Solidarity is proud to offer our 100% support to the oil refinery workers at Grangemouth.                                                                    

For the “crime” of refusing to accept the tearing up of their pension scheme they have been vilified by the Ineos management and sections of the press in Scotland. In a disgusting campaign the oil workers have been accused of “holding the country to ransom” and of being “hell bent on strike action.” 

In reality it is the Ineos Company led by billionaire James Ratcliffe who are responsible for this situation. After buying Grangemouth from BP in 2005 Ratcliffe – who has a personal fortune of almost £2 billion - has embarked on a brutal assault on jobs and working conditions at Grangemouth. This has culminated in their decision to close a pension scheme that was negotiated and has been in existence for years under BP.

On Thursday the 24th and Friday 25th of April, PCS workers will take part in the latest of a series of days of strike action in defence of pay and conditions.

PCS members in the DWP should be congratulated for their readiness to take further strike action in the face of one of the worst employers in the country – this Government. DWP workers were the first to take on the Governments pay restraint policy in their fantastically strong and united strike action on December 6th and 7th.

Local government trade unions in Scotland have rejected a derisory three-year 2.5% a year pay offer from their employers. The trade unions representing 220,000 staff in local government in Scotland submitted a joint pay claim for one-year of 5% or £1000 whichever is the greater. 

In addition to the pay element of the claim, the trade unions also want an increase of 3 days annual leave (both at basic level and after five years service) and an extra one day public holiday. With inflation (RPI) at around 4%, average private sector earnings up 4.5% and house price inflation in Scotland at 14% the claim is just. With fat cat executives and big business leaders awarding themselves double figure percentage increases at the same time as over half of local government workers in Scotland have earnings of less than £16,000 the claim is modest.

The Scottish Local Government employers, COSLA, which is now an effective coalition of the SNP, New Labour and the Lib-Dems, responded by making an offer that spanned three years, proposing rises of 2.2% in 2008, 2.3% in 2009 and a further 2.2% in 2010. When this was rejected by the joint trade union side the employers varied their offer to 2.5% per year for three years. There was no offer to increase holidays. The negotiators view is that this is the final offer from the employers. In the face of current inflation and the uncertainty of how the economy and inflation will work out it would be foolish to accept such a three year offer.

We can’t afford to do otherwise.

Tax the rich and big business
(byTom Penman CWU member and Call Centre Worker Dundee)

Gordon Brown and New Labour are carrying out daylight robbery against the lowest paid workers. From the end of this month our wages will be taxed at 20%, following the abolition of the 10p-starting rate of tax.

Local government trade unions in Scotland have rejected a derisory three year 2.5% a year pay offer from their employers. The trade unions representing 220,000 staff in local government in Scotland submitted a joint pay claim for one-year of 5% or £1000 whichever is the greater.

Unions Hit Back –

“We Can’t Afford Three Years of Pay Cuts”   

Local government trade unions in Scotland have rejected a derisory three-year 2.5% a year pay offer from their employers. The trade unions representing 220,000 staff in local government in Scotland submitted a joint pay claim for one-year of 5% or £1000 whichever is the greater. 

 In addition to the pay element of the claim, the trade unions also want an increase of 3 days annual leave (both at basic level and after five years service) and an extra one day public holiday. With inflation (RPI) at around 4%, average private sector earnings up 4.5% and house price inflation in Scotland at 14% the claim is just.  

With fat cat executives and big business leaders awarding themselves double figure percentage increases at the same time as over half of local government workers in Scotland have earnings of less than £16,000 the claim is modest.  The Scottish Local Government employers, COSLA, which is now an effective coalition of the SNP, New Labour and the Lib-Dems, responded by making an offer that spanned three years, proposing rises of 2.2% in 2008, 2.3% in 2009 and a further 2.2% in 2010.  When this was rejected by the joint trade union side the employers varied their offer to 2.5% per year for three years. 

There was no offer to increase holidays.  The negotiators view is that this is the final offer from the employers. In the face of current inflation and the uncertainty of how the economy and inflation will work out it would be foolish to accept such a three year offer. Unfortunately the unions have now gone their separate ways on how to respond.  GMB and Unite have decided to ask their members what they think of the offer.  UNISON is going to ask its members whether they wish to reject the offer and take some form of action.  T

his absence of a firm united leadership will have an adverse effect on the workers morale. What we need is a determined lead from all the trade union leaders to initiate decisive industrial action to force a change of mind on the part of the employers.  The unions should organise joint local mass meetings of the entire workforce to explain the case for rejecting the offer and preparing for a fight. Immediately plans should be drawn up at local level for coordinated decisive industrial action.   Consideration will have to be given to all out strike action without cover should the employers current intransigence continue. What is sure that in the face of the SNP led Scottish Government intention to seek "efficiency savings" from local government and the Labour UK Government setting of a public sector pay policy of no more than 2% then the members need to be led into action to overcome both of these hurdles.   

