Saturday, 12 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
UNISON lobby of Council Budget Meeting - 15th November
Members of North Somerset UNISON will be joined by members of Portishead Youth Club on 15th November at 5.30 pm at the Town Hall in Weston super Mare to lobby North Somerset Council as they debate their budget proposals which involve cutting £50 million from services to our most vulnerable citizens.
We need as many of our members and other residents of North Somerset to join us on the 15th November to make it clear to councillors that we won't accept these cuts.
We need as many of our members and other residents of North Somerset to join us on the 15th November to make it clear to councillors that we won't accept these cuts.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Impact of the cuts on Women
I've just read Bristol Fawcett Society's report on the impact of the cuts on women in Bristol. You can download it here
http://www.bristolfawcett.org.uk/
It shows that the impact of public spending cuts in the areas of: employment, housing, incomes and poverty, education and training, violence against women, health, social care and other support services, legal advice services, women's voluntary organisations, and transport are likely to disproportionately impact on women in Bristol, and that the cumulative effect of the cuts have serious equalities and human rights implications for women in Bristol. It makes for very worrying reading indeed.
http://www.bristolfawcett.org.uk/
It shows that the impact of public spending cuts in the areas of: employment, housing, incomes and poverty, education and training, violence against women, health, social care and other support services, legal advice services, women's voluntary organisations, and transport are likely to disproportionately impact on women in Bristol, and that the cumulative effect of the cuts have serious equalities and human rights implications for women in Bristol. It makes for very worrying reading indeed.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
The Great Regression
Have a look at economist Robert Reich's visual representation of how the rich in the U.S.A. have got richer while ordinary working people have got poorer. Exactly the same applies here in the UK. Click on the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic.html?ref=sunday
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/04/opinion/04reich-graphic.html?ref=sunday
You have to remind people what you're worth
'You have to remind people what you're worth'
(21/10/11)
For many UNISON members, the thought of industrial action is scary – not least because many of them have never been on strike before.
And with that comes the fear that any action we take is pointless – that the odds are just too great.
So it's always good to remind ourselves exactly what industrial action can achieve – and here are four brief examples.
In 1888, the workforce at the Bryant & May match factory in London faced 14-hour days, poor pay and fines for various 'offences' – plus serious health problems caused by working with white phosphorus.
But management was a bit put out when an article appeared describing the conditions as akin to "white slavery", and tried to get the workforce to sign a paper contradicting the claims.
When they refused, this became the pretext for sacking one of the workers – and 1,400 women and girls walked out immediately.
Many helped raise money for a strike fund, and a deputation visited Parliament. The management instantly offered to reinstate the sacked worker, but her colleagues decided to demand other concessions, including ending the system of fines that they faced.
Eventually, management agreed to scrap the fines and other deductions – and allow meals to be taken in a different room, avoiding contamination of the food with the white phosphorous.
The women had won – and their action had started a campaign that, a few years later, would see the outlawing of white phosphorous.
When the gas workers of Beckton, East London, took action a year later, in 1889, they wanted something that seems absurdly normal to us now.
They wanted an eight-hour working day.
For some time, skilled workers' unions had been asking for this, but no progress had been made.
Gas workers in Beckton were working a 12-hour day, seven days a week.
But then the so-called unskilled workers started to organise, including the gas workers, and led by Will Thorne, they set about winning that aim by industrial action.
Mr Thorne told a meeting of gas workers: "The way you have been treated in your work for many years is scandalous, brutal and inhuman.
"I pledge my word that, if you will stand firm and don't waver, within six months we will claim and win the eight-hour day, a six-day week and the abolition of the present slave-driving methods in vogue not only at the Beckton Gas Works, but all over the country."
After the speech, 800 workers joined the union. Within a month, another 3,000 had joined.
Mr Thorne was right and the members stood firm. In response to a 'petition', the Gas Light & Coke Company cut the working day without a strike being called. It was the first time in the history of industrial workers that such an agreement had been struck.
