Tuesday 31 August 2010

RMT tube strike ballot & CATP (Campaign Against Tube Privatisation) support

Your help is urgently required to help distribute CATP leaflet and RMT post card at the following times/places. Please let me know if you can come and to which session. Remember the first 24hour strike starts evening of Mon, 6th Sept ,2010

8-9.30am Archway Tube THURS, 2nd Sept
8-9.30am Kings X Tube FRIDAY,3rd Sept
8.30-9.30 Stratford Tube MON, 6th Sept

This is just the initial bout of leafletting. Please let us know your local station and we can get other CATP supporters to come and help you leaflet!
In Solidarity,
Jan (janpollock@btinternet.com)

Monday 16 August 2010

Help us build the Coalition of Resistance against cuts and privatisation


Image:signing up


Thank you for adding your name to the Coalition of Resistance
statement. Support in our first week has been incredible,
with well over 3,500 people pledging their names and offering
support. Other people signing this week include comedian and
activist Mark Thomas, Andrew Murray, chair of the Stop the War
Coalition, writer A L Kennedy and actor Roger Lloyd Pack.

What you can do to help:

1. Ask everyone you know to sign the statement - available here. A printed version with a sign up sheet is available here.

2. There's a planning meeting for the Coalition of Resistance at 7pm on Thursday, 2 September, in University of London Union, Malet St, London WC1E 7HY. Please try to attend. We'll be holding other meetings around the country - details to follow shortly.

3. Set up a local Coalition of Resistance meeting, with everyone who wants to oppose the cuts invited. We can supply speakers nationally to help build the campaign in your local area. Let us know what events you have organised.

4. We'll email you with details and a booking form for the 27th November conference soon.

5. Get your trade union branch, tenants' association, anti-cuts group, pensioners' association, club or society to back the statement.

6. Make a donation to the campaign. Cheques should be made out to "Coalition of Resistance", and mailed to Coalition of Resistance, c/o Housman's Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX.

Urgently required: Web and Media volunteers
If you can help us develop our website or would like to get involved in producing and adding content - whether written, photography, images or video please contact us.Contact details
Email: http://uk.mc250.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=coalitionofresistance@mail.com
Phone: Andrew on 07939 242229
Website: http://wordpress.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=dd957c6eb39e2c25a43db43d5&id=3c2bc318ff&e=65a57692c5




The meeting on September 2nd is only for London activists and those within range of London. The national conference will be on November 27th.




Joseph

Friday 13 August 2010

All London firefighters face sack

MORNING STAR
Britain
Thursday 12 August 2010
Printable page

London's entire firefighting force have been told they'll be sacked if they refuse to go along with cuts to night cover.

The capital's 5,000 firefighters were given 90 days' notice on Wednesday night by the London Fire Authority.
It wants to impose drastically altered shifts with longer days and shorter nights which unions warn will leave fewer fire engines and staff protecting the capital.

London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson wrote to the government and Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leader Matt Wrack to tell them the authority was opening consultation on "terminating the contracts of these staff and offering to re-engage them on new contracts of employment."

But the FBU accused the authority of behaving like "Victorian mill owners" and Mr Wrack insisted his union would "fight the disgraceful attack every step of the way."

The union also raised fears that bosses would retaliate against any industrial action with a strike-breaking "dad's army."

Executive council member Ian Leahair said members will be balloted for action short of strike immediately, with the possibility of a city-wide strike at the end of October if the authority does not rescind its threat.
During the last major firefighters' dispute in 2002-3, the strikers were covered by soldiers using the ageing Green Goddess appliances, which have since been retired.

But this time, Mr Leahair said, the authority planned to call on privateer Assetco - which leases fire engines to the London Fire Brigade - to "roll out the red fire engines" crewed by a "dad's army of retained firefighters and security contractors" given only three weeks' training.

Mr Dobson delivered the ultimatum amid negotiations with the FBU on the fire authority's plan to change the shift pattern from two nine-hour days and two 15-hour nights to a flat 12-hour shift.

Mr Wrack was bemused by the decision to provoke firefighters while talks were still going on.
"We and the principal management of the London Fire Brigade do have a real disagreement about the way forward in difficult economic times, but until yesterday we were talking about it constructively, and I hoped to reach an agreement both sides could live with," said the FBU leader."The chances of that agreement have diminished dramatically this morning."

The negotiations had already been put under immense strain in the last few months.

In March a leaked document put the lie to bosses' claims that the shift changes were not about cutting night cover.

It said the scheme would offer "a capability to withdraw personnel from night shift" and "the removal of 10 appliances."

And last month Mr Dobson let slip on his blog that he would seek "termination of employment" for all London firefighters if there was not a "negotiated settlement."

Mr Leahair said: "This coalition government is totally hell bent on breaking the public sector to benefit the private sector.

"The FBU urge the fire authority to think again and withdraw the threats of mass sackings and get back round the table to avert any unnecessary industrial action."

