Green Party Trades Unionists Support Firefighters in Dispute

The union representing Firefighters in England has announced a further strike on Tuesday 9th December.

Starement of The Green Party Trade Union Group:

The Green Party Trade Union group sends support to those FBU members who will
be striking on Tuesday next. We know that firefighters are dedicated to
ensuring public safety and saving lives, so they will not be taking this
step lightly. It is absurd, but regrettably not surprising, that the
government cannot reach or even approach a settlement to the pensions
dispute with the FBU in England whilst settlements and negotiations which
the FBU finds more acceptable can proceed elsewhere in the UK. This is
another sad example of the inept and dangerous handling of vital public
services by the current government. We hope the firefighters will be able
to win the just settlement that they deserve.


blogged at
http://gptublog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/firefighters-in-england-announce.html

Green Party TU Group Statement on NHS Industrial Action

Nine NHS trade unions are holding a four hour strike (7-11am) on Monday 24 November, and working to rule from 25-30 November by not doing unpaid overtime and taking their breaks. 

The unions involved in the action are:

- Unison
- Royal College of Midwives
- Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians
- Society of Radiographers
- British Association of Occupational Therapists
- GMB
- Unite
- Managers in Partnership
- Prison Officers Association

Green Party Trade Union Group Statement 

Unite the Union have announced that “NHS workers have had their wages cut by up to 15 per cent since 2010 thanks to the government's draconian pay policy of pay freezes and minuscule below inflation pay rise”. 

The Green Party Trade Union Group believes that this is characteristic of a nation where neo-liberal economics has run riot, penalising the poor, the sick, the vulnerable and also those who provide their health care.

Unlike Cameron’s cronies, nobody who works in the NHS expects to become a billionaire, but NHS workers will be striking again for decent pay on November 24th. The Green Party Trade Union Group sends it support, we all need the work that these workers do and they need a decent wage!

Centenary of the First International Syndicalist Congress

100 years ago this week there took place in London the first International Syndicalist Congress, this came in part as an initiative of the Industrial Syndicalist Education League of Tom Mann, Guy Bowman and others who held a significant conference in Manchester three years earlier...It is interesting that on this anniversary weekend of an event that had so much promise, and that have might have led to great things had not the First World War intervened, the Unions in Britain are supporting a major demonstration in Manchester outside the Tory conference.  If workers wish to rebuild organisation and take the fight to the enemy in the era of zero hours contracts, exploitative agencies, workfare, poverty pay and food banks, they could do worse than look to the example of the industrial unionists and syndicalists of 100 years ago.  Reading facsimiles of Tom Mann's Industrial Syndicalist bulletin of that period, and the famous Tressell novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists that also grew out of early Twentieth Century social conditions the relevance to today is clear.

"The First International Syndicalist Congress was a meeting of European and Latin American syndicalist organizations at Holborn Town Hall in London from September 27 to October 2, 1913. Upon a proposal by the Dutch National Labor Secretariat (NAS) and the British Industrial Syndicalist Education League (ISEL), most European syndicalist groups, both trade unions and advocacy groups, agreed to congregate at a meeting in London. The only exception was the biggest syndicalist organization worldwide, the French General Confederation of Labor (CGT). Nevertheless, the congress was held with organizations from twelve countries participating. It was marked by heated debate and constant disagreements over both tactics and principles. Yet, it succeeded in creating the International Syndicalist Information Bureau as a vehicle of exchange and solidarity between the various organizations and the Bulletin international du mouvement syndicaliste as a means of communication. It would be viewed as a success by almost all who participated."

More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_International_Syndicalist_Congress
and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Syndicalist_Education_League

The leading and growing advocates of radical Industrial Unionism in Britain today are the Industrial Workers Of The World  who will be represented on this Sunday's demonstration.  The current IWW pursue a strategy both inside and outside the existing TUC unions.

Support IWW Union In Dispute Against "Alternative" Union Busters

IWW members in the USA are in dispute with the "Collective" managing an "alternative" business that has sunk to employing right wing union busting legal support to try and break the union.  More from Facebook below:

MAY 22 UPDATE & SUMMARY from the IWW SCCU

Since we have not put out any public press releases or statements recently, here is a summary and update from the IWW Sisters' Camelot Canvass Union on our struggle:

SUMMARY:

After months of consensus-based organizing, the canvass workers at Sisters' Camelot went public to the bosses as unionized with the IWW on Monday, February 25.

