First coach booked for National demo on 26th March 2011

We have been notified of the first coach to be booked for the TUC National March and Rally against the cuts. Wolverhampton and Bilston Trades Union Council are off the mark!
Have you booked a coach? Let us know via: aweaver@tuc.org.uk and we shall publicise it for you on this blog. Don't forget to give details of departure points and times, together with the contact for booking seats.

UCATT conference calls for campaign against public sector cuts in the building sector.

UCATT, the building and construction workers union, held a packed conference on Friday 17th November, looking at the effects of public sector cuts in their industry. The cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme was just one act of a government determined to push through cuts against any opposition.
The conference, held in Derby, heard form keynote speaker and UCATT General Secretary, Alan Ritchie, on the impact of the cuts and what UCATT had been doing to avert the damage that would be delivered to the public sector.
Steve Muphy, UCATT Regional Secretary for the Midlands added that the union would need to win back the workplace, "And start where we are strong - by organising!".
The contribution from Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon highlighted the social impact cuts would have at a time when house building was in the doldrums, housing benefit was being cut and jobs were few and far between.
Workshop sessions highlighted the need to campaign to get the union's message out wider than just to members; community mapping to see where the union could best get involved locally; further the union's political education; and ensuring that the UCATT message was heard loud and clear within the Labour Party.
In closing, Steve Murphy said, "This conference is just the start, we have to get out there and convince people that these cuts of mass destruction are an attack on all our communities".

TUC calls for end to discrimination against transgender people

Cheryl Pidgeon

The TUC is calling for an end to discrimination against

transgender people on Transgender Day of Remembrance tomorrow

(Saturday).



Around the world more than 200 transgender people have been murdered since January 2008, simply for being different. Transgender Day of Remembrance – the 12th international global day of tribute – will commemorate trans people who have been the victims of violent crimes, and aims to bring their stories to public attention.



In Britain, trans people face violent physical attacks, alongside prejudice and discrimination in communities and at work, yet the subject is largely ignored and there is an absence of concern about such attacks, the TUC believes.



The TUC has worked with transgender union members and the trans community to campaign for protection from discrimination, and welcomes a new service which allows trans people who are victims of crime to report it in confidence at www.tcrime.net



The service will be valuable in assembling data on attacks on transgender people in the UK and will put more pressure on government to take the issue seriously, says the TUC.



TUC Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said: “Discrimination and hatred are part of the daily lives of far too many trans people in Britain, and employers need to make sure all their employees are working in environments free from transphobia, violence and prejudice.
“If Britain is to be a truly equal and inclusive society we need to understand the issues facing trans people, and develop practical steps to end discrimination in our workplaces and beyond.”





Notts Miners secure funding for "Mining Lives" project

Local people’s memories and experiences of working in the mining industry are to be preserved for future generations thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) award of £46,500, it has being announced.

The two-year Mining Lives project has been developed by Nottinghamshire NUM Ex and Retired Miners Association, and will film and record mining memories from men and women who worked or were involved in six pits in the Nottinghamshire Area.

The project will look to capture the experience of working in the coal mining industry from nationalisation in 1947 up to the present day. This will include the strike periods of 1972-74 and 1984-85 and the subsequent rundown of the industry, reflecting on how these events impacted on local communities.

Commenting on the award the Chairman of the Ex Miners Eric Eaton said: "This an amazing opportunity for local miners to recount their history and have it recorded for posterity, we are absolutely delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund have afforded the Ex and Retired Miners and West Nottinghamshire College the opportunity to carry out this most important work".

Emma Sayer, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund East Midlands, said:

“Over the last century the mining industry has been central to the social and cultural history of communities across Nottinghamshire. By capturing the memories of those who worked in the mining industry, this project will ensure that the stories of local people are part of the wider history of our industrial heritage.”

The project will start in Autumn 2010, and is being carried out by a dedicated team of volunteers, from the Nottinghamshire Ex and Retired Miners Association and West Nottinghamshire College. The project will work with men and women who worked at Ollerton, Rufford, Blidworth, Newstead, Linby and Hucknall Collieries.

For further information please contact

Nottinghamshire NUM Ex & Retired Miners Association:

Eric Eaton (Chairman

01623 416895 / exandretiredminers@hotmail.co.uk

First meeting of Midlands TUC Disability Forum

Delegates to the first
Midlands TUC Disability Forum

Today (Wednesday) sees the first meeting of the Midlands TUC Disability Forum. Delegates will be considering a plan of work for the forthcoming year.
Activity is likely to include:

• Organising and building community alliances
• Industrial workplace startegy
• Political lobbying
• Communications re Disability issues.
• Disability policies within the workplace

TUC Midlands Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said, "Disability issues affect many people in our workplaces and society. But it's not just about having the right equipment or modifying access to buildings, important as those things are. We need to ensure that disability issues are mainstreamed and that people understand that a fair society means using the skills and expertise of all in society. We should see the ability in people - not their disability".

