Workers celebrating 65th birthday tomorrow have an extra reason to cheer

Anyone who turns 65 after today (Friday) will no longer lose their job simply because of their age, the TUC says ahead of the end of the UK's default retirement age (DRA) tomorrow. Under the DRA, which the government began phasing out from April this year, employers have been able to retire people on their 65th birthday for no other reason than their age. But for anyone who turns 65 after today, or who is under 65 but hasn't been given six months notice, employers now have to justify why they want to retire a member of staff.
The TUC has long considered the DRA to be an unfair anachronism in modern workplaces as staff, and most good employers, would like a more flexible approach to retirement.
While many people do not want to work beyond 65 or are unable to because of the nature of their work, abolishing the default retirement age will help people retire at a time that suits both them and their employer, says the TUC.
The growing number of people working past 65 shows that many people are keen to stay in work and have a lot to offer employers, says the TUC. However, many are forced to continue working due to poor pay and lack of a decent pension, illustrating the urgent need for better pension provision in the private sector.
The TUC and the Charted Institute for Personal and Development (CIPD) have recently published guidance for staff and employers on managing age in the workplace, which is available at www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-19586-f0.cfm. The guide offers best practice guidance on working without a retirement age.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "After years of campaigning, it's great to see the end of the default retirement age.
"As of tomorrow, anyone celebrating their 65th birthday can do so knowing they cannot get dismissed from their job simply because of their age. This should give more workers the opportunity to retire at their own pace, rather than having it imposed on them by a short-sighted employer.
"Not everyone wants to work beyond 65, and many have no choice but to work on, but many older people still have a lot to contribute - and employers can really benefit from the wealth of their experience."
CIPD Diversity Adviser Dianah Worman said: "The removal of the default retirement age has been long heralded. Its removal opens up new opportunities to employers and employees and is to be welcomed, not feared.
"Good talent management helps businesses to achieve good performance and is vital in today's highly competitive and turbulent times. Many organisations already operate successfully without a compulsory retirement age.
"Those that have not yet tackled the way they manage retirement need to catch up with leading good practice to make sure that they too have a competitive employment edge or they could risk falling seriously behind more innovative employers in the 'war for talent'. CIPD research continues to show this phenomenon prevails despite the difficult economic climate."

Why women’s unemployment rates are set to rise



Nicola Smith

 The TUC Toucstone blog has contributions from Congress House staff. The blog below has been posted by the Head of our Economic Affairs department, Nicola Smith.

New TUC analysis (admittedly published several weeks ago – but time has been tight!) shows that women are set for a tough time in the labour market. Across the UK more women than men work in the public sector, and it turns out that 34 per cent of women who are employed (around 4,650,000 women) are in public sector jobs compared to 17 per cent of employed men (around 2,600,000)*. In some regions female unemployment is even more concentrated in public sector employment: 42 per cent of employed women in Northern Ireland, 37 per cent in the North West and 36 per cent in Yorkshire are in public sector jobs. Given 110,000 public sector jobs were lost in the second quarter (over five times more than the OBR forecast anticipated would be lost over the entire financial year) if job losses continue at even half this rate women are set to take a considerable hit.


But our key finding is that over the last decade the public sector has been responsible for the vast majority of net female jobs growth (84 per cent), whereas for men it has only created 39 per cent of net new jobs. Not only do women look set to lose a lot of work, but it’s far from clear where they will find new jobs.


The poorer rate of private sector jobs growth over the decade is clearly partly a result of the global recession. However, the sharp gender divide shows the extent to which women’s employment rates have been linked to new public sector employment opportunities. In some regions the position is even starker. In the East and West Midlands, and in the South East, private sector net job creation for women was negative. The proportion of all employed women, and men, working in the public sector has risen over the decade – from 31 per cent to 34 per cent for women and from 16 per cent to 17 per cent for men. No doubt these figures are now set to fall – with a great deal of human pain in the process. Whether those who lose their jobs will find more work is another question: our analysis also sets out the extent of the ongoing fall in manufacturing employment and the hit that retail jobs took during the recession. The harsh reality is that at the moment it really is hard to see where the new jobs are going to come from.


* Note: these figures are from the Labour Force Survey, which is a self-reported sample survey. This means that the numbers reporting as employed in the public sector are slightly larger than ONS’s public sector employment series (which is not disaggregated by gender) as they also include people who work for private sector contractors in the public sector, for example in cleaning or security roles.

