Next Trades Council Meeting: 4th July

The next meeting of the Eastbourne Trades Council will be at 7.30pm, Tuesday 4th July, at the View Hotel (formerly T&G/Unite Centre) , Grand Parade, Eastbourne. All local trade unionists (including retired trade unionists) are invited.

A G E N D A
1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of any new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting (January) and matters arising (draft minutes from the AGM will also be available)
4. Treasurer's Report and Bank Mandate action
5. ELECTION UPDATE: how the result of the general election affects campigning in Eastbourne and beyond, including relations with Stephen Lloyd MP
6. SUMMER CAMPAIGNS: To receive updates on ongoing campaigns and activity from affiliates- please bring any information and/or details of action we can help with!7. Reclaim May Day- reports, lessons learnt and future plans?
8. Summer newsletter
9. Any other business

Retail and Hospitality Campaigns Successes

Usdaw has negotiated a significant pay rise for all retail staff in Tesco, taking the basic hourly rate to £8.42 over the next two years.

The deal includes improvements to maternity and new starters pay and a partial consolidation of premium pay into the hourly rate. The first stage of the pay increase will be paid from November.

Usdaw national office Pauline Foulkes said:

“Tesco’s recent difficulties are a matter of public record and the staff have played a big... part in helping turn the company around. Last year they received a one-off 5% bonus in recognition of that.

Meanwhile, Unite campaigners yesterday handed a petition to business secretary Greg Clark urging him to release the government report into tips for restaurant staff. The petition calls on the business secretary to give staff 100 per cent of their tips with complete control over how they are shared out, ban bogus "tronc" schemes and make the code of best practice mandatory.

The 2015 tipping abuse scandal sparked outrage, leading to a huge public backlash, after it emerged that restaurants, including Pizza Express, Bill’s and Strada were pocketing tips and service charge payments intended for staff. The consultation for submissions closed a year ago yet the report is nowhere to be seen. The petition will be delivered to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in Victoria Street at 1pm today.

The union has been forefront in exposing the rip-off culture that has seen restaurant bosses creaming off money left for tips that customers thought were going to cash-strapped staff.   The two-month long government consultation was launched on 2 May 2016, after an eight month review into the dubious tipping practices of some of the UK’s most popular restaurant chains, first exposed by Unite at Pizza Express in the summer of 2015.

Not about pay- about SAFETY!

ASLEF members are to be balloted for strike action on Southern Rail – just as RMT members announced a new strike date on the same company.

Responding to Southern Rail’s comments about the union’s ballot for industrial action ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said:

"It is no surprise that the management of Britain’s worst performing train company is disingenuous and deceitful when it comes to industrial relations and the honouring of ...agreements." Mick added, "our ballot reflects a complete loss of faith and trust in Southern Rail as the company has shown no respect for agreements we spent years negotiating. We are balloting because of the company’s inept attempt to conflate pay and changes to working practices."   He concluded, "I again give notice to the government and the rail industry that if any train driver is verbally abused, threatened or attacked as a result of the lies peddled by Southern Rail, we reserve the right to do whatever is necessary to protect our members, on Southern or nationally."

Keep up to date with the latest on the dispute from ASLEF at http://www.aslef.org.uk/

RMT confirmed that guards and drivers on Southern Rail will strike again for 24 hours between 0001 hours and 2359 hours on Monday 10th July 2017 in the on-going disputes over the safety impact of the extension of Driver Only Operation and the removal of guards from services.

Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary, said:

“RMT members on Southern Rail have been fighting for safety and access for well over a year now.   The franchise continues to lurch from crisis to crisis as the real impact of hacking back on safety and access hits home. We have seen absolute chaos at Victoria and East Croydon this week in the hot weather which has reinforced the need for safety critical staff on our trains and platforms. The Government cannot spin their way out of this chaotic situation which is wholly of their making.   It is now down to Southern/GTR, and the contract holders in the minority Government, to face up to their responsibilities and engage in genuine and serious talks that address our issues.” 

Happy Birthday NHS

The NHS has its birthday on the 5th July, and members of the East Sussex Save our NHS Campaign will be out in the town centre collecting signatures for birthday cards from the public which will be delivered to the DGH on the 5th July. 

The NHS IS NOT FAILING- IT IS BEING FAILED. It is only the dedication of the NHS staff that stops the NHS from failing. These cards will also say thankyou to those staff.

You can sign a card and help collecting signatures on:

Friday June 30th 12pm-2pm

Sunday July 2nd 12pm-2pm

both at Bankers Corner in Terminus Road (map)