Celebrate the 50th anniversary celebration of the Cuban Revolution at The Labour Club, Central Road, Yeovil BA20 IJL (near bus station)

Friday 30th January 2009.
Door open 7:30pm

The Cuban Revolution refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of the United States proxy ruler General Fulgencio Batista's regime on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement and other revolutionary elements within the country. The Cuban Revolution also refers to the ongoing implementation of social and economic programs by the new government since the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship, including the implementation of Marxist policies.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

One free Cuban Cocktail per person. Prize Draw. Promoter: Joe Conway.
D J, Dave C providing music. DVD presentation, Cuban speakers.

Tickets £5 per person. Contact Joe 07801 817963 or Mark 07791 989374 .

All proceeds toward Cuba Solidarity Campaign http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk/

Labels: campaigns

The national executive committee (NEC) of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), today agreed the first stages of a programme of national industrial action across civil and public services over the government's public sector pay cap.

The union urged the government to come to the negotiating table to avoid damaging industrial action and review its public sector pay cap of 2%, which is resulting in pay cuts and pay freezes for some of the lowest paid in the public sector.

If there is no movement from the government then industrial action will begin with a one day UK civil service and public sector strike strike on 10 November, hitting passports, Jobcentres, Tax Credits, immigration and customs, as well as driving licences, coastguards, driving tests and museums.

"There is a three week opportunity to avoid damaging industrial action, where the government can pay heed to the Bank of England’s warning on the economic consequences that the squeeze on wages is having." Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary. (photo: Jess Hurd.)

The one day strike, which will be followed by an overtime ban throughout the civil service, comes as civil and public servants across the UK face mounting pressure on their finances as a result of the government’s public sector pay cap.

With one in five in the civil service earning less than £15,000 and thousands earning just above the minimum wage, the government’s policy of capping public sector pay has hit some of the lowest paid in the public sector the hardest. In October, at least six government departments and agencies, including coastguards and the Office for National Statistics, had to give emergency pay rises to lift earnings above the new national minimum wage rate.

The NEC also agreed outline plans for sustained and targeted industrial action that would stretch into next year in the different sectors of the civil service.

The NEC will meet after the one day strike on 10 November to discuss dates for the sectoral action should there be no breakthrough with the government.

Unlike other parts of the public sector, civil servants are doubly disadvantaged because ‘progression’ (moving from the minimum to the maximum of the pay range) is included in the government’s pay cap along with cost of living increases. Hence there is less money available to fund basic pay awards.

This year has already seen pay strikes hit jobcentres, passports, immigration and coastguards across the UK, as well as strikes in the Scottish courts service, museums and sportscotland.
PCS members have also co-ordinated their industrial action over pay with other public sector unions, including NUT, UCU and Unison.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “The everyday things we take for granted from passports and getting back into work, through to tax credits, coastguards and securing our borders are delivered by hardworking civil and public servants. Giving these people pay rises that take their wages to just 13 or 25 pence above the national minimum wage is unsustainable when you face double digit rises in food, fuel and housing costs.

“There is a three week opportunity to avoid damaging industrial action, where the government can pay heed to the Bank of England’s warning on the economic consequences that the squeeze on wages is having. The government has the opportunity to recognise that its own workforce is doubly disadvantaged by a punitive pay system, that sees coastguards receiving special pay rises because the minimum wage has gone up and nearly half of jobcentre workers receiving no pay rise whatsoever this year.”

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NATIONAL PENSIONERS’ CONVENTION

(www.npcuk.org)

COME AND COMMEMORATE THE CENTENARY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE STATE PENSION
and demand that the government keep its promise to restore the link between the pension and average earnings

AT

THE COUNCIL HOUSE, COLLEGE GREEN, BRISTOL

ON

SATURDAY 22ND NOVEMBER 2008
FROM
11AM TO 1PM.

FREE COACH TRANSPORT,
provided by the Yeovil & District Trades Union Council, leaves Unity Hall, Central Rd, Yeovil (opposite the Bus Station) at 9am. Please book in advance if possible to secure a seat. Phone Bill Byrd (01935) 476 642.

1908 – the State Pension was between 20 and 25% of average male earnings.

2008 – the State Pension is around 15% of average male earnings.

There will be a collection. Speakers include MPs from each of the three main parties.

ALL WELCOME – YOUNG AND OLD.

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Labels: campaigns

Bridgwater Pensioners March and Rally, Saturday September 13th.10.30am, Blake Gardens. (behind the town library).

If any Bridgwater TUC delegates can help members of the Bridgwater Senior Citizens Forum hand out leaflets at in Bridgwater for an hour this Saturday morning, please contact Phil Sealey of the BSCF his e-mail is philip.sealey@btopenworld.com.

