Eastbourne Trades Council- back up and running

The Eastbourne Trades Council had its re-founding AGM (after ten years) on 15th February at the Unite Eastbourne Centre.

Local union stewards and representatives from NUT, NASUWT, Unite, Unison, TSSA, PCS, Usdaw, GMB and NUJ met to agree plans for the coming year.

Megan Dobney, the Regional Secretary from the South East Region TUC (pictured) was the guest speaker and spoke about the role of the Trades Councils and the current campaigns of the TUC. In particular, she spoke about the organisation against the cuts- building for the "March for the Alternative" National Demonstration on 26th March, but also about the need to organise before and afterwards, especially in light of the local elections coming up in May.

The meeting agreed to support the demonstration, and to ensure a good presence from Eastbourne. We agreed to support the PCS coach, and publicise this to local trade unionists. There was also agreement to support the work of the Eastbourne Against Cuts group.

The officers elected at the meeting were: Val Thomas (Chair,) Dave Brinson (Secrteray,) John Goddard (vice Chair) and Gordon Dyer (Treasurer.) Ian Thomas and Sharon Wentworth were nominated to the Executive Committee. Michael Litchfield will take the Health and Safety and Disabilities responsibility, Claire French the womens' portfolio, Lib Blayney- young members, and Pia Sands and Pat Bacon the retail sector.

Any local trade unionists who would like to receive copies of the full minutes of the meeting, should contact the Secretary.

The next meeting will be April 5th, where the speaker to be invited will be on the CWU Keep the Post Public campaign.

Choose Youth – Stop the cuts to young people’s services

At 2pm on Saturday 12th February there will be a live webcast of a rally at which 1,000 young people and their youth workers representing 100,000s of users and staff will join forces to get government to think again, as funding cuts threaten to wipe out the youth service all together.

You can watch how young people and Unite will rise to the challenge to stop these cuts. The day will focus on how to organise campaigns to stop the cuts with a session from a 12 year old campaigner from the prime minister's Witney constituency who has been working tirelessly to save his local youth club. At 2pm on Saturday 12th February log on here.

The assault on young people’s services will have a devastating effect on their hopes for the future and will have far reaching effects on communities and the economy.

• Cuts of the scale proposed are a sure-fire way to deepen social problems in months and years to come.
• The roll call of services at risk of closure is growing daily. Warwickshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Manchester city council now plan to scrap its youth service.
• Those services include: youth clubs, youth programmes, Connexions centres and youth counselling centres. 82 per cent of voluntary sector youth groups anticipate that they will have to close whole projects.

7,000 professionally qualified staff… 30,000 trained youth support workers… half a million volunteers……Britain’s youth services are world class. They’re far too good to lose.

But nearly every project working with 13-18 year olds is at risk. It’s not too late to tell the decision makers that they’ve got their priorities wrong. Send them a clear message: a message that Youth Services Change Lives.

To find out more about Unite's campaign to save youth services click here.

Trades Council Meeting: February 15th

The AGM of the Eastbourne Trades Council will be at 7.30pm, Tuesday 15th February 2011, at the Unite Eastbourne Centre (formerly T&G) , Grand Parade, Eastbourne.

All local trade union members are invited, although only delegates from affiliated unions may stand as officers or vote on financial or policy matters.

A G E N D A

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of affiliation requests from union branches
3. Adoption of Rules
4. Treasurer’s report
5. Election of Officers

a) Chair
b) Vice Chair
c) Secretary
d) Treasurer
e) Additional non-officer members of the Executive Committee, if required

*It is proposed that the nomination of campaigns contacts is taken later in the meeting, after hearing from our guest speaker

6. Guest Speaker: Megan Dobney. Megan is the Regional Secretary of the TUC (SERTUC) and will speak to us about the TUC’s current campaigns and how the Trades Council can support these.

7. March 26th: National Demonstration
8. Campaigns and Industrial Issues: Delegates may wish to raise particular campaigns or issues from their own Union, that the Trades Council may find of interest. Please let the Chair know before the meeting if possible, to ensure the best management of the meeting time !
9. Nomination of Campaign Contacts
10. Pattern of Meetings for 2011
11. Any other business

March for the Alternative

The Trades Union Congress is calling a massive national demonstration against the Government’s cuts agenda, which threatens jobs, services, pensions and the future for our young people.

The cuts will directly affect working people, families, students and pensioners in Eastbourne- and it is important that our town is represented. Trade union branches up and down the country have pledged to come to London to march, and will be joined by pensioners groups, students and other campaigners who want to stand in solidarity against these attacks.

Already, the local NUT, PCS and GMB Unions have announced that they will be taking coaches for their members and supporters to travel to the event. Eastbourne Trades Council wants local trade unionists to join them.

Our meeting on 15th February will decide how we can best support local trade unionists to attend the march- either by laying on coach or train travel or by putting people in touch with those unions already taking members from Eastbourne.

