Unite

Industrial news in brief

On Monday 22 April, 80 local residents and trade unionists attended a Fire Brigades Union (FBU) meeting to protest against the closure of Downham fire station in Lewisham, south east London. The local campaign is being driven by the FBU, led by local rep Kelly Macmillan. The meeting was addressed by local Labour MP Heidi Alexander and London Assembly members Darren Johnson (Green Party) and Len Duvall (Labour). The Tories are aiming to make £45 million in cuts to the fire service in London. They want to shut 12 of the 112 London fire stations, cut 520 firefighters, and 18 engines. The cuts...

Ford workers ballot for strikes

Workers at the Ford stamping and tooling plant in Dagenham have begun voting in a ballot for strikes over the closure of the plant. 652 workers will take part in the ballot, which closes on 30 April. The closure of the plant, along with another factory in Southampton, was announced in October 2012. The ballot follows protests at both the Southampton and Dagenham plants, organised by Unite, on 18 April. The closures threaten 1,500 jobs directly, and more in Ford’s supply chain. A Unite statement said: “The workers at the stamping and tooling facility are furious over the way they are being...

Industrial news in brief

Bromley council workers blackmailed Tory-controlled Bromley council has threatened to sack workers unless they agree to new, worse, contracts, imposed without consultation. As Solidarity went to press, Unite was reporting that up to 500 workers had not met the council’s 23 April deadline for accepting the new contracts and therefore faced the sack. A union statement said: “While the majority of the workforce has accepted the new local contracts under duress, more than 500 workers don’t want to be bullied into accepting inferior contracts which slash pay and conditions. “The threat to sack...

McCluskey wins Unite election

Len McCluskey has been re-elected at General Secretary of Unite with a 64% share of the vote. McCluskey won 144,570 to rival Jerry Hicks’s 79,819. The turnout was 15.2%, lower than the union’s last GS election (where it was 15.8%). In that election, the opposition vote was split three ways between Hicks and two right-wing challengers to McCluskey (Les Bayliss and Gail Cartmail). Hicks’s vote in that election was 52,000, while McCluskey’s winning score was 101,000. Workers’ Liberty members in Unite are involved in the United Left network, and backed McCluskey as UL’s agreed candidate and...

Sheffield drugs workers fight cuts

A mother of a former Heroin addict has written an open letter to the commissioners of drug services asking them to re-think the planned 10% cut of the Arundel Street Project. The Drug and Alcohol Coordination Team, part of Sheffield City Council, hope to save money from the Project that supports those with drug problems, with a cut in its budget of £68,000 from 1 April. “When I discovered 12 years ago that my son was a Heroin addict I was devastated and had no idea what to do about it. We were a close family and every one of us was affected by the knowledge that this much loved son, brother...

Unite election: vote McCluskey

Voting in the election for the general secretary’s position in Unite began on 18 March, with the ballot due to close on Friday 12 April. The incumbent, Len McCluskey, is re-standing. His only opponent is Jerry Hicks, a former shop steward at a Rolls Royce plant in Bristol. Workers’ Liberty members in Unite are backing a vote for McCluskey because he is the candidate of the United Left grouping in which we are involved. While on some issues we agree with Hicks against McCluskey (such as union officials taking an average worker’s wage), we do not believe Hicks’s campaign offers a serious...

Industrial news in brief

Cleaners at the Barbican in the City of London will strike on Thursday 21 March, the day the antiquated body which runs the City of London Corporation (which owns the Barbican) elects its “Court of Common Council”. The Corporation has a London Living Wage policy, but has staggered its introduction across various contracts. It has told cleaners at the Barbican, who are employed by Mitie, that they must wait until 2014 to get the Living Wage of £8.55 an hour. They are currently paid £6.19 an hour. The City of London’s “City Cash” account holds over £1 billion, and Mitie’s own profits were at £52...

Industrial news in brief

PCS branches are mobilising to defend workplace reps victimised for union activity. Lee Rock in Sheffield, Jon Bigger in Merseyside, and Kevin Smith in Bootle all face the sack for trade union activity. For more on these cases, and how labour movement activists can support Lee, Jon, and Kevin, see here . The Civil Service Rank-and-File Network (CSRF), a newly-formed grouping of PCS activists, is planning local actions to coincide with the European TUC’s Day of Action on 13 March. Union officials block Lewisham hospital fight Activists in Lewisham Hospital in south London are discussing their...

Industrial news in brief

150 people demonstrated at London Metropolitan University (LMU) in solidarity with victimised trade unionists Max Watson and Jawad Botmeh as they faced a hearing on Monday 18 February. Max and Jawad, who are activists in Unison, are suspended from their jobs because of alleged “gross misconduct”. A statement from the union branch said: “Thank you to all those who attended the lobby and helped to publicise it and build support. The huge turnout sends a strong message to university management that we will not tolerate victimisation and intimidation of trade union members.” University management...

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