Unions Together

Support for the Minimum Wage?

17.04.09

The National Minimum Wage has woven fairness into the fabric of our society. It’s helped make work pay and shows just what good the unions and Labour can do when they work together.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated the Minimum Wage’s 10th anniversary. And while it remains an important step forward, there’s still more to do. We need to make sure that we build on ten years of success, to make it stronger, fairer, and to ensure that no-one is left unprotected by it. But does your MP support these goals? Ask them now:

http://unionstogether.org.uk/nmw

While the trade unions celebrate the Minimum Wage, we’re also campaigning to improve it. We want to see apprentices covered by the minimum wage. We need to end the discrimination that lets employers pay young people less just because of their age. We need to make sure that the law is enforced - with tough penalties to make sure that no employer can wriggle out of paying it. And, of course, we want to make sure that the Minimum Wage keeps increasing. We need the Minimum Wage to go up in real terms and as a proportion of average wages each year - and that includes an increase this year too, as in the current climate fair pay is more important than ever.

10 years ago, there were many who said the Minimum Wage would never work - that it was a step too far. But we have proved them wrong, and shown the good that government can do by acting boldly to make work fairer.

Yet despite all the good the Minimum Wage has brought - there are still those who oppose it. So, on the Minimum Wage’s 10th birthday, we want our supporters to contact their MPs and ask them if they will commit to strengthen and support the Minimum Wage over the next 10 years too. Send your message now:

http://unionstogether.org.uk/nmw

It’s an important question to ask. Not many people know this, but senior Tory MP Christopher Chope is trying to introduce a new law that would allow people to opt-out of Minimum Wage payments - effectively killing the legislation. He would drag us back to the days when many people were left on poverty pay. And the Tories have a track record here. Did you know that David Cameron actively campaigned against the Minimum Wage - even when some people were earning as little as £1.20 an hour?

We think that this is such an important issue that MPs need to be candid with their constituents - are they committed to supporting and strengthening fair wages, or do they want to take us back to legal poverty pay?

Ask your MP now -

http://unionstogether.org.uk/nmw

A decade ago, trade unions and our Labour Government fought for the Minimum Wage, while the Tories mounted a whole-hearted campaign against it. We won that battle - but does your MP support the Minimum Wage now? Please take two minutes of your time to email your MP to find out.

http://unionstogether.org.uk/nmw

Your messages to the PM

03.04.09

Today, we asked our supporters to say ‘well done’ to the PM for getting a global agreement to invest 1.1 trillion dollars in getting our economies going again at the G20 yesterday, and to ask him to make sure securing and defending jobs is at the heart of our UK strategy for economic recovery.

We’ve had a great response already. These are just some of the messages you’ve sent:

“a working Britain is a better Britain!”

“Left to the Tories we would have no fiscal stimulus, no injection of support for our economy and jobs.”

“Yes, it is a “well done” but do please put a plan of action in place to build up and sustain the jobs which should form the heart of the domestic recovery plan.”

“Well done, and now the real work begins.”

“Well done on the G20 conference - continue to support the public sector and all workers.”

Send the PM your message now:

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/welldone  

Why we matter

27.03.09

People often scoff at politics. They say that politicians are just in it for themselves. That politics doesn’t matter. That there’s no point because no one listens any more.

But it’s not true. And I wanted to show you why. We’ve just made this video and I wanted you to be one of the first to see it -

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/yourrights  

Over the past 11 years the trade unions, working in tandem with Labour, have brought change to Britain. The minimum wage. Better maternity and paternity rights. And let’s not forget the extension of paid leave - meaning that all full time workers have 20 days holiday + 8 Bank Holidays.  But David Cameron is threatening all of these rights and more.

He says that pulling out of the Social Chapter - the legal guarantee that protects hundreds of working rights - is his “top priority.” Senior Tories openly state that Cameron plans on letting the National Minimum Wage “melt away.”

If they get their way the Tories would condemn thousands of workers to a life on poverty pay. 

But we believe in something better. Watch the video and then share it with your friends -

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/yourrights

These are tough economic times, but it’s fair rights at work which will help us get through them - and build a fair and just economy, and society, for when the good times return.

Watch our latest video and then sign our petition.

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/yourrights

Thanks for all that you’re doing to help us support working rights - our rights are precious and with your help we’ll keep them.

Safer betting shops

23.03.09

I have spent the best part of the last two years working with the trade union Community highlighting some of the very real abuse being faced by workers in betting shops across the UK.

