Walkout in DVLA to kickstart rolling transport strikes

A walkout on Friday by staff in 39 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency offices threatened with closure will kickstart a month of rolling strikes among the Public and Commercial Services union's 8,000 Department for Transport members.
The two-hour strike will involve the union's 1,200 members who work in the DVLA's local and enforcement offices in England, Wales and Scotland that the government plans to close.
This new wave of action across the DfT is designed to complement ongoing national industrial action being taken by the union against cuts to pensions, jobs and pay, which included a strike across the civil service, health and education sectors on 10 May.
As well as putting jobs at risk, the DVLA closures would wipe out the high quality face-to-face services these offices provide to the public and motor traders, whose often complex enquiries could not be handled by telephone or online.
The cuts to offices and jobs would also be a further blow to local economies and retail areas already struggling as a result of high unemployment and wage cuts.
The DVLA strike from 3pm will be followed from Friday 8 June by a two-hour strike by driving examiners on that date and a week-long series of short walkouts in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency against plans to close eight of the UK's 18 coastguard stations and cut more than 140 jobs.
Coastguard cuts would mean the loss of life-saving local knowledge around our coastline, and thousands of people have signed petitions and joined campaigns in coastal towns and cities where stations are under threat.
Further strikes will be held throughout June by staff in the DfT's headquarters and its seven agencies, including the Driving Standards Agency and Highways Agency.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "With unemployment high and our communities suffering as a result of the government's cuts, ministers should be providing all the help they can to local economies that are crying out for support and investment.
"Instead they're ploughing on with entirely unnecessary and unpopular cuts to vital transport services. These strikes across the whole range of transport services form a major part of our ongoing fight against cuts to pensions, jobs and pay."

- For information and press interview requests contact PCS's national press officer Richard Simcox on 020 7801 2747 or 07833 978216

Former Midlands TUC Chair to retire

John Freeman, left, pictures with Ed Balls
at a Regional TUC meeting

Today we say farewell to John Freeman, former Chair of the Midlands TUC, who takes a well earned retirement from UNISON. John was chair for two years from 2008 - 2010.
John started working for the Labour movement with the public services union, Nupe in London, subsequently moving to the midlands and working out of Nottingham. Latterly, John was based at the UNISON head office in London.
John was a TUC representative on the East Midlands Regional Assembly for a number of years and chaired the policy board which led the way on major strategies including tackling inequalities and climate change. John was always keen to ensure the voice of working people was heard - and more importantly taken into account  - when decisions were made.
We wish John a long, healthy and happy retirement, no doubt he will stay active in the wider movement.

Save Kidderminster Library Gallery

The campaign to save Kidderminster library Gallery is a coming together of the community in Kidderminster and Wyre Forest to defend the ONLY custom built Gallery and performance space we have got in the district.
The Gallery space was created in 1996 with funding from an Arts Council/National Lottery grant of £326,583. It combines an art gallery with a proper acoustically engineered performance space and the necessary humidity and temperature controls for the grand piano housed there.
Worcestershire County Council want to throw all of this away so they can turn it into offices and cram 139 social care staff in there. This decision was made back in the middle of 2011 but they never intended to properly consult with anyone over it. This is clear from their own documents, their ‘under the radar’ planning application, and the lack of meaningful engagement with either the public or their own staff. It is only after complaints from the public, communities, and unions that they made any attempt to consult, but based it on an exercise designed to give the illusion of ‘consultation’.
If the Gallery is lost, it can never be replaced. These may be tough economic times but there are other alternatives available to the council and we believe this cynical move is being made by a council who appear to be dominated by those who know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.


The Purpose of the Campaign is to:
• Further raise public awareness of the proposals through the media
• Support and coordinate the wider protest movement
• Befriend the Gallery and act in its best interests
• Object to the change of use proposal as part of the planning process
• Mobilise public protests and demonstrations in support of the Library/Gallery
• Support Wyre Forest District Council's Kidderminster Town Plan and the value placed upon cultural spaces within it
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION
Sign up to the Campaign
Contact your County Councillor and make your feelings known
Attend the Planning Committee Meeting on 10th July at County Hall
Write to the Shuttle, Express & Star, and other newspapers
Spread the word: “Save the Gallery!”
CONTACT US:
email: savekidderminstergallery@hotmail.co.uk
Write: ‘Save Kidderminster Library Gallery Campaign’
c/o UNISON Office, FREEPOST, NATW1159, Worcester, WR1 3BR

