NSSN Bulletin
No. 91
18
May Solidarity with the Greek
Workers! Their voice will be heard at the NSSN Conference on
June 9th
3
weeks to NSSN conference (see details below) – book now at
www.shopstewards.net where this bulletin will be posted
Bravo the Greek workers!
After years of battling massive cuts to living standards with
general strike after general strike, they have now taken the
fight against this terrible austerity to new heights. The huge
increase in the vote for Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left)
in the recent general election of up to nearly 17% and 52 seats
in Parliament shows that workers and the impoverished middle
class have had enough. The fear of endless years of
unemployment, poverty pay and hopelessness - while the
millionaires and bond traders live high on the hog – has forced
Greek workers to take a step along the political road.
This is a slap in the face
for the smug ruling classes of Europe, who believe their power
will never be challenged. But they will do all in their power to
undermine Syriza’s vote.
The general election
announced for 17th June takes place just a week after
NSSN Conference. As is our tradition international solidarity
will feature at the Conference and we will hear from Greek
workers. We will also be linking up with workers from Spain and
elsewhere. Let’s be ready to aid our Greek brothers and sisters
by giving our ruling class more headaches, and help short-cut
our fight in Britain by learning from their experiences.
And it is not only in Europe
where workers are in desperate struggle. Oil workers in
Kazakhstan have engaged in long and bitter battles with the
despotic regime of Nazabayev. We are hoping that we will have a
representative of the oil workers’ union in Kazakhstan at the
Conference too.
These are just a few of
the reasons why it is a must for all workers to come along to
the Conference of Saturday June 9th. Please rush in
names of delegates now. Let’s have maximum numbers at this
year’s Conference.
____________________________________________
1. UPDATES:
Unite strike
ballot for action in London Buses on Olympic bonus begins
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/londoners_commuters_and_touri.aspx
Tilbury Dockers
strike again on Monday 21st May against imposition of
new contracts
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/second_strike_by_dockers_at_ti.aspx
Aslef announce more
strike dates on East Midland trains against pension attacks –
every Tuesday & Thursday, first three weeks of May
http://www.aslef.org.uk/information/100012/132908/emt_strikes__utterly_justified__says_union/
RMT start strike
ballot in
dispute over pensions on East Midlands Trains
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=159371&int1stParentNodeID=89732
RAIL
UNION RMT confirm that signallers in the Stirling area will be
stepping up their strike action in a dispute over rosters
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=159329&int1stParentNodeID=89732
Workers united in
Lewisham against attacks by the racists
http://electmartin1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/united-against-cuts-and-racism.html#!/2012/05/united-against-cuts-and-racism.html
May 10th
– 400,000 strike to defend public sector pension – see video on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn3cOZBLiy8
Council workers in
Cheshire strike against attacks on pay -
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/14528/17-05-2012/council-workers-in-cheshire-strike-against-attacks-on-pay
Transport unions
organise public meetings with trades councils against the cuts
to jobs and services in the rail industry set out in the McNulty
Report on May 24th & May 31st
http://www.rmt.org.uk/
2.
VICTIMISATION
Blacklist support
group calls
for union conference emergency motions to expose police
collusion and call for a public enquiry. Full motion:
[email protected]
Unison – drop the ban
against the 4!
http://www.stopthewitchhunt.org.uk/downloads/DefendThe4May2012.pdf
3.
INTERNATIONAL
Help end the Rio
Tinto Lockout in Canada Now!
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1391&src=mycampaigns
4. DIARY
Weekly protests
outside The Shard in London Bridge against Agency working in
the construction industry – Wednesdays 6.45am
May 21
6pm Friends Meeting House, Euston, London - RMT
backs public meeting with Olympic legend and equal rights
activist John Carlos from the 1968 games
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=159484&int1stParentNodeID=89732
May 23
Cut Rents not Benefits -
No evictions due to benefit cuts from 9.15am outside
Commonwealth Club London 25 Northumberland Avenue London WC2N
5AP. Minister for Welfare Reform Lord Freud is driving through
vicious Housing Benefit cuts, bringing poverty, insecurity and
the threat of eviction to the low paid and poorest, families,
the sick and disabled Housing Emergency
May 23
SERTUC LGBT Network AGM on Wednesday 23 May 2012
– 6 pm at TUC Congress House, Great Russell St London WC1.
