TGWU

Transport and General Workers Union

Broad Left wins elections

by a TGWU member Supporters of the Broad Left have won a decisive victory in the elections for the executive of the Transport and General Workers Union. The group of right-wingers, Stalinists and careerists centred upon John Aitkin and Barry Camfield has now been firmly defeated, giving the left a majority of 29 to 8 (with 3 not aligned to either group) on the union’s General Executive Council. John Aitkin himself failed in his bid to get back onto the executive, as did his leading supporter Geordie Landles, despite having the support of the Region 1 (London) “machine”. The Marxist Tom Cashman...

A fighting union or a job club?

This article was wrongly attributed to Tom Cashman. To read an apology click here . As we go to press, elections are taking place for the General Executive Council of the TGWU. The contest is a battle between genuine trade unionists trying to build a serious working-class organisation and faking bureaucrats concerned only to secure their own future and keep the union rolling as a gravy train and job club for their mates. There is no need for illusions about the T&G Broad Left. It is not a militant rank-and-file grouping. It is primarily an electoral machine whose majority politics can be...

BA: Second union official sacked

On 5 January British Airways sacked a second shop steward for involvement in the Heathrow Airport baggage handlers' strike of 11-12 August in support of the Gate Gourmet catering workers, producing food for BA's flights, who were locked out on 10 August. The union involved, at BA and at Gate Gourmet, the TGWU, was so cowed that it did not even issue a press release to complain about the sacking, let alone start a campaign to ballot the workers for action to defend their shop steward. The Gate Gourmet dispute thus seems, sadly, to be ending in a complete rout. According to the Financial Times...

reinstated!

The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) representative at Peckham bus garage, Andy Beadle, was reinstated last week after an appeal against his victimisation. Andy was dismissed for allegedly “bringing the company in to disrepute”. In reality he was sacked for representing his members. Andy’s crime was to distribute a leaflet calling for a “no” vote in the second round of their pay ballot. In the first round of the ballot Peckham garage had voted overwhelmingly 126-5 against the deal. Their huge majority had decisively tipped the balance of those garages balloted, against the deal. This...

Merger could atomise members

by stan crooke The approach of the AWL, and its predecessors, to union mergers has not always been one of support. There have been instances when we have opposed mergers on the grounds that it would represent a step backwards for the members of the unions concerned (e.g. the adoption of a more right-wing rule book than that which existed previously in one or more of the unions taking part in the merger). Having a general principle in favour of mergers, which seems to me to be fair enough, does not entail support for any and every proposed union merger. Although, admittedly, this is written...

Towards a super-union?

The proposed creation of a giant new union, made up of the TGWU, Amicus and (probably) the GMB has caused excitement and misgivings within the trade union movement. Solidarity has been debating the pros and cons of the merger which may take place as early as next year. Here we print discussion articles about the development — two by Tom Haslam, broadly in favour the merger, and by Stan Crooke which opposes the move. The rights and wrongs of mergers by tom Haslam “The fact that the workers in a single undertaking are divided amongst several unions weakens them in their struggle… the...

Staffordshire bus drivers strike again

300 First Bus drivers in Staffordshire struck against on October 29 and 31 as part of an ongoing battle over pay and conditions by First Bus workers around the country. The Staffs drivers, currently on £6.60 an hour, want £8 to bring them into parity with First drivers elsewhere, but management are insisting that any pay rise must be “self-funding”, i.e. linked to worseconditions. Further strikes are planned for 7, 19 and 21 November.

Democracy comes to Westminster

140 TGWU cleaners at the Houses of Parliament will strike on 9 November in support of their demands for a living wage, as well as sick pay, holidays and pensions. At the moment, they get £5.20 an hour. To put that in context, Peter Grant Peterkin, the civil servant in charge of the contracts, who is refusing to meet the T&G to discuss the dispute, “earns” £100,000 a year!

A case for opposing the TGWU-GMB-Amicus merger

By Stan Crooke At the Amicus-TGWU-GMB caucus at the recent AWL trade union school I was asked to write something re. why we should oppose the possible/likely merger of these three unions. INTRODUCTION: The approach of the AWL, and its predecessors, to union mergers has not always been one of support. There have been instances when we have opposed mergers on the grounds that it would represent a step backwards for the members of the unions concerned (e.g. the adoption of a more right-wing rule book than that which existed previously in one or more of the unions taking part in the merger)...

Tesco: solidarity with Polish workers

Tesco stores across Britain and Ireland were picketed on 4 August in solidarity with two Polish agency workers sacked after protesting about conditions at a distribution centre in Dublin. The Polish workers, Radek Sawicki and Zbyszek Bukala, had complained not only that agency workers, many of whom are Polish, receive only 2/3 the wages of contracted staff, but that they are pressganged into rapidly increasing production targets. The Irish trade union of which Sawicki is a member, SIPTU, is taking the agency to court for exploitation. The Transport and General Workers’ Union announced that its...

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