Author: Southend UNISON Executive

FOSSETTS FOR THE PEOPLE Public Meeting – Saturday 23rd February at 3:30pm – @UNISON.Southend @SouthendLabour #Southend

'Fossetts For The People' announcement graphic reading: “PUPLIC MEETING Saturday 23rd February at 3:30pm – St Luke’s Church, St Luke’s Road, Southend-on-Sea SS2 4AB”. This announcement text overlays a photograph of Fossetts For The People campaigners Colin Nickless, Kate Sheehan and Mike Fieldhouse holding placards.
Fossetts For The People campaigners Colin Nickless, Kate Sheehan and Mike Fieldhouse.

Southend UNISON and Southend Labour support the Fossetts For The People campaign for social housing in Southend – please attend their first public meeting.

 WHERE: St Luke’s Church, St Luke’s Road, Southend-on-Sea SS2 4AB
 WHEN: Saturday 23rd February at 3:30pm
 EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/397368017708243/

Fossetts For The People believe that Southend Borough Council should step in and develop the 14 acres of land at Fossetts Farm, recently sold off by the NHS to Homes England, and build good quality social housing for rent to families and people most in need. About 40% of councils throughout England have already built similar developments through publicly owned Local Housing Companies (LHCs) – let’s do it in Southend too!

If you can’t make the meeting, please sign the petition to Southend Borough Council and visit the Fossetts For The People Facebook page for more information and to get involved.

Would you like to attend the STAND UP TO RACISM Trade Union Conference 2019?

Feature image reading: "Contact the branch to attend the STAND UP TO RACISM Trade Union Conference on Saturday 23 February 2019 at 10:30am–5:00pm at Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD."

If you’re a Southend UNISON member and would like to attend the STAND UP TO RACISM Trade Union Conference on Saturday 23 February please contact the branch ASAP for financial support. We will be covering conference registration, travel expenses and subsistence for 10 delegates on a first-come, first-served basis. In exchange, we would want your feedback and support on how we can best organise around issues raised at the conference and how we can be proactive in stopping the far right and challenging racism in our workplaces and community during 2019.

The STAND UP TO RACISM Trade Union Conference is an opportunity for trade unionists to discuss, debate and organise and will focus on challenging institutional racism and mobilising for the UN Anti-Racism Day Demonstration* on Saturday 16th March. A full conference programme of speakers, plenaries and workshops will be announced soon.

For up-to-date information about the conference please visit the conference Facebook page and if you wish to register contact us and we’ll include you in our branch group booking.

* More information about the UN Anti-Racism Day Demonstration coming soon.

Southend UNISON affiliates with the LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL campaign! @labourlabel @cleanclothes

Announcement graphic reading: “Southend UNISON affiliates with LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL” Above this heading text are the respective Southend UNISON and LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL logos.

Southend UNISON affiliates with Labour Behind the Label.

Labour Behind the Label campaigns for garment workers’ rights worldwide. They support garment workers’ efforts to improve their working conditions and change the fashion industry for the better. They raise awareness, provide information and promote international solidarity between workers and consumers, and represent the Clean Clothes Campaign in the UK.

For more information about Labour Behind the Label campaigns and events visit their website: https://labourbehindthelabel.org

And to learn more about other campaigning organisations that Southend UNISON supports please visit our Affiliates page.

Write to Coca-Cola today and condemn their anti-union practices and demand they cease to abuse the rights of their workers #CokeZeroRights

Subvertisement feature image reading: “Coca-Cola: Zero Rights”

Members, Stewards and Officers,

Southend UNISON has been asked by Southend West Constituency Labour Party and fellow trade union branches to help raise awareness of the virulent attacks on workers in the UK, Ireland and around the world by the Coca-Cola Company.

Please write to Coca-Cola today and condemn their anti-union practices and demand they cease to abuse the rights of their workers. The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) have set up a campaign page where you can  SEND A MESSAGE  to Mr. James Quincey (CEO, The Coca-Cola Company) in just a few seconds.

