because they had sacked all the workforce. The point was made to us about not going through official procedures, well, our members didn't have any employer, so it was difficult for us to repudiate when we didn't have members working for a particular employer," says Bayliss.
Add to that the pressure coming from other major companies whose workers were walking off major construction projects in solidarity with the Lindsey men and Total was in a cleft stick and had to run up the white flag.
While there are some problems with an itinerant workforce, Bayliss says that the links developed between the tens of thousands of workers who move around Britain and abroad as well, on a number of projects, are quite sophisticated.
"They come across each other on a regular basis and all have each other's mobile phone numbers and other means of contact through trade union branches and the like.
"They have quite a healthy network for sharing information about what's happening in the industry and that takes many forms. For instance, there may well be work available in different parts of the country and they'll inform colleagues where there's new work starting."
Bayliss also believes that the readiness of workers to walk out in solidarity - secondary action, as it is designated in anti-strike legislation - is not due simply to events in the past 18 months.
Concerns over employers' behaviour, including blacklisting, go back 20 years and more. Although the NAECI blue book could be improved, it is seen as fundamentally a decent agreement, but "a number of our members, especially trade union activists, have been affected by blacklisting, which we and they are challenging.
"That's got to stop and people have to be brought to book. We've got to create an industry that people want to be part of and a number of the apprentices can't see the stability that they want to see within the country," Bayliss asserts.
He points out that, over and above the work linked to the 2012 London Olympics, there are plans for infrastructure projects worth hundreds of billions of pounds over the next 10 years in Britain and these plans could be jeopardised by incompetent, anti-union, cowboy employers.
Unite represents 15,000 apprentices "and it's important for them, the industry and the union to ensure that they have work in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years. The industry needs to be stabilised for that kind of continuity of employment.
"And the government has a responsibility as well because most of this work is generated through taxpayers' money.
"As part of the procurement strategy that the government is involved in, the industry should be recognising health and safety standards, the employment of apprentices and the skills development of people on the site to ensure that the country is getting the full reward for that kind of investment in the infrastructure.
"It's a highly skilled industry and the workers need to be rewarded accordingly," Bayliss declares.
And he believes that this can only come about through greater stability within the industry, which is best achieved by a much greater level of direct employment.
"There are a number of good employers about, but, unfortunately, they are outnumbered by the bad ones and I think, to be fair, some good employers are as worried as we are about what's happening in the industry, particularly through the use of agency labour where people are not directly employing anyone.
"They're going through various agencies and self-employment, which does not do anything for the industry apart from driving wages, terms and conditions down.
"Unless the employer is investing in skills and development and apprentices, it's just a short-term fix so that they can get the work, take the profits and move on to the next job," he says.
Bayliss looks forward to getting into negotiations with the employers to see whether they are committed to growing stability within construction engineering and will meet their on-site responsibilities to the workforce and to the taxpayers who will fund much of this planned boost to the country's infrastructure.
"It will be up to us to police that and see that they are honouring those agreements," he says.
Sowing the seeds of the fightback
John Haylett
Britain's construction engineering workers won a stunning victory over cowboy employers recently, winning reinstatement or re-employment of nearly 700 sacked workers at Total's Lindsey oil refinery.
That reality is uncontested, as is the fact that the willingness of the workers to stand together, walking out without ceremony at sites all over the country, made the anti-union laws inoperable.
Both unions in the industry, Unite and GMB, are committed to a national ballot for action to prevent employers from worsening workers' pay and conditions laid down in the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI), otherwise known as the blue book.
"We've got to create an industry that people want to be part of and a number of the apprentices can't see the stability that they want to see within the country"
A nationwide ballot in construction engineering would not be easy at any time, given the itinerant nature of the industry. But a secret letter sent by the employers' body, the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), to its members suggests that the unions may find matters even more difficult this year.
The letter, which was obtained by the Morning Star last month, advised employers to be obstructive, denying workforce access to full-time union officials and refusing shop stewards release time to work for a Yes vote in the ballot.
"If we could get everyone into a football stadium, we could get a vote for a national dispute without any doubt," says Les Bayliss, who is Unite assistant general secretary with executive officer responsibility for construction engineering and electrical contracting.
"We're having to work very hard with our activists and members, because it is such an itinerant workforce, to achieve a successful ballot for them to say which way they want to see the industry go," he says.