On Friday, March 1 the union met with the managing collective to begin negotiations-- only to be forced to go on strike when management flatly refused to negotiate with the union.

On Monday, March 4 the union went to the managing collective's weekly decision-making meeting (by invitation)-- hoping to restart negotiations. At this meeting, the managing collective offered easier access to the bosses decision-making body (the Collective) as an alternative to negotiating with our union-- then they publicly fired one of the striking union members in retaliation for union organizing.

Since then, the managing collective (with the help of a group of their friends: http://libcom.org/library/statement-autonomous-union-busting-firm-twin-cities ) has run an aggressive union-busting campaign-- included aggressive character assassination of the fired union member, and many public statements full of lies about the facts of our unionization & management's refusal to negotiate.

After several weeks of being on strike, the union made an offer of a package deal to the management. This deal took all demands regarding pay and benefits off the table, leaving only 8 of the original demands. These 8 demands would have simply given the workers more workplace democracy and more control over their immediate work environment. The management refused this offer to end the strike.

Soon after the package deal was refused by management, the NLRB made a decision that the firing of a striking union member was illegal. Upon making that decision, the NLRB offered the management a settlement offer to end legal proceedings which would include rehiring the fired worker and paying back-pay.

Instead of accepting the settlement offer from the NLRB, the Sisters' Camelot managing collective is now working with a known right-wing union-busting lawyer to fight the decision in court.

Sisters' Camelot has been working with John C Hauge from the nationwide anti-union law firm Ford
Harrison as their pro bono lawyer. John C Hauge has been on a personal campaign against workers rights which has included:
(1) Silencing victims of workplace sexual harassment.
(2) Decertifying unions.
(3) Taking pension funds away from union members.
(4) & making sure the family of a worker who died on the job got no compensation.

UPDATE:

Sisters' Camelot's management is now fighting the illegal firing in court with the right-wing union-busting lawyer John C Hauge as their pro bono lawyer. If Hauge is able to appeal this case to a higher court, it could set a precedent which would result in hundreds of thousands of misclassified independent contractors in the US losing access to their basic rights as protected by the NLRA. Trial is set for June 6, when the NLRB will be seeking a court-order to enforce their decision that the fired worker should be rehired and given back-pay.

The union canvassers have now been denied their livelihood while having to endure being on strike since March 1, a hardship endured for 83 days now (as of May 22, 2013).

Since refusing to respect the canvassers right to organize and forcing them to strike, Sisters' Camelot has lost the workers who traditionally raise 90-95% of Sisters' Camelot's income. Because of this lost income Sisters' Camelot has had to scale back it's program operations drastically, is moving out of their warehouse space and office, and has begun selling off their assets.

It is abundantly clear at this juncture that the managers at Sisters' Camelot would see the good works of the organization scale back and suffer rather than respect their worker's right to unionize & give up some of their personal power in favor of more workplace democracy.

It is also far too clear now that the managers at Sisters' Camelot would rather assist a sexist, right-wing lawyer with his personal campaign against workers rights rather than admit that they were wrong to fire a union member while on strike.

We are still constantly organizing to win this campaign and assert our right to unionize. We are organizing outreach to other unions, constantly fundraising for our strike fund, organizing to prevent scabs from being able to take our jobs, and doing direct outreach to supporters in the community to prepare them for mobilization.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

We have been enduring economic violence in the form of lost livelihood while on strike since March 1. We depend on money from the strike fund to allow those of us who have not gotten side jobs to continue organizing with our phone bills paid, rent paid, and food on our dinner tables. Please donate money to our strike fund at: 

You can also creatively organize a fundraiser for our strike fund and invite your friends & family. Feel free to contact us at sisterscamelotcanvassunion@gmail.com if you are interested in organizing a fundraiser.

Give us your contact information so that we are able to contact you when and if changes in this situation could allow for public involvement to help turn the tide and end this conflict. Email your name and telephone number to sisterscamelotcanvassunion@gmail.com . Your contact information will be kept carefully guarded.

Even though overwhelming public opinion in support of us has failed to persuade Sisters' Camelot's management yet, you can sign our Community Support statement on our website at www.canvassunion.org .