If you would like to march with us, please let us know ! You can contact the Secretary for information about coaches from Eastbourne by clicking here.

For more information about the March for the Alternative, click here.

For more information about why cuts are not the answer, visit the False Economy website, by clicking here.

For information about the TUC's cuts campaigns, click here.

Stephen Lloyd MP writes:

Whatever our political persuasion we all know the UK is facing a very difficult economic challenge. We may differ on how best UK plc should address the challenges but we all recognise that it exists.

Prior to becoming the MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon my job was as a freelance consultant with the FSB (Federation of Small Business) and over the last few years I met and worked with hundreds of small companies in South London. I was struck by their determination to succeed and by their determination, over the last 2/3 years, to weather the recession. In that, many have already made the right moves to strip out excess costs and to coin a phrase, be lean and keen. Wages have been flat, focus has been on price and significant efforts have been made to weather the downturn. This has put the private sector in a strong position to benefit from the anticipated growth upswing later, hopefully, this year. In fact manufacturing has been growing strongly over the last two economic quarters. In Eastbourne over 500 new jobs have been created in the last 6 months alone. That’s not in any way to say it’s easy out there at the minute but it is moving in the right direction.

For the public sector though the immediate future is uncertain. Few of the tough decisions the private sector have taken over the last few years had, up until recently, been taken by our public services. Naturally, there are exceptions to that and our own local Eastbourne Borough Council had taken some of the difficult decisions and consequently look set to fare much better than most if not all of the other councils in the South East.

For people working in the public sector in the UK, many of whom I know well in Eastbourne and many of whom are good friends, it is a worrying time. I am determined to do all I can to support constituents who work in the public sector, both to try and alleviate the consequences of redundancies by growing the town’s economy so other jobs become available, and also by lobbying the government to ensure we retain as much of the funding stream as possible.
In this difficult climate, Trade Unions have an important role to play and I am committed to working with them. There has been some robust language towards Trade Unions generally from some sections within the Coalition Government. I do not share those sentiments. Never have, never will! I do not mean we always see eye to eye on every issue – we don’t. But Unions’ value and importance to many people, particularly in the public sector is something I respect and wish to encourage and support.

If any Trade Union constituents would like to get in touch, they can call my office in Seaside Road for an appointment on 01323 733030 or drop me an email at stephen.lloyd.mp@parliament.uk

Stephen Lloyd is the Member of Parliament for Eastbourne and Willingdon.

Teachers Unite to Save Pensions

All of the TUC Teachers’ Unions, as well as lecturers’ union UCU, and the non-TUC affiliated Head Teachers’ associations have joined together in a common campaign to defend teachers pensions from attacks.

Pay more ! Work longer ! Get Less !

The Coalition Government wants to increase teachers’ pension contributions from 6.4% of pay to 9.5% or more. It may also propose higher retirement ages and a change to pension based on final salary. Without consultation, it is also threatening to change pension indexation from RPI to CPI, cutting the value of pensions by 15%.

Together in 2006 the teachers unions negotiated agreements with the Government which have already cut the long term cost of teachers’ pensions. The planned cost savings are on course and are being achieved. There is no need for further change: teachers’ pensions are affordable !

Pensions are deferred wages and are part of teachers’ pay. Schools and employers also make a significant contribution to the pension fund of their staff.
All of the teachers’ unions are committed to working together to defend our pensions. We will work together to protect members if the Government proceeds with its threat to impose pension cuts.

Dave Brinson, secretary of East Sussex NUT said: “As trade unionists, we believe that everybody should have access to a decent pension. But we should campaign for improvements to all pension schemes- and not be drawn into the government and tabloids’ ridiculous attempt to set working people against each other in a desperate rush to the bottom.”

PENSIONERS MUGGED IN EASTBOURNE !
Hundreds of retired teachers in Eastbourne are facing the theft of pensions which they have paid for all of their working life. Pensioners who paid into a pension were promised that their pension would be indexed to keep up with the rate of inflation. The Government has announced, without consultation, that they will change the calculation of this from Retail Price Index to the lower Consumer Price index. This will cost many teachers thousands of pounds through their retirement- of pension they thought they’d paid for !
IT’S DAYLIGHT ROBBERY !

Savage Cuts at East Sussex County Council

Phil Clarke (NUT)

East Sussex County Council has recently announced savage cuts to services, with Children’s Services at the forefront of the attack.

The proposed 8.6% cut in Children’s Services in one year is the highest of any council department. 6/10 of the Children’s Service areas are in the council’s ‘High Impact’ cuts category- and around half of the 400 jobs expected to go are in Children’s Services.

East Sussex Council has the 4th highest cash level reserves nationally- £130 Million. The figures for the cuts in East Sussex Council do NOT include the grants to services direct from the central government. These grants are expected to have a far larger percentage cut.

