Stop Cuts to Services for SEN and Disabled Kids!

GMB calls for a campaign against proposed cuts by East Sussex County Council to services to children with severe disabilities and special educational needs. The proposals must be stopped, East Sussex County Council need to act now to save the service and ensure invaluable hardworking staff are retained says GMB Southern.

GMB, the union for workers in East Sussex County Council, are calling for a halt to proposed cuts to children’s services including those with disabilities and special educational needs within East Sussex.

East Sussex County Council are proposing to cut the number of after school and weekend clubs for children with disabilities, special educational needs and behavioural issues. The cuts will mean a further reduction in support available for these children and their families. Proposed cuts of £70-£90m by March 2019 are being looked at in several areas including community care, drop-in activity at children’s centres, services for carers and children with special educational needs.

Karen Cooke, GMB organiser said “If these cuts are implemented it could result in parents and carers being unable to cope and more children going into full time care. This is not only devastating for these children and their families but will cost the public thousands of pounds. This will clearly have a major detrimental effect on them. They have already faced a cut to respite care as the two available facilities which were used are now at capacity with full time residents.

Clearly staff will also be affected as redundancies are anticipated at the end of the current 40 day consultation. GMB are calling for a halt to these proposals with immediate effect. What beggars belief is the parents and children that will be directly affected are not even being consulted with. The proposals must be stopped, ESCC need to act now to save the service and ensure invaluable hardworking staff are retained.”

More information from GMB at https://www.gmb-southern.org.uk/gmb-to-campaign-against-cuts-to-disabled-childrens-services-in-east-sussex/

Solidarity with ASLEF and RMT

Eastbourne Trade Unionists have stood foursquare behind our colleagues in the RMT and now ASLEF in defending proper services on our local railway.  The campaign to keep a safety-qualified guard on EVERY train is not about money or a reluctance to "modernise", it is about high quality and safe travel, it is about ensuring the safety of all passengers, especially disabled and vulnerable passengers.

Many Eastbourne people have shown their support on the picket lines at Eastbourne Station in recent weeks (as well as objecting to Southern's latest plans to close Eastbourne Ticket Office!)

Today, ASLEF took place in much publicised talks at the conciliation service ACAS. In an extraordinary move, however, the employer refused to admit the RMT into the talks. How can anyone suggest that Southern/GTR are serious about ending the dispute?

RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash said:
“Southern Rail were fully aware last night that I would be attending the talks this morning at ACAS alongside our ASLEF colleagues.

“This morning, on arrival for the talks, I was told that I would not allowed to take part by representatives from the company.

“RMT is furious at the complete contempt that has been shown to us by Southern Rail this morning which leaves us in a state of limbo when we should all be around the table thrashing out the issues that have led to the current action.

“Our members were expecting discussions to take place today and instead we have had the door slammed in our faces. That is no way to rebuild the confidence of the workforce in the Southern management and the talks process and it is no way to reach a solution which is what the public are crying out for.

“I will now be reporting back to RMT’s executive on these developments.”

Next Trades Council Meeting: Tuesday 15th November

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 15th November, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre), Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1.     Introductions and apologies for absence

2.     Approval of any new affiliations.

3.     Minutes of previous meeting (September) and matters arising. 

4.     Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer

5.     RECLAIM MAY DAY to agree planning and funding application for 2017

6.     Ongoing Union Campaigns: to include RMT action, Post Office Closure, GMB Patient Transport and others from local affiliates.

7.     Other community campaigns, including Eastbourne Pride/Mardi Gras

8.     Any other business

The bar will be open afterwards !

Don't Miss the Last Post (Office!)

In an astonishing move, the management of the Post Office has announced its intention to CLOSE the last remaining Town Centre Post office in Terminus Road, and relocate five counters into the local WH Smith branch.