Also you can stay on top of new developments by liking our facebook page at www.facebook.com/SCcanvassunion

Action For Rail Day of Action

Action on Wednesday 27th March :
Action for Rail campaigners will be meeting passengers at stations around the UK, to put the case against cutting vital staff roles at stations, on trains, and in maintenance and safety. Please join us at your local station on the day.

Its so important to get out there and let hard-pressed passengers know that we are there to speak up for an affordable, people-centred rail service that puts passengers before train company profits.
We will be handing out postcards to passengers, that they can send to their MP, demanding better services.

Find an event near you

In addition to this, there will also be strike action on Wednesday by workers employed by Churchills on the Arriva Trains Wales contract.

IWW Cleaners Strike at John Lewis

Inspriring stuff - the cleaners at the flagship John Lewis store in London have gone on strike for the London Living wage.

The cleaners, organised in a branch of the famous, historic international union, the IWW, are treated differently to all the other staff in the "mutual" retail chain and have the backing of many of the store workers, some of whom are also in the IWW.

The IWW continues to expand its organising efforts amongst exploited workforces in the UK, notably cleaners and catering workers and sectors where there is much precarity.

More from the Guardian including a short film - here

The British regional administration of the IWW is here - http://iww.org.uk/

The international and US IWW website is http://www.iww.org/en

Reinstate Alberto Durango!

Reistate Alberto Durango! On the February the 23rd there will be a important event at Heron Tower: http://www.doitforcharity.com/heron-tower-run-2012-69396.aspx And we as a trade unionists will be there to say "doitfortheunion" and Reinstate Alberto! Alberto Durango is the Industrial Workers of the World Cleaners and Allied Trades Branch Secretary He was sacked from his job at Heron Tower by the contractor Incentive FM Group Ltd. This was a raw act of victimisation of a leading union activist well known for campaigning to defend and improve the conditions of workers in the cleaning industry. In August 2011 the IWW gained a significant victory in securing the London Living Wage for the cleaners working at Heron Tower, and in defence of victimised staff. Ever since then, mangement has been seeking revenge against Alberto and the IWW. In November 2011, Alberto was suspended for using a service lift used daily by other staff. The same month IWW negotiated an agreement with the cleaning contractor LCC that there would be no compulsory redundancies and that any staff reductions would be by transfers to alternative posts. A new contractor has taken over at Heron Tower and has not recognised this agreement which continues under TUPE. Incentive has singled out Alberto for redundancy without any objective justification. The company Cushman & Wakefields, which manages Heron Tower, also manages Exchange Tower where the IWW has been campaigning for the London Living Wage. This company has taken an excessively aggressive stance against the IWW and our members, preventing leaflets from being distributed and threatening IWW members with investigations. The Industrial Workers of the World is based on the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all. We call on all workers to show their solidarity with the Cleaners Branch Secretary and demand the immediate reinstatement if Alberto Durango and no compulsory redundancies.

Gove Must Go

A New Year's resolution of this blog is to seek to end the political career of one Michael Gove, the British Coalition Government's Education Secretary. Gove is well on his way to destroying education in England and Wales for the foreseeable future. He is breaking up the school system, wrecking and vandalising the school curriculum, has destroyed the careers service, is destroying any meaningful democratic oversight at local level and will not listen to anyone who points out the disaster his policies are creating. What is more, he is seen as one of the strongest assets of this evil government, is a Henry Jackson Society Neo-Con, a spawn of the Murdoch media empire, and is tipped by some as a future Tory leader. Ample reason for anyone with a progressive bone in their body to want to stop him in his tracks and end his ascent by any non-violent method possible. I hold him personally responsible for a number of job losses close to home. So to get things started : this was posted on the Guardian CIF site, lifted from the print edition of Private Eye:

A quote directly from the Private Eye, issue no 1304 pg 7. "Gove attracts tens of thousands of pounds in donations(more than any other cabinet minister) to fund his local party organisation in the super safe Surrey Heath constituency. His latest entry in the register of MPs interests includes £3000 from Dilman UK - the name of a village in Azerbaijan - does not have its own address and donated cash through a Surrey account. The company is owned by Mahmoud Zadeh, a member of the Anglo-Azerbaijani Society, a business lobby which promotes a trade links with the oil rich country, BP, Britains biggest investor in Azerbaijan backs this society.....the Eye asked Goves office about the doantion but received no response" So the question is, why does an Education Minister need to have links with an Oil trade links society? What is Mr Gove getting out of this, apart from £3000 Why is Mr Gove being so coy?

