No to closure of Dementia Wards !: Please sign

UNISON has reacted strongly to proposals advocating the closure of two highly valued local dementia wards in Uckfield and St Leonards-on-Sea.

The three Clinical Commissioning Groups covering East Sussex are currently consulting on the provision of NHS beds provided by Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust for the admission and assessment of people with dementia. Three out of their four proposals include either a bed reduction or a closure of at least one of the wards, causing grave concern to people using and providing the current service.

UNISON Sussex Partnership Branch Communications Officer Nick McMaster said :

“Closure of either Beechwood Ward in Uckfield or St Gabriels Ward in St Leonards-on-Sea is likely to mean frail patients and relatives having to travel significantly further to receive specialist inpatient care. Community dementia services are already heavily over-stretched and are unlikely to be able to provide the same level of support to patients with high care needs. Given the projected increase in dementia due to an increasingly ageing population, we are concerned that a vital public service is going to be dismantled in the chase for financial savings disguised as new models of care”

In an ideal world we would all like our loved ones to be treated at home, but what happens when people are just too poorly? With bed occupancy rates sometimes over 100% and nearly all of them being filled by East Sussex residents, proposals to close units are deeply worrying.”

UNISON members who work in the two units are planning to take their concerns to the streets in order to speak directly to the public. Nick says “The CCGs have supposedly been in ‘public consultation’ about this since August, although they are only allowing comments online or in writing. We are not afraid to go to the public and intend to engage them in real conversation”.

 

The "consultation" closed on 25th October, but you can still sign the petition on 38 Degrees website by clicking here-  we know how important it is to keep the pressure up on NHS managers !

Probation Services: For Public Protection not Private Profit !

At 12 noon on 5th November members of the National Association of Probation Officers  will  commence strike action for 24 hours,  returning to work at 12 noon on 6th November. This action coincides with the ‘People’s Assembly’ planned day of demonstrations.

They are holding a Rally in Brighton.  This will start at 2:30 at Brighton Railway Station and will then make its way to Brighton Pavilions via Probation Headquarters. (Trafalgar Street) Please do your best to come along and join the Napo Rally-  all trade unionists and supporters are very welcome. The following day, Wednesday 6th the strike continues up until 12:00, and NAPO are picketing as many offices as they can on that day.

You can find out more about NAPO's campaign against privatisation by visiting their website here.

Campaign for a Living Wage: TC Meeting 19th November

The Living Wage campaign will be the focus of the Trades Council meeting on TUESDAY 19th NOVEMBER at 7.30pm at the Unite Eastbourne Centre.

Rhys McCarthy, a Unite national officer will be our guest speaker at the meeting. Rhys was instrumental in organising workers in one of the earliest Living Wage campaigns amongst low paid workers in London's Canary Wharf, and recently organised the high profile campaign for a Living Wage for all Sainsbury's staff.

The Living Wage Campaign has enjoyed some notable successes- but many employers in Eastbourne still pay below the £7.45 that the campaign believes is the minimum for a working person to live.

The Share Action campaign (which seeks to get shareholders mobilised in pushing for a Living Wage) reports:
"In-work poverty is a growing problem in the UK and low pay is closely associated with social disadvantages including poor health, substandard housing and personal debt. Excluding young workers, amongst whom low pay is even more prevalent, 3.5 million working adults aged over 22 were earning less than £7 in 2010. Living Wage employers report a range of benefits including raised staff morale, workforce productivity and enhanced corporate reputation."

All local trade unionists are encouraged to come along- learn more about the campaign and see how you can get involved !

Solidarity with our Firefighters

Fire Brigades Union members in Eastbourne took strike action on  Friday 1 November and will do so again on Monday 4 November, as part of a  national dispute over jobs and
pensions.  

Earlier  the FBU postponed a five hour strike after the Westminster government and fire employers shifted their position and finally recognised that firefighters faced losing their jobs and a large chunk of their pensions under new changes imposed in April.

Government and employers had offered various routes to tackle the problem of firefighters not fit enough to work beyond the current retirement age of 55, but then  informed the FBU they could provide none of the guarantees necessary to address this crucial aspect of the dispute.

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary said: “The FBU has been very reasonable, but we are now faced with broken promises and those in power evading their responsibilities. The Westminster government has created this mess, but it is refusing to clear it up.  It now recognises the problem, but it won’t provide the legal and financial guarantees firefighters need to ensure they have a job and an unreduced pension in the future. 