Also, the Western region of the National Pensioners Convention is organising a rally at the Bristol Council House on Saturday November 22nd at 11 am to commemorate the introduction of the State Pension in 1908. In particular we will remember the rally held in Bristol in 1899 to launch the campaign for a State Pension. Similar rallies have been held this year in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. All these cities had rallies in 1899. Neil Duncan-Jordan, National Officer of the NPC and Tim Lezard, Chair of SWTUC will be the main speakers.

-Bob Jones, Secretary NPC South Central and West.

Labels: campaigns

From Dave Osborne:

Dave Chapple opened the meeting by stating that the Shop Stewards Network (SSN) aims to be a politically independent movement open to anyone with a mandate from union members. This can be any form of workplace, or an elected officer of a Branch or Trades Council. I don’t consider myself a militant but I think it is important to support any organisation that could offer support to the members I represent (whether in the workplace, at Branch, or at Trades Council) when they are in dispute with their employers. On that basis I felt obliged to attend the meeting and report back.

Full time union officers attend the SSN by invitation and have no vote. Some are supportive, some less so, and some oppose the group’s existence. Bob Crowe (RMT) is head of the union that sparked the idea of the SSN. He told the meeting that we need a vibrant reps network to combat the excesses of employers and to support workers in the workplace, that is why he called on all unions to support the RMT’s efforts to give English Trades Councils voting rights a the Trades Union Congress.

Onay ‘Kas’ Kasab (Unison) talked about the importance of democracy within the union movement. Kas is one of four reps accused by Unison of campaigning against the leadership because they distributed a leaflet highlighting the number of motions submitted to their policy conference that were ruled out of order (50% this year).

Karen Resissmann (Unison) was a shop steward sacked because of her union activity who wanted to thank the union members who went on strike for 42 days trying to get her reinstated, and to thank those trade unionists from around the country who had sent messages of support that were much appreciated by thos involved in the dispute.

Brian Caton (POA) said he would make no apology for the work his members do and they play an important role in protecting all of us from dangerous criminals. Not everything is rosy in the prison service but they have made headway and their members tell the officers what to do. Brian called for the TUC to campaign harder for trade union freedoms; he will ask the TUC to call for a national strike and urged us all to choose freedom and to be prepared to break bad laws.

The meeting was then opened up for delegates to give their own experiences:

• A member from USDAW said that all labour governments that have called for wage restraint go on to lose the next election. Union leaders must realise that ‘partnership’ with employers usually means low wages for members.
• A member from the CWU said he’d been sacked allegedly for an article he wrote for the socialist Worker but in reality because he’d been successful in getting a 15% rise for workers in his call entre.
• A Unite worker from the voluntary sector spoke about how many members have to bid for workers against the private sector, which results in a direct attack on pay and conditions.
• Another Unite member told us how the Chief Executive of Argos got a 58% pay rise and expected workers to accept rises that are less than inflation.
• A UCU member from Cardiff said that university lecturers had only achieved parity with teachers as a result of industrial action. If you try you may win, if you don’t try you definitely won’t win.

Workshop – the crisis in political representation

Given that we are in a Lib Dem stronghold and Unite continues to support the Labour Party this seemed the obvious workshop to attend. Speakers said that the policies of the three main parties are as close as were the Tories and the Liberals when Labour was founded, it may therefore be the time to found a new party to represent working people. New Labour is not radical, they are too soft on the rich and the few policies that help working people are designed to deflect our anger rather than deal with real issues:

• Immigration and the inadequate facilities for handling it will feed the flames of racism and hand votes to the BNP unless we have a proper political organisation to help working people.
• Climate change cannot be fought if we concentrate on appeasing business, capitalism depends on oil and the focus on biofuels is triggering a world wide food crisis.

John Rogers from the Labour Representation Committee said that there are people in the Labour Party that are on our side and we need to use them but even he could not defend the Party’s recent record.
said pointed out that over 90% of pay awards are below RPI but the government still blames pay rises for inflation. Respect was pushed forward as the answer to the problem of political representation but it was built on a compromise. We need the union leaders who have broken with the labour party to form a new party now. (A rally to discuss this issue was due to take place the next day.)

Final plenary

Linda Taafte said that there had been over 200 delegates at the conference and 75 visitors, similar numbers to last year. During the year regional conferences had been held in most areas and have supported most major events in the union movement. It is up to delegates what happens to the movement but it urgently needs finance.

The meeting was opened once again for members to have their voice. The main message coming out was a call to campaign with union leaders if possible or without if necessary.

A speaker from the American Longshoreman’s union then talked about a strike that closed every port on the West Coast in protest at American involvement in the wars in Iraq. As a result they are now under attack from their own government.