"But I'm confident that, certainly, the ECIA and ourselves can come to an agreement that recognises some of the problems inherent within the industry and which our members will find favourable and be prepared to support."
Bayliss categorises poor management as a major problem within the industry, emphasising: "We acknowledge management's right to manage, but we don't accept their right to manage badly."
That, in his opinion is what caused the problems at Lindsey, with Total relying almost exclusively on contractors to carry out the project and playing fast and loose with the blue book, especially over questions of allocation of labour.
"There were some internal disputes about allocation of labour and a number of our local officials were dealing with those through the agreed procedures," he recalls.
"Then, once the contract was moving towards the rundown and a number of the contractors were either over budget or hadn't completed the work that they had been due to complete, they started panicking and talked about getting in additional labour, but it still wasn't being managed effectively.
"They then gave redundancy notices to 51 of our members when it was clear that there was still plenty of work to be done on site."
If Total expected the workforce to roll over, it was wrong. There was a mass walkout and the company responded by ordering its subcontractors to sack the strikers and to reapply for their jobs.
This was a huge miscalculation by the transnational corporation.
By its action it showed that Total called the shots on employment by the contractors, even though it tried the classic defence of claiming to be piggy in the middle because the people on strike were not its direct employees.
And Total's refusal to abide by the provisions of the NAECI blue book, provoking the unofficial action by workers, meant that it had no recourse to anti-union legislation.
"As far as repudiation is concerned, they had a problem because they had sacked all the workforce. The point was made to us about not going through official procedures, well, our members didn't have any employer, so it was difficult for us to repudiate when we didn't have members working for a particular employer," says Bayliss.
Add to that the pressure coming from other major companies whose workers were walking off major construction projects in solidarity with the Lindsey men and Total was in a cleft stick and had to run up the white flag.
While there are some problems with an itinerant workforce, Bayliss says that the links developed between the tens of thousands of workers who move around Britain and abroad as well, on a number of projects, are quite sophisticated.
"They come across each other on a regular basis and all have each other's mobile phone numbers and other means of contact through trade union branches and the like.
"They have quite a healthy network for sharing information about what's happening in the industry and that takes many forms. For instance, there may well be work available in different parts of the country and they'll inform colleagues where there's new work starting."
Bayliss also believes that the readiness of workers to walk out in solidarity - secondary action, as it is designated in anti-strike legislation - is not due simply to events in the past 18 months.
Concerns over employers' behaviour, including blacklisting, go back 20 years and more. Although the NAECI blue book could be improved, it is seen as fundamentally a decent agreement, but "a number of our members, especially trade union activists, have been affected by blacklisting, which we and they are challenging.
"That's got to stop and people have to be brought to book. We've got to create an industry that people want to be part of and a number of the apprentices can't see the stability that they want to see within the country," Bayliss asserts.
He points out that, over and above the work linked to the 2012 London Olympics, there are plans for infrastructure projects worth hundreds of billions of pounds over the next 10 years in Britain and these plans could be jeopardised by incompetent, anti-union, cowboy employers.
Unite represents 15,000 apprentices "and it's important for them, the industry and the union to ensure that they have work in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years. The industry needs to be stabilised for that kind of continuity of employment.
"And the government has a responsibility as well because most of this work is generated through taxpayers' money.
"As part of the procurement strategy that the government is involved in, the industry should be recognising health and safety standards, the employment of apprentices and the skills development of people on the site to ensure that the country is getting the full reward for that kind of investment in the infrastructure.
"It's a highly skilled industry and the workers need to be rewarded accordingly," Bayliss declares.
And he believes that this can only come about through greater stability within the industry, which is best achieved by a much greater level of direct employment.
"There are a number of good employers about, but, unfortunately, they are outnumbered by the bad ones and I think, to be fair, some good employers are as worried as we are about what's happening in the industry, particularly through the use of agency labour where people are not directly employing anyone.
"They're going through various agencies and self-employment, which does not do anything for the industry apart from driving wages, terms and conditions down.
"Unless the employer is investing in skills and development and apprentices, it's just a short-term fix so that they can get the work, take the profits and move on to the next job," he says.
Bayliss looks forward to getting into negotiations with the employers to see whether they are committed to growing stability within construction engineering and will meet their on-site responsibilities to the workforce and to the taxpayers who will fund much of this planned boost to the country's infrastructure.
