Vestas: TUC Writes to Government

Submitted by Admin on 3 August, 2009 - 18:28

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has sent the following letter to Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change ...

Dear Ed

Vestas Wind Systems

As you are aware, the TUC shares your absolute commitment to tackle climate change, including through the development of a low carbon industrial strategy with quality green jobs and skills at its heart.

Making the Case for Reparation

Submitted by Admin on 3 August, 2009 - 13:23

When Chattel enslavement ended - not in 1807 as some would like us to believe but in 1838 - it was simply replaced by bonded enslavement whereby these same ‘freed’ Afrikans were forced to work on the very same plantation from which they had been ‘freed’.

Worst still, the people who had for so many years been exploiting, brutalising, raping and murdering them were compensated for these crimes, by the very same government who wanted to claim credit for their freedom.

No Afrikan has ever been compensated!

Clip-On Sunglasses For Spectacle-Wearing Train Operators

Submitted by Admin on 3 August, 2009 - 11:25

This memo from London Underground management, dated 16 July 2009, outlines the arrangements for clip-on sunglasses for drivers who wear specs.

Reminder Of Arrangements For The Issue Of Clip-On Sunglasses To Spectacle-Wearing Train Operators

In 2002, in order to assist spectacle-wearing Train Operators to better manage glare whilst driving, the Trains Health and Safety Council endorsed the issue of clip-on sunglasses. Arrangements were put in place for those spectacle-wearing Train Operators who wanted them, to be issued with free made-to-measure clip-on sunglasses via the Department of Optometry at City University.

Resolution: Mayor Johnson and 'Chicken Feed'

Submitted by Admin on 1 August, 2009 - 21:33

This resolution, submitted by Jubilee South and East London Line branch, was passed at the August Regional Council meeting.

This Branch/Regional Council is appalled, but not surprised, by the recent comments made by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, that his payment of £250k, for writing a Sunday newspaper column, was nothing more than ‘chicken feed’.

We feel this is a disgrace, considering the Mayor’s actions in intervening in the current LUL pay dispute, and also the failure to pay cleaners the London living wage.

Resolution: Swine Flu

Submitted by Admin on 1 August, 2009 - 18:25

This resolution, submitted by Jubilee South and East London Line branch, was passed unanimously at the August Regional Council meeting.

This Branch/Regional Council believes that LUL management's consistent refusal to meet with the safety council and discuss a strategy for dealing with the outbreak of swine influenza is completely unacceptable.

Update: Jobs/Pay/Justice Dispute

Submitted by Admin on 1 August, 2009 - 17:36

By Steve Hedley, Regional Organiser

We met management at ACAS to once again try and safeguard your jobs by simply getting them to abide by their own agreements.

We discussed the latest position at the Regional Council meeting this Thursday 1630 at Somers Town Community Centre (150 Ossulston Street, Camden [nearest station King's Cross]). We had to discuss the dispute at the Regional Council because management have turned down our request for paid release of reps.