“Firefighters face the sack towards the end of their career and the loss of their pension. That can’t be right. The employers promised to tackle the issue of firefighters facing the sack for failing fitness tests last week, only to say they can’t offer any guarantees this week. That is simply not the way to run a public service."

You can read more information on the FBU dispute, including an excellent Myth Buster highlighting the truth and lies around the pensions issue, by visiting the FBU Website here.

NUT and NASUWT to strike tomorrow

Members of the NUT and the NASUWT teacher unions, who together represent 9 out of 10 teachers, are both in dispute with the Government. The failure of the Government to enter into meaningful talks aimed at reaching agreement is now leading to strike action.

These disputes cover:

• Excessive workload and bureaucracy;
• Cuts and other changes to teachers’ pay;
• Adverse changes to their pensions;
• Job cuts.

Teachers are deeply concerned about the impact these imposed changes are having on the morale of the teaching profession, the recruitment and retention of teachers and on the provision of quality education for pupils. The NUT and the NASUWT are asking the Government to enter into genuine talks to resolve this dispute.

Members of the NUT and the NASUWT teacher unions have been engaged in jointly co-ordinated industrial action short of strike. This action by our members has been designed to enable teachers to focus on the job of teaching and to prevent a crisis in the teaching profession which could have devastating consequences for our schools.

However, the Secretary of State for Education is continuing to make changes to teachers’ pay, pensions and conditions of service that are not supported by teachers and are making it much harder for schools to recruit and retain good teachers. The Secretary of State for Education is refusing to engage in genuine talks with the NUT and the NASUWT about teachers’ concerns, despite numerous requests by both unions.

Teachers deeply regret the disruption caused by strike action. However, the Government’s refusal to engage to resolve the dispute means that they have no alternative other than to demonstrate to the Government the seriousness of their concerns.

Most Eastbourne schools will be shut tomorrow, as staff take this unfortunate but necessary action in defence of our profession.

A Tribute to David Mottley

Dave Mottley- long standing Chair of Lewes Trades Council, and NASUWT local secretary lost his battle with a brain tumour earlier this month. Dave was an inspiring socialist and trade unionist, and his long-standing friend and comrade, Bill Ball pays this tribute:

Dave (seated) surrounded by his family.

Rarely but occasionally we are privileged to encounter someone who transforms our life through inspiration and makes us look differently at the world.

David Motley, who has died, was such an individual.

An NASUWT rep,he was a teacher par excellence, spending many years of his career teaching KS2 at Newick Primary School. In the course of a 37 year teaching career he enriched the lives of countless youngsters with his compassion & enthusiasm. 

But it was as a union activist that I came to know him.  He became a delegate to the old Ouse Valley Trades Council, now Lewes Trades Council, some 26 years ago. The movement was still reeling from the defeat in the miners` strike and the crushing of the print unions at Wapping. Our Praetorian Guard had been wiped out in the space of two years.   Thatcher was waging relentless class war against the left and organized labour. Trades Councils were going to the wall right across the county: Bexhill, Rye, Haywards Heath, Uckfield. It was an uphill battle just to get a quorate meeting each month. It was also an achievement.

It was not an auspicious moment to get involved in the local Trades Council movement. But Dave Motley took to it with his characteristic unflappability. The fight for survival for Ouse Valley TC was not going to be easy, but  Dave`s arrival meant that our extinction was put on hold.

Under Dave`s chairmanship the Trades Council fought back. We became ever more audacious, organizing events that should have been way beyond our punching power.

When John McDonnell made his pitch for the Labour leadership, the Trades Council organized a public meeting at Lewes Town Hall to support him. John shared the platform with Tony Benn. 500 people packed into the hall. Standing room only. Dave, the consumate teacher was taking the biggest class of his life. But he chaired the meeting with his normal relaxed and gentle humour.

In 2008, under Dave`s leadership, we became the first Trades Council in England to mount a four event festival of socialism & trades unionism. Jack Jones in his last public appearance opened an event celebrating the fight against fascism in Spain.

Our second festival was held in Lewes in 2011.  But by then Dave was ill. A cancerous brain tumour, that had haunted him like Mephistopheles throughout his working life, kept in the shadows by medication, had flared its defiance and begun to grow again.