Another thing that needs to be widely known about is his behaviour in the expenses scandal, detailed on Wikipedia thus:

Michael Gove reportedly claimed £7,000 for furnishing a London property before 'flipping' his designated second home to a house in his constituency, a property for which he claimed around £13,000 to cover stamp duty. Around a third of the first £7,000 was spent at an interior design company owned by Gove's mother-in-law.[22] Gove also claimed for a cot mattress, despite children's items being banned under the Commons rule. Gove said he would repay the claim for the cot mattress, but maintained that his other claims were "below the acceptable threshold costs for furniture" and that the property flipping was necessary "to effectively discharge my parliamentary duties".[22] While he was moving between homes, he stayed at the Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa, charging the taxpayer more than £500 per night's stay.

Any further dirt on Mr Gove or directions to online material that can be used against him are appreciated.

Demonstrate On 26 March

Day by day the "Coalition" look less and less like a democratic elected government and more and more like a slow motion corporate coup.....

We need to stop them.

Hands off our public services.

Hands off our jobs.

Hands off our pensions.

26 March - For a united resistance!

The Reality of Coalition Neo-liberalism

I was up close and personal with the reality of the austerity coalition's policies this week as the redundancy axe began to fall in my workplace.
For those still deluded enough to think the coalition is just about "Deficit reduction" and getting rid of "unproductive workers" the coming few months is going to be instructive. A tsunami of job losses in local government is coming along with the proposed total transformation of the National Health Service and a slow but sure dismantling of locally democratic controlled education. The shared (Neoliberal) aim of the two coalition party leaders, Sauron and Saruman, is the final dismantling of the post war settlement in Britain. That is effectively the end of anything resembling a welfare state and the beginning of a new age of corporatism. At the same time they hope to finish off what remains of anything approaching effective trade unionism by decimating the public sector and shaving off services left right and centre to corporations, religious groups, charities, philanthropists and the like. Their ideological attack dogs in organisations like Policy Exchange are already slavering for even more restrictive anti-union legislation and attacks on freedom of speech and assembly. So much for the "libertarian" rhetoric of the Cameroons and Orange Bookers.

The reality of this at the grassroots is likely to be disruption in the short term and in the longer term the creation of a two (or more?) tier system of services with the encroachment of private insurance, religious charities and corporate asset strippers.

At my workplace I have sat amongst devastated people who are going to lose jobs or workmates. We have people being made redundant on the grounds of "sickness points" who have otherwise exemplary performance and disciplinary records. That means people who have been unfortunate enough to have cancer in their families, who have had swine flu and even work related injuries, who have been coping with immense stress due to personal and family problems - these people are to pay for their bad luck with their jobs if they and their unions cannot win their appeals. This is people who have worked in a public sector employer that has been ranked amongst the best of its' kind in the country and in one of the most successful workplaces of that employer. And the 70% or 80% who remain may only have a temporary reprieve before the axe swings again, and again and again. Looking for jobs in this socially deprived part of the country will not be easy - the jobs that there are will probably pay half or less than what those being made redundant were paid and may be temporary or otherwise insecure.

Fortunately I sense that even those who went along for a while with the Coalition's rhetoric are now seeing the reality of what they are about - an ideological project to cement the power of certain sections of society even more firmly. They see the Bankers' bonuses, the sucking up to Murdoch and the political two-facedness and turn away in disgust. A mood of resistance is developing that goes far beyond the students that were the first to take the field. What is more, there is an awareness that alone in our workplaces and communities we are unlikely to be able to mount anything more than fragmentary resistance. What is needed is a movement across industries and society, across barriers of age and culture that takes inspiration from those resisting at the knife edge of the neo-liberal totalitarian project.

We need to work towards such a movement and as we do, the dream of ages past - the social general strike, the general expropriation of the expropriators becomes less of a dream and more of a possibility on the way to concrete necessity.

The new political landscape

This is written shortly after the final non-postponed result from the British general election came through, so is a first response, things may change and develop over the next days and weeks.

