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By Kenny McGuigan
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Monday, 19 February 2007 |
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After months of industrial action by COMMUNITY trade union members at the McKinnon Mills clothing factory at Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, workers have won their demand for a 2.5% pay increase.
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By William Roche, BECTU member
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Friday, 26 January 2007 |
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Workers at ITN, the
company that provides news for ITV1 and Channel 4, have forced their management
to compromise on their controversial proposal to cut pensions and extend the
retirement age from 60 to 65.
This comes after unionised staff voted for two 24-hour strikes in response to what were felt intolerable impositions from management.
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By Andy Blake, branch secretary London 7 (personal capacity)
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Friday, 26 January 2007 |
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Last year 4 million people signed Britain's
biggest ever petition to defend their local post office. Yet 2,500 local post
offices will close by the end of 2009. The selling-off of the Post Office is a continuation of privatisation policies begun under the Conservative government.
The aim is to destroy a major public
asset in the interests of big business. This is what capitalism
calls progress.
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By an Amicus activist
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Thursday, 25 January 2007 |
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The proposed
terms for the T&G-Amicus merger removes the election of Officials rule that Amicus achieved. Tony Woodley and
Derek Simpson have used the argument that a new union will be able to more
effectively fight for members. But this proposed
Instrument of Amalgamation will instead serve to create a giant monolithic
bureaucracy that will further prevent members from challenging the leadership.
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By an Amicus Member
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Thursday, 25 January 2007 |
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Earlier this month construction workers demonstrated in Liverpool. They called for the enforcement of national agreements and an end to the undermining of pay and conditions by bosses cynically using employment agencies and the exploitation of migrant labour.
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By our Motor Vehicle correspondent
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Wednesday, 24 January 2007 |
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Growing trade union participationat Nissan is giving workers a real chance to demand better working conditions, which if rejected by management may lead to strike action unprecedented in the Sunderland factory's 20-year history.
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By Ray McHale, Cheshire UNISON (Personal capacity)
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Wednesday, 24 January 2007 |
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The pay claim put
forward this year on behalf of 1.25 million UNISON, Amicus, TGWU and GMB members working for local councils
could be a significant challenge to the Labour Government. This includes a number of service
conditions improvements: an additional day's leave, a 35 hour week, a major
improvement in night pay and a near
doubling of the "sleep-in" allowance to £60.
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By Rachel Heemskerk, PCS DWP EofE Regional Chair (Personal capacity)
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Monday, 22 January 2007 |
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Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working in the civil service are gearing up to take strike action. Now is the time for civil servants to stand together to defend jobs, pay and public services. If all PCS members join this strike action it will show the government we stand united and are prepared for a fight.
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By Socialist Appeal
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Tuesday, 09 January 2007 |
John McDonnell's decision to stand
for the leadership of the Labour Party is undoubtedly welcomed by all trade
unionists: that is, by those who know he is standing! It is shameful is that
the union leaders have either ignored or deliberately sabotaged John's
campaign. A straw pole at TUC conference showed over 60% of those members asked
said they supported McDonnell.
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By By Matt Wells, PCS Defra Group Executive Committee (personal capacity)
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Friday, 01 December 2006 |
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New Labour has thrown down the gauntlet to civil servants, of which over 300,000 are organised in the PCS, Britain's sixth largest union. The PCS's national executive needs to take a clear lead on the issues that affect all members; job cuts, pay and privatisation. One-off protest strikes are not enough.
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By Ron Graves, President Peterborough Trade Union Council
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Friday, 01 December 2006 |
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AMICUS members at Peterborough District hospital have voted unanimously to take strike action over the way their jobs have been banded under the new NHS pay scheme, Agenda for Change. They plan four one-day strikes, starting on Monday 27 November, combined with a ban on overtime and call-outs.
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By Kenny McGuigan
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
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Garment production workers at one of the world's most famous clothing manufacturer continue their series of industrial actions, including strikes after bosses rejected their demand for a 2.5% pay increase. 85% of the membership voted for industrial action up to and including strike, work to rule and a refusal to pass on work to sub-contractors for completion.
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By Gray Allan, Pam Woods, Terry McPartlan, Pablo Sanchez, and Kenny McGuigan
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Thursday, 15 June 2006 |
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On the eve of Unison Conference we are publishing here articles from
the latest edition of Socialist Appeal which deal with some of the
questions facing delegates and activists. Unison has a vital role to
play in the struggle to defend pensions, against the attacks launched
by the government on the welfare state (and the NHS in particular), and
for socialist policies in the labour movement. The conference will also
discuss solidarity with Venezuela, an issue being raised by members of
Hands Off Venezuela in the union.
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By Steve Jones in Bournemouth
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Tuesday, 23 May 2006 |
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Thirty delegates and visitors from the national conference of the
Communication Workers Union attended the very first Hands Off
Venezuela fringe meeting, held on Monday lunchtime in windswept
Bournemouth. The day before, the 250,000-strong union, which organises
both postal and telecommunications workers in Britain, had unanimously agreed to
support the Venezuelan Revolution and also affiliate nationally to HOV.
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