At the Ford factory in Dagenham in 1968, the women machinists, who sewed the covers for the car seats, found themselves on the end of a regrading exercise.
It left them classed as 'less skilled production workers', thus meaning that they were going to be paid 15% less than their male colleagues, who were classed as doing 'more skilled production jobs'.
They were joined in their walkout by machinists at Halewood and, as the stock of seat covers ran out, it halted car production.
After intervention from the then secretary of state for employment and productivity, Barbara Castle, the women ended their strike after three weeks.
They had won an immediate increase in their pay to 8% below that of their male colleagues, with the promise of a further increase the following year.
Although the machinists only won a regrading into the higher job category in 1984, after a further six-week strike, their action paved the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act – the first time that there had been any legal attempt to prohibit inequality between men and women in terms of pay and conditions.
In 2009-10, refuse workers in Leeds went on strike for 11 weeks over attempts to slash their pay.
The Tory-Lib Dem council was trying to use the implementation of equal pay as an excuse for cutting pay by up to a third. It was an attempt to divide and rule that didn't work.
UNISON members stood shoulder to shoulder with their GMB colleagues – and they never wavered.
And the women, whose right to equal pay was being used as an excuse to cut the men's pay, helped their male colleagues, handing out leaflets and campaigning to raise sympathy and understanding among the public.
As Dave Prentis said when the strikers won: "Leeds members have shown what can be achieved by old-fashioned solidarity and discipline. I am proud of them."
It's something that workers down the years have learned – and it's as true today as it was when the matchgirls finally refused to accept their appalling working conditions.
(InFocus, November 2011)
(21/10/11)
For many UNISON members, the thought of industrial action is scary – not least because many of them have never been on strike before.
And with that comes the fear that any action we take is pointless – that the odds are just too great.
So it's always good to remind ourselves exactly what industrial action can achieve – and here are four brief examples.
In 1888, the workforce at the Bryant & May match factory in London faced 14-hour days, poor pay and fines for various 'offences' – plus serious health problems caused by working with white phosphorus.
But management was a bit put out when an article appeared describing the conditions as akin to "white slavery", and tried to get the workforce to sign a paper contradicting the claims.
When they refused, this became the pretext for sacking one of the workers – and 1,400 women and girls walked out immediately.
Many helped raise money for a strike fund, and a deputation visited Parliament. The management instantly offered to reinstate the sacked worker, but her colleagues decided to demand other concessions, including ending the system of fines that they faced.
Eventually, management agreed to scrap the fines and other deductions – and allow meals to be taken in a different room, avoiding contamination of the food with the white phosphorous.
The women had won – and their action had started a campaign that, a few years later, would see the outlawing of white phosphorous.
When the gas workers of Beckton, East London, took action a year later, in 1889, they wanted something that seems absurdly normal to us now.
They wanted an eight-hour working day.
For some time, skilled workers' unions had been asking for this, but no progress had been made.
Gas workers in Beckton were working a 12-hour day, seven days a week.
But then the so-called unskilled workers started to organise, including the gas workers, and led by Will Thorne, they set about winning that aim by industrial action.
Mr Thorne told a meeting of gas workers: "The way you have been treated in your work for many years is scandalous, brutal and inhuman.
"I pledge my word that, if you will stand firm and don't waver, within six months we will claim and win the eight-hour day, a six-day week and the abolition of the present slave-driving methods in vogue not only at the Beckton Gas Works, but all over the country."
After the speech, 800 workers joined the union. Within a month, another 3,000 had joined.
Mr Thorne was right and the members stood firm. In response to a 'petition', the Gas Light & Coke Company cut the working day without a strike being called. It was the first time in the history of industrial workers that such an agreement had been struck.
At the Ford factory in Dagenham in 1968, the women machinists, who sewed the covers for the car seats, found themselves on the end of a regrading exercise.
It left them classed as 'less skilled production workers', thus meaning that they were going to be paid 15% less than their male colleagues, who were classed as doing 'more skilled production jobs'.