Coaches to Manchester this Sunday

A number of unions and trades councils have now informed us of their coach details for this Sunday's Manchester for the Alternative march and rally at the Conservative Party conference. These are listed below -please circulate and consider a financial donation to help these colleagues who have put the money up front to ensure a good presence of midlands trade unionists at this important protest.

Coventry TUC coach (8.30 am from Coventry Swimming Baths). Two Unite branches and Unison have covered most of the cost.  Anyone needing a seat can ring Clive Dixon on 07799 340559.
Derby UNISON Only 12 seats left on the Sunday 2nd Oct. coach to Manchester. To book your place leaving Derby at 9:30am Full St. email unison@derby.gov.uk or call 01332 643217/6
Nottingham  Departs Nottingham (Royal Centre) at 9.00 am, Hucknall Market Place at 9.15 am, Sutton-in-Ashfield bus station at 9.30 am and Mansfield Rosemary Centre at 9.45 am. It is expected that the return coach will depart at 5.00 pm.

Union branches are asked to:

• Make a donation to Notts Trades Council. This will help us fund this coach and ensure we have sufficient funding to fight successfully in Nottinghamshire.

• Buy a number of seats for sale around your branch. We suggest a ticket price of £15.00 for waged and £5.00 for unwaged

Individual trade unionists are asked to:

• Pledge to come on the coach and bring family and friends with you! Family tickets are available at £40.00 for two adults and up to three children. Bargain!

• If you can’t attend but can afford to – buy a ticket! This will help us to provide a seat to someone who genuinely can’t.
Please let me know if you’d like a seat or seats on the coach. I’ll need a name or names, contact telephone number and email address, and your preferred pick up point.


Paul 07986 351 807
Joint secretary – Notts, Mansfield and Nottingham Trades Council


Walsall  coach organised by NUT and NASUWT for the TUC march for the Alternative demo on 2nd October 2011.  
Departure points are:
9.30am Hatherton Road
9.40 Jane lane School
For seat availability contact: djjones@nasuwt.net 

Wolverhampton   9am coach Falkland Street Wolverhampton UNISON-  details 01902 554095

9-30am coach Falkland street coach park,Wolverhampton from Wolverhampton NUT details 01902 429591 wolverhamptonnut@btconnect.com
£2 deposit £5/£10 tickets free to members
Stourbridge - Dudley .....01384 813875 picking up in wolves NUT coach
Sandwell - Walsall ..........07952 647479 or 0121 567 5446

Birmingham ............07904 960442
If you have confirmed details of other coaches please email aweaver@tuc.org.uk to be added to this list.

Hundreds of thousands of agency workers will benefit from new rights

Hundreds of thousands of agency workers across the UK will benefit from improved working conditions when the new equal treatment rights for temps come into effect on Saturday (1 October). Unlike fixed-term employees and part-time workers, until now agency workers have not had a right to the same pay and holiday rights as directly employed staff in the same workplace. This lack of rights has left them open to abuse, says the TUC.
Nearly half (46 per cent) of the agency workers who responded to a YouGov survey commissioned by the TUC said they received less holiday entitlement than permanent staff. One in three (33 per cent) reported getting less pay for doing the same work as directly employed staff and nearly one in three (28 per cent) said they lost out on overtime and unsocial hours payments. According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the average agency worker gets five days less holiday a year than permanent employees.
The LFS also found that temps earned on average 68 per cent of the pay of permanent workers - a 32 per cent pay gap.
However, following years of campaigning by unions, from 1 October agency workers will benefit from new, improved rights at work.
From the first day of an assignment, agency temps working in the private, public or voluntary sector will have a right to use any facilities provided by the hirer - such as a crèche, canteen or transport services. They will also be entitled to information about internal vacancies at the company they are working for, and to be given the opportunity to apply for them.
After 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, agency workers will be entitled to the same pay, holiday entitlement and working hours as permanent staff, and they will also receive improved maternity rights.
The TUC believes these rights will help stamp out some of the exploitation that agency temps have faced at work, will help young workers gain a stepping stone into permanent employment and protect the well-being of pregnant agency workers.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "These new rights for agency workers are an important step forward in helping the UK's hundreds of thousands of agency temps get a fairer deal at work.
"For too long, agency workers have faced discrimination at work. They are frequently paid less, are required to work excessive hours with no overtime pay, and are entitled to less holiday than directly employed workers doing exactly the same job.
"Some rogue employers have used temps to undermine the terms and conditions of existing workforces, replacing permanent staff with agency workers on lower pay, with no security, no training, no sick pay, minimum holidays and no pension provision.
"But thanks to hard campaigning by unions this is all about to change. Now, after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, the law will require agency temps receive equal pay for the job they do and to receive some of the same rights as permanent staff working alongside them.
"Recruiting and treating our agency workers fairly will make them more motivated and more loyal to the companies they work for, which will benefit employers and make temping a more attractive option for working people."