Southend UNISON express anger and disappointment that the Coca-Cola Company is failing to live up to expectations with regards to workers’ and human rights at its factories and bottling plants. The Coca-Cola Company has received repeated warnings from the IUF to deal with their ongoing rights violations. However, the company has failed to take any meaningful action to remedy the abuses seen at its own operations, and at its bottlers in Haiti, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Also in the UK, The Coca-Cola Company announced the closure of plants in Milton Keynes and Northampton, affecting the jobs of nearly 300 people. The Coca-Cola Company, which makes £1.7 billion a year in profit, made the decision to close the factory and warehouse as they believe they will save around £12 million a year. This is despite the Milton Keynes factory being the number one site in Europe in terms of ‘cost-per-case’.

Abuses are not limited to the bottling system. In Ireland, The Coca-Cola Company had earlier closed its directly owned, strongly unionised concentrate plant (where the ‘secret formula’ syrup is manufactured) in Drogheda and has recently announced the closure of a second plant in Athy while refusing to engage with the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) at the remaining concentrate plant in Ballina.

Workers are being victimised as a result of Coca-Cola’s virulent anti-union views and corporate greed causing basic human rights to workers in Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere to be denied and hard-working and productive staff all across Europe being made redundant to boost already significant profits.

For more information visit the Coca-Cola Zero Rights campaign page.

 SEND A MESSAGE to The Coca-Cola Company 

Counter Demonstration – Unite Against Fascist Tommy Robinson – Sunday 9th December #NoRacismNoFascism

Announcement graphic reading: "Unite Against Fascist Tommy Robinson – Counter Demonstration – Sunday 9th December." This announcement text overlaids a photograph of the Stand Up To Racism vanguard at the National Unity Demonstration on Saturday 17th November 2018."

It is vital we come out in numbers to expose and oppose Robinson, who has a history of racism, Islamophobia and membership of the fascist British National Party. He founded the English Defence League and has made links with fascists and far right politicians from Geert Wilders in Holland to the Front National in France.

He claims his march, supported by racist UKIP, is about a “Brexit Betrayal”, but the reality is that he is a fascist who is looking to exploit May’s crisis to his own nasty ends – building a far right street movement here in Britain.

Whatever you think of Brexit, this demonstration is not about leave/remain, it is about uniting and coming out on the streets to oppose Tommy Robinson, fascism and racism.

For more information please visit the Unite Against Fascist Tommy Robinson Facebook event page.

SAVE THE DATE: On Saturday 16 March 2019, Stand Up To Racism will be back on the streets in big numbers again on UN Anti Racism Day, where internationally anti-racist movements are holding marches to say #NoRacismNoFascism. Given the growth of the far right, racism and fascist forces across Europe, the US and Brazil, this year’s march takes on an even greater urgency now.
 
Join, invite to, and share the Facebook event page for UN Anti Racism Day today.

Southend UNISON extends solidarity with Ladywood Primary School’s Dinner Ladies who have gone on permanent strike! #StarsInOurSchools UNDER ATTACK! @UNISONBarnsley

Announcement graphic reading: "Save our Dinner Ladies, UNISON Barnsley Branch. Stars In Our Schools UNDER ATTACK!" This announcement text overlaids a photograph of picketing Ladywood Primary School’s Dinner Ladies.
Stars In Our Schools UNDER ATTACK! Picketing Ladywood Primary School’s Dinner Ladies.

Southend UNISON has sent £250 toward the Dinner Ladies’ strike hardship fund and calls on the Governors and Headteacher to stop attacking our STARS IN OUR SCHOOLS and drop their unacceptable plans to axe jobs.

The Headteacher and Board of Governors of Ladywood Primary School (Grimethorpe, Barnsley) have proposed to make all nine School Meals Supervisory Assistants (dinner ladies) redundant.

The school’s proposals would lead to the hardworking Teaching Assistants replacing the dinner ladies and supervising the children at dinnertime. These plans have been put forward because the school’s management do not believe the dinner ladies have the skills to support the children.

UNISON is campaigning hard to save our members’ jobs. The redundancies will be devastating for our dinner ladies, and it’s unfair to ask the already overworked Teaching Assistants to pick up this important job. Our members know how damaging these proposals would be to the school’s children.