They were joined in their walkout by machinists at Halewood and, as the stock of seat covers ran out, it halted car production.
After intervention from the then secretary of state for employment and productivity, Barbara Castle, the women ended their strike after three weeks.
They had won an immediate increase in their pay to 8% below that of their male colleagues, with the promise of a further increase the following year.
Although the machinists only won a regrading into the higher job category in 1984, after a further six-week strike, their action paved the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act – the first time that there had been any legal attempt to prohibit inequality between men and women in terms of pay and conditions.
In 2009-10, refuse workers in Leeds went on strike for 11 weeks over attempts to slash their pay.
The Tory-Lib Dem council was trying to use the implementation of equal pay as an excuse for cutting pay by up to a third. It was an attempt to divide and rule that didn't work.
UNISON members stood shoulder to shoulder with their GMB colleagues – and they never wavered.
And the women, whose right to equal pay was being used as an excuse to cut the men's pay, helped their male colleagues, handing out leaflets and campaigning to raise sympathy and understanding among the public.
As Dave Prentis said when the strikers won: "Leeds members have shown what can be achieved by old-fashioned solidarity and discipline. I am proud of them."
It's something that workers down the years have learned – and it's as true today as it was when the matchgirls finally refused to accept their appalling working conditions.
(InFocus, November 2011)
Monday, 7 November 2011
You deserve better - join a union
Watch President Obama talk about why he supports trade unions. These are the rights trade unions have also won for workers in the UK, and they wouldn't have done it without members STANDING UP, STANDING TOGETHER & TAKING ACTION. Think about what your job would be like if members of trade unions had not fought for these rights.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Decent Pensions for All
UNISON members have voted massively in favour of industrial action over pensions, but the day of action on 30th November is not just about our pensions, but about fair pensions for all. We live in a country, which pays the lowest state pension in Europe - our pensioners live well below the poverty line. The majority of the UK population don't even have a decent occupational pension scheme, as many of the good private sector schemes have been closed down so that the companies involved can make even greater profits for their shareholders and bonuses for those at the top. Our day of action is for all those workers who have not been given the opportunity of a decent pension scheme, and our belief that it should be every worker's right to have a comfortable retirement after a working lifetime of contributing to society.
This government's proposals for public sector schemes are an attack on all working people, not just those in the public sector, because if public sector schemes are reduced to the level of what remains of private sector schemes, then all of us will be poorer. But their proposals are also a false economy. If public sector workers can no longer afford to contribute to pension schemes, they will withdraw and then be more reliant on state benefits in their retirement. We have record levels of youth unemployment in the UK and yet the government's answer is to make people work longer, and to provide them with such poor pensions that even in so-called retirement they are forced to continue working in order to pay the bills. The government have already made many existing pensioners poorer by switching the yearly cost of living increase from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index – this applies not only to public sector pensions, but to some private pension schemes and to the state pension.
The government are saying that their proposals will improve public sector pensions – why then is it the case that none of the extra contributions will go into our pension pots? - but will be used by the government to pay off the deficit – a deficit caused by the greed of the bankers, which we as tax payers have been forced to pay for. Public sector workers have had their pay frozen for the last 2 years – given the rate of inflation I estimate this pay freeze has amounted to a 6% pay cut. The government’s pension proposals amount to another 3% pay cut for public sector workers. Does anyone really think that any working person in this country can keep on taking pay cut after pay cut, while the bankers continue to pay their bonuses? I find it very difficult to understand why we as a society seem to find it acceptable that some people struggle to support their families with minimum wage jobs, while those at the top earn 300 times as much. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have also expressed their concerns about corporate greed and huge income inequality and its negative impact on society in terms of social cohesion, health and social problems. The Occupy protests in London, Bristol and many other parts of the country are also demanding changes to a system, which works in favour of the 1% and not the 99%.