Changes to GLA will reduce protection for many vulnerable workers

Commenting on government plans announced today (Thursday) to scale back the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), which is based in the Midlands, TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston said: "We welcome the government's rejection of Mr Beecroft's call to abolish the GLA, but today's announcement will still reduce protection for many vulnerable workers.
"It will now be much easier for new gangmasters - including those who have lost licenses previously - to set up without facing proper checks.
"And while it is right to prosecute organised crime, too rigid a focus will send the signal that routine exploitation will be ignored by the authorities.
"Major retailers at the top of supply chains have customers who ask hard questions about the ethics of the goods they buy. They will now be able to offer far less reassurance that UK-sourced food is free from exploitation."

Government is taking our economy in completely the wrong direction

Responding to the Office for National Statistics' second estimate of GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012, which shows that the UK economy contracted by 0.3 per cent, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"The government is taking our economy in completely the wrong direction.
"Despite ministers' efforts to blame Europe for everything the truth is many of our problems are home grown, with consumer spending and construction both struggling under the weight of the government's austerity programme.
"The government needs to face facts and focus on investment in infrastructure and jobs, rather than continue with self-defeating cuts that are holding back businesses, lowering living standards and failing to deal with the deficit."

'A Future That Works' - mass TUC demonstration in London on 20 October

The TUC is to organise a mass demonstration in London under the banner of 'A Future That Works' on Saturday 20 October 2012. A march through central London will culminate in a rally in Hyde Park.

On March 26 2010 the TUC's March for the Alternative attracted 500,000 people to a march and rally in London.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "The tide is turning against austerity. We were told that spending cuts were needed to get the economy growing, yet they have driven the UK back into recession. We were told that we were all in it together, yet Mr Cameron's main purpose at the G8 summit seemed to be protecting the banks against the growing international support for a Robin Hood tax - and the last Budget's centrepiece was cutting the 50p tax rate.

"It is becoming ever clearer that this government does not have the policies - or even much of a commitment - to build a prosperous economy that can generate the jobs and industries we need for the future.

"Rather than bold policies for investment and growth, the best that ministers can do is half-baked proposals to make it easier to sack people.

"That is why we expect a huge turnout from the growing numbers that want a future that works. With the USA and France now setting out the alternative, it's time the UK also changed course."

USDAW Tesco workers give us their views at Focus Group in Alfreton

A focus group of female USDAW members and 2 USDAW FTOs took place on 16^th May at the Alfreton Tesco in Amber Valley. In the space of an hour the group covered a number of subjects from Pensions to Education.

The focus group confirmed many of the findings of the community surveys previously undertaken in the area, and highlighted financial worries, fairness, concerns for the ‘next generation’ and worries about benefit abuse very prominent.

The focus group enabled ‘deeper’ discussion of issues than was possible through the door to door surveys. Discussion was lively and could easily have run on longer than just the hour. Next time we are planning to have another session with the members to discuss ‘ok so what are we going to do about it?’.

There were four areas that the focus group thought most important:

Pensions: Working longer for not enough money to have a good standard of living

Job Security: Temporary contracts increasing

Health Care: Prescription charges cost a lot, worried about cuts and waiting times for appointments are too long

Education: “Everybody needs it. It’s the way forward” 

Thanks to Tesco for agreeing to allow the staff time off to participate in the Focus Group.

Lib Dems in protest at regional pay proposals

22 Lib Dems, including Lib Dem President Tim Farron and the two Midlands Lib Dem MPs, Lorely Burt and John Hemming, have written an open letter to the Guardian opposing proposals to introduce regional pay into public services.

The full letter and list of names can be found here: 

Huge east midlands claimant to job vacancy ratios threatens our economic recovery

Responding to the latest unemployment figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston said:


“Today’s figures are mixed, with a welcome slight fall in unemployment in the east midlands.
“However, we are still left with huge claimant to job vacancies ratios in parts of the region which remain stubbornly high. This, together with the collapse in wages is terrible news for people both in and out of work and threatens our chances of economic recovery.
“The number of under-employed people, who are taking part-time and temporary jobs for a lack of permanent full-time work, has hit two million for the first time ever.
“The falling number of full-time jobs and six per cent fall in real wages over the last two years means that people are having to make huge salary sacrifices and put their careers on hold just to stay in work.
“People’s incomes and job security today are barely any better than they were at the height of the financial crash. Unless governments act together and stop our austerity misery spiral, the UK’s economic depression will continue for far longer than feared.”




