People's Assembly Against Austerity - 22nd June

Weston and North Somerset Trades Union Council will be sending 2 delegates to:

People's Assembly Against Austerity
Saturday 22 June 2013, 9:30am – 5pm,
Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, London, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH



The People’s Assembly Against Austerity was launched with a letter to the Guardian:

This is a call to all those millions of people in Britain who face an impoverished and uncertain year as their wages, jobs, conditions and welfare provision come under renewed attack by the government. With some 80% of austerity measures still to come, and with the government lengthening the time they expect cuts to last, we are calling a People’s Assembly Against Austerity to bring together campaigns against cuts and privatisation with trade unionists in a movement for social justice. We aim to develop a strategy for resistance to mobilise millions of people against the Con Dem government.

The assembly will provide a national forum for anti-austerity views which, while increasingly popular, are barely represented in parliament. A People’s Assembly can play a key role in ensuring that this uncaring government faces a movement of opposition broad enough and powerful enough to generate successful co-ordinated action, including strike action. The assembly will be ready to support co-ordinated industrial action and national demonstrations against austerity, if possible synchronising with mobilisations across Europe. The People’s Assembly Against Austerity will meet at Central Hall, Westminster, on 22 June.


For more information and to add your support follow this link:
http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/2013/02/peoples-assembly-against-austerity-launched-in-the-guardian/

Campaign for Trade Union Freedom Launch and Rally - 23rd March

Campaign for the Living Wage - Weston TUC Meeting - 13th February

The next meeting of Weston and North Somerset TUC will be held on 13th February at 7 pm in the upstairs room at the Bristol Hotel, 29 Locking Road, Weston super Mare.

Our guest speaker will be Kit Leary from the South West TUC who will talk about the Living Wage.

Research by the South West TUC released during Living Wage Week (November 4 – 10, 2012) showed that 26% of workers (22,463) in North Somerset earn less than £7.20 an hour – the lowest rate that campaigners believe supports a decent standard of living outside London. From November 2012 the Living Wage increased to £7.45 an hour.

All trade union members living or working in North Somerset are invited to attend.

Further information on the Living Wage can be found at:

Fair Pay Campaign South West

Living Wage Foundation

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Justice not for Sale - Email your MP now

The PCS is asking all PCS members, whether they work in criminal enforcement and fixed penalties or not to email their MP as soon as possible asking them to oppose privatisation and come to the Parliamentary briefing on 22 January.  The letter to MPs has been updated so that it can be sent from any member of the union and not just enforcement members. Please email your MP now by using the following link:
http://pcslive.bluestatedigital.com/page/speakout/criminal-fine-enforcement


All of us are potentially at risk from privatisation as we know the aim is to sell off 'similar' work if they get away with privatising criminal enforcement and fixed penalties. This means all members have a role to play in helping to defeat privatisation.

The campaign to stop the privatisation of MoJ's enforcement services is reaching a critical stage as the Crime and Courts Bill reaches the House of Commons this month.

In the House of Lords there was some success with the introduction of an independent appeals system for people who have complaints about private bailiffs. However, the bill still allows for the work we do and our jobs to be handed over to private companies.


PCS is stepping up the pressure of our parliamentary campaigning and holding a briefing for all MPs on Tuesday 22 January at 2 pm. We will be telling them why they should vote against the privatisation.

MoJ are under considerable pressure on the issue of privatisation. MoJ procurement has been severely criticised over the court interpreters
contract and the electronic monitoring contract awarded to Serco who made record profits and ripped off the tax payer. Now is the time to step up the pressure.

Please take a moment to email your MP today to make sure they're kept informed and help us win support for our amendments to the Bill aimed at taking our clauses enabling privatisation.

You can download the full PCS document here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5j2lWfRXcIfbWY5YWZ2RHlGZzg/edit

Justice not for Sale - Stop the Privatisation of Criminal Court Enforcement

Demonstration at North Somerset Courthouse Queensway, Worle WSM BS22 7BB

30th November from 1 to 2 pm

• Stop the privatisation of the Ministry of Justice Post and Stationary Services
• Defend the civil service status, terms and conditions of staff
• Keep private companies out of the justice system

 

Follow this link to the PCS MoJ group website to email your MP asking they support Early Day Motion 73 opposing privatisation in the justice sector.

 

http://www.pcs.org.uk/justicenotforsale

WE ARE ONE NHS - Oppose the South West Pay Cartel - 1st December, Bristol

Join the protest on Saturday 1st December from 11am.

Assemble College Green for March through Bristol starting at 11.30am.

20 bosses from 20 Trusts (including Weston General Hospital, University Hospitals Bristol and North Bristol Trust) seem to think that NHS healthworkers in the South West are worth less than health workers in the rest of England – they’ve forked out £10,000 each in public funds to look at ways of driving down their pay and terms and conditions by ditching the national pay agreement.

Local pay will splinter the NHS, hit the quality of patient care and ease the way for privatisation

KEEP THE ‘N’ IN THE NHS!

Sign and share the national petition to stop the South West Pay Cartel: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36063

Joint NHS union protest for all who support a National Health Service.

For more information: 079 89 105 449

Download and distribute the flyer

The Alternative to Cuts - Public Meeting 19th September

About 50 people attended our Public Meeting at the Winter Gardens in Weston super Mare on 19th September. Guest speakers included:

Lisa Youlton, UNISON South West Regional Manager, who spoke about the joint union campaign against the South West Pay Cartel, which aims to reduce the wages of NHS staff by about 15%. She asked the audience to sign the petition against  regional pay - here's the link: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36063

Michael Wright from Youth Fight for Jobs told the audience about their manifesto's 5 key aims: to scrap workfare schemes, to bring back the EMA, to scrap tuition fees, to re-open youth serviecs and to invest in socially useful jobs and training. More information at this link: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com

Gwyneth Powell-Davies from UNITE spoke about the dangers of NHS privatisation, with massive global health care companies circling like vultures, since the Health and Social Care Act, which despite what David Cameron has said is the biggest top down re-organisation of the NHS ever.

North Somerset councillor Donald Davies spoke about the disproportionate impact of the cuts on benefit claimants, young people, women and immigrants. He also expressed concerns that the media in general (with a few exceptions like Owen Jones) seem to think there is nothing wrong with what the Tories are doing. Councillor Davies proposed that Council Tax could become a fairer tax if more bands were created at the top, and the ratio between the lowest band and the highest band was closer to current pay ratios.

Members of the audience spoke about the impact of the cuts on older people, and also expressed the view that we all need to stand together against the cuts, and that trade unions must further build their strength and also work with other groups and individuals.