Trades Council Meeting: September

There will be a meeting of the Eastbourne Trades Council at 7.30pm, Tuesday 27th September, 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.)

Stephen Lloyd, the MP for Eastbourne will be our guest speaker. Stephen was elected as the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne at the 2010 election. Prior to this, he worked in small business development, with a particular focus on disability issues. Stephen will speak about his work in promoting econominc development in Eastbourne, particularly the creation of apprenticeships, and will ,of course answer questions on the full range of his work as a Member of Parliament.

A G E N D A
1. Introductions and apologies for absence
2. Approval of new affiliations.
3. Minutes of previous meeting
4. Matters Arising from the Minutes.
5. Treasurer’s report
6. Guest Speaker: STEPHEN LLOYD MP. 7. Trades Council Priorities for 2011-12: The TUC has issued its programme of work for the next twelve months- copies are available online via the website www.eastbourneTUC.blogspot.com. The meeting to decide how Eastbourne Trades Council can incorporate these priorities into its work.
8. Union Campaigns: Colleagues invited to provide information on their Unions’ local and national campaigns, and any support that the Trades Council could give.
9. Articles and timing for next workplace newsletter
10. Any other business

As always, the bar will be open after the meeting !
Apologies or requests for documents etc. to the Secretary at secretary@east-sussex.nut.org.uk

Coalition attack on Agricultural workers

MPs have voted to to begin the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board – which over 130,000 workers in Britain rely upon.

Unite the union is the recognised union for agricultural and rural workers across the UK. The union says the abolition of the AWB will have dire consequences for farming and farm workers leading to falling living standards in rural communities across England and Wales.

Wages and terms and conditions are set by the Agricultural Wages Board on behalf of 154,000 agricultural workers.

Unite national officer, Ian Waddell, said: "Even the Thatcher and Major governments didn’t go as far as scrapping the Agricultural Wages Board, recognising that rural workers need protection if food supplies are to be secure. Unite is building a broad alliance across rural communities to oppose the government's decision.

"The government's decision to press ahead with abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board will have dire consequences for farming and farm workers. Living standards across rural communities in England and Wales will fall as a result.

“Agriculture is critical to food supplies in this country and we have very real concerns. There is already a shortage of skilled labour and this will only be exacerbated if wages are under pressure, jeopardising our food security.”

Unite has a petition to defend the AWB- you can sign it by clicking here. The Labour Party also has a petition supporting Unite's position- you can sign by clicking here.

The Agricultural Wages Board is an independent body with a statutory obligation to set minimum wages for workers employed in agriculture in England and Wales. It was established by the Agricultural Wages Act (1948). The Board also has powers to decide other terms and conditions of employment, e.g. holidays and sick pay. It produces a legally binding Order which is enforced by Defra. The Order is made annually and normally comes into force on 1 October.

If you would like to advice on how the Order’s provisions apply to you, or if you think you might have been paid less than the minimum wage you should contact the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. The helpline can also arrange for a copy of the Order to be sent to you. You can download the current guide to the orders (2010) here.

If you work in agriculture you can learn more about your entitlements under the Order by visiting the Directgov pages here.

Trades Councils: Programme of Work 2011-12

The TUC has published the Programme of Work for the local Trades Councils for the forthcoming year.

The programme outlines five priority areas of work for the Trades Councils:

• Cuts, Jobs and the Economy


• All Together for the NHS


• Green Workplace, Green Community


• Community Organising: changing, developing and building the trades council movements


• Fighting fascism and the far-Right

Eastbourne Trades Council will be discussing how it can best support the programme and its campaigns in our town at the September meeting. All trade union members are welcome.

You can download the full policy document by clicking here.

Trades Council Meeting: Tuesday 19th July

TRADES COUNCIL MEETING- with speaker DAVID TUTT, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council.

There will be a meeting of the Eastbourne Trades Council at 7.30pm, Tuesday 19th July, 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.)

A G E N D A

1. Introductions and apologies for absence


2. Approval of new affiliations.


3. Minutes of previous meeting


4. Matters Arising from the Minutes.


5. Treasurer’s report


6. Guest Speaker: David Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council. David has responsibility for the economic development of the town and community strategy. As a trade unionist himself (CMA- now part of Unite the Union) David will be looking forwards to hearing questions and opinions from local trade unionists.


