Worcester Trades Union Council 2021 Newsletter No. 2 22nd February c/o , 30 Love's Grove, Worcester WR1 3BU [email protected]

International Women’s Day March 8th

Arguably the first Women’s Day was called by the Socialist Party of America for February 18th 1909. In the following year at the International Socialist Women’s Conference it was agreed to organise an annual Women’s Day. When women won the vote after the successful revolution in Russia in 1917, March 8th became their national holiday. That date became the commonly accepted date for International Women’s Day by the trade union and labour movement and was subsequently adopted by the feminist movement in the late 60’s. The United Nations joined in 1977.

The date retains a special place in the calendar of the trade union and labour movement. We will be celebrating in Worcester, safely of course. For further details [email protected]

Worcestershire Stand Up To Racism

WSUTR continues to meet. Contact your union rep to check if your branch is participating.

Two on-line discussions with guest speakers coming up, one on the IHRA “working definition of Anti-semitism” (24th February) and another on the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims definition of “Islamophobia” (date to be confirmed). If your union is participating then ask to be nominated to attend these sessions.

…. and watch out for local events …..

Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign

Lockdown does not mean that campaigning for justice stops … and funds continue to be needed.

It takes time for working people to win justice… witness the Hillsborough campaign and the recent positive moves for the Shewsbury pickets.

This set of ten greetings cards using photographs from the picket at the Orgreave Coking Plant near Sheffield / Rotherham is available through WTUC. A pack costs £9. Contact us direct to place an order.

For more information see www.otjc.org.uk

From our early Covid period collection we present………

Schools

This newsletter was produced before the announcement of the arrangements for schools in March. So we reproduce an extract from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), GMB, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), NASUWT, National Education Union (NEU), National Governance Association (NGA), Sixth Form Colleges' Association (SFCA), Unison, and Unite.

The science around the role that schools play in the overall rate of transmission is uncertain. Scientists have expressed different views on this point. What we do know is that the full reopening of schools will bring nearly 10 million pupils and staff into circulation in England – close to one fifth of the population. This is not a small easing of lockdown restrictions. It is a massive step.

These factors necessitate a cautious approach with wider school and college opening phased over a period of time. This is the approach being taken in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It allows public health experts to assess the impact of the first phase before moving to the next.

None of this is intended to stand in the way of the full reopening of schools and colleges. On the contrary. It is intended as a prudent way forward to ensure that once they are fully open, they stay open.

Keep up the pressure to retain the £20 addition to Universal Credit

The £20 increase to Universal Credit introduced early in the pandemic was something albeit small. The additional £20 makes a huge difference to many families. It is important that we keep the pressure on Government to retain it.

We will be out with banners over the coming weeks in the lead up to the Budget on 3rd March.

Even with the £20 increase, Universal Credit (UC) is only worth 1/6th of the average weekly wage at £94 per week. If UC was paid at 80% of the real living wage, it would be £260 per week. (TUC, 2020)

The Trussell Trust found that foodbank use increased by a third in areas where Universal Credit had operated for a year and by 40% or more in areas where it had operated for longer. (2019)

In one recent Citizens Advice survey over 50% of those claiming UC for the first time in lockdown experienced hardship, and many were “too scared” to take out a DWP loan. (2020)

Local government pay claim

Three local government unions have submitted a pay claim for 2021/22, which they say begins to redress a decade of cuts and recognises the key role played in the pandemic by school and council staff.

They want to see a ‘substantial’ pay increase from this April with a wage rise of at least 10 per cent for all council and school support employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Under the claim, the pay of the lowest paid workers would go above £10 per hour – lifting them above the real living wage of £9.50 per hour (outside London).

UNISON, GMB and Unite – which between them represent 1.4 million council and school employees – say only a significant pay award can begin to tackle ten years of savage local authority cuts and pay restraint. Staff working in local government have seen up to 25 per cent wiped from the value of their pay, the unions say.

Council employees include refuse collectors, library staff, teaching assistants and care employees – key workers who help communities to function, say the three unions.

The Covid crisis has been a reminder that local authorities are vital to the communities they serve, especially during the past hugely challenging year. Staff deserve better pay and working conditions, the unions say.

Unite national officer for local government Jim Kennedy said: “We are sick of the employers’ crocodile tears, refusing to recognise the contribution our members make in caring for the elderly and vulnerable. They are on the frontline, endangering their lives every day, but the response has been pay freezes, cuts to services and jobs.

UNISON head of local government Jon Richards said: “Local government workers have kept the country going during the Covid crisis. Many face daily risks to do their vital work and keep communities safe. But slipping wages and job insecurity have hit morale.

“Paying staff properly and investing in the workforce would recognise those at the sharp end who’ve given everything. It will benefit local economies and give workers a boost as they keep delivering important services into the future.”

GMB national secretary Rehana Azam said: “Our members put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public. They stepped up during a public health crisis, now employers and ministers must step up and address the pay crisis in local government and schools.

"Low-paid support staff kept schools open, often covering for teachers without increases in wages. This pandemic has shown the best of our public service workers.

Guide to Claiming Benefts and Credits following Redundancy

Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centre produced an excellent guide in December 2020, in A4 format. We liked it and wanted to reproduce it as a 12 page A5 booklet and to make it available at no more than 10p each.

We successfully applied for a grant from the TUC to cover the design costs. Now we are urging unions and others to order copies in bulk so that a large print run can be achieved. We have already received orders from UNITE , the FBU and West Cheshire TUC.

Your Branch Secretary and Delegates will now have pdf proof copies. Please encourage your Branch to order copies, not just for your members but also friends, family, neighbours and all those workers who are not organised.

Rush your orders to us at the email address below. The work of DUWC can be seen here www.duwc.org.uk

Another re-organistion of the NHS…. Titanic …. Deckchairs?

The Unite union said there was “too much rhetoric from Health Secretary Matt Hancock on tackling bureaucracy” and not enough detail on how integration would actually happen. The Tories’ last disastrous NHS reform in 2012 gave “too much sway to the profit-hungry private sector,” which the current proposals would not remove, said Unite national officer Jackie Williams.

“… we have little faith ministers have lost their obsession with outsourcing health services, despite the private sector’s abject failure over the ‘test and trace’ programme roll-out and the fiasco of how the PPE contracts were awarded.”

The GMB union described the failure to address the need to reform social care as “the hole at the heart of the health and social-care white paper.” The Prime Minister had promised to “fix” social care within 12 months of being elected, noted GMB national secretary Rehana Azam, adding: “They couldn’t keep that promise 18 months ago — why should GMB members trust them now?

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: “Scaling back the damaging internal market that forces the NHS to compete against itself and the private sector can’t happen soon enough. Today’s proposals are at least an admission they got that wrong and the start of a process to undo their costly mistakes. But the most disappointing element is what’s missing. The pandemic has laid bare the extent of the social care crisis, yet the sector must now wait many more months before it receives government attention.”

Worcester Trades Union Council WTUC is a federation of affiliated trades unions representing thousands of workers - and unemployed workers - in the city.

Member of a trade union? Then ask your branch if you are affiliated, get involved… and come and join us!

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