A six week consultation opened on Wednesday 21st September. Roger Gale, general manager of the post office network said: “During the public consultation, which ends on November 2, the Post Office welcomes feedback on factors such as the location, the proposed premises, accessibility or community issues that customers would like considered before a final decision is made on the proposal… It is proposed the branch would move in February 2017”

Post Office workers have already taken national strike action this month over attacks on jobs and their pensions. CWU General secretary Dave Ward said: “The Post Office is relentlessly pursuing a programme of cuts that will mean a further 2,000 job losses, staff being left tens of thousands of pounds worse off in retirement and the privatisation of its flagship branches. The Post Office is at crisis point and the government has to step in.

If you want to keep a dedicated, fully staffed and resourced Post Office in Eastbourne, then you need to take action NOW.  Take part in the consultation - and tell the management to KEEP OUR POST OFFICE OPEN!

You can read the "consultation document" by clicking here

or go straight to the response form here.

or email them your views at comments@postoffice.co.uk

Please also take a moment to sign the 38 Degrees Petition here.

Get the Asbestos out of East Sussex Schools!

A new petition calls on the government to introduce and implement a policy for the phased removal of all asbestos from schools to be completed by 2028, starting with the most dangerous asbestos. MP's recommended this in 2012 but no action has been taken.

Despite the dangers, over 160 East Sussex schools still contain asbestos. In 2009 retired Eastbourne teacher Clive Beck died from mesothelioma. A court case determined this was due to exposure to asbestos shelving in his classroom, and East Sussex County Council was ordered to pay compensation to his widow.

The petition's author,  Lucie Stevens adds: "My Mum died on Sunday 26th June from mesothelioma. Mum believes she was exposed to asbestos in the schools she taught in. Before she died I promised her that I will do my best to make sure no-one else has to suffer like she has."

Sign the petition by clicking here!

 

Let Billy Go to School

The NUT Strike Rally on July 5th rally heard the story of local teacher and NUT member Leanna Forse, who faces having to give up her teaching job, as the local authority will no longer fund his specialist transport to school.

Billy Forse was born with a rare- possibly unique- chromosome disorder which has left him with profound disabilities. He has thrived at a local special school, however since turning 16, while the County Council expect him to attend school, they will no longer provide transport, leaving mum Leanna- a single parent- either having to find in excess of £500 per month to pay for specialist transport, or giving up her job as an English teacher in an Eastbourne school.

In the climate of cuts to adult and children's services, transport for disabled youngsters over 16 is considered "discretionary"; and in an extraordinary judgment, the council has determined that Billy's profound disabilities and thus the need for specialist transport, do not constitute an "exceptional circumstance"  They also concluded in a letter that they did not consider that Leanna faced "financial hardship" as a result.

AND NEARLY EVERYONE AGREES!...

Leanna and Billy's 's case is one of those rare occasions where nearly everybody seems to agree- apart from the County Council, of course! Local political figures have joined together to express their support:

Former Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd said: "...what really gets my goat is the county council accept that under 'exceptional circumstances' they do have a duty to provide school transport but somehow it doesn't apply here. This is plain wrong in my view and the reason is simple; Billy's mum - Leanna - cannot remain in employment AND take Billy to and fro school every day but if support is not forthcoming, she'll have no choice but to give up her job. Ehhh!? Are the council seriously suggesting that she should become unemployed so her disabled son can still attend his school, which he needs to for his own progress and is also legally bound to do?"

Dave Brinson, vice-chair of Eastbourne Labour Party wrote to local County Councillors, expressing amazement that the authority appeared to be suggesting that an additional £500 per month would not cause 'financial hardship' to the single mum: "It seems ludicrous that a panel could make this assumption of a single mother on a main-scale teacher's salary. Is it the policy of the County Council to ensure that our disabled youngsters receive the support to which they are entitled, or does the authority actively seek technicalities to save money by depriving them of this ?!"

Even our local Tory MP was critical of the Conservative-run County Council. Caroline Ansell MP said: "I understand the need for policy, but this young person turning 16 has no real bearing on his ability to get to school due to the level of his disabilities, and I have made this clear. “Flexibility must be applied so Billy can attend his classes and Leanna can continue her important work as a teacher. I know Leanna wants to take this case to the ombudsman and I have pledged her my support in her doing this."

Eastbourne Buzz have given this case some excellent coverage- you can see more below.