Manchester for the Alternative - details for coach parking

We have just received the following information regarding the drop off and coach parking details for this Sunday's Manchester March for the Alternative. Please forward to anyone you know is organising coaches for the event.

Coaches for the main march are advised to approach via the inner ring road and Trinity Way clock wise, exiting into New Quay street to access Water Street B5225 from the north – this will be one way and access will be for coaches and access for visitors of the Victoria and Albert Marriott Hotel only for safe drop off in Water Street.



Coaches will be met by stewards and given a reference number and an allocation to a parking area. The current plans are that coaches will exit Water Street and re-join Trinity Way, inner ring road anti clock wise.


For Car Park 1 (Q Park at rear of No 1 First Street) continue onto Mancunian Way low level exiting on slip road signed for Manchester Airport and Petersfields, Cambridge Street and second left into Hulme Street for parking. This will also be the pick up for the coaches. If this car park becomes full we are making arrangements for a second park.


For this second Car park (Euro Park Deansgate/Chester Street) continue onto Mancunian Way low level exiting on slip road signed for Manchester Airport and Petersfields, via Medlock Street, City Road East/Great Jackson Street and then directly into the car park. This will also be the pick up for these coaches.


There will be a small charge for these car parks.
The short March route will assemble at Barbirolli Square from 12.45, as this is just over half kilometre from the Q Park Car Park at the rear of the rally site any one who wants to join the short route to park in the Q Park and then make their way the short distance to the assembly point.

Brendan Barber's address to Labour Party conference 2011

Brendan Barber

"Chair, conference - it's great to be with you in Liverpool today to bring a message of solidarity from the TUC, returning the sororal greetings that your NEC chair Norma Stephenson brought to our Congress just two weeks ago. "In her address, Norma stressed the historic ties that have bound us together through good times and bad.
"Back in 1900 a resolution passed at a special TUC conference proposed the establishment of a new Labour Party - and today, over a century on, the alliance between the two wings of the labour movement is as strong and important as ever.
"But, as Ed Miliband said in his address to our Congress, we need to reinvigorate and reinvent that relationship for a new age.
"Together we must develop the policies that Britain needs - that the British people need - at this time of profound crisis.
"In the short term, we urgently need an alternative to austerity. A 'Plan B' to get people back to work, get our economy moving, and get tax revenues flowing.
"Because with each passing day it's becoming clearer that the government's austerity agenda is dragging our economy down.
"Just last week, the IMF warned that a double dip recession is now possible - and pressed George Osborne to change course.
"That's why we need a different deficit reduction strategy. Not cuts that scar the poorest, but fair taxes the rich cannot dodge. Not a four-year fiscal straightjacket, but a ten-year plan for growth.
"Not a headlong rush to austerity, but a sensible timetable for repairing the public finances.
"And as we set out our alternative to massive cuts, let's nail the Tory lie that the crisis we face was caused by Labour's investment in schools and hospitals.
"No, it was made in the boardrooms and trading floors of the City, where greed and recklessness caused the worst financial crash in living memory - leaving us with the deepest recession since the 1930s, and a trillion pound bill for bailing out the banks.
"Conference, there can be no going back to businesses or bonuses as usual - never again can we allow the financial elite to destroy the lives, livelihoods and living standards of the hard-working majority.
"Instead, we have to address some fundamental challenges. How we build a stronger, fairer, more stable economy, how we nurture a more caring, compassionate society, and how we make Britain a better, more equal place.
"Yesterday, Ed Balls gave us his five-point plan for immediate action that could be taken to boost recovery. Let me make five proposals on longer term reform that could begin to build the new economy that we so desperately need.
"One: let's transform the banks from casinos that enrich themselves into utilities that serve real people and real businesses, and support genuine wealth creation.
"Two: let's support more investment in the low-carbon technologies that can bring prosperity to our regions and rebuild our manufacturing base, as we face up to the climate change crisis.
"Three: let's create a genuinely fair, progressive tax system where UK plc, the City and the super rich can no longer avoid their moral and material obligations to the rest of us.
"Four: let's put the focus on generating decent jobs that pay fair wages, so that working people are no longer forced to borrow to keep up.
"And five: let's make the fight against inequality our defining purpose, so we begin to heal the terrible social scars we saw this summer as Britain's cities burned.

