Eastbourne marks Workers Memorial Day

Today is International Workers Memorial Day, and local trade unionists were in Terminus Road urging local people to remember those who have died at work or as a result of their job. Dozens of Eastbourne residents stopped to sign the giant Remembrance Card, and to take information about the Trades Council's safety campaigns.

Workers’ Memorial Day is not just symbolic- it is a time to remember real working people in our local area who have died as a result of accidents or illnesses caused at work.

We urge you to remember:-

ROY TRUNDELL (Eastbourne Buses employee- killed in a workplace accident in 2008)

CLIVE BECK (former Eastbourne schoolteacher- died of Mesothelioma. The shelves in his school cupboard were made of asbestos.)

BOB TOLLY (Eastbourne gas fitter- died 2006, also of Mesotheleoma. Exposed to asbestos during his working life. )

SIMON JONES  (Student killed by a crane at Shoreham Port, on his first day.)

 

GEOFF WICKER and BRIAN WEMBRIDGE (East Sussex firefighters killed in action fighting a blaze at a firework factory in Lewes)

AND ALL THE OTHER LOCAL WORKING PEOPLE KILLED AT WORK. REMEMBER THE DEAD… FIGHT FOR THE LIVING !

Workers Memorial Day: Join Us !

Members of Eastbourne Trades Council will be in Eastbourne Town Centre on Saturday morning, marking Workers' Memorial Day.

We will be handing out information about WMD, about current threats to safety at work, and asking Eastbourne people to sign a memorial card for all those workers who have died at work or as a result of their jobs.

If you are able to join us, we will be meeting at Bankers Corner from 10.00am until noon. Or, if you are in town- just come along, say hello and sign the card.

Build Council Houses says Eastbourne TUC

Eastbourne Trades Council has thrown its weight behind a campaign for a national programme of Council House building, initiated by Crawley Independent Tenants Association.

The campaign points out that "Nationally millions are on Council waiting lists (Crawley has 3000). Houses to buy or rent privately are too expensive. The most affordable rent is Council Housing. However since Mrs. Thatcher’s right to buy policy, Council stock has shrunk and hasn’t been replaced. The situation is so serious that in Oxford an advert for an 8ft x 8ft shed, with a rent of £450 a month did receive a lot of offers! This situation can’t go on.
Our e-petition calls on the government to start an NHS style (not for profit) national scheme, to build large numbers of council Housing each year. If we get 100 000 signatures throughout the country, then our e-petition has to be considered for debate in parliament."

You can sign the petition by clicking here

Supporters of the campaign include Labour MP John McDonnell, Green MP Caroline Lucas, Councillors from East Sussex and Crawley, Unite the Union's  South East Region, Gatwick and Agricultural Workers Branches, and, bizarrely, David Elkin the Tory group leader of Eastbourne Borough Council....

Trades Council Meeting: 24th April

There will be a meeting of the Eastbourne Trades Council at 7.30pm, Tuesday 24th April, at the Unite Eastbourne Centre (formerly T&G) , Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade unionists are invited, (although only delegates from affiliated unions may vote on financial and policy matters.)

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising
4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer
5. Employment Law changes- update from Sharon Wentworth  (Sharon is on Union business earlier in the day, but has submitted documents if she is unable to attend personally)
6. Workers Memorial Day- Saturday 28th April. Street stall and other publicity.
7. Tolpuddle Martyrs coach- decision  
8. Any other Union Campaigns: Colleagues invited to provide information on their Unions’ local and national campaigns, and any support that the Trades Council could give.
9. Any other business.

 Any apologies, or requests for information, to the Secretary please, by e-mailing here.

Day of Action for Health and Safety

The TUC is organising a Day of Action to defend health and safety. This will be held on 28 April 2012, which is International Workers Memorial Day when we traditionally remember the dead and fight for the living. Never has that message been more important than now.

Let's ensure that we make it clear that we want clear commitments and action from those who should be protecting us.

Click here to download the Campaign Poster and Leaflet for your workplace

HOORAY FOR UNION H&S REPS

One of the principles behind Britain's health and safety laws is the belief that the involvement of the workforce is crucial to achieving good standards of health and safety, and that health and safety systems work best when trade unions and employers work together.

It cannot be disputed that better standards of health and safety are achieved in unionised workplaces than in similar non-unionised ones. At the core of this are health and safety representatives. This group of unpaid volunteers make a massive difference in the workplace. In recent years they have saved countless lives, and helped stop millions of workers from being injured or made ill by their work.

Yet their work seems to go unnoticed and unrewarded by many employers and by the government. In fact a number of proposed changes will either make it more difficult for health and safety representatives to do their job, or give them an even bigger workload.

There are around 150,000 union health and safety representatives appointed and supported by trade unions. A DTI paper published in January 2007, Workplace Representatives: A review of their facilities and facility time, estimates that safety representatives at 2004 prices save society between £181m and £578m each year. It estimates safety representatives prevent between 8,000 and 13,000 workplace accidents and between 3,000 and 8,000 work-related illnesses.