RMT fight for jobs and safety

RMT members in Eastbourne have maintained their fight for jobs and safety, against plans by failing rail operating company GoVia to remove properly trained conductors from local services.

Many local trade unionists and others, including the Eastbourne People's Assembly took solidarity greetings to Eastbourne RMT members on the picket lines.

RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash, took the fight to the TUC Congress in Brighton earlier this month with a scathing attack on the company and its cheerleaders in Parliament. In a scathing attack on Govia Thameslink, and their cheerleaders in Government, he said:

"We are facing the most concerted attack on rail workers and passengers in living memory. The government and train operators have declared war on the rail unions and they don’t give a damn if passengers are collateral damage

"How else can we explain the scandal that is GTR southern, the worse performing train company in the country? "Rammed out, late, expensive and so unpopular that passenger protests in Tory shires are a regular event. So toxic that even Tory MPs have called for the service to be nationalised. So corrupt that Southern were given the green light by Government to tear up the franchise agreement and create chaos by cancelling 350 trains a day.

"So rotten that instead of taking responsibility they have taken out adverts in newspapers attacking their own staff and telling lies about staff sickness, So despicable that even the rail minister resigned in shame."

Cash launched an attack on the Government announcing a £20 million taxpayer bail-out of the Sou‎thern operation just 24 hours before the parent company confirmed profits of £100 million.

"We don’t want politicians playing politics with our bus and rail industry. We don’t what half measures. We want a national, integrated transport system and we want all our buses and railway under public ownership."

RMT are proudly affiliated to the Eastbourne Trades Council. Come along to the next meeting for updates on the campaign.

Next Trades Council Meeting: 27th September

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 27th September, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre), Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of any new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting (August) and matters arising. 
4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer
5. NHS Campaigns Focus:  To include GMB Passenger Transport situation, Junior Doctors' Action and DGH Update.  A speaker from the GMB and/or BMA may be able to report (awaiting confirmation)
6. Any other Union and related campaigns, including Rail campaigns.
7. Any other business

The bar will be open afterwards !

Trades Council Meeting: Tuesday 2nd August

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 2nd August, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre), Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting (June) and matters arising. 
4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer
5. Action for Rail day of Action 19th August:  to agree plans for the day, and also get updates on current RMT dispute with Southern.  
6. Any other Union and related campaigns, to include Education White Paper and Junior Doctors Campaign, plus any additional campaigns reported on by those present
7. Any other business

The bar will be open afterwards !

BNP Not Welcome in Eastbourne!

Eastbourne Trade Unionists have expressed horror at reports that the racist British National Party have been campaigning in the town as part of the EU Referendum Leave campaign.

BNP or former BNP activists were reported as staffing the Leave stall in Eastbourne town centre by a number of witnesses from different trade unions on (at least) the weekend of 14th May, and the weekend of 28th May. These included local far-right activist John Robinson, who was the BNP's #1 List candidate for the South East in the last European Parliament election.

Dave Brinson, Secretary of Eastbourne Trades Council said:

"There is a diverse range of views on the referendum across the unions. Many are campaigning to remain, but others are firmly on the side of exit. Some have not taken a position."

"One thing that unites all of Eastbourne's trade unions, however, is a determination that the debate on Europe is not hijacked by extremists who want to use it as a platform to peddle racism, xenophobia and hate. "

"The national Leave campaign has apparently made it clear to far-right groups that they do not have permission to use official Leave materials.  We are calling on the Leave campaign in Eastbourne to make clear that BNP activists- including failed MEP candidates- have no place in their organisation."


The TUC has policy on supporting a "Remain" vote, as do a number of major trade unions with members in Eastbourne, such as Unite, Unison, USDAW and the Fire Brigades Union.  Others, including RMT and ASLEF are actively campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. A number of unions such as the NUT and Equity do not have a position.  Eastbourne Trades Council has chosen not to take an official position on the referendum.


The Mail on Sunday (not a paper we often speak warmly of!) ran an excellent exposee of the infiltration of the Leave campaign by the far-right today.  You can read it here.

Nearly 80 jobs to go at Eastbourne Borough Council?