"Conference, we need that new progressive agenda urgently. Because with each day that passes, the damage caused by this ongoing crisis is getting worse.
"Today's announcement by BAE of 3,000 job losses is yet another devastating body blow to our manufacturing base.
"Unemployment going up. Real earnings going down. Living standards squeezed as we have not seen for generations.
"And with millions of public service workers fearful for the future of their pensions too as the government seeks to impose change without proper negotiation, levying an unfair tax on public servants in the name of short-term deficit reduction targets rather than long-term fairness.
"I hope that we will be able to resolve this dispute through negotiation and there is still time, but if that proves impossible, then at the end of November, an unprecedented array of unions will make common cause in a TUC day of action.
"The government will try to turn the wider community against the teachers, nurses, home helps and all the other dedicated members of the public service workforce with lies about gold-plated pensions. I am confident that they will fail and we will win the battle for public support and for fairness.
"Conference, in these profoundly tough times, working people across Britain look to us for answers.
"So let's work together to give people a sense of hope. Because I want to take pride in our shared history. But more than that, I want us to forge a shared future.
"Now, more than ever, Britain needs a strong labour movement. Now, more than ever, Britain needs strong labour values.
"And as coalition policies drag our country down, Britain will soon need a strong Labour government once again. Thanks for listening."

Update on speakers at Birmingham for the Alternative

Frances O'Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary

As the march and rally for the Alternative approaches we are able to give more information on speakers at the rally.

We are delighted to announce that the TUC Deputy General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, will be joining us fresh from our Congress in London. Frances has worked tirelessly to support the Bombardier workers in Derby and we are expecting a contingent from the plant to march with us on Sunday.

Lee Barron, chair of the Midlands TUC and Regional Secretary of the CWU will host the rally.
We have already announced the presence of a number of General Secretary's including the GMB's Paul Kenny, Bob Crow from the RMT, Billy Hayes from the CWU and Mark Serwotka from PCS.
We are delighted to have three teaching union general Secretaries in Christine Blower from the NUT, Chris Keates, NASUWT, and Mary Bousted, ATL.
Sharon Palmer, Chief Executive of Regional Action West Midlands, will speak on behalf of the voluntary sector in the region and we have Jack Dromey MP for Erdington. 
Roger McKenzie, Assistant General Secretary of Unison returns to the region to speak on behalf of his union.
We shall have a speaker from a local disability group, and are waiting confirmation of the Unite speaker.
(Please note this is not the final running order)

Birmingham for the Alternative update

As the day of the Birmingham for the Alternative march gets closer, the final arrangements have been made to make this a highly visible event and a key element in the Midlands TUC campaign to promote an alternative to the governments policies of slash and burn.
We are delighted to announce further speakers including the General Secretary of the RMT, Bob Crow. Bob has been a key player in the campaign to keep midlands jobs at Bombardier in Derby, together with the TUC's Frances O'Grady who has made significant interventions to support local rail jobs.
Both will be speaking at the rally in the Ludgate Hill car park at the end of the march.

Thameslink contract reinforces the lack of competition in the rolling stock market