"It will be up to us to police that and see that they are honouring those agreements," he says.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Workers Uniting Group - Durham Miners Gala Meeting
Report of Workers Uniting Group, Durham Miners Gala, Saturday July 11th.
Workers Uniting Group supporters attended a meeting on July 11th during the Durham Miners Gala.
Les Bayliss, Unite Assistant General Secretary reported on the disputes in the Construction Engineering industry, notably the dispute with Total at the Lindsey Oil Refinery which he described as a 'tuning point' for Unite saying that: "the union should be proud of the support given to members and to the settlement". He told the meeting that pressure had been put on the Labour Party to get the employers back to the negotiating table and that Total were left in no doubt that if our members were not re-instated we would call on our sister union in Workers Uniting, the United Steelworkers to support Unite in solidarity action wherever they had influence be it in the USA or Canada.
In outlining current developments in Unite Les Bayliss said that he had been given responsibility to bring about mergers. All mergers are challenging including the mergers to create Amicus - AEEU, MSF, GPMU, Unifi.
The merger with the TGWU had been difficult. The TGWU leadership had "sold the merger" to their members on a "TGWU plus basis" and the TGWU had not been involved in significant organizational change for many years. However, the new Unite sectoral, regional and area activist’s structures would enable all Unite activists to share their experiences.
He said there was a need to cut out the rhetoric, tribalism and showboating and deal with the real problems facing Unite's membership including the crisis in manufacturing, in the finance sector, on pensions, housing, job security for all of our members and care for the young, sick and old. "We can only do this through an agreed strategy and the new rule book. This will drive the union forward to consolidate Unite and Workers Uniting - based on organizing, internationalism and political influence to build a skilled, professional and general workers union".
Unite aviation national officer Brian Boyd reported on the looming dispute with BA, who he said were trying to drive down pay and conditions as well as attempting to break Unite's strong organization within the airline. Brian said: "We have high levels of membership and significant union density across BA, in cabin crew, engineering and ground crew. Besides attempting to drive down pay and conditions BA were trying to weaken union organization".
He told the meeting that whilst it was recognised BA is facing major problems, Unite would resist the drive by BA to downgrade the world's premier airline. He also reported on organizing in other airlines, and thanked the officials and activists who had helped Unite organize and secure recognition at Flyglobespan and BA Cityflyer
Unite NEC member Agnes Tolmie reported on the very difficult situation faced almost every day by Unite members in the finance and banking sector. She told the meeting: "Every week that goes by jobs are being cut by in thousands in the big banks. While our members lose their jobs the bosses of the banks think that they can soon get back to business as usual with big bonus payments and top hat pensions. Many Unite members were low paid - they didn't enjoy the salaries of "Fred The Shred" - instead Unite members were facing continuing job insecurity, even though many of the banks are now publicly owned. It was time for the Government to step in and stop the job losses."
Delegates also discussed the involvement of young members in Unite and the selection of parliamentary candidates. Delegates said that some candidates often used a Unite card as a "card of convenience" to get selected. We needed to get more Unite members into parliament – but Unite members who actually understood what was happening in the workplace and who supported the policies of Unite and would represent working people.
The meeting also gave full support to all union members at Corus on Teeside who would be marching and demonstrating in Redcar to Save Our Steel on July 18th to save their jobs.
Details as follows:
DATE: Saturday, 18th July 2009
TIME: 12pm - 4pm, march departs at 2pm
MEETING POINT: Majuba Road car park, Redcar
Workers Uniting Group supporters attended a meeting on July 11th during the Durham Miners Gala.
Les Bayliss, Unite Assistant General Secretary reported on the disputes in the Construction Engineering industry, notably the dispute with Total at the Lindsey Oil Refinery which he described as a 'tuning point' for Unite saying that: "the union should be proud of the support given to members and to the settlement". He told the meeting that pressure had been put on the Labour Party to get the employers back to the negotiating table and that Total were left in no doubt that if our members were not re-instated we would call on our sister union in Workers Uniting, the United Steelworkers to support Unite in solidarity action wherever they had influence be it in the USA or Canada.
In outlining current developments in Unite Les Bayliss said that he had been given responsibility to bring about mergers. All mergers are challenging including the mergers to create Amicus - AEEU, MSF, GPMU, Unifi.