The following are a few of the council’s estimates:

· Youth Opportunity Fund 100% CUT .
· Sure Start Centres 25% CUT.
· Youth Offending Teams 25% CUT,
· Diploma local delivery support 100% CUT,
· National Challenge school support 100% CUT,
· Family Learning 25% CUT,
· Music Service 25% CUT ,

The impact of cuts in Government grants will, as a East Sussex Children’s Service senior manager explained: ‘leave no-one unaffected’. Many services will now be able to offer the minimum legal support to young people and families.

Again any examples we give are only a small selection of the planned cuts and do not represent those that we necessary regard as having the most impact. Inclusion support will no longer carry out preventative work, training for staff and advice for parents will no longer be available. Youth Clubs and Children’s Centres will close. The Connexions service will no longer be available to the majority of young people, Early years support is to be cut by 60%.

School Staff will feel the cuts in children’s services impact them in many ways. Not only will advice, support and training offered by the services be radically reduced, school budgets already set to decrease in real terms (despite government promises) will have to be used to buy in services that have previously been supplied by East Sussex County Council. This will mean less money for schools, greater workload for those working in schools and opens up the risk of redundancies in schools as budgets are stretched.

CAN YOU TAKE ACTION NOW TO OPPOSE THE CUTS ?
East Sussex County Council is an elected authority. You elect local councillors to take decisions about the council’s budget and policy. Your local County councillor may not be knocking on your door until 2013 to ask for your vote- but trade unionists have long memories !

In the meantime, write to your councillor and urge them to oppose these cuts that will damage children and young people in our county. You can find out who your local councillor is, and their mailing and e-mail address by clicking here.

Phil Clarke is Secretary of Lewes, Eastbourne and Wealden NUT, and Chair of the Brighton Stop the Cuts Campaign.

GMB fight £5,000 cut to Ambulance Service staff

GMB Union members are to fight plans to cut wages by up to £5,000 a head at South East Coast Ambulance Service.

GMB consider that paramedics, technicians and other ambulance workers provide a vitally important service to the public and they should be paid properly for doing so.
South East Coast Ambulance Service Trust, which runs all emergency and non-emergency ambulance services throughout Kent, Surrey and Sussex is planning cuts of up to £5,000 per annum in the pay of frontline staff. This is the equivalent to 25% cut for all frontline staff. The planned cuts will come from proposals to reduce unsocial hours payments.

Directors of the Trust, who are attempting to prepare it for Foundation Trust Status, have stated that the alternatives is either to reduce salaries or make up to 30 staff redundant. GMB represents staff at the Trust including paramedics, technicians, emergency care support staff, managers and call centre staff.

Rob Macey, GMB Regional Organiser said: ‘GMB will fight these proposals which will have a devastating affect on employees and their families. GMB members feel they are being treated appallingly by SECAMB, who appear hell bent on making these cuts in order to achieve their Foundation Trust Status. GMB consider that paramedics, technicians and other ambulance workers provide a vitally important service to the public and they should be paid properly for doing so. Morale is now at an all time low and it is a very real fear that patient safety could be put in jeopardy.’

Peter Skinner, MEP for the South East added: “To see dedicated ambulance workers being treated in this way is unacceptable. These people aren’t bureaucratic managers, they are the frontline of our health service; they are the paramedics, technicians and ambulance staff that work hard to save lives. There will be no doubt that these cuts will have a devastating effect on individual workers, but this could also threaten the future quality of ambulance services across the South East.”

A new Trades Council for Eastbourne

For over a century the movement of local Trades Councils has brought together trade unionists in their local area to campaign, share ideas and to promote the campaigns of the Trade Union Congress. Eastbourne, sadly, saw its trades council wound up in the early 1990’s after many years.

We believe that in the current situation, and with savage cuts on the horizon, there has never been a more important time for trade unionists to work together in Eastbourne. As a result, members of NUT, NASUWT, Unite, Unison and Usdaw met in November, and agreed to re-launch Eastbourne Trades Council as a campaigning forum for trade unionists in the town.

Trade Unions face a busy and unsettling time in the forthcoming months, as they face threats to jobs, conditions and pensions. The Eastbourne Trades Council will operate an “organising agenda”- activity will be about supporting each other in campaigns, sharing problems and successes, and organising working people !

Our general meetings will be open to all local trade unionists- for our re-launch AGM we are pleased to welcome Megan Dobney, the Regional Secretary of the TUC, who will talk to us about the forthcoming challenges and campaigns, and how the Trades Councils can be at the heart if working people’s organisation !

Join us on Tuesday 15th February, 7.30pm at the Unite (T&G) Centre, Grand Parade.

Newsletter now out

The first workplace newsletter for the Eastbourne Trades Council is now being distributed. If you are in a unionised workplace in Eastbourne, this should be on its way to your steward/rep now.

If you don't receive this, it may be that we don't have your workplace on our database- please let the secretary know by clicking here.