Local authority            Total claimants            Vacancies    Ratio


Leicester                          13,063                     1,675         7.8


Derby                                 8,747                     1,285         6.8


Nottingham                        14,514                     2,197         6.6


Derbyshire                         16,765                     3,589          4.7


Nottinghamshire                  17,712                    4,236         4.2

Huge claimant to job vacancy ratios threatens our economic recovery

Rob Johnston, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary

Responding to the latest unemployment figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston said:
“Today’s figures are mixed, with a welcome fall in unemployment in the west midlands.
“However, we are still left with huge claimant to job vacancies ratios in parts of the region which remain stubbornly high. This, together with the collapse in wages is terrible news for people both in and out of work and threatens our chances of economic recovery.
“The number of under-employed people, who are taking part-time and temporary jobs for a lack of permanent full-time work, has hit two million for the first time ever.
“The falling number of full-time jobs and six per cent fall in real wages over the last two years means that people are having to make huge salary sacrifices and put their careers on hold just to stay in work.
“People’s incomes and job security today are barely any better than they were at the height of the financial crash. Unless governments act together and stop our austerity misery spiral, the UK’s economic depression will continue for far longer than feared.”
Local authority      Region            Total claimants      Vacancies   Ratio


Dudley                 West Midlands   10,154                       947        10.7


Wolverhampton    West Midlands   12,108                    1,394          8.7


Birmingham          West Midlands   50,239                     5,871         8.6


Sandwell              West Midlands   13,810                     1,633         8.5


Walsall                 West Midlands   10,647                     1,702         6.3

Government is cutting vital sources of support for victims of discrimination

Responding to the announcement today (Tuesday) that the government is to cut the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) budget, outsource its helpline and scale back the public sector equalities duty, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"Today's announcement is bad news for people facing discrimination and mistreatment as they will have fewer places to turn to for support.
"Outsourcing the EHRC helpline will mean the loss of specialist support for the thousands of people who call in every month.
"And just a day after the EHRC investigation showed that the public sector equality duty is helping to build the evidence needed for sound policies, ministers are looking to run it down.
"These cuts will mean more bad policy making which will further alienate those who are already bearing the brunt of the government's austerity programme."

EHRC report shows why government policies must be 'equality proofed' for impact on women and minority groups

Responding to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) assessment of the 2010 Spending Review published today (Monday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"The findings from the EHRC investigation should help the government pay closer attention to the impact its policies are having on women and minority groups.

"The assessment also shows how the equality duty is helping public sector bodies to 'equality proof' policies and ensure that there is more evidence behind crucial government decisions.

"But no duty however strong can undo the damage caused by the government's austerity programme, which has sent women's unemployment to a 25-year high and led to the scaling back and closure of thousands of charities that provide vital support to minority groups."

Unions and parents to protest against Nottinghamshire five term year

NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in Nottingham, will be joined  by GMB, UNISON and parents at a lobby of Councillor Jon Collins on Wednesday 16 May at 5pm at Loxley House against the imposition of the unpopular 5 term year in Nottingham.

Teachers, parents, governors and head teachers are opposed to the 5 term year proposed by Nottingham City Council. There is no educational benefit to a 5 term year, and the potential for widespread disruption as academies and foundation schools seek to opt out of the 5 term year and remain on the current 3 term year.

Nottinghamshire County Council have confirmed that they will not adopt the 5 term year leading to chaos for parents who live near the city boundary. Head teachers have reported a dramatic fall in applications for teaching posts in the city.

NASUWT and other unions have taken indicative ballots for industrial action against the 5 term year.

Carol O’Connor, secretary of Nottingham City NASUWT said ‘The 5 term year would cause chaos for parents, teachers and pupils. Nottingham City Council would be the only authority in the country to adopt the 5 term year and have freely admitted that this is an experiment which they will abandon if it doesn’t work.

‘NASUWT do not want to see a situation where educational attainment in the city is sacrificed while the city council experiments with this untested scheme. We encourage parents, governors’ to attend the lobby."

For more information and to arrange interviews call Stewart Halforty on 07584 213098