Disability rights

“One Barnet” on trial

“One Barnet”, Barnet Tories’ plan to privatise most of Barnet Council services (probably in two contracts worth up to £1 billion to Capita), is being scrutinised in the High Court this week. Disabled resident Maria Nash has made an application for a Judicial Review. Day one on Tuesday 19 March involved her barrister, Nigel Giffin, outlining the lack of consultation of residents over the plan. Maria is also bringing her case because she worries that if One Barnet fails to deliver promised savings, council services she relies on will be cut even more severely than at present. Her fears have...

Remploy workers fight on

Over a fortnight since their last 24-hour strike (22 October) workers in the Remploy factory in Springburn (Glasgow) are still waiting to find out the fate of their workplace. At the time of the last strike RLink had been awarded ‘preferred bidder’ status for the Remploy factories in Springburn and Chesterfield. The Springburn workers’ strike had been to demand clarification from RLink of its intentions and to oppose any attack on their terms and conditions. RLink had already announced its intention of withdrawing union recognition, axing 30 jobs, and cutting terms and conditions of employment...

Remploy strikes need solidarity

For the fourth time this year, pickets were out in force at the Remploy factory in Springburn, Glasgow on Monday 22 October as workers there kept up their fight in defence of jobs and terms and conditions of employment. The only person crossing the picket line was one of the £300-a-day consultants brought in by the company to “facilitate” the rundown and possible closure of the factory. The 24-hour strike, which also involved the five other Remploy factories in Scotland, was timed to coincide with a meeting of the Remploy Task Force in the Scottish Parliament. Following a wave of closures of...

Gary McKinnon reprieved

The UK government has revoked the order to extradite Gary McKinnon to the USA to face trial for computer hacking. This is an important win for McKinnon, who has been fighting extradition since 2006. However, Gary now faces the prospect of trial in the UK. This would undoubtedly be less distressing for him than extradition to the USA, and he has said that he is willing to face trial in this country. But this still raises some issues and concerns. Firstly, there is the issue of whether McKinnon’s actions in this case – hacking into US government defence websites – caused harm. Secondly, there is...

ATOS outsourcing to NHS in Scotland

ATOS, the private company notorious for its treatment of sick and disabled people claiming Employment Support Allowance, is outsourcing one of its contracts for assessing entitlement to Personal Independence Payments (PIPs), the benefit replacing Disability Living Allowance. Lanarkshire NHS will receive £22 million of the £400 million ATOS is being paid for PIPs testing. As a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions and then a ESA claimant, I've seen the way ATOS treats sick and disabled people. The so-called medical assessments consist of ticking boxes on a computer screen and...

More Remploy sites set for sell off

Remploy factories in Chesterfield, Springburn, and Bridgend are set to be sold off, but the buyer has refused to guarantee continuing existing workers’ employment. Kevin Shand, senior shop steward at the Chesterfield site, said: “For over a year the Chesterfield factory has been prepared for privatisation. And managers at the Remploy plants across the country have been promised bonuses for shutting factories on time. All this is fuelling our anger”. Although Remploy workers have taken several days of strike action, the most recent planned strike – a five-day action due to begin on Tuesday 17...

Discussing autism at work

[img_assist|nid=19580|title=cartoon by Landon Bryce, thAutcast.com|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=400|height=192]In October and November, trade unionists from a variety of different unions will attend a one-day seminar on “Autism in the Workplace”, hosted by the Workers’ Educational Association London Region. Working with the WEA, and with RMT’s sponsorship, I have put together this seminar to enable trade unionists to mobilise around this issue, effectively representing autistic workers and those who care for autistic dependants, tackling discrimination, and engaging with political debates...

Remploy workers launch week-long strike

Following a 100% vote in favour of strike action, pickets were out in force at the Remploy factory in Springburn (Glasgow) on Monday 3 September, the first day of a week-long strike. Remploy workers in Chesterfield were also out on strike. Phil Brannan, who works in the Springburn factory and is GMB Remploy Shop Stewards Convenor (Scotland), explained the background to the strike to Solidarity: “The strike in Springburn will be for four days because we work a four-day, 35-hour week here. But in Chesterfield they work a night shift as well, so the strike there will be for five days. “The only...

Call centre exploits prison labour for £3 a day

Becoming Green, a company which markets environmentally-sustainable energy to homeowners, has been exposed using prison labour on slave wages in its Cardiff call centre. Almost 20% of the call centre’s staff in July and August were inmates from Prescoed prison in Monmouthshire, around 21 miles away from the centre. The prison workers were paid just £3 per day for their work. Becoming Green had been employing the prisoners for 40-day periods, but as there is no centralised regulation on how long external employers can employ prison labour on “training contracts”, Becoming Green could keep...

Remploy pickets strong in Stoke

I was on the picket line at the Remploy factory at Trentham Lakes, Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday 19 July. About 50 people braved the rain to show their solidarity, with banners from the striking unions Unite and GMB, as well as UNISON, CWU, PCS, North Staffordshire Trades Union Council and North Staffordshire Against Cuts. Representatives of several other unions were also there to show their solidarity - including NUT, Musicians' Union, and the ceramic workers' union Unity [sic]. Local Labour MPs Joan Walley (Stoke North) and Rob Flello (Stoke South) came along to show their support, as well as...

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