The Socialist 19 June 2013

Cuts can be beaten!

Cuts can be beaten!

Why we're going to the NSSN conference: Coventry communications workers

Fight the Tories for right to a decent education system

Student loans threat: Action needed on student debt mountain

Lowest living standards in a decade

Sir 'sell-out' Brendan

Them & Us

We can beat the bedroom tax - Supplement to the Socialist

Let's axe the bedroom tax

Turkey: Eyewitness to Erdogan's state terror

Southampton byelection: Labour vote halved

Fire cuts - public will support strike action

Stopping the BNP from meeting

Home care: Cuts and outsourcing equal abuse

Wales campaigners fight for NHS

Socialist Party news

Bin workers strike for seven days

NUT members strike to defend teaching assistant posts

Housing support workers say 'enough is enough'

Unison Local Government conference: Leadership faces delegates' anger

Support for socialist alternative to pro-cuts New Labour at GMB conference

Wales Shop Stewards' Network conference

Workplace news in brief

Budding trade unionists and passionate Chartists

BBC 'unbalanced' on Liverpool 47

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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/770/16920

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Workplace news in brief

Croydon/Bromley bins

An industrial action ballot of Unite members employed as refuse workers in Bromley and Croydon has returned a majority in favour of strike action in both boroughs.

Veolia, which runs the services on behalf of the two local authorities has offered only a 2% pay rise.

The union is demanding a pay rise that meets the real cost of living and has pointed out that previous pay awards have not kept up with inflation.

Veolia workers in Camden are also being consulted on the same offer with all the indications that these workers too will reject the offer.

Unite Regional Officer Onay Kasab said: "My members are not being greedy. Fair pay for refuse workers need not cost council tax payers a single extra penny.

"Veolia UK Plc made £121 million in profits. Nobody needs a business degree to work out that the money exists."

Veolia have engaged in a disgusting red baiting campaign against the union. Management has focussed on Onay Kasab being a member of the Socialist Party and has tried to claim that he is not acting in the workers' interests.

The fact is that Socialist Party members in leadership positions within the trade unions give members every opportunity to fight for their rights.

PCS walkout

More than 16,500 of the union's members in courts, tribunals, the Crown Prosecution Service and other justice agencies staged half-day walkouts on 17 June as part of a three-month civil service-wide campaign against government imposed cuts to pay, pensions, jobs and working conditions.

In Manchester strikers were joined for a protest by lawyers campaigning against legal aid cuts.

The union's 13,000 members in the Ministry of Defence and hundreds of staff in the Forestry Commission also struck as part of the campaign.

Crown Post Offices

CWU members working in Crown Post Offices will be striking on 20 June and 29 June in an ongoing dispute over closures, job security and pay. These strikes will be the 6th and 7th day of industrial action in the dispute.

Workers at the 373 Crown Post Offices have not had a pay rise since April 2011 while all other staff represented by CWU in the Post Office have had two pay rises totalling 6.75% in this period.

The Post Office wants to close and/or franchise 76 Crown Offices, 20% of the network, and cut up to 1,500 jobs.

These main offices comprise 3% of total post offices but handle 20% of all customers and 40% of all financial services sales.

The CWU says talks have made no progress despite the Post Office preparing to announce a £94 million profit, smashing its target by £10 million.

The union expects that these profits will mean large bonuses for senior PO executives.

In this issue

Socialist Party news and analysis

Cuts can be beaten!