The Green Party of England and Wales have made a truly historic breakthrough. On a night where all left and progressive forces suffered dramatic setbacks and most minor parties of any complexion failed to make much progress, GPEW saw the election of the first Green MP - Caroline Lucas, the new MP for Brighton Pavilion. I pay tribute to the hard work and determination of Caroline and my fellow Greens in achieving this. We were forced by the unfair electoral system to focus massively on just three seats. The relatively poor results of many of the other Green candidates are probably related to this (along with "Cleggmania", tactical voting and the higher turnout for the main parties). Nevertheless, it paid off and the Green Party now has an unprecedented platform for growth and political advance as well as Caroline having the opportunity to offer real help to the people of Brighton.

Another reason for celebration on the night was the wreck of the hopes of the fascists in Barking and Dagenham - not only failing to take a seat, but losing all their council seats in the concurrent local election as well!
The broader picture is still uncertain, (though we can be certain that whichever combination of the establishment parties takes power, we - the ordinary working people, students, disabled, pensioners etc are going to be asked to pay for the banker's and governments errors and greed). But the hung parliament situation opens up a vista of opportunities and threats.

There is the potential, perhaps, for the rise of a broad based movement to demand political change encompassing at the very least electoral reform and an elected second chamber. We will see over the coming days whether existing large internet based campaigns can begin to be translated into street protest.

The position of the Liberal Democrats means that they are asked to bring about electoral reform or suffer the consequences - whoever they ally with, the exposed and compromised position this will put them in may lead to them getting battered at the next election (that may be sooner rather than later). Any alliance with the Tories will be a great driver of Lib Dem voters and supporters into the arms of the Greens, the Welsh and Scottish Parties and/or Labour. An alliance with Labour will likely split off part of the Lib Dems' suppport to the right.

Meanwhile the international sovereign debt crisis rumbles on accompanied by calls from various representatives of the global elite for governments to make the workers pay. The most extreme example of this is currently in Greece. The resolution and even trajectory of that conflict remains in the balance.

Those on the green and progressive left in Britain must keep their wits about them and seek to rally all the defensive potential of workplace and community organisations - unions and associations - for the inevitable coming stuggles. In comparable situations in the 1970s there was significant risk of covert or even overt action by the secret state and more extreme elements of the ruling class (the Wilson plot, private armies etc etc) Though the risk of this may be less in the absence of them facing or fearing any comparable major organised threats from the left or workers organisation, we still need to be on our guard and remember that in mobilising and organising for the inevitably necessary defence of jobs, services and pensions we are also drawing together those forms and forces (trades councils, workplace organisation, local networks) that will be essential defensive and offensive bodies if elements of the ruling class begin to reach for more repressive and "permanent" solutions to the problems of their system. We do not know how severe the economic crisis may become and into what startegies and tactics this may drive some of those who seek to maintain or build their power over the rest of us.

In the short term we must give practical solidarity to those workers and others already moving into dispute and conflict with the employers and the state.

Good luck to that small band of radicals and progressives that have managed to get elected to Parliament - Caroline Lucas, John McDonnell and a few others - let us hope they can cooperate to give a Parliamentary voice to the opposition to the neo-liberal consensus on who is going to be made to pay for the crisis and the best ways to approach the Climate Emergency.

There is much work to be done!

April 10th - We Won't Pay For Their Crisis!

There is a major demonstration scheduled for London on April 10th in the probable run up to the General Election - a general election where all 3 main pro-capitalist parties are signalling their intentions to make cuts in public services and welfare. The protest, originating in the National Pensioners Convention, is backed by all main unions, coaches are being organised by Trades Councils and union branches from most areas of Britain.
Assemble 12 noon for 1pm Temple Place, Embankment, London.
Rally in Trafalgar Square.
Lets show the politicians we are not going to pay for their incompetence and the bankers' gambling! Let us remind them that whoever is in power after the election, we are not going to let them reverse what remains of the gains made by working people in Britain since the Second World War.

The RMT's Bob Crow on the demo - here.

International day of action: solidarity with UBS cleaners

International day of action: solidarity with UBS cleaners
Friday, 19 March 2010
17:00 - 18:00
London demo starts at UBS, 100 Liverpool Street

Friday 19th March is the international day of action against UBS, demanding the reinstatement of sacked shop steward Alberto Durango and the reversal of cuts in cleaners' conditions by contractor Lancaster.

Protests are planned for the USA, Sweden, Switzerland and around the UK. There has been regular leafletting outside UBS offices, let's keep up the pressure and build solidarity with these exploited migrant workers.

The London protest will kick off from 5pm outside the UBS building at 100 Liverpool Street. Come, bring friends, bring stuff to make a noise, bring placards!