Too early to call a jobs recovery

Cheryl Pidgeon

Commenting on the latest unemployment figures published today (Wednesday), TUC Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said:  “While any fall in unemployment is welcome, it would be dangerously naïve to believe that these figures constitute a jobs recovery. “The overall rise in employment is based on shaky foundations with a notable rise in involuntary part-time work.
“With unemployed people outnumbering job vacancies by five to one it’s time the government focused on helping them back into work, rather than insisting that the labour market is flourishing.”

Job loss announcements

Cheryl Pidgeon at the recent
rally against public sector cuts.

Public sector job losses are now being reported on a regular basis with the most recent announcements from Stoke on Trent and Warwickshire.
The GMB in Stoke on Trent have issued a press release saying they are currently dealing with notice of redundancy for 713 jobs which will be cut before the end of April 2011. They fear that the total job losses in Stoke will total between 2500 and 3000 over the next four years as the council seeks cuts of £100 million.
In Warwickshire, the GMB report that 1855 jobs will be lost as the County Council has to deal with cuts of 26% over the next three years.
TUC Midlands Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said, "We are now seeing the detail of cuts which emanate from the governments Comprehensive Spending Review. If you are elderly, disabled or have a learning disability, you are at the head of the queue to suffer these cuts. You don't escape by being young either, as youth services are slashed or closed completely, or early years services disappear. Libraries are threatened, children's centres, and the Connexions services, all with the axe hanging over them." Ms Pidgeon continued, "and it is not just the staff who lose their jobs that we are concerned with, it is also the recipient's of those services who we are worried about. These cuts will not be fair as some in government claim -particularly as those who will suffer are certainly not the people who have caused our recent economic problems."

NUJ strike at the BBC over pensions

Cheryl Pidgeon, left,
and Chris Morley addressing
striking NUJ members outside
The Mailbox in Birmingham

NUJ members have been out in force today protesting about the attack on their pension scheme by the BBC.
They are being asked to take pension cuts of between £100,000 and £10,000.
These are the kinds of sums every BBC employee faces losing under plans to impose changes on their pensions.
"It’s unfair and unacceptable", said NUJ Northern Organiser Chris Morley, " NUJ members have paid their contributions every month to save for a decent retirement – now the BBC is seeking to unilaterally alter the terms of the pension scheme and devalue the pension entitlement they have already built up. For all BBC staff it means paying more, working longer or getting significantly lower pensions. In some cases, all three!"

The BBC does not yet even know the size of any pension scheme deficit – the valuation is not due until next year.

Cheryl Pidgeon, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary added, "I spoke to a number of NUJ members on the picket line today and it is clear they wouldn’t feel so angry if BBC staff really were all in this together – but senior BBC executives are still enjoying their £1m pay-offs and pensions of up to £230,000 a year."

The NUJ is not asking for higher pensions. It is not even saying it wouldn’t consider paying more or working longer for a fair pension settlement.

"What we don't want" said Chris Morley, "is a pension which will lose a significant part of its value every single year for the rest of our lives – which is what will happen under the BBC’s current proposals. It also means a pension where what has been promised to us - which we have already paid for - is protected."

Begging Bankers on the streets of Chestrefield

Begging Bankers were out in force on Chesterfield Market Place on Saturday 30th October. A group of campaigners from ‘Coalition Against the Cuts’ staged a protest against the Government’s decision to cut public spending by slashing jobs and taking money from the poor. The campaigners, backed by Chesterfield & District TUC, were dressed as fat cat bankers with cigars and bottles of champagne.
‘They were not begging for your spare change’ said James Eaden President of Chesterfield TUC, ‘They have already had that and much, much more. Our fat cat bankers are now asking for your jobs and services’
The Coalition Against the Cuts is linking together local trade unions with community groups and the many who will be affected by service cuts and changes to higher education funding.
‘Our bit of street theatre has a serious message’ James Eaden went on to say, ‘the budget deficit was caused by the bailing out of the banks and now they want me and you to pay for their binge’.

After Chesterfield the begging bankers will be appearing in towns throughout north Derbyshire.







Tearing up employment rights will not create extra jobs, says TUC

Commenting on the announcement today (Monday) that the newly appointed advisor to the government on enterprise Lord Young is to draft a report on small businesses, TUC Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said: 

Cheryl Pidgeon



“There is no evidence that making staff wait for two years before they get protection from unfair dismissal will create any extra jobs.



“David Cameron’s policies seem set on rolling Britain’s workplaces back to the 1980s, and asking one of Mrs Thatcher’s favourites to tear up employment protection will only confirm that impression.
“What we need are quality small and medium sized businesses that can grow into the big employers of tomorrow. Giving them permission to become second-rate employers will hardly help.”