We believe the proposals are completely unnecessary and the school does not need to do this. The dedicated dinner ladies are at the heart of school life and have been supporting the children for generations. UNISON does not believe the school has to make these redundancies because of budget cuts.

We are asking all UNISON members and friends to stand together in solidarity and sign the petition at: https://bit.ly/2mdyaBP

To learn more about the Dinner Ladies’ situation and to contribute to the hardship fund please visit Barnsley UNISON website and/or contact the branch.

Come along to the SOUTHEND UNISON XMAS SOCIAL – Friday 7th December, 5:00 – 7:30pm

Festive announcement graphic reading: Southend-on-Sea Local Government Branch. UNISON Xmas Social. When: Friday 7th December, 5:00 – 7:30pm. Where: Southend Borough Council, Committee Room 4a, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6ER. Free buffet, drinks and 2019 UNISON diary. Raffle, stalls and entertainment. Come along, catch-up and enjoy the company! All UNISON members welcome!

Southend UNISON Xmas Social
WHERE: Southend Borough Council, Committee Room 4a, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6ER
WHEN: Friday 7th December, 5:00 – 7:30pm

All UNISON members welcome – free buffet, drinks and 2019 UNISON diary – plus raffle, stalls and entertainment. Come along, catch-up and enjoy the company!

Image of festive poster/flyer reading: Southend-on-Sea Local Government Branch. UNISON Xmas Social. When: Friday 7th December, 5:00 – 7:30pm. Where: Southend Borough Council, Committee Room 4a, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6ER. Free buffet, drinks and 2019 UNISON diary. Raffle, stalls and entertainment. Come along, catch-up and enjoy the company! All UNISON members welcome!

UNISON Southend-on-Sea extends solidarity with Kirklees Bin Workers

Announcement graphic reading: “Bin strike is ON. UNISON Kirklees Branch."

In West Yorkshire, Kirklees Bin Workers were on strike in July and have unanimously voted for an all-out indefinite strike.

Paul Holmes, Kirklees UNISON Branch Secretary, said that although Kirklees Council had now addressed the issue of members’ holiday by hiring 10 permanent staff and 30 temporary ones, the problems regarding alleged bullying, harassment and racism, and unmanageable workloads had not been resolved.

UNISON Southend-on-Sea has sent £200 toward the strike hardship fund and will be organising a workplace collection to raise further funds and awareness if necessary.

To learn more about the Kirklees Bin Workers situation download these newspaper cuttings and/or contact the UNISON Kirklees Branch.

To contribute to the hardship fund please make cheques payable to ‘UNISON Kirklees Branch’ and post to: UNISON Kirklees Branch Hardship Fund, 4 New North Parade, Huddersfield HD1 5JP

Latest News:

Paul Holmes, Kirklees UNISON Branch Secretary, has said an all-out bin strike across Kirklees has been suspended and an agreement with Kirklees Council has been reached.

Call for Southend UNISON members to attend the STAND UP TO RACISM International Conference in London on Saturday 20 October

Announcement graphic reading: “International Conference: How Do We Defeat The Rise Of Fascism & Racism? Saturday 20 October, Friends Meeting House, London NW1 2BJ. Speakers include: Diane Abbott MP, John McDonnell MP plus parliamentarians, faith and community leaders, and campaigners from across Europe and the US.

If you’re a Southend UNISON member and would like to attend the STAND UP TO RACISM International Conference: How Do We Defeat The Rise Of Fascism & Racism? in London on Saturday 20 October please contact the branch ASAP for financial support.

We will be covering conference registration, travel expenses and subsistence for 6 delegates on a first-come, first-served basis. In exchange, we would want your feedback and support on how we can best organise around issues raised at the conference and how we can be proactive in challenging racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in our workplace and community.

The STAND UP TO RACISM International Conference will bring together trade unionists, campaigners, parliamentarians, and faith and community leaders from across the UK, Europe and the US to help build a mass movement against the far right on our streets, in our workplaces, on our campuses and in our communities – with a focused on mobilising for the forthcoming National Unity Demonstration Against Fascism & Racism* on Saturday 17 November.

For more information about the conference please visit here and if you wish to attend please contact the branch office ASAP.

* More information about the National Unity Demonstration Against Fascism & Racism coming soon.