Protest Against Nottingham Social Care Cuts

Nottingham City Unison have called a demonstration outside the City Council Budget Meeting on Monday 8th March at 12.30 in Old Market Square. The Labour City Council is proposing cuts in Adult Social Services as part of an £18 million package of cuts in its 2010/2011 budget. The proposed cuts include -

* Proposed closure of Riverside Residential Home (Bulwell) for adults with learning disabilities
*Closure of the Willows Older Persons Day Centre at weekends
*A new daily £2 charge for attendance at all adult day centres
*Cuts in day care for adults living in residential and nursing homes
*A 3% increase in charges for homecare, meals at home and transport to day centres
*Cuts in City Council Deaf Sevice

It is particularly ironic that Labour politicians and activists have been prominently flying their flags at protests against the Conservative controlled Notts County Council over the last week as the Tories launch a similar cuts programme targeted on day centres, residential homes etc in the County. Labour in the City are following the same policy as Tories in the County - targeting the most vulnerable and those they estimate are least likely to kick up a fuss or cost them votes.

Workers and service users need to show the City Labourites that we oppose their cuts every bit as much as those being implemented by the County Tories.

The Beginning Of A Long Struggle In Notts

Greens and Wobs from Nottinghamshire joined trades unionists, community campaigners, service users and members of left Parties in a protest against the forthcoming Notts County Council cuts programme on Saturday 20th February. The small but angry protest in Mansfield Market place appeared to attract a crowd of between 1 and 2 hundred (not bad for a small market town)but speakers were keen to stress that this is just the start of a campaign of resistance and protest against the Tory Council's attacks on jobs and services. The idea of a County wide anti-cuts campaign was floated, to work alongside the Trades Council and unite the various concerned groups.

A second protest is planned outside the Council budget agreement meeting at County Hall, West Bridgford, Nottingham on Thursday 25th at 10am.

The Independent newspaper had a headline earlier in the week that a survey conducted by them had shown at least 20,000 Council jobs across the country to be lost in the near future due to cuts programmes, and this is just the start. These cuts come whilst the main parties are gearing up for a general election and so are not as keen as they might be to be seen to be making deep cuts that affect public services. We can imagine what is to come after the general election.

Now is the time to build the links and solidarity, the organisation and communication between workers, campaigners and community groups that will be needed in the coming struggle.

Cuts Protest - Mansfield, Saturday 20th February

There is to be a protest against the cuts recently announced by Nottinghamshire County Council. It will take place in Mansfield Market Place on Saturday 20th February from 11am. The proposed cuts will mean hundreds of job losses, closure of vital services for elderly people, increases in charges and withdrawal of concessions. This action by the new Tory-led Council is a foretaste of what the Conservatives have in mind for the country as a whole if they gain power in the 2010 election - continued concern for the rich and powerful and cuts targetted on the poorest and most vulnerable. It appears to be no accident that the cuts seem to be harshest in areas like Mansfield - where people do not vote Tory (the last Tory District Councillor in Mansfield just defected to UKIP!).
Join the protest rally and help build the campaign against cuts.

One Million Climate Jobs Pamphlet Now Available

The pamphlet on One Million Climate Jobs Now can now be downloaded from the PCS website at:
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/green_workplaces/green_campaigns/one-million-climate-jobs-now.cfm

Earlier this year, the Campaign against Climate Change (CaCC) trade union group set up a commission to produce a detailed plan for a million 'climate' jobs.

The commission includes academics and environmental groups as well as several unions including PCS.

In November 2009 the CaCC trade union group published a pamphlet, One million climate jobs Now!, which sets out how this can be achieved. The pamphlet is the first stage in a national campaign to get the government to employ a million unemployed workers to save the climate. It contains the arguments workers need for building the campaign.

Physical copies for selling are also available from

The Campaign against Climate Change
PCS
UCU
TSSA
CWU

for two pounds each or £10 for 15.

Don't Scab On The Post

The following is the text of a leaflet being distributed by Notts IWW members at local Job Centres.

Don’t apply for Royal Mail jobs

Support the Posties instead!

Royal Mail workers are striking against pay and job cuts, and bigger and bigger workloads. This struggle will have an effect on pay and conditions for all us in the future.

Royal Mail management have been fiddling the figures to justify cuts and their aim is to hire 30,000 temps to cover the strike – twice as many as for the normal Christmas rush.