May 24
NSSN fringe meeting at PCS Conference – Thursday
lunchtime, Syndicate 2 room in Conference Centre in Brighton –
speakers: John McInally PCS Vice President & Rob Williams NSSN
National Chair (NSSN stall all week in exhibition)
May 24
Rail unions
and trades councils are holding the following public meetings
opposing the Government’s proposed cuts to jobs and services in
the rail industry:
Birmingham 7.00pm – Unite Offices, Broad St,
Birmingham, B15 1AY
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth 7.30pm – Link Community
Centre, Room GP3 Cumbernauld
Hull 7.00pm – Unison Offices, 39 Alfred Gelder
Street, Hull, HU1 2AG
Portsmouth 7.00pm – Portsmouth Railway Club,
Selbourne Terrace, P01 5BL
Kent Trades Councils 6.30pm – The Falstaff Hotel,
8-10 St Dunstan’s Street, Canterbury, CT2 8AF
May 25
Come
and stand in solidarity with the cleaners at St George's
Hospital/University who will be staging a friendly and musical
protest in defence of their jobs, their hours and their pay!
The cleaners are demanding 4 simple things:
1) That they be treated with dignity and
respect and receive a Living Wage of £8.30 an hour instead of
their current poverty wage of £6.08 an hour.
2) That St George's and Ocean
Contract Cleaning (Ocean), the company to which St George's has
outsourced its cleaning services, stop threatening them with
redundancy, reduced working hours and the intensification of
their working day with no extra pay.
3) That Ocean provides industry
standard equipment so the cleaners are protected against burns
from industrial chemicals.
4) That they be allowed union
representation.
Ocean, says it has no money to pay
the LLW or provide industry standard equipment.
However, out of the £14,503,000 it
pays annually in wages £1,327,000 goes to 10 directors, whilst
the highest paid director takes over £500,000. The directors'
salaries have increased by over 158% over the last 7 years!
Meanwhile, Ocean's 1,891 other
staff, many of whom are cleaners, receive an average of just
£7,669 per year which has increased 0% in real terms in recent
years.
Please show your support for the
cleaners and demand that St George's join the growing list of
Higher Education institutions and hospitals that treat their
employees with dignity and respect and pay them a Living Wage!
Also, please sign this petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stgeorgesllw/
May 26
National Rank and File
Sparks meeting
12pm – 4pm
Liverpool At the CASA Club, 29 Hope Street L1 9BQ
[nearest station Liverpool Lime Street]
May 28
Day of action on
McNulty Report –
For details
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=159286&int1stParentNodeID=89731&int2ndParentNodeID=89763
May 31
Rail unions
and trades councils are holding the following public meetings
opposing the Government’s proposed cuts to jobs and services in
the rail industry
Andover
7.30pm – Andover Guild Hall, High Street, Andover
Battersea &
Wandsworth 6.30pm – The Bread & Roses, 68 Clapham Street
Barnstaple
7.00pm – Castle Centre, Barnstaple, EX31 1DR
Blackburn
7.30pm – Blackburn Central Library, Town Hall Street, BB2 1AG
Bristol
7.00pm – Council House, College Green, Bristol
Cardiff
7.00pm – Unite Offices, 1 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9SD
Liverpool
7.00pm – Unite Offices, Jack Jones House, 2 Churchill Way,
Liverpool, L3 8EF
Southend
7.30pm – Southend Central Library, Victoria Avenue, SS2 6EX
******************************************************
NSSN 6th Annual
National Conference:
Saturday 9th June,
London Confirmed speakers - Bob Crow RMT General Secretary, Mark
Serwotka PCS General Secretary, Kevin Courtney NUT Deputy
General Secretary, Rank & File Unite construction electrician.
New flyer/ Booking
Form: http://tinyurl.com/7p6old2
*********************************
June 16 - NUT Local
Associations for National Action on Pensions -http://classroomteachers.blogspot.co.uk/
Join, get active,
donate or affiliate to support & develop the NSSN
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07952 283
558
Post: PO Box 54498,
London E10 9D
Web: www.shopstewards.net:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/NSSN_AntiCuts
Main FB group http://tinyurl.com/4yckq5j
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cuts' http://tinyurl.com/7esg2gp
