Images from the Midlands TUC AGM

The Midlands TUC held its' Annual General Meeting at the offices of the Communication Workers Union on Saturday 23rd February. Our speakers were TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady and  Leader of the Labour Group in the European Parliament, Glenda Willmott MEP.

Midlands TUC annual meeting

Top table at the Midlands TUC agm with Frances O'Grady speaking, second from the right.

NEW! Union Learning Representatives Stage 1 course

Central Nottingham College, City Learning Centre, Norwich Union House, 8-12 South Parade, Nottingham NG1 2LH

Union Learning Reps Stage 1 for newly appointed reps

·         Promoting learning to members

·         Identifying learning needs

·         Developing learning agreements

·         Skills for Life

Start date: Wednesday 24 April 2013 0930 until 1630
followed by attendance on five Wednesdays, ending on 22 May 2013

To apply for this course, follow the link below to the Unionlearn website

http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2020

or contact Louise Power on 0121 262 6385 or lpower@tuc.org.uk.

Erdington Walk in Centre protest

Another protest was held in support of the services provided by Erdington Walk in Centre last weekend. Up to 80 people attended, many of whom were concerned members of the public who had never attended a protest before.

Pictures provide by Keith Heron, hosted on the TUC Picasa account

Changes to Welfare Benefits seminar announced for Derby

WHAT WILL THE BENEFIT CHANGES MEAN FOR YOU?

Derby Unemployed and Claimants Group are organising a meeting about the Changes in Welfare Benefits – how it will affect you and everyone else. The changes will be enormous.

Come along to this Open Meeting, learn all about at and have your say.

Thursday 14^th March 2013 from 12.00 – 3.00pm at JET

• ·     Have you heard about the ‘bedroom tax’? Are you worried about how it will affect you?
• ·     Are you on DLA? Did you know that DLA is going to be replaced by a new benefit? Find out how this will affect you.
• ·     Are you getting full Council Tax Benefit? Are you worried this might change? Come and find out if you will be affected.
• ·     Have you heard about the 'benefit cap'? Are you worried this might affect you?

Organised by Derby Unemployed and Claimants Group derbyunemployed@yahoo.co.uk   Phone 01332 643380

VENUE JobsEducationTraining, 284 Normanton Road, Derby, DE23 6WD                            http://www.jetderby.co.uk/

TUC warns that preventing another banking crash is vital, but not enough

Responding to the Chancellor's speech today (Monday) on banking reform, TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:

"It's good to hear the Chancellor finally moving towards the kind of action the TUC has long advocated by putting into legislation measures to prevent banks from getting round the Vickers Commission proposals.

"But the government is still failing to address the far bigger issue of banking reform - forcing banks to support businesses in the real economy.

"Trying to stop banks from creating another huge crash is vitally important, but it is not enough. Unless they start to address their poor track record of lending to businesses, other than financial and real estate firms, we will never see the kind of sustainable economic growth that we need."

Erdington NHS Walk in Centre faces closure

Erdington NHS Walk-in Centre is the only NHS service anywhere in Erdington that’s available for anyone to use without registration or appointment. It’s in a great location, right on the High Street and easily available through public transport.

Without this centre, people would have to travel to Good Hope or Heartlands, both many miles away and not on easy public transport links.

The centre is open from 8 in the morning until 8 at night, 7 days a week—and yet it’s still so busy that at times it has to turn people away.  What’s more, all of the patient surveys that have been carried out show a high degree of satisfaction with the services provided.

And yet local NHS bosses want to close the service.

We are organising a protest on : Saturday 9^th February, 10.00 am, Erdington Six Ways.

Bring a whistle, make a noise, and help us keep the centre open.

Follow us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ErdNHSWalkInCentrePUG