If others take these jobs it makes it easier for ALL bosses to attack ALL of us. Low-paid, casual contracts will continue to replace proper jobs, and wages will get lower and lower.

Asking you not to take these jobs is a big thing to ask, we know. In the current climate there are few jobs with long-term security. Some of us will need to take anything we can. Some of us are even being forced to apply by Job Centres. But we have to stick together and fight together: we are all ripped-off, exploited people. So, what can you do?

If you are unemployed

* Go and talk to the Posties on the picket line. Show them you support their fight for decent jobs.

* Talk to other unemployed people about the issue.

* If you get post on a strike day, go to the door and talk to the worker doing your regular postie’s job. Explain why you think they shouldn’t do it.

* Help us leaflet the Job Centre and employment agencies!

If you are being forced to take a job

* Refuse to cover the work of striking posties. It is legally suspect for companies to hire temps to break a strike, so they can’t force you do it!

If you are Job Centre or agency staff, this affects you too

* You have bosses breathing down your neck and probably bad pay & little job security too. But don’t place people in jobs that are aimed at breaking this strike!

Show solidarity with posties and claimants.

The Posties are striking for all of us

Show them you support them!

More here.

Climate Change Public Forum

CLIMATE EMERGENCY COPENHAGEN

London Public Forum
Saturday 7th November 12-6pm

South Camden Community School,
Charrington Street
NW1 1RG
(nearest tube Kings Cross)

Open to everyone and free to attend, hosted by the Campaign against Climate Change the Public Forum will bring together leading figures to discuss and debate the Climate Emergency and what we can be doing to tackle it. See below for the programme for the day.

This event sees a great variety of speakers including
Aubrey Meyer (Global Commons Institute),
Oliver Tickell (author Kyoto 2),
Andrew Simms (new economics foundation),
John Stewart (HACAN),
Johann Hari (journalist),
Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party),
Damian Carrington (Head of Environment, the Guardian),
Alexis Rowell(Camden Council),
Chris Baugh (Public and Commercial Services Union)
Dr Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility)

There will also be workshops with Biofuelwatch and the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group.

This is one of our last chances to get together before we hit the streets demonstrating in December.

Programme

________________________________

11:45
Doors Open

12:15-13:15 Session
1 "10% Cuts by end 2010: the case for emergency action"

13:15-13:45 Break and Workshops including:
Introduction to campaigning against Agrofuels, hosted
by Biofuelwatch and Food Not Fuel

13:45-14:45 Session
2 "Green Jobs Now - a million climate jobs by end 2010"

14:45-15:15 Break and Workshops including:
Discussion of the role of Trade Unionists in building the Climate movement before and after Copenhagen , hosted by Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group

15:15-16:15 Session
3 "Decarbonising our transport fast - the way ahead"

16:15-16:30 Break
with musical entertainment

16:30-17:30 Session
4 " Copenhagen - the deal we need and the deal we're likely to get"

17:30-17:45 Climate
Emergency CALL TO ACTION


________________________________

CPBF Events This Week

Media for all? The challenge of convergence

Saturday 31 October

School of Pharmacy, 29 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, from 10.00am – 5.00pm.

(nearest tube Russell Square)

A major international conference on the future of media organised by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom.

Keynote speakers:

John Nichols, journalist with The Nation and one of the founders of the US Free Press Media Reform movement.

Alexander Stille, author of The Sack of Rome, an analysis of Silvio Berlusconi’s role in Italian media and politics.

Other speakers include Andrew Currah, Ray Fitzwater, Bob Franklin, Alison Harcourt, Kathrine Sarikakis,

Booking information

Attendance costs: Not for profit organisations and trades unions £25; individuals £20; students, unwaged or retired people £10.

Book online at: http://www.cpbf.org.uk/index_conf.html or email: freepress@cpbf.org.uk by phone 0208 521 5932 or by post:

CPBF, 23 Orford Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9NL. Cheques payable to the CPBF.





Plus our pre-Conference meeting

The miners’ strike and politics today

Friday 30 October, 7.00pm

School of Pharmacy, 29 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX

Speakers:

Tony Benn, John Nichols, Marc Valle and Paul Lewis.



Showing Ken Loach Which Side Are You On?

Plus premier performance of Embedded with the bankers; the media and the financial crisis by Banner Theatre Group

Admission £5. Booking as detailed above or pay at the door.