He was taken into the Royal Marsden & the monster was zapped with massive doses of radiation over a two month period. It seemed to have worked. He emerged with a new lease of life & an energy that seemed boundless.

A third Lewes Festival of Socialism & Trades Unionism was planned.  Dave ploughed ahead with the zeal of someone who felt that his time maybe short and should not be wasted. In retrospect I suspect that he knew that he would not live to see the fruits of his labours.

And the cancer was not to be denied. When it awoke from its irradiated sleep, its ravaging revenge was swift and complete. I last saw Dave in the hospice in North Chailey. With difficulty he tried with little power of speech to tell me what needed to be done for the festival.

The doctors had given him four weeks to live. He took four months. The union rep had brokered his last deal. Sleep well old pal. You touched many lives for the better. We`ll never forget you.

Support our Firefighters- NO to mass dismissals !

Firefighters will strike over pensions on Wednesday, the Fire Brigades Union has announced. Almost 80% voted in favour of industrial action in a ballot that ended earlier this month, although union officials have left the strike to the last possible moment to allow for the possibility of a negotiated settlement.

Eastbourne Trades Council stands fully behind our colleagues at fire stations across East Sussex tomorrow. The information below from the FBU makes clear why !

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary, said: “This initial strike is a warning shot to government. Firefighters could not be more serious about protecting public safety and ensuring fair pensions. Governments in Westminster and Cardiff have simply refused to see sense on these issues.
 
“It is ludicrous to expect firefighters to fight fires and rescue families in their late-50s: the lives of the general public and firefighters themselves will be endangered. None of us want a strike, but we cannot compromise on public and firefighter safety.”

The strike will take place for four hours, between noon and 4pm.

The government’s own figures have shown that thousands of firefighters could face the sack without access to a proper pension simply because they are getting older. A recent government review found that over half of current firefighters between the ages of 50 and 54 are no longer able to meet fire and rescue service fitness standards for fighting fires. Beyond the age of 55, two thirds fail to meet the standards.

And although the government has previously claimed that older firefighters could be moved to less physically demanding roles, FBU research found only a handful of ‘redeployment’ opportunities in fire and rescue services, meaning mass sackings would be inevitable.

Firefighters already pay some of the highest pension contributions in the UK public or private sector and have seen increases for two consecutive years. The majority of firefighters already pay almost 13% of their salary in contributions with further increases due next year. This will mean some firefighters now face an increase six years in a row.

Firefighters also argue that the government’s financial projections are flawed. They are based on a prediction of a 1% decline in pension sign-up, but their own information suggests that over 25% of whole-time firefighters recruited last year chose not to join. The FBU has warned these figures clearly demonstrate that changes to the scheme are already having an impact and, if the trend continues, that the financial viability of the scheme will be seriously undermined.

Lobby Labour Conference against HMRC Enquiry Centre closures

We need on Wednesday September 25th PCS members and as many people as possible to pop down to support PCS members outside the Labour Party Conference at the Brighton Conference Centre from 12.30 pm .

PCS members in HMRC have called a week of action against plans to close 281 Enquiry Centres across the UK 23 – 27 September.  If closed, these vital offices will deny pensioners, vulnerable workers and tax credit claimants a vital face to face service.

We are asking members and anti cuts supporters, Trades Council supporters etc to go down  and support the day of action on Wednesday 25th September outside the Labour Party Conference at the Brighton Conference Centre from 12.30 pm .  Please could you also encourage everyone to sign the e- gov petition here.

View the PCS leaflet on the campaign here

For further information please contact Sharon Leslie at PCS HQ

Report from Annual Congress 2013

Eastbourne Trades Council secretary, Dave Brinson, was at the TUC Congress last week, as part of the NUT's delegation.  This report is taken from his blog www.DaveBrinsonNUT.blogspot.com

I was proud to represent the NUT on our delegation to the TUC Annual Conference in Bournemouth last week. This sees the representatives of the 54 affiliated unions come together to debate policy and campaigns for the Trade Union movement in the coming year.

Lesley Mercer of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists was the President for the year, and welcomed delegates to her Conference, with the theme “Jobs, Growth and Fair Pay”

Frances O'Grady, the new General Secretary, and the first woman to occupy that position, gave a barnstorming speech, where she set out the pledges that she wants our supporters to make for the forthcoming general election:

"I'm going to tell you what should go on a pledge card. And, today, I challenge politicians from all parties to say where they stand on it.