7. Union Campaigns: Colleagues invited to provide information on their Unions’ local and national campaigns, and any support that the Trades Council could give. Will include updates on the joint pensions campaigning and the local campaigns on Legal Aid.


8. Articles and timing for next workplace newsletter


9. Any other business

As always, the bar will be open after the meeting !

Happy Birthday NHS- and hands off our DGH !

Today is the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the NHS, and it's even more important to mark the birthday of Britain's most popular institution this year, as we face the potential dismantling of the NHS in the form of Andrew Lansley's Health and Social Care Bill.

The NHS is working: Public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time high. Doctors, nurses, midwives, support staff, patients groups and more have all spoken out about the dangers of these changes. All Together for the NHS is a joint campaign co-ordinated by the TUC, bringing together unions and campaigners from across the health sector. Please visit the campaign site here.

Also, once again, our local NHS Hospital faces threats. Many local trade unionists marched and demonstrated to oppose plans to close consultant-led maternity services and accident and emergency at Eastbourne DGH. After a long battle which received support from across the political parties, the local NHS Trust was forced to abandon these plans in 2008.

However, a recent report from the Care and Quality Commission was critical of standards at the hospital. Could this be used by the Trust management as an excuse to bring back old cuts proposals ?

Back in March, the Save the DGH Campaign warned that they had learned of plans to “temporarily” close maternity services at Eastbourne, and that staff had been threatened with disciplinary action if the news was leaked (…to the ordinary people who pay for it !) Meanwhile, less than three years after their last plans for closure were slapped down by the then Secretary of State Alan Johnson, the Trust bosses are undertaking another “review” of maternity services. Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne has written to the current Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, urging him to intervene to halt the review.

You can read more about the campaign to protect hospital service in Eastbourne by visiting the Save the DGH site here.

ALL OUT for Public Service Pensions: June 30th

Members of the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the University and Colleges Union and the Public and Commercial Services Union will be taking strike action over attacks on their pension schemes on 30th June.

Members are angry at proposals that would make members work longer, pay more and get less for their pensions. The Government is plucking figures from the sky, yet have consistently refused to undertake a valuation of the pension funds (overdue by more than a year) to prove whether or not the schemes, which members pay handsomely for, are sustainable. We firmly believe that such a valuation would show that they ARE.

The Government has made much of its willingness to "negotiate", but the negotiations have been next to meaningless. They refuse to discuss:

The 50% increase in members' contributions to the schemes (even though the unions had already agreed to an increase if the Government could demonstrate that this was necessary to make the scheme sustainable- and proved by a revaluation)

The increase in retirement age from 60 or 65 (depending on the schemes) to 68 years old.

The move to a "career average" scheme- hitting women members hardest, who often secure their promotion later in their career becauseof family commitments (also with the threat of changing the accrual rate, so you would have to work 50 years, rather than the current 40 or 30, to get your full pension)

The imposed change in the calculation of inflation to determine annual increases in pensions from RPI to the lower CPI rate. This has been imposed on existing pensioners, despite the legal right not to have their pensions retrospectively changed.

In Eastbourne the action is going to be strongly supported. We know already that Bishop Bell, Eastbourne Academy, Hazel Court, Ocklynge, Bourne, West Rise, Langney, and Pevensey and Westham schools will be shut, with Ratton, Willingdon, The Lindfield, Cavendish, Shinewater and others opening only to a fraction of the students.

Sussex Downs College and the University of Brighton will be signifiacntly affected, and PCS members at the Department for Work and Pensions, the Tax office and the Driving Standards Agency will also be taking action.

Other unions including the NASUWT, Unison, GMB and the non-TUC National Association of Head Teachers are considering or have announced balloting for action in the Autumn.

Members of these Unions and other supporters are encouraged to attend the march and rally in Brighton, meeting at The Level for 10.30am, or the Hastings Rally at the White Rock Theatre also at 10.30am (Trades Council Secretary Dave Brinson and SERTUC Regional Secretary Megan Dobney will be speaking at the Hastings event.)

For more information on the Pensions Campaign, visit the NUT Website, the ATL website, the UCU website or the PCS website.

Save the NHS: Petition handed in to Stephen Lloyd MP

Over 400,000 people signed the petition against the coalition's NHS "reforms" organised by the 38 Degrees campaigning group.

Trades Council secretary Dave Brinson joined local organiser Lucette Davies and other local campaigners to present the Eastbourne section of the petition to Stephen Lloyd MP on Saturday 25th June.