It's not often we offer fulsome praise to the newspapers- either local or national. But this week, the Eastbourne Independent has it spot on.

Eastbourne Borough Council- via an expensive and private PR contract (long gone are the days of professional press officers working directly for councils in the public good!) managed the most impressive and horrifying spin on a new arrangement with Lewes District Council.... and the loss of 79 jobs from the Borough Council's dedicated workforce.

For once, we can't put it any better than the local press.  Reporter Peter Lindsay said:

"Hang on, look what that sentence says: 'The new working arrangements will see both councils consulting with staff over the reduction of up to 79 full-time posts.

Buried at the bottom. Up to 79 full time job losses.

To try to hide that, and bury it so low down, is simply wrong. It is treating the people of Eastbourne - and indeed the Lewes district - with contempt. 

We expect openness and we expect honesty. This is an example of neither, and if the taxpayer is paying Cobb PR to pump out council material, then it should not be done in such a shocking way as this.

And one last thought which the council and PR staff would do well to take heed of. What I dislike most is the lack of humanity shown.  

These are people. Losing their jobs. They shouldn't be treated as a footnote on a press release.  

They should be given respect. They should be thanked for their work. "

You can read the full article here.  We will be in contact with Unison at Eastbourne and Lewes to give local trade unionists the full picture. Meanwhile, Peter Lindsey's opening words in that Eastbourne Independent say it all: 

"I honestly think today that leaders and senior officials at Eastbourne Borough Council should hang their heads in shame. "

Trades Council Meeting: Tuesday 24th May

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 24th May, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre), Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous ordinary meeting (January) and matters arising. 
4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer
5. Campaigns Reports:  To include Rail Dispute update, Education White Paper and Junior Doctors Campaign, plus any additional campaigning for the Summer
6. Report from  East Sussex County Association of Trades Councils
7. Any other business

The bar will be open afterwards !

Trades Council AGM: Tuesday 22nd March

The AGM of the Eastbourne Trades Council will be at 7.30pm, Tuesday 22nd March, at the View Hotel  (formerly T&G/Unite Centre) , Grand Parade, Eastbourne.

All local trade unionists (including retired trade unionists) 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. Minutes of the AGM from 2015
3. Adoption of Rules for 2016 (proposal is same as for 2015) and new affiliates.
4. Officers' Reports and Accounts
5. Election of Officers for 2016

a) Chair
b) Vice Chair
c) Secretary

d) Assistant Secretary
e) Treasurer
f) Additional non-officer members of the Executive Committee, if required

6. Speaker on the Junior Doctors' Dispute  (tbc)

7. Campaign Updates- including local and national Union campaigns,  County Association of Trades Councils, Eastbourne People's Assembly etc.

7. Pattern of meetings for 2016
8. Campaign Contacts for 2016

9. Presentation of the Len Caine Award

URGENT: Say NO to cuts at Eastbourne Rail Station

The TSSA and RMT are campaigning to save the opening times of Eastbourne ticket office.

Eastbourne railway station have displayed posters advising that they plan to reduce the ticket office hours and introduce a Station Host. It can be:

* Agreed that the station should be staffed from first to last service 7 days a week.
* Agreed that It would be nice to be met by a Station Host.
* Agreed that the ticket office should be staffed at peaked times
* Agreed that the railway station facilities should be available at all times

However, it cannot be agreed that the closure of the ticket office, which frequently has long queues, is a way forward to improve my customer service.
* The ticket machines do not provide all the tickets and services I need
* The Ticket machine does not advise the best tickets to purchase best route to take
 * Elderly and physically restricted people will have problems using the machines or seeking help
* The ticket hall will become more congested with people crowding around the gates and machines.
* The reduction in staff will also result in a reduction in the customer service provided

The opinion formed is, more staff are required, not only on the station but also in the ticket office

To register your concerns please email, by the 14 March:

GTR_Consultation@transportfocus.org.uk   With 'Eastbourne Railway Station' as the subject.

Please have your say, to keep services at Eastbourne Station !