Janice Godritch from the PCA then stepped in to replace General Secretary Mark Serwotka who was speaking in the Left field at Glastonbury. Janice started by saying that while much has been said about the situation of public service workers she wanted to stress the importance of the private sector, and especially the fate of agency workers who are increasingly hired as casual labour on a daily basis; individuals often incur significant expenses in getting to sites that may offer work for the day that they cannot get back if they are not chosen on the day.

Unfortunately, so many people had overrun their allotted time during the day that I had to leave before Janice finished. It proved to be a long and tiring day but I’m glad to have made the effort to attend and report back on what I think are some important issues.

Labels: campaigns

PCS, Prospect and Unite are the three unions representing staff in the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). VOSA is an Executive Agency of the Department of Transport.

VOSA has responsibility for road safety and in the exercise of its duties the Agency carries out a number of functions:

• Oversight of the MoT certificate system for cars
• Annual Inspection of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV’s)
• Annual Inspection of Public Service Vehicles (PSV’s)
• Road Side checks on HGV’s and PSV’s

We are deeply concerned about proposals to outsource VOSA functions and the implications this could have for road safety.

The impartiality and professionalism of the Agency’s staff is widely valued and respected by road hauliers and public service vehicle operators alike.

We believe any move to outsource the functions of VOSA would threaten the integrity and independence of the inspection regime and go against the Government’s stated objectives on road safety.

On Friday 27th June, the Department for Transport Board are due to recommend a decision on outsourcing the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency to the Secretary of State. This decision could have profound implications for road safety in Britain.

All the Trade Unions representing staff at VOSA call upon the Board to firmly reject any proposals to outsource the work of the Agency.

Before taking any decision we invite the Board to -

• Demand that they are given sight of the full Outline Business Case – a document riddled with contradictions and absurd assumptions.
• Consider the private sector record on Vehicle Testing: in Britain: 12.6% of the private cars on our roads have been incorrectly granted a valid MOT certificate
• Note that in the EU, including France and Germany, testing of HGV’s and PSV’s is carried out by private sector organisations: 47.7% of HGV’s inspected on arrival from the EU had prohibition notices as they were unfit to be on our roads.
  A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said:
  “Around 400 people are killed annually in UK lorry accidents. Foreign lorry drivers are putting lives at risk by overworking, using vehicles with serious faults and overloading their trucks” Chief Superintendent Geraint Anwyl
• Remember that VOSA exists to “save lives, create safer roads, cut crime and protect the environment”.
• Ask how outsourcing the functions of the Agency will contribute to the aims of VOSA and the stated Government targets on road safety?
• Question why Board members are being asked to consider outsourcing work at a time when the Irish Government have decided to move in the opposite direction: -
  “Huge number of unsafe buses and trucks are on our roads”
  “Private testing system for HGVs has hit the skids”. Headlines from the Irish Independent, Saturday 9th February 2008

We would like to encourage all Members of Parliament to demand that copies of the VOSA full Outline Business Case for outsourcing should be placed in the House of Commons library so that MPs can scrutinise and challenge the flawed case for outsourcing VOSA’s functions. We want full and proper public scrutiny of what is being proposed.

Thank you for your continued interest in this issue

VOSA Flyer			PDF
PCS Newsbrief 3 July 2008			PDF

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It has been said that Learning is a big issue facing unions today. It is important to our members in the same way that decent pay or reasonable hours of work are important. Put simply, with lifelong learning our life chances are better. Without it we are at risk in the labour market and disadvantaged in the community.

The rapid development of new technologies and the acceleration of economic and industrial change have had enormous effects on the Labour market. The modern Labour market demands the constant improvement of existing skills and the acquisition of new skills, throughout our working lives.

With education and development we have more choice, and hence control, over the way we earn a living and the way we live our lives. With greater choice we need not be the victims of change. Indeed we are in better position to understand and influence the course of that change. We can feel more secure.

Research shows that people with relevant skills are more likely to stay in employment and are paid better for what they do. The benefits of learning, both in terms of job security and in terms of lifetime earnings, are huge:

• Male graduates earn 50% more than those with A levels
• Female graduates earns twice as much as women with no qualifications

Union Learning Reps (ULRs) in the workplace are helping their members to get on in their current jobs, to gain new skills when facing redundancy, and to learn about new things just to make them better citizens. Many of the people being helped by ULRs had poor experiences of education in the past.

Where ULRs are active in Branches and Workplaces they can also help unemployed and retired members with learning issues.

To find out more go to http://www.unionlearn.org.uk.

Labels: campaigns

The European Court of Justice has struck down a law in the German state of Lower Saxony, which states that public contracts can only be awarded to companies which pay their employees the minimum wage as agreed in a regional collective agreement.

The law also encompasses sub-contractors. The case was brought before the ECJ because a Polish company had paid according to their national minimum wage, which amounted to 46.5% of the wage prescribed by Lower Saxony. The ECJ ruled that the law imposed restrictions on free movement.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called the ruling "another destructive judgement" and, bizarrely, called on the EU to confirm that it "is not just an economic project."