Dave says: "Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists, patients and health professionals have
made their dismay at the coalition's cuts and privatisation agenda for the NHS loudly and clearly heard. The coalition are now making a big play that they have 'listened': let's wait and see whether their actions reflect their warm words !"

Support Unite members in Southampton

Unite and Unison members at Tory-controlled Southampton City Council need your help.

4,300 workers have been told they will be sacked on July 11th unless they take a pay cut and sign inferior contracts. Council leader, Royston Smith, has refused to negotiate with the unions, Unite and Unison, and has instead tried to impose cuts on workers.

The unions proposed wage freezes in return for security for jobs and services - but Royston Smith rejected these out of hand. This forced the workers into taking industrial action. All they want is a fairer way forward. They now need your support.

It is essential that they win their dispute. If the Tory leadership at Southampton gets away with imposing pay cuts without negotiating then other councils, and indeed private sector employers, will follow suit.

Southampton workers are taking a stand but they urgently need your support.



Please help by making a donation to the strike fund. Your contributions, however small, can help: * TGWU 2/8 Strike Fund, Unity Trust Bank, Ac No: 20185358, Sort Code: 08-60-01
*NB: this is a Unite fund. A long-standing TGWU account is being used to ensure there is no delay in supporting the workers.

Lobby Stephen Lloyd to save the NHS !

Local residents will be handing a petition organised by 38 Degrees to our MP, Stephen Lloyd, on Saturday 25th June, at his constituency office, 100 Seaside Road at 3.30pm. For full details and to sign up, please click here to visit the 38 Degrees website.

After an overwhelming response from 38 Degrees members asking for the campaign to protect the NHS to continue, hundreds of thousands have signed the petition, and people all over the country are writing to their MPs to ask them to save the NHS. Over the past months, 38 Degrees members across the country have been handing in the 250,000 strong Save our NHS petition to MPs on the scrutiny committee for the NHS Health Reform Bill – the committee which has been examining the government’s NHS plans.

If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition here

Across the country 38 Degrees members wanted to show their MPs that they really do care about the NHS in their MP’s local constituency surgery or coffee morning by handing in the petition. Now, people are writing to ask their MP’s what they think about the proposed changes to the NHS. If you want to send a letter to your local MP to see if they are supporting the Bill, you can use the link to: Tell your MP to Protect the NHS here.

March against Legal Aid Cuts: 3rd June

There will be a march in Eastbourne as part of a National Day of Action on Friday 3rd June 2011 in response to the recent government proposals to cut the Legal Aid Budget. These proposals will have an impact on people who need access to specialist Debt, Housing and Welfare Benefit, Employment, Immigration (where the litigant is not detained), Consumer, Education, Civil and Family Law advice, as well as impact on those agencies who provide this advice.

The Ministry of Justice received over 5,000 responses to their consultation on legal aid reform. Respondents, many of whom were CAB’s and organisations with charity status currently providing legal aid funded advice, are concerned that the proposals are lacking in evidence, misunderstand the extent and range of legal advice needs and underestimate the potential impact on the poorest and most vulnerable people[i]. A clear message about the need for legal aid funding has been sent to the MOJ and it is being ignored in the rush to cut public expenditure

Eastbourne Citizens Advice Bureau and Brighton Housing Trust’s Eastbourne Advice Centre will be leading a march against the cuts, setting off from 1.30pm outside Debenhams, Terminus Road on Friday 3rd June. Stephen Lloyd MP, who has raised his concerns in several parliamentary debates, will be joining us. A stall will also be based outside Barclays Bank, in the Town Centre, with information about the proposals and a petition for the general public to sign and the march will pause here to hear from him.

Should the proposals be agreed, funding for Social Welfare Law advice in East Sussex will be halved at a time when services are under increasing pressure and demand. Residents will find themselves without access to Legal Aid at the very time when events in their lives, cuts to services or changes to the benefit system mean they are most in need of specialist advice. Good quality specialist advice enables people to take control of their lives.

The Eastbourne Advice Agencies are keen to have strong representation would therefore appreciate it if you could circulate this letter and encourage people to attend. It would also be appreciated if you could confirm attendance with trudy@esap.org.uk, who will provide you with further details should you require any, or via the Facebook Page which has been set up; “Eastbourne Day of Action against cuts to Legal Aid”