Socialist Appeal - Trade Unions

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Trade Unions - Send us your letters, articles or workplace and trade union reports!

By UNISON Socialist Appeal Supporters
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
This Wednesday, four Unison members are submitting their appeals against being suspensed from office for distributing a leaflet at Unison conference.

Unison gives Alan Docherty a 3 Year Ban whilst he is busy fighting New Labour Cuts

By Socialist Appeal
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Unison has continued its witch hunt by banning Alan Docherty, Darlington LG’ s Branch Secretary, for 3 years from office. His crime was defending himself from attack from Unison Northern Region’s leadership for his involvement in the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) as the Tees Valley Secretary of the NESSN (North East Shop Stewards Network).

Paul Holmes: Interview From Ireland

By Fightback (Ireland)
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Paul Holmes is standing for election as General Secretary of UNISON. Paul has been active in the union for 36 years, he’s branch secretary of Kirklees Branch in Yorkshire. The branch has over 10,000 members and an 80% membership density. Paul agreed to be interviewed for Fightback which is the Journal of the International Marxist Tendency in Ireland and we are pleased to reproduce that interview here.

Support blacklisted electrician

By A construction worker
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Steve Acheson, blacklisted electrician from Manchester, was nearly arrested recently on his picket at Fiddler’s Ferry power station. Steve was dismissed in December 2009 and has held a peaceful picket outside the site ever since. His tribunal for unfair dismissal will not be heard until October this year.

John McDonnell MP backs Paul Holmes for UNISON General Secretary

By unison united left
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Labour MP John McDonnell today welcomed the candidacy of leading Yorkshire trade unionist, Paul Holmes, to replace Dave Prentis as General Secretary of UNISON, the largest public sector trade union.

CYWU Unite Youth Workers in Coventry Stage Another One-Day Strike.

By Darrall Cozens, Coventry Trades Council, UCU and Coventry NE Labour Party (all in a personal capacit

Monday, 08 February 2010

Last Friday February 5th members of the CYWU Unite trade union in Coventry staged another one-day strike to defend jobs and conditions and to try and stop the savage cuts being imposed on the Children and Youth Services budget.

Marshalls - Interview with worker

By Matt Wells
Sunday, 07 February 2010
Marshalls is a leading company in the design,manufacture and maintenance of aerospace and military vehicles. Family owned, it is one of the largest employers in Cambridge employing around 1,700 staff at it’s site, including it’s airport. Unite are the union that organise in the plant and reps there have been supportive of Jerry, since he fought his unfair dismissal by Rolls Royce. Matt Wells spoke to a Unite member who works at the plant

UPDATE - ALBERTO DURANGO SACKED! MOBILISE FOR 12 FEBUARY DEMO

By Socialist Appeal
Sunday, 07 February 2010
At a so-called disciplinary hearing Lancaster Cleaning Services have sacked UNITE shop-steward and leader of the Latin American Workers Association Alberto Durango. The company took over the contract for the Union Bank of Switzerland on Monday 1 February; they suspended him on the Tuesday and sacked him on Thursday 4 February. This premeditated act is part of their efforts to break the union at UBS. A demo has been organised for Friday 12th Feb in London.

GM’s axe comes down on the workers of Antwerp. Workers in other GM plants must unite!

By Eddie Kacar
Thursday, 04 February 2010
General Motors, implementing its restructuring programme has commenced a brutal campaign of plant closures and job cuts in Europe. The first to go is the plant in Antwerp, Belgium where 2,600 are employed at the Vauxhall/Opel plant. The plant, producing the Vectra and Astra models, will be closing down over the next few weeks and the production of those models will be allocated to other plants across Europe.

UNISON General Secretary Election: One left candidate needed: Support Paul Holmes

By UNISON Socialist Appeal supporters
Thursday, 04 February 2010
The post of UNISON General Secretary is one of the most important jobs in the whole of the Labour and trade union movement in Britain and the north of Ireland. UNISON is a decisive force in the public sector and is potentially extremely powerful. UNISON is also one of the biggest unions affiliated to the Labour Party and the leadership of the union is intimately tied up with the Labour Party. As such this election is as important as the UNITE General Secretary Election, and in the public sector perhaps more so.

Fujitsu are not having ‘IT’ all their own way - Statement From Jerry Hicks

By jerryhicks4gs.com
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Jerry Hicks adds his support to the Futjitsu workers.

UNISON: Local Government Pay Freeze demonstrates the need for a democratic fighting union

By UNISON Socialist Appeal Supporters.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
It won’t come as a big surprise to most thinking workers that a bunch of Tory councillors sat around and made the decision to institute a pay freeze in local government. No surprise that is because the memory of Thatcherism is still etched on many workers minds and secondly because with New Labour already advocating a 1% pay ceiling on public sector pay, how were the Tories going to out do them? Why, by offering less of course!

South Yorkshire firefighters return to strike action

By Dick Vivian
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Following the break down of negotiations aimed at resolving the long running dispute over shift changes and threatened job loss by the South Yorkshire Fire Authority hundreds of firefighters are set for another round of industrial action.

IT workers at Fujitsu fight back

By Luke and Ben, Leeds Trades Council (personal capacity)
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Socialist Appeal recently published an appeal from IT workers at Japanese-based multinational Futitsu, who have been taking strike action up and down the country in Britain’s first ever national strike of IT workers. The workers and their union, Unite, are incensed that the highly-profitable IT services provider is attempting to scrap the pension scheme and putting thousands of staff at risk of redundancy.

Solidarity with UNITE strikers @ Fujitsu

By Manchester Trades Council
Thursday, 07 January 2010
Unite members at the Fujitsu plant in Manchester are taking action in defence of jobs, pay and pensions. An appeal to the labour and trade union movement to give support has been sent out from Manchester Trades Council. Click on the heading to find out more.