The Thameslink contract will exacerbate the anti-competitive nature of the rolling stock leasing market, says the TUC today (Tuesday) as the issue has been selected by the Labour Party front bench for debate to coincide with a Congress motion about the contract to be moved by ASLEF and Unite.The TUC believes that the Thameslink contract consolidates ownership in the highly concentrated and anti-competitive rolling stock leasing market, and that the government and rail regulators are failing to act to keep the market open.
The TUC had called for the decision not to award the Thameslink contract to Bombardier be referred to the Office of Rail Regulation and the Competition Commission over concerns that the contract potentially takes away fair competition and leaves the market dominated by a couple of providers.
The winning Siemens consortium is part financed by 3i Infrastructure, the Jersey-based private equity firm that also part-owns Eversholt one of the three leasing companies (ROSCOs) which control 95 per cent of UK rolling stock.
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady cited a Competition Commission report from 2009 that raised concerns about competition in the rolling stock market, even before the Siemens contract was won. Responding to a market investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation, the Competition Commission report found that the concentration of ownership and significant barriers to new entrants contributed to a lack of competition in the rolling stock market.
The TUC also believes that the complexity of the contract and the leasing requirement within it could be seen to favour bidders with existing capital investment functions and higher credit ratings, such as Siemens.
However, in response the Secretary of State and the Office of Rail Regulation chose not to investigate the issue of concentrated ownership arising from the design and award of the contract.
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O' Grady said: "Awarding the Thameslink contract to Siemens is not only terrible news for the thousands of workers at Bombardier, but it's bad value for money for the government who will be paying out benefits when they should be collecting taxes for workers leading our manufacturing revival.
"We have written to the Secretary of State and the Rail Regulator to raise serious concerns about the awarding of the Thameslink contract, as it consolidates more of the UK's rolling stock into the hands of one company. We are disappointed that the government has side-stepped this issue which has adverse effects on an already anti-competitive market.
"We also believe the way the Thameslink contract has been formulated favours a particularly financial model, which will impact on future contracts such as Crossrail.
"The government hasn't yet signed the final contract and still has time and legal power to re-examine the Thameslink bid."

Vickers should be implemented 'speedily' but more needs to be done for investment and growth

Brendan Barber

Commenting on the final report of the Independent Commission on Banking published today, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "These proposals will make banking safer, even if on a timescale that gives the banks too many opportunities to lobby for loopholes. The government must legislate speedily to ensure that the plans are not watered down.
"But they will not do enough on their own to turn banking and finance into the engines of recovery and economic growth that we desperately need. Real banking reform would put new sources of investment such as a national investment bank and proper green investment bank at its heart."

UnionNews - the news service for trade unions - launches today

UnionNews launches at TUC Congress on 12th September. Co-editor Tim Lezard explains why he founded an on-line news service for trade unionists
As a journalist and activist I’ve spent more years than I care to remember promoting trade unions, so it’s rather nice to have the compliment returned and having trade unions promoting UnionNews.
For in Sunday’s Observer, three general secretaries pinpointed why there is a need for UnionNews.
There was Len McCluskey from Unite saying: ‘When anything’s reported, it’s strikes and disruption, even though 90-odd% of the time we’re involved with companies and organisations, it’s helping, adding value.”
The NUT’s Christine Blower added: “There aren’t a lot of positive demonstrations of trade unions in the media”, with the RMT’s Bob Crow agreeing: “The media are hostile – they have a go at unions – because they think there’ll be infringements on their profit line.”
Like them, I have long been concerned by the poor and unbalanced coverage in the media of trade unions and the lives of their members. UnionNews will redress that balance by reporting news from a trade union perspective.
Together with my co-editor, broadcaster and video journalist Pete Murray, UnionNews will apply strong news values to all our stories, using a nationwide network of NUJ freelance reporters and photographers to report on conferences, strikes, campaigns, events and other issues of interest to trade unionists, both at work and outside the workplace.
Adhering to our maxim ‘investigate, collaborate, agitate’, we shall also write in-depth features, carry academic research and report on legal cases affecting trade unionists.
Activists are our target audience, so we’ll be encouraging you to join on-line union campaigns, to post on solidarity message boards during strikes, to make donations to strike funds and use our soapbox column to get your message across.
Our editorial policy is one of strict independence. We are affiliated to no political party and shall apply the same news values to all stories carried on our website, regardless of which union they feature.
Sounds good? Don’t take my word for it. Listen to what NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet has to say: “I welcome the arrival of UnionNews because it’ll give unions the coverage they deserve at the same time as connecting activists from all unions together to create bigger, and more successful campaigns. I shall certainly be encouraging our members to log on.
You heard her – what’s stopping you from logging on?
www.union-news.co.uk is live now!

Bringing the Chainmakers home - Tickets now on sale

This year will see the Women Chainmakers festival at a new home - Bearmore Park in the centre of Cradley Heath, right at the centre of where the historic dispute was played out to a successful conclusion.
There is a small entrance fee to the festival this year - £5 for adults, with children 16 and under entering for free. Tickets are available from:

Midlands TUC
24 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PA

Tel: 0121 262 6383
email: midlands@tuc.org.uk
Cheques payable to the TUC

March and Rally - Birmingham for the Alternative

This year the Lib Dems are having their annual conference in Birmingham and the TUC is organising a march and rally to show opposition to the Coalition Government's disastrous policies of pay freezes, cuts and attacks on public services that are producing rising unemployment, cuts in living standards and stagnation. The march will also show the support for The Alternative. We need jobs, growth and justice for a sustainable future and this event will send that message loud and clear.