The merger with the TGWU had been difficult. The TGWU leadership had "sold the merger" to their members on a "TGWU plus basis" and the TGWU had not been involved in significant organizational change for many years. However, the new Unite sectoral, regional and area activist’s structures would enable all Unite activists to share their experiences.
He said there was a need to cut out the rhetoric, tribalism and showboating and deal with the real problems facing Unite's membership including the crisis in manufacturing, in the finance sector, on pensions, housing, job security for all of our members and care for the young, sick and old. "We can only do this through an agreed strategy and the new rule book. This will drive the union forward to consolidate Unite and Workers Uniting - based on organizing, internationalism and political influence to build a skilled, professional and general workers union".
Unite aviation national officer Brian Boyd reported on the looming dispute with BA, who he said were trying to drive down pay and conditions as well as attempting to break Unite's strong organization within the airline. Brian said: "We have high levels of membership and significant union density across BA, in cabin crew, engineering and ground crew. Besides attempting to drive down pay and conditions BA were trying to weaken union organization".
He told the meeting that whilst it was recognised BA is facing major problems, Unite would resist the drive by BA to downgrade the world's premier airline. He also reported on organizing in other airlines, and thanked the officials and activists who had helped Unite organize and secure recognition at Flyglobespan and BA Cityflyer
Unite NEC member Agnes Tolmie reported on the very difficult situation faced almost every day by Unite members in the finance and banking sector. She told the meeting: "Every week that goes by jobs are being cut by in thousands in the big banks. While our members lose their jobs the bosses of the banks think that they can soon get back to business as usual with big bonus payments and top hat pensions. Many Unite members were low paid - they didn't enjoy the salaries of "Fred The Shred" - instead Unite members were facing continuing job insecurity, even though many of the banks are now publicly owned. It was time for the Government to step in and stop the job losses."
Delegates also discussed the involvement of young members in Unite and the selection of parliamentary candidates. Delegates said that some candidates often used a Unite card as a "card of convenience" to get selected. We needed to get more Unite members into parliament – but Unite members who actually understood what was happening in the workplace and who supported the policies of Unite and would represent working people.
The meeting also gave full support to all union members at Corus on Teeside who would be marching and demonstrating in Redcar to Save Our Steel on July 18th to save their jobs.
Details as follows:
DATE: Saturday, 18th July 2009
TIME: 12pm - 4pm, march departs at 2pm
MEETING POINT: Majuba Road car park, Redcar
Just another cog in the machine?
Just another cog in the machine - join a union...
YouTube clip.
Pass it on.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGoKqPAhSk
YouTube clip.
Pass it on.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGoKqPAhSk
TUC Organising Academy Development Centre's
The TUC Organising Academy is now advertisng its annual development centres for potential trainee union organisers.
The TUC Organising Academy has been one of the TUC's major successes over the past ten years and has trained well over 200 union organisers and thousands of union lay and full time reps.
You don't need a degree, you don't need years of experience, you don't need to have worked for a Union before - all you need is passion and commitment to Trade Unionism and working people.
To find out more or if you know someone, especially young people, who you may think may make a good union organiser visit the TUC webite at for more information.
Dates and locations of the development centres etc can be found out.
http://www.tuc.org.uk/organisation/tuc-16738-f0.cfm
Please pass on this email to your contacts.
The TUC Organising Academy has been one of the TUC's major successes over the past ten years and has trained well over 200 union organisers and thousands of union lay and full time reps.
You don't need a degree, you don't need years of experience, you don't need to have worked for a Union before - all you need is passion and commitment to Trade Unionism and working people.
To find out more or if you know someone, especially young people, who you may think may make a good union organiser visit the TUC webite at for more information.
Dates and locations of the development centres etc can be found out.
http://www.tuc.org.uk/organisation/tuc-16738-f0.cfm
Please pass on this email to your contacts.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Bayliss: "Outlawing blacklisting is welcome but overdue"
The Government's plan to outlaw blacklisting is welcome but overdue, said Unite AGS Les Bayliss.
Welcoming the government's consultation on blacklisting which has been published this weekLes Bayliss, said: "This is a welcome development - but it's long overdue. Too many construction workers have suffered victimisation at the hands of unscrupulous employers.
"Blacklisting was made illegal in the 1999 Employment Relations Act, however the necessary regulations were never enacted because the government claimed there was no evidence. The government must now act swiftly to end this unjust practice for good."