No To Sussex Ambulance Outsourcing

GMB Warn That Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups Are Taking Huge Risks In The Outsourcing Of Patients Transport Services.  Failure to ensure that proposed incoming private ambulance contractors are fit and capable to provide this vital service from April 1st is unforgivable says the Union.

GMB, the union for the ambulance service, has discovered that Hampshire based VM Langford's and Essex based Thames Ambulance Group have been appointed by Coperforma to deliver Patient Transport Services in Sussex.

Coperforma were awarded the contract to provide non-emergency patients Transport Services across Sussex from 1 April 2016. The provision for Patient Transport Services in Sussex has been split between Thames Ambulance Services who will service Brighton, central Sussex and the north Sussex corridor and VM Langford who will provide patient transport services across both East and West Sussex.

All current South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) ambulance service staff will be transferred to their new provider with 97 going to VM Langford.
GMB members are raising concerns that, with 6 weeks to go, locations of ambulance base stations have still yet to be announced.

Gary Palmer, GMB regional organiser, said “Outsourcing and sub-contracting by The Sussex Clinical Commissioners Group and Coperforma, could lead to disaster for Patient Transport Services in Sussex through the appointment of VM Langford’s and Thames Ambulance Group to deliver transport services across Sussex. Patients and front line NHS professionals, who currently deliver a caring, responsive, first class service to the public across the county, will suffer.

Coperforma led a drawn out, secretive and badly handled search for private ambulance service providers, which resulted in nearly all of their preferred choices pulling out on consideration of what we can only presume to be a financially disappointing and unfavourable contract.

GMB has raised concerns to both the CCG and Coperforma that they have produced nothing to lessen our member’s concerns that VM Langford’s will be unable to provide the necessary base equipment and the vehicles necessary to mobilise and commence service provision on April 1st.  As future employers they have yet to convince transferring staff that they are committed to NHS values and that the current agenda for improvements to terms and conditions won’t be under threat.

GMB and SECAmb had arranged a second meeting with VM Langford’s to fully layout their deployment plans. This was cancelled at their request and rearranged for the 25th February. A further two weeks potential consultation has been lost and that is not acceptable.

It’s time for the CCG to come out publicly about the concerns it has shared with GMB and SECAmb in recent meetings about VM Langford’s and their ability to deliver any sort of service for the people of Sussex together with an acknowledgement of the real fears and concerns of staff over their appointment and ability to deliver an NHS standard service.

GMB are calling for the CCG to halt the rush to force this privatisation through and to push the transfer process commencement date back by at least 3 months. It is vital that we ensure that the patients, staff, public and unions involved can be confident that patient lives, the jobs of our members and the effectiveness of the service as a whole are not put at risk. Ensuring the capability and long term stability of those involved in the contracts mobilisation is an absolute necessity. 

GMB will not stand by and allow our members, together with the patients and public of Sussex to receive a substandard service and detrimental treatment off the back of inexperienced providers looking to make a fast buck.” 

Trades Council Meeting: Tuesday 26th January

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 26th January, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre), Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

We are pleased to welcome local campaigner Marcie Clarke, from Eastbourne Welcomes Refugees. Marcie was a key organiser for the superb campaign in the town for food and clothing for the camp in Calais, and has recently returned from visiting the camps in person.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting (November) and matters arising. 
4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer
5. SPEAKER:  Marcie Clarke from Eastbourne Welcomes Refugees.  We have also invited a speaker on the BMA Junior Doctors Dispute
6. Anti Cuts Campaign: Including preparations for the rally in Eastbourne and the demonstration at County Hall
7. Report from  East Sussex County Association of Trades Councils
8. Any other 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 including arrangements for the March AGM

The bar will be open afterwards !

Support the Junior Doctors' Strike !

The British Medical Association is not (yet) affiliated to the TUC, but we are nonetheless proud to offer our support and solidarity to them in their contract dispute with the Secretary of State for Health. Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis, Member of BMA Junior Doctors Committee National Executive writes:

Junior Doctors across England will be commencing industrial action on Tuesday 12th January. We are opposing this government’s attempt to impose an unsafe new contract on the medical profession. It is our view that the proposed contract represents an existential danger to the NHS as an institution.

