NLSF Meeting Minutes 29th June 2011

Attendance: J, JB, T, GH, S

Apologies: A, GF, I, K, JP, U

Minutes: T

Personal reports:

• • JB: New job Walthamstow Forest as TA, things “heating up”, antagonistic head teacher, shut for J30 expect GCSE level, kids going on the march!

  • J: New red hair, promoted to sous chef, but still working anti-social hours

  • T: School shut for students on J30, some non-teachers not to cross picket line

  • GH: No follow up meeting for support staff at work yet, but tension growing over breaks, not strike action planned for J30

  • S: not much to report

Las organizaciones sindicales Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), Solidaridad Obrera (SO) y Coordinadora Sindical de Clase (CSC) nos reunimos el pasado 24 de junio en Madrid para valorar las respuestas que, ante el ataque sin precedentes que trabajadores y trabajadoras estamos sufriendo por la política de recortes y pérdida de derechos impulsada por el gobierno y las instituciones europeas, a instancias de la patronal y los mercados, debemos oponer en un proceso de lucha coordinada desde la unidad de acción y de clase.

Las distintas organizaciones sindicales participantes compartimos el rechazo frontal a unas políticas que, con las sucesivas reformas laborales, los recortes en el sistema de pensiones, la reforma de la negociación colectiva y los recortes sociales y en los servicios públicos, pretenden, una vez más, que sean los trabajadores y trabajadoras, y los sectores más débiles de la sociedad, quienes paguen la crisis capitalista.

A joint statement released by our Spanish sister section, the CNT, along with several other Spanish unions (leer en español).

The unions Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), Solidaridad Obrera (SO) and Coordinadora Sindical de Clase (CSC) met on June 24 in Madrid to discuss how we can respond to the attack we the workers are under, an attack without precedents, one that bushwhacks our acquired rights, one made a reality by the government and European institutions, the bosses and the markets. How we can coordinate a struggle, and a response, based on class unity and action.

After the last UCU pensions strike in March, several rank & file union members, upset at the lack of inter-union unity, set up the Manchester University Staff Against the Cuts group (MUSAC). The group has been meeting regularly and consists of members of Unite, Unison and UCU. Members of Manchester EWN are also involved.

It has been good to meet with people whose criticisms of the existing unions match our own in many ways. The group has held a weekly stall in the University, giving out leaflets in support of various anti-cut campaigns.

As around 750,000 public sector workers took strike action, Liverpool Solidarity Federation offered our support to picket lines around Bootle as well as joining a march and rally in the City Centre. We found that strike action was strongly supported, not just by the staff walking out but by the broader constituency of those affected by and fighting the cuts.

July 1st is Action Mesothelioma Day, an annual event in which awareness is raised about the continuing suffering caused by asbestos-related cancer. Here a member of Manchester Solidarity Federation and the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victim Support Group talks about the destructive effect asbestos has had on the lives of thousands of workers.

With June 30th widely recognised as a strike about cuts as well as pensions, people across the country joined in on the day to show their support and anger. In South London, the aim of generalising the strike was realised through the double fun of critical mass and street party!  The results were tangible, with multiple road blockages giving a jab in the side of the economy whilst public sector workers dealt the right hook of the day.

North London was alive with the sound of pickets yesterday, as hundreds of people around the boroughs stood outside their workplaces to take on bosses and persuade workmates not to cross the line. Focussing on the particularly vibrant borough of Hackney, North London Solfed can report a strong showing from the places we visited, with scabbing kept to a minimum - though sadly not every staffer had worked out that it's worse for kids to have badly-treated teachers than for them to miss a day of school.

Bridge Academy

Several Solfed members started out at Bridge Academy, the only one of the network of controversial semi-privatised schools to actually close down entirely, for its 7am picket. The building on Laburnum Street has seen increasing anger within the staff as teaching standards are attacked and pensions has piled on top of that. Picketers were backed by around a dozen early-risers who had come out in support.

Download as a pdf here.

After thirteen years of disgrace the New Deal programme is coming to an end and is being replaced by American style ‘workfare’ - a punishment for unemployment in the form of degrading unpaid work. We need to stand together and resist this new attack on the working class, but in the meantime we’re letting you know how you can win back some time for yourself.

As New Deal is being replaced the DWP have already stopped signing people back onto the course. There is nothing stopping you from signing off for personal reasons tomorrow, and signing back on to regular JSA in a day or two. You’ll lose one or two days of benefit and won’t get put back on New Deal. That’s a good deal.

Just don’t go into new deal tomorrow, and go to your local jobcentre and ask to sign off for personal reasons. When they ask you to write a statement just write the same thing, that you are signing off for personal reasons.