Wednesday 11 August 2010

RMT tube strike ballot & CATP (Campaign Against Tube Privatisation) support

Publication Date: August 11 2010 (RMT website)

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed this morning that members across London Underground have delivered a rock solid mandate for strike action and action short of a strike in a fight over planned cuts to safety-critical jobs that the union have warned would turn the network into a death trap.

RMT members have voted by 76% for strike action and by 88% for action short of a strike. RMT will now begin an extensive consultation with members, and with sister tube union TSSA who will announce their ballot result next week, over the tactical use of industrial action, alongside a political and public campaign, to stop the attack on jobs and safety.
RMT revealed within the past week that it was only the vigilance and experience of station-based staff spotting smoke from an escalator at Euston and an air-conditioning unit at Oxford Circus that ensured safe evacuation of both stations and averted potential disasters. It is exactly those staff grades that are under threat in the cull of 800 jobs, and the decimation of ticket offices, that TfL are attempting to bulldoze through.
RMT also revealed this week that safety-critical inspection frequencies to train brakes and other equipment are to be doubled from fortnightly to monthly as the pressure for cuts reaches crisis point on London Underground and as existing safety standards are ripped to shreds.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:
“Less than two weeks after the Potters Bar inquest delivered the damning verdict that cuts to maintenance works, staffing and inspection frequencies create the lethal conditions that lead to avoidable loss of life, LU management have clearly learnt nothing and are burning up safety agreements almost by the day in the dash for cuts.
“RMT members have sent a clear message in this ballot that they will not sit by while the tracks are turned into a death trap and our tube stations and platforms are left unstaffed and at the mercy of muggers, vandals and other criminal elements.
“Boris Johnson cannot wash his hands of the crisis that is unfolding on London Underground on his watch. While his managers are ripping up the safety regulations the Mayor himself is ripping up his promises to Londoners on safe staffing levels and no amount of bluster can get him off that hook. We will now use this mandate for action to build up a campaign of industrial, political and public pressure to block the all out assault on tube jobs and safety.”
ENDS
The Campaign Against Tube Privatisation was established in the 1990s, with the support of London RMT Regional Council and is still campaigning today. We are passengers who demand a safe, well-run and environmentally-friendly Tube system in London.
At present London Underground is threatening up to 800 Tube jobs in ticket-offices as well as platform staff. Meanwhile, Tube safety is also under threat after recent fires on Euston escalators and at Oxford Circus.


Join CATP supporters in leafleting Tube stations near you. Phone Dave 0207-837-0845 to find out where leafleting is already organised for April, or contact http://www.catp.info

Tuesday 10 August 2010

THE END OF OUR NHS AS WE KNOW IT?

August 2010

Dear NHS Supporter
THE END OF OUR NHS AS WE KNOW IT?
It sounds alarming, but the future of our health service really does hang in the balance. Concern is both widespread and growing, but we still urgently need to raise greater public awareness. Read our short article that explains without jargon what the dangers are for our NHS.

We want to bring the public together with NHS staff to oppose the harmful proposals in the new NHS White Paper and are working with NHS staff unions on ways to campaign against it. As a first step, supported by UNISON and UNITE, we are launching a national petition for the public and NHS staff to show their concern. We are also approaching a range of other organisations and individuals for their support. You can help by adding your name to the petition and asking your friends and family to add their names too (see below).

We have also been talking to journalists and raised our concerns in the national media. We are maintaining this contact and working to make sure that concern about the White Paper remains prominent in the news.
THREE SIMPLE WAYS YOU CAN HELP


1. Sign our national e-petition
Please sign up to our joint statement. You can really help by circulating it to friends and family as this raises awareness about the impact of the White Paper and brings together all those who are concerned about it. Also ask organisations to which you belong to lend their support too.


2. Spread the word

Here are just a few ideas. Firstly you could write to your MP or, better still, attend one of their local surgeries and ask them to contact Health Secretary Andrew Lansley about your concerns. This will help as politicians rely on their postbag and their constituency meetings to tell them which issues the public really care about. You could also write to your local paper - the letters page is widely read! You could ask politicians, health staff or local celebrities to co-sign your letter, making it become local news in its own right. More help and ideas are available on our website.


3. Make a donation
Our recent report revealed the true extent of GP privatisation that has already taken place - something which many patients were unaware of. To help us continue investigating the hidden dismantling of the NHS, and to campaign and communicate critical issues to the media and wider public, we rely on the generous help of NHS supporters.
Further campaign updates will be coming shortly - along with a downloadable campaign leaflet. Our plans also include a big effort to make all our MPs understand that the White Paper is a fundamental threat to the future of the NHS if nothing is done to stop it. Further background on the White Paper is available on our website, including the critical views of a wide range of commentators and resources to help you contact your MP or local paper.

Your help and support for our campaign is very much appreciated.


With thanks,


Paul Evans, Director



NHS Support Federation
using the following email:
gray.201@btinternet.com
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Sunday 8 August 2010

Coalition of Resistance statement

It is time to organise a broad movement of active resistance to the Con-Dem government's budget intentions. They plan the most savage spending cuts since the 1930s, which will wreck the lives of millions by devastating our jobs, pay, pensions, NHS, education, transport, postal and other services. The government claims the cuts are unavoidable because the welfare state has been too generous. This is nonsense. Ordinary people are being forced to pay for the bankers' profligacy.