This government of millionaires don't have to worry about how they make ends meet on a daily basis or about their retirement, and despite David Cameron's protests they are not interested in helping ordinary working people. If they were they would have chosen to cut the deficit by clamping down on tax avoidance and increasing taxes on those individuals and corporations right at the top. Instead they have chosen to cut the deficit by slashing spending on public services, which hits the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest. In North Somerset alone £50 million, or one third of the council’s budget, is being cut from public services, impacting on children, young people, the elderly and disabled people. Our day of action on 30th November will also be a protest against the cuts to public spending, which we believe are unfair and unnecessary. The proposals for our pensions, and the cuts to jobs and public services are all part of the government’s decision to make ordinary working people bear the brunt of a financial crisis that they were not responsible for. We would like to invite anyone living in North Somerset who is feeling the impact of the cuts, either because they don’t have a decent pension, or they’ve lost their job or been forced to take a pay cut, or because their benefits have been cut, or because they’ve had a public service they relied on cut, to join us on 30th November, either on our picket lines or on the march and rally in Bristol. If you want to find out more please give us a ring – 01934 634759 or have a look at our website www.northsomersetunison.co.uk. It is now time for ordinary working and non-working people to stand up and demand that our society needs to change.
This government's proposals for public sector schemes are an attack on all working people, not just those in the public sector, because if public sector schemes are reduced to the level of what remains of private sector schemes, then all of us will be poorer. But their proposals are also a false economy. If public sector workers can no longer afford to contribute to pension schemes, they will withdraw and then be more reliant on state benefits in their retirement. We have record levels of youth unemployment in the UK and yet the government's answer is to make people work longer, and to provide them with such poor pensions that even in so-called retirement they are forced to continue working in order to pay the bills. The government have already made many existing pensioners poorer by switching the yearly cost of living increase from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index – this applies not only to public sector pensions, but to some private pension schemes and to the state pension.
The government are saying that their proposals will improve public sector pensions – why then is it the case that none of the extra contributions will go into our pension pots? - but will be used by the government to pay off the deficit – a deficit caused by the greed of the bankers, which we as tax payers have been forced to pay for. Public sector workers have had their pay frozen for the last 2 years – given the rate of inflation I estimate this pay freeze has amounted to a 6% pay cut. The government’s pension proposals amount to another 3% pay cut for public sector workers. Does anyone really think that any working person in this country can keep on taking pay cut after pay cut, while the bankers continue to pay their bonuses? I find it very difficult to understand why we as a society seem to find it acceptable that some people struggle to support their families with minimum wage jobs, while those at the top earn 300 times as much. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have also expressed their concerns about corporate greed and huge income inequality and its negative impact on society in terms of social cohesion, health and social problems. The Occupy protests in London, Bristol and many other parts of the country are also demanding changes to a system, which works in favour of the 1% and not the 99%.
This government of millionaires don't have to worry about how they make ends meet on a daily basis or about their retirement, and despite David Cameron's protests they are not interested in helping ordinary working people. If they were they would have chosen to cut the deficit by clamping down on tax avoidance and increasing taxes on those individuals and corporations right at the top. Instead they have chosen to cut the deficit by slashing spending on public services, which hits the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest. In North Somerset alone £50 million, or one third of the council’s budget, is being cut from public services, impacting on children, young people, the elderly and disabled people. Our day of action on 30th November will also be a protest against the cuts to public spending, which we believe are unfair and unnecessary. The proposals for our pensions, and the cuts to jobs and public services are all part of the government’s decision to make ordinary working people bear the brunt of a financial crisis that they were not responsible for. We would like to invite anyone living in North Somerset who is feeling the impact of the cuts, either because they don’t have a decent pension, or they’ve lost their job or been forced to take a pay cut, or because their benefits have been cut, or because they’ve had a public service they relied on cut, to join us on 30th November, either on our picket lines or on the march and rally in Bristol. If you want to find out more please give us a ring – 01934 634759 or have a look at our website www.northsomersetunison.co.uk. It is now time for ordinary working and non-working people to stand up and demand that our society needs to change.
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