Unite has alerted its activists of possible claims under Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 S137.
Claims are currently being taken by Unite against employers based on the refusal of employment on grounds related to trade union membership.
Welcoming the government's consultation on blacklisting which has been published this weekLes Bayliss, said: "This is a welcome development - but it's long overdue. Too many construction workers have suffered victimisation at the hands of unscrupulous employers.
"Blacklisting was made illegal in the 1999 Employment Relations Act, however the necessary regulations were never enacted because the government claimed there was no evidence. The government must now act swiftly to end this unjust practice for good."
Unite has alerted its activists of possible claims under Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 S137.
Claims are currently being taken by Unite against employers based on the refusal of employment on grounds related to trade union membership.
Unite's Rob MacGregor: "Thousands of finance workers are every month paying the price for the corporate greed"
Unite responds to Financial Regulation White Paper
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer for the Finance Sector said: “Unite welcomes the government 's acknowledgement that the financial regime must be changed fundamentally in order to bring stability to the banking sector and ensure it can never again undermine the UK economy.
"This white paper presents a number of bold and radical plans to prevent further crises in the financial industry, though it remains a fact that thousands of finance workers are every month paying the price for the corporate greed, excess and recklessness of the City as they lose their jobs and pensions."
Unite is calling for the government to ensure public interest representation on the boards of all large financial institutions and at all levels of the regulatory structure of the finance sector.
Rob continued: "Without public interest representation we will simply maintain the risky business models and poor supervision of the past which lack the transparency that is essential and which the government is apparently now demanding. It is right that there is a more interventionist approach to regulation of this sector, specifically in the rules which determine the remuneration structures of these complex institutions.
“However, any suggestion from the chancellor that the taxpayer supported institutions may be returned to the private sector with no priority given to the impact on workers and their families would be a step in the wrong direction.
"Unless it protects and supports hardworking and dedicated workers in this sector the UK will never achieve financial stability."
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer for the Finance Sector said: “Unite welcomes the government 's acknowledgement that the financial regime must be changed fundamentally in order to bring stability to the banking sector and ensure it can never again undermine the UK economy.
"This white paper presents a number of bold and radical plans to prevent further crises in the financial industry, though it remains a fact that thousands of finance workers are every month paying the price for the corporate greed, excess and recklessness of the City as they lose their jobs and pensions."
Unite is calling for the government to ensure public interest representation on the boards of all large financial institutions and at all levels of the regulatory structure of the finance sector.
Rob continued: "Without public interest representation we will simply maintain the risky business models and poor supervision of the past which lack the transparency that is essential and which the government is apparently now demanding. It is right that there is a more interventionist approach to regulation of this sector, specifically in the rules which determine the remuneration structures of these complex institutions.
“However, any suggestion from the chancellor that the taxpayer supported institutions may be returned to the private sector with no priority given to the impact on workers and their families would be a step in the wrong direction.
"Unless it protects and supports hardworking and dedicated workers in this sector the UK will never achieve financial stability."
South Yorkshire Bus Strike
Bus drivers strike across South Yorkshire
Workers at the First South Yorkshire bus company will take 24 hour strike action over pay on July 10th bringing First Bus routes across Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster to a standstill.
The bus drivers are furious that the bus company claims there is no money for a pay increase despite the company posting profits of £122 million for 2008.
77 per cent of bus drivers who took part in the ballot voted for strike action.
At the talks with ACAS the company put forward an offer of 2.9 per cent in return for changes to working practices including relinquishing two bank holidays and not being paid for the time spent booking in for work and checking the bus before beginning the shift. Checking the bus is a legal requirement. The union believes that the proposed changes would mean savings for the company above its pay offer of 2.9 per cent.
Workers at the First South Yorkshire bus company will take 24 hour strike action over pay on July 10th bringing First Bus routes across Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster to a standstill.
The bus drivers are furious that the bus company claims there is no money for a pay increase despite the company posting profits of £122 million for 2008.
77 per cent of bus drivers who took part in the ballot voted for strike action.
At the talks with ACAS the company put forward an offer of 2.9 per cent in return for changes to working practices including relinquishing two bank holidays and not being paid for the time spent booking in for work and checking the bus before beginning the shift. Checking the bus is a legal requirement. The union believes that the proposed changes would mean savings for the company above its pay offer of 2.9 per cent.
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