PA reports that Unite general secretary Derek Simpson called the judgement "by far the most damaging" of a series of ECJ rulings seemingly undermining the unions. He said, "This decision effectively means that foreign companies working here in the UK, or in any other European country, can flout domestic laws and collective agreements with regard to pay. This is a recipe for disaster and, if applied in the UK, will cause massive industrial unrest and threaten the delivery of major infrastructure projects including the Olympics site."

The case follows the recent ruling in the similar Laval case, which ruled against a Swedish union that tried to hold a Latvian construction company to a voluntary collective agreement. The court has also found against the Finnish seafarers' union for trying to prevent ship-owners displacing Finnish shippers with lower paid Estonian crews. British Airways has also threatened their pilots with a similar court case if their union took strike action against the company employing lower paid staff to replace them.

Comment: TUAEUC has long warned that the renamed EU Constitution would give huge powers to the European Court of Justice, which is designed to promote 'ever closer union' within the EU and complete the single market. This court views trade unions and collective bargaining agreements as a barrier to the 'free movement' of goods, services, capital and people (meaning labour).

This latest ECJ judgment reveals once more that this court, which is an EU institution, operates in the interests of the architects of the eurofederalist project, big business and the most powerful corporations in Europe. The EU has also revealed it no longer requires the support of the ETUC to implement its authoritarian, neo-liberal and anti-working class project enshrined within the Lisbon Treaty.

Although British MPs have ensured that there will be no referendum in the UK by refusing to stick to an election manifesto to hold such a vote, Irish trade unionists should understand that the renamed constitution is a threat to their pay and conditions at work when they vote on the issue on June 12.

Labels: campaigns

We should be saying "Don't kill our shop". In many villages in Somerset, and further west, the village shop depends on the income brought in via the post office. Most customers are elderly and collect their pension, and spend it, in the shop. It's estimated that 60% in the village of Mudford and the surrounding villages are retired. Many have no transport and are unable to walk any distance.

The bus service is sparse and in some cases (Chilton Cantelo village, for example) only two buses a week. The bus service does not go directly to the alternatives the Post office has given. One of those alternatives is Tesco in Lyde Road - a half mile walk from the nearest bus stop, with no footpath. The roads from Mudford to Yeovil, as in many villages in Somerset, have no footpath.

The Post Office recommends that 90% of the population should be within 2 miles of a Post office. For someone with a car this not a great hardship, but without one it is a nightmare. Most people living in Yeovil have at one time lived in a village and must know that the village shop is at the heart of that village. Along with the pub and the church, all three are slowly disappearing.

So why is this happening? Privatisation. By 2011 postal services will be opened up to full competition as directed by the EU under Postal Directive 2002/39/EC, which amends the initial Postal Directive (97/67/EC) by defining further steps in the process of gradual and controlled market opening and further limiting the service sectors that can be reserved to the universal service provider. The Directive sets 1 January 2009 as a possible date for the full accomplishment of the Internal Market for postal services.

Private companies will pick off the profitable and leave the rest for the government to pick up. Gone are the days of public service. Profit is now God and the poorest in rural areas will bear the burden. We have just witnessed the attack on the postal workers, their pensions and working conditions, and the attempted sacking and suspension of their trade union shop stewards.

Don't let it happen. Sign the petition at your local Post Office.

Write to your M.P. David Laws, House of Commons, London S1A 0AA or e-mail lawsd@parliament.uk

MEPs: Glyn Ford, Labour: glyn.ford@europarl.europa.eu

Graham Watson: graham.watson@europarl.europa.eu

Here is a copy of the letter we sent to the Network development Manager, C/O National Consultation team, Post Office Limited:

Submissions to be sent in no later than March 8th 2008.

Dear Sir

At the March meeting of the Yeovil and District Trades Union Council, your proposal to close 7 Post Office branches in our district was discussed.

Following on from that discussion, it was unanimously agreed, that I register with you our strongest objection to the closure proposals.

We wish to make you aware that your closure proposals will cause huge inconvenience for many of our members. For most of our retired and disabled colleagues it will be nothing short of disastrous.

You need to be made aware that for many of our members and the general public, these local Post Offices and the shops that they help to support, are an absolute life-line for them, and their communities.

We would also refute your claims of "convenient alternatives" to the proposed branch closures. They are neither convenient or realistic alternatives. In fact, in some instances, e.g. Mudford, they are extremely hazardous and downright dangerous.

Therefore, during this consultation process, we would appeal to you to take heed of these objections, and allow these branches to continue to provide the wonderful service to their communities, that we have become accustomed to.

Yours faithfully, Viv Willis, secretary.

Labels: campaigns