Date: Sunday 18 September

Assemble at 11 am on Granville Street B1 1JW
Speakers include: Frances O'Grady, Deputy General Secrtary of the TUC, Billy Hayes CWU, Mark Serwotka PCS, Christine Blower NUT, Paul Kenny GMB
We call for the maximum support and are specifically asking unions and trades councils to:

•Encourage all your members to attend, a flier is available to download [PDF] and printed copies are available, to order leaflets e mail mkesterton@tuc.org.uk clearly stating the number of leaflets wanted and a postal address for delivery, allow 5 working days for delivery ,

•Let us know if you are booking transport and we can give advice on drop off, parking and collection,

•To ensure that we have an effective and safe event we need a number of stewards and all affiliates are asked to nominate a number of stewards, please e mail contact details of potential stewards to mkesterton@tuc.org.uk

•Consider making a donation to help fund the campaign.

There will be provision for marchers with disabilities, including a short route. It would be helpful if organisations could give as an indication of what their members access requirements are and we will do our very best to ensure that they are met.

Loss of Thameslink contract will lead to job losses all around the UK, says TUC

Commenting on the results of a business survey published by Unite today (Tuesday) which shows that there will be job losses throughout Bombardier's UK supply chain following the government's decision not to award the company the Thameslink contract, TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The government's short-sighted approach to procurement is causing economic shocks that are reverberating through Britain's supply chains. The award of the Thameslink rolling stock contract to competitors in Germany is hitting jobs and business not only at Bombardier's plant in Derby, but among their suppliers throughout the UK.
"This truly is a false economy. What may seem like short-term savings for the Exchequer are causing long-term losses for the UK as we continue to shed skilled jobs in key sectors of our economy.
"With economic growth virtually at a standstill, the government urgently needs an effective industrial strategy that brings jobs and business back to our manufacturing sector. The government must use its spending power to invest in getting our economy back on track and people back to work.
"Tomorrow MPs will hear industry experts, business representatives and unions all make the case for reviewing the Thameslink decision. It is still not too late. We urge the government to reconsider its position and do what is best for our jobs, communities and economy."

For more information go to:
The detailed findings of the survey are available at http://survation.com/2011/09/bombardiersiemens-supply-chain-survey-by-survation-for-unite-%e2%80%93-tuesday-september-6th/
For more details please contact the Unite press office.
The Select Committee hearing on the Thameslink contract takes place tomorrow (Wednesday) morning in Westminster. To coincide with the meeting, the RMT will be bringing together representatives of the Derby Bombardier workforce, councillors, MPs and unions representing Bombardier staff. For more information please contact Geoff Martin in the RMT press office on 07831 465 103 or email G.Martin@rmt.org.uk

Online campaigning for the NHS

Have you seen our online plans on NHS campaigning? We’ve several campaign actions live now, building for the vigils around the third reading and passage over to the Lords. These are all currently being linked in from the campaign hub we are building at the All Together for the NHS site: www.tuc.org.uk/NHS 

Photo mosaic

Users can upload their faces to be included in a giant photo mosaic of a candle. We will be printing a large version of this to lobby with but also making it available to browse interactively and share online. We need around 3000 faces to make this a decent image (more is better!), so your help in spreading the word as widely as possible will be invaluable please.

The URL for this is http://www.goingtowork.org.uk/nhs-mosaic

Personal vigils

We’ve a pdf poster for people to display in their windows in the run up to 6/7 Sep, and are also asking people to add profile buttons on Facebook and Twitter (either a logo or a provided link to a Twibbon). We hope to be advertising union-organised local events that people can attend when we receive details.
The URL for this is http://www.tuc.org.uk/industrial/tuc-19938-f0.cfm 

Adopt a Peer

We have a campaign tool that matches people up with members of the House of Lords, and helps them to write emails or letters to their allocated Peer. We will be using this to better effect by asking people to return to ask more specific points on amendments as it is debated in the Lords. Again, if you’re able help us with getting more people to take this action please, it’d be really useful, to make sure each Peer gets a good number of contacts.

This is at http://www.goingtowork.org.uk/peers

Please pass on this information - and sign up yourself for the actions above and do your bit to save our NHS!