The £11bn welfare cuts, rise in VAT to 20%, and 25% reductions across government departments target the most vulnerable – disabled people, single parents, those on housing benefit, black and other ethnic minority communities, students, migrant workers, LGBT people and pensioners. Women are expected to bear 75% of the burden. The poorest will be hit six times harder than the richest. Internal Treasury documents estimate 1.3 million job losses in public and private sectors.

We reject this malicious vandalism and resolve to campaign for a radical alternative, with the level of determination shown by trade unionists and social movements in Greece and other European countries.

This government of millionaires says "we're all in it together" and "there is no alternative". But, for the wealthy, corporation tax is being cut, the bank levy is a pittance, and top salaries and bonuses have already been restored to pre-crash levels.

An alternative budget would place the banks under democratic control, and raise revenue by increasing tax for the rich, plugging tax loopholes, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, abolishing the nuclear "deterrent" by cancelling the Trident replacement.

An alternative strategy could use these resources to: support welfare; develop homes, schools, and hospitals; and foster a green approach to public spending – investing in renewable energy and public transport, thereby creating a million jobs.

We commit ourselves to:

• Oppose cuts and privatisation in our workplaces, community and welfare services.

• Fight rising unemployment and support organisations of unemployed people.

• Develop and support an alternative programme for economic and social recovery.

• Oppose all proposals to "solve" the crisis through racism and other forms of scapegoating.

• Liaise closely with similar opposition movements in other countries.

• Organise information, meetings, conferences, marches and demonstrations.

• Support the development of a national co-ordinating coalition of resistance.



We urge those who support this statement to attend the Organising Conference on 27 November 2010 (10am-5pm), at Camden Centre, Town Hall, London, WC1H 9JE.

Can't Pay! Won't Pay!



Signed:

Tony Benn,

Caroline Lucas MP

John McDonnell MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Mark Serwotka, general secretary PCS

Bob Crow, general secretary RMT

Jeremy Dear, general secretary NUJ

Michelle Stanistreet, deputy general secretary, NUJ

Frank Cooper, president of the National Pensioners Convention

Dot Gibson, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention

Ken Loach

John Pilger

John Hendy QC

Mark Steel

Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary NUT

Cllr Salma Yaqoob

Lee Jasper, joint co-ordinator of Black Activists Rise Against Cuts (Barac)

Zita Holbourne, joint co-ordinator of Barac campaign and PCS national executive

Ashok Kumar, VP education and welfare, LSE student union

Hilary Wainwright, Red Pepper

Francis Beckett, author

David Weaver, chair, 1990 Trust

Viv Ahmun, director Equanomics UK

Paul Mackney, former general secretary NATFHE/UCU

Clare Solomon, president ULU student union

Lindsey German, convenor, Stop the War Coalition (personal capacity)

Andrew Burgin, archivist

John Rees, Counterfire

Romayne Phoenix, Green party

Joseph Healy, secretary Green Left

Fred Leplat, Islington Unison

Jane Shallice

Neil Faulkner, archaeologist and historian

Alf Filer, Socialist Resistance

Chris Nineham

James Meadway, economist

Cherry Sewell, UCU

Alan Thornett, Socialist Resistance

Peter Hallward, professor of modern European philosophy

Matteo Mandarini, Historical Materialism editorial board

John Nicholson, secretary Convention of the Left

Michael Chessum, UCL union education and campaigns officer

Mark Curtis, writer

Nick Broomfield

Sean Rillo Raczka, chair, Birkbeck College student union, and mature students' representative, NUS national executive

Robyn Minogue, UoArts NUS officer

Prince Johnson, NUS president Institute of Education

Roy Bailey, Fuse Records

Doug Nicholls

Granville Williams

Gary Herman (CPBF national council member, in personal capacity)

Louis Hartnoll, president UoArts student union

Sarah Ruiz, former Respect councillor and community activist in Newham

Michael Gavan

Mary Pearson, National Union of Teachers, vice president Birmingham Trades Union Council

Joe Glenholmes, Unison, life member Birmingham Trades Union Council

Baljeet Ghale, NUT past president

Jane Holgate, chair of Hackney Unite and secretary of Hackney TUC

Marshajane Thompson, Labour Representation Committee NC

Richard Kuper

Chris Baugh, PCS assistant general secretary

Trevor Phillips, campaigner

Stathis Kouvelakis, UCU, King's College London

Carole Regan

Bernard Regan

Roger Kline

Hugh Kerr, former MEP

Nina Power, senior lecturer in philosophy Roehampton University

Norman Jemmison, NATFHE past president, NPC

Kitty Fitzgerald, poet and novelist

Iain Banks, author

Arthur Smith, comedian

David Landau

Anne Orwin, actor



To sign up please send an email to http://www.blogger.com/coalitionofresistan%20ce@mail.com and include your name.



Thank you

_______