First, decent jobs. It's time to restore that goal of full employment, and give a cast iron jobs guarantee for the young. Full employment is the best way to boost the economy, drive up living standards and generate the tax that we need to pay down the deficit. And let's be clear, the reason why low-paid jobs are growing is because people have no choice but to take them. That is wrong. Employers should compete for staff. Not the other way around. Now, George Osborne will say - but how are you going to pay for it? Well, of course the best way to pay for it is by getting economic growth. That's why we need to invest in an intelligent industrial strategy for the future. But if the Chancellor wants to talk numbers here's a big one. According to the Rich List, since the crash, the 1,000 richest people in Britain increased their wealth by no less than £190bn. That's nearly double the entire budget for the NHS. So when they ask how we'll pay for it, let's tell them. Fair taxes - that's how.

One of the best ways to create jobs and apprenticeships would be to build new houses. And that's pledge number two. One million new council and affordable homes. Our country has a desperate shortage of housing. That means landlords rake it in and the housing benefit bill rockets. It drives up the cost of a buying a home, and puts people in more debt. So cut the waiting lists, stop another bubble and let's build the homes young families need.

Pledge number three: fair pay - and new wages councils to back it up. Of course the national minimum wage should go up and we need tough enforcement. But take one look at company profits and you'll see that there are plenty of industries that could, and should, pay more. That's why we need new wages councils, so unions and employers get around the table and negotiate. That's the way to guarantee not just a minimum wage, not just a living wage but a fair wage, and fair shares of the wealth workers help create.

And pledge number four could be the most popular one of all. Let's pledge that the NHS will once again be a public service run for people and not for profit. Let's make adult social care a community responsibility by bringing it together with the NHS. That would save money because good social care helps elderly people stay at home when they want to be, instead of in hospital when they don't. And while we're about it, let's have a proper system of care for our children too. So instead of shrinking the welfare state, let's strengthen it. That's the way to build a stronger economy too.

And five - fair rights at work. No more union busting. No more blacklisting. And no more zero hours. Instead we need decent employment rights; strong unions with the freedom to organise, and a bit more economic democracy. We already work with the best employers, keeping workers healthy and safe, giving them the chance to learn new skills, guaranteeing fair pay and fair treatment.Through the worst of the recession, we made thousands of agreements to save jobs and keep plants open. And let me say this, I believe there isn't a boardroom in Britain that wouldn't benefit from giving ordinary workers a voice." You can read the full speech here.    

The three days of Conference saw a range of debates- with Education very much on the agenda- both challenging the cuts and attacks from Gove and the coalition at home, and also solidarity with teachers and trade unionists abroad- Christine Blower told conference about the imprisonment of Colombian Trade Unionist Huber Ballesteros. He was supposed to be a guest at the congress, but has been imprisoned in Colombia for his trade union activities.

My friend Annette Pryce from the NUT Executive representing LGBT Teachers spoke twice in the debates on equality, including highlighting the scandal of Section 28 style policies being introduced via the back door by Academies and Free Schools.

Labour Leader Ed Miliband addressed congress, and made some welcome pledges on tackling zero-hours contracts and moving towards a Living Wage. In response to a question from NUT Presdient Beth Davies, he confirmed that an incoming Labour Government would give Local Authorities back their powers over planning school places.

The congress fringe also discussed a range of issues- from blacklisting, Living Wage and the future of the NHS (great appearance from Andy Burnham), to international issues such as Cuba, Venezuala and the fate of Colombian Trade Unionists.

As a Trades Council secretary, I was pleased that Conference agreed to enhance the role of the local trades councils (such as mine in Eastbourne) in the life of the TUC.

We Marched- now the Campaign goes on !

Trade Unionists from Eastbourne were proud to join 1,000 Eastbourne residents to protest against the closure of Maternity services at Eastbourne District General Hospital.  All political parties were represented, as well as the business and faith communities. 

Trade Unionists marched with the Eastbourne Trades Council banner, and were joined by delegations from the National Union of Teachers, GMB, and Unison.

Lee Comfort- trades council Unite delegate and secretary of Eastbourne Labour Party gave a rousing speech, alongside representatives of other organsiations, and, of course the great local health campaigner Liz Walke.

The campaign goes on- visit the Save the DGH campaign site for how you can get involved.