Building the confidence of the workforce to fight for decent living standards is the task of all trade union activists.  The mood of anger against the offer is there. It needs to be translated into action.  We can’t afford to do otherwise. 

By Ronnie StevensonUnison Convenor, Glasgow City Council Social Work Services. (Personal Capacity)    

No to Labour’s Doubling of tax on Low Paid Workers.
Tax the Rich and Big Business 

Gordon Brown and New Labour are carrying out daylight robbery against the lowest paid workers. From the end of this month our wages will be taxed at 20%, following the abolition of the 10p-starting rate of tax. 

That means a doubling of the tax burden and a wage cut for millions of especially young workers. The rise in income tax will affect the living standards of many young workers who will suddenly find themselves out of pocket. The minimum wage at its full rate or 'development rate' is already a poverty wage without the government stealing more of it off us. In work places that pay above the minimum wage or where gains have been made the tax increase will be come as a bitter blow. In my call centre the union has won a 3% pay increase from management but because of the increase in tax we are worse off now than before the pay increase.  We say that instead of increasing taxes on the lowest paid the government should reverse the 5% cuts in corporation tax it has made over the last decade and close the taper tax loop holes which allows the super rich to claim £4.5 billion in tax relief each year.

The government tries to defend the tax increases by saying that tax credits will cover the increase and some families may be slightly better off. But working tax credits cannot be claimed by under 25's unless you have children meaning that many young workers will be worse off. Even when someone does qualify the process of claiming the credits is so tortuous it puts people off. Less than 20% of people who are eligible for working tax credits claim them. The government can create all the figures it wants showing how some families will be better off once credits are included, safe in the knowledge that most will never claim them.

Mean spiritedness and greed is at the centre of this government. They have carried through a policy of cuts and privatisation in the public sector, looking at schools, hospitals and job centres with an eye to see what can be sold off or rented out to increase the profits of the private sector.

We desperately need change! The parties in Westminster and Holyrood represent the interests of big business and the rich. With the coming recession they can only promise us that things will get harder. If we want better wages, public services or working conditions we'll need to fight for them ourselves. This includes organising and unionising our work places but it also means organising politically to fight for a world free of the anarchy of the free market and the poverty it creates   - a socialist society where the world’s resources are used democratically to provide a decent standard of living for everyone.

Tom Penman
CWU member and Call Centre Worker Dundee


         

The five-day hunger strike by three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer was suspended at 5.30 this afternoon after the workers received a letter from the union solicitors guaranteeing that their demands would be met.

The workers were forced to resort to the drastic step of a hunger strike because their union, Unite, had reneged on commitments given to them last September. These were that the union would pay the legal costs of their long running Industrial Tribunal case against their employer, ICTS, and would also meet the costs of defending the Industrial Tribunal ruling should ICTS appeal the decision. The union also promised to offer them compensation for its role in co-operating with ICTS to have them sacked.

Sacked airport Shop Stewards Hunger Strike for Justice

Workers health deteriorates dangerously …..Urgent protests needed!

Three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer, began a hunger strike at Transport House Belfast on Monday 7 April demanding justice from their union, Unite.  

Rather than attempt to resolve this issue through direct dialogue with the shop stewards, the unions answer has been coercion in the form of instructions to the police to forcibly remove them from the building and misinformation in the form of a Unite public statement that completely falsifies what has happened in this dispute and misrepresents what the protesting shop stewards are demanding. 

Six years on from the decision by their employer, airport security firm, ICTS, to sack them for striking for a pay increase, the shop stewards who led this dispute are still campaigning for justice. 

Two of the shop stewards, Gordon McNeill and Madan Gupta, have decided to begin a hunger strike at Transport House demanding that commitments given to them last September by UNITE General Secretary Tony Woodley and other senior officials of the union, including Irish Regional Secretary, Jimmy Kelly, be honoured in full. 

Today, both Gordon McNeill and Madan Gupta have been rushed to Belfast City Hospital in a critical condition. This is the second time today that Mr McNeill has been hospitalised. 

Quickly after returning to Transport House, Mr McNeill took ill and was joined by 72 year-old diabetic Madan Gupta back to Belfast City Hospital. UNITE still refuse to meet with the workers who have been fighting for over 6 years for justice. 

Protests to Unite are urgently needed!

Please send email letters of protest to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it & This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Fax letters to Belfast: 02890 240 133. You can also phone protests to the Belfast union offices: 02890 232 381.

Scottish Conference of the National Shop Stewards Network

 
Saturday 12 April 11am to 3pm
UNISON Offices, 18 Albion Street, Trongate, Glasgow
£5 registration fee

The theme of the day is Defending the Public Sector - Organising to Win.

There will be a plenary session with speakers from the platform then plenty of time for discussion on recent struggles and the fight to defend public services and fighting low pay.

There will be speakers from PCS, RMT, CWU amd UNISON as well as a striking Shelter worker

More info on the National Shop Stewards Network at the website

http://www.shopstewards.net/