You may be aware that the BMA had initially suspended its planned industrial action at the start of December and returned to talks with the Department of Health. That decision was made in good faith. However, over the last few weeks, in the course of negotiations with Government we have encountered only intransigence. It is clear that the government perceives our contract issue as pivotal for its attempt to “reform” the NHS towards a neoliberal, commercialised system. It is therefore evident to us that we have no choice but to transform our 98% ballot mandate into action. The developments of the next few months will have consequences stretching far into the future. This government is wilfully putting at risk our patients' safety, the tolerability of our working lives as NHS workers and the very viability of the NHS as a publicly-funded, publicly-provided service.

Why we need YOU

The coming period will be the ultimate test of the BMA’s resolve as a Union. However, we remain mindful of the fact that the BMA is not an abstract entity operating in isolation from wider political developments. There is no way that we can win this on our own. We need all concerned citizens, activists and trade unionists to stand alongside us in this fight. Over the last few months we have been in dialogue with many trade unionists throughout the country and we have been enormously grateful for their support both at a local and national level. The public messages of support from our allied health worker colleagues, the firefighters, the teaching unions and the TUC and TUCG unions have galvanised junior doctors. We are therefore well aware that all eyes are upon us and that the institutions which represent the wider working class stand with us in solidarity.

We are in no doubt that Osborne, Cameron and Hunt will use the proposed doctor’s contract as a tool for achieving the destruction of safe terms and conditions throughout the NHS and throughout the public sector. The Conservative Party is attempting to stretch the NHS into an ostensibly 7-day elective service whilst simultaneously launching the biggest assault on NHS resources in its history. The politics of austerity represents a clear and present danger to the nation’s health.

A victory for the Junior Doctors would signify the first real crack in the entire edifice of austerity in the UK. Please stand with us. And when you need us, ask us. We will stand by you.

On behalf of the entire BMA we thank you all for your incredible support so far. Many of you will have seen the details with regards to the planned action and I will reiterate them below. We invite you to come out and display your visible support for us on
the days of action.

• The action will begin with an emergency care-only model, which would see junior doctors provide the same level of service that happens in their given specialty, hospital or GP practice on Christmas Day. It will then escalate to full walk-outs. The action as proposed is:   Emergency care only — 24 hrs from 8am Tuesday 12 January to 8am Wednesday 13 January;   Emergency care only — 48 hrs from 8am Tuesday 26th January to 8am Thursday 28 January;  Full withdrawal of labour — from 8am to 5pm Wednesday 10th February
• The aim is to picket all major hospitals in England on all three days of proposed action. Pickets will be in the vicinity of the main entrances and will start at 8am, continuing until at least 12.30pm. However, many picket sites will continue into the evening, especially at the larger hospitals.
• Along with the pickets there will be parallel “Meet the Doctors” events at nearby transport stops or public spaces. We will direct you to these events from the picket.
• Please turn up on the days of action, and give us your support. We will then inform you if other local events are planned on the day. If you are an allied health worker, trade unionist or campaigner please do consider bringing along the banner representing your organisation, your working uniform or similar. We would appreciate it however if banners in explicit endorsement of specific political parties are not displayed and that any selling of campaign literature such as newspapers is relatively discreet.
• On the days of action, please do debate us, educate us and invite us to address your colleagues in your workplace or trade union branch.

We will update you on specific arrangements for Eastbourne DGH as we are informed of them.

End the Rail Rip-Off

Rail fares are going up again from January. UK commuters are spending up to 6x as much of their salary on rail fares than passengers using publicly owned railways in France, Germany, Italy and Spain – according to new research published by the Action for Rail campaign today. We have the most expensive commuter fares in Europe, yet our trains are often over-crowded, late and under-staffed.

New polling carried out for Action for Rail by YouGov (2015) also shows that

61% say that UK train services are bad value for money

62% think that fares would be cheaper if train companies weren’t trying to make a profit

62% support bringing train companies back into public ownership.

It’s time to end this rail rip off!

Take action now: email your MP and ask him/her to support a publicly owned railway that puts people before profits bit.ly/221PqbI