Against victimisation

Defending victimised workers and trade unionists

Support Robin Sivapalan!

On 7 September, Tony Blair and Education Secretary Alan Johnson visited Quinton Kynaston school in North London to announce the rolling out of their "trust schools" programme - including to QK itself. They were met by a protest of school students and some staff, whose organiser, QK learning support assistant and AWL member Robin Sivapalan, has been suspended from his job on charges of "breaching confidentiality" and "insubordination". Robin's hearing is on 9 November; in the run up to it, we must apply the maximum possible pressure for the charges to be dropped. This is an issue of defending...

Victory!

The RMT won a great victory last month by forcing management to re-instate Raj Nathvani and Les Bruty, Jubilee Line drivers who faced the sack in a ridiculously heavy-handed bid to attack the union in the run-up to London 2012.

Raj was "guilty" of a SPAD - his first in 8 years' service - while Les...

Model motion for union branches

This union notes 1. The recent visit by Tony Blair to Quintin Kynaston school in North London in the midst of speculation over his leadership of the Labour Party and future as Prime Minister. 2. The growing opposition to government policy on trust schools, privatisation and war in Iraq and Lebanon. 3. That Mr Blair was met by a demonstration supported by the local NUT, Unison and School Students Against the War. 4. That Robin Sivapalan, a teaching assistant at Quintin Kynaston, has been suspended from work as a result of his participation in the demonstration. This union believes 1. That the...

To all QK students and workers

Thursday September 7 2006 Many of you will be aware that Prime Minister Tony Blair and Education Secretary Alan Johnson are visiting our school today. They are here to celebrate their new agenda for education in England. QK school will be at the forefront of the first wave of 20 or 30 schools to be removed from local democratic control and handed over to big business and religious organisations as "Trust Schools" - as outlined in the recently passed Education and Inspections Bill 2006. On hearing of this visit, I thought about the many issues at stake and took the decision to inform the wider...

Defend the Amicus 3!

Some 30 Amicus members lobbied the March meeting of the Amicus National Executive Council (NEC) in protest at the sacking of three Amicus employees: Des Heemskerk, Jimmy Warne and Cathie Willis. The three were suspended from their jobs in Amicus in mid-September of last year. All three are leading members of “Amicus Unity Gazette”, the broad left grouping in Amicus. Des Heemskerk is a former Deputy Convenor at Fords. Until recently he was the Amicus Unity Gazette editor. Jimmy Warne is a former shop steward at Swan Hunter. He was a prominent member of the Gazette group on the Executive of the...

Strike at Cottam power station (Notts)

Briefly... Austrian contractors, SFL, supply cheap Hungarian labour to power station desulphurization construction project. Prevented from mixing with British construction workers on the site. One Hungarian worker seeks out British union steward. Seen talking. Called into contractors’ office … sent back to Hungary…(I think he must have been threatened, don’t know quite how). The Hungarian, Barnabas, makes his way back to UK. No funds … has to walk eight miles to the power station where he beds down and waits to see British unionized workers. They find out about the intimidation and the...

Defend Eileen Short

UNISON and NUJ members in the Press and Publicity department of Tower Hamlets Council took strike action on Monday 28 November in defence of Eileen Short, who has been threatened with losing her job as a result of restructuring. She has worked for the council for 14 years. The department has been “restructured” five times in the last five years. The latest restructuring is just an excuse for the council to get rid of a thorn in their side. Eileen has been an ardent campaigner against the selling-off of council homes in the borough as well as being a UNISON steward. Restructuring in Eileen’s...

reinstated!

The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) representative at Peckham bus garage, Andy Beadle, was reinstated last week after an appeal against his victimisation. Andy was dismissed for allegedly “bringing the company in to disrepute”. In reality he was sacked for representing his members. Andy’s crime was to distribute a leaflet calling for a “no” vote in the second round of their pay ballot. In the first round of the ballot Peckham garage had voted overwhelmingly 126-5 against the deal. Their huge majority had decisively tipped the balance of those garages balloted, against the deal. This...

Jerry Hicks campaign defeat

The campaign for the re-instatement of victimised Bristol Rolls Royce convenor Jerry Hicks has ended – in defeat. Jerry had worked for Rolls Royce in Bristol for 30 years. He had been an elected steward for 20 years, and elected convenor for the Test area of the Bristol Patchway plant for the past 15 years. For the last three years he had been the deputy chair of the Bristol Confederated Site Committee. On 20 July he was sacked. The charges against him were that he had organised unofficial strike action to defend two of his members from dismissal, and that he had sought to influence the...

Support Jerry Hicks!

On Friday 2 September, thousands of trade unionists will converge on Bristolto demonstrate in support of victimised Rolls Royce Amicus convenor Jerry Hicks. In late July Jerry was suspended and then sacked from the Bristol Patchway Rolls Royce plant, where he is the Test Area convenor. Workers at the plant walked out on strike in protest at Jerry’s suspension, and struck again in protest at his dismissal. Amicus members in the plant’s Test Area were subsequently balloted on further strike action, and voted two to one in favour. Since 23rd August the Test Area workers have been out on...

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