These are workers who could potentially face the full monty of abuse from verbal, to physical, spitting to sawn-off shotguns. I’ve heard stories about workers emptying games machines of thousands of pounds - on their own - and being threatened with disciplinary action if they locked the bookmakers shop for protection while carrying out the task.

A campaign to highlight the Community campaign in the Scottish Parliament attracted huge cross party support and hopefully played a part in focussing the industry on the importance of tackling this problem.

The hands-on approach from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell, who invited unions, local authorities and business representatives to a round table meeting in November has led to greater and more constructive dialogue from all sides of industry. A small working group was developed from this first meeting to look at how guidelines could be developed - initially in London - to help the industry deal with the issues more effectively. This group reported back to the Secretary of State this week and it was agreed in principle that a stakeholder forum including Community and the ABB would be set up to find ways of improving betting shop safety.

When I first got involved in the campaign I detected a natural resistance from employers to engage with the union because they felt the campaign was about trade union recognition rather than health and safety. These two issues have to be separated because there is a difference between recognising the legitimacy of the union to raise these issues and union recognition in terms of collective bargaining.

It’s early days but if anyone had suggested a year ago that all sides of the industry would have agreed a way of working together I would have been very sceptical. Community are now at the table with industry and that can only be positive for workers in the sector and in my view, improve safety. There are so many lessons to learnt from other sectors - particularly transport - where joint working has been very effective.

Some of the language used by the industry about Community did concern me and throws up a wider question of how trade unions can be viewed in this country. Whereas we believe the trade unions are a legitimate and integral part of our democracy - many still view them not as social partners - but as an inconvenience. For me that is a sharp reminder of what life would be like under a Conservative Government - where that view would be promoted, tolerated and very popular with some

And that is why I believe we have to make a really strong case to directly to trade union members as we approach the general election. If anyone thinks that life under a Tory Government will somehow be better for trade union members, they are wrong.

John Park is a Member of the Scottish Parliament and was elected as a regional list member for Mid Scotland and Fife in 2007. He is Shadow Minister for Economy and Skills. He has been an active trade unionist and a member of Unite the Union since he started working in 1989 and a Labour Party member for the majority of his working life.

“We won’t give our rights up lightly”

19.03.09

Just yesterday afternoon, we sent out an email to our supporters asking you to sign a petition to stop David Cameron rolling back our hard-won workplace rights.

Hundreds of you have already signed up, and emailed your friends to ask them to sign up too.

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/phoney

Many more of you have got in touch, to tell us what message you’d send to ‘Dave’ about your rights at work.

These are just a few of your messages:

“Rights at work have been won through years of struggle and they are vital to all of us. We won’t give them up lightly - they need extending, not cutting back, in these difficult times.”

“Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents fought tooth and nail to ensure that the working person was given rights and protection at work - in the face of conservative opposition. The country will be a poorer place for all if these rights and protections are not constantly improved - let alone undermined.”

“Rights to paid leave, a living wage, our working conditions and time to spend with our children of whom we are so proud and have such aspirations are fundamental to improving the social cohesion of are society that I am so proud of Mr Cameron. You are always harping on about broken Britain and yet by seeking to change these rights for British workers you will undermine the society you claim to want to mend.”

“I support the Social Chapter. It guarantees rights for the most vulnerable amongst our working population. Scrap your plans to scrap it.”

“Its time the workers that clean the streets, do night shifts to run our hospitals, hard working teachers and many others had their work appreciated. Labour has done a lot for them. Holiday pay for part-time workers, minimum wage, tax credit, winter fuel payment to name a few.”

Make your voice heard too:

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/phoney

Who’s the “phoney”, Dave?

18.03.09

So, David Cameron called Gordon Brown “a phoney” at Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon. Of course, he had to immediately withdraw his attack - but I thought it might be interesting to remind you about the truth behind David Cameron’s spin.

While Cameron pretends to have our best interests at heart, he openly states that he wants to axe the laws that protect our working rights. In fact, he says that this is his “top priority.” Brown, on the other hand, has increased paid leave from 20 to 28 days, given all with children under 16 the right to request flexible working - and let’s not forget the minimum wage.

So who’s the phoney, Dave?

What Cameron doesn’t understand is that strong working rights are a key part of fixing our economy.

In these tough economic times we should be banding round together - not threatening workers with rolling their rights back. Send Cameron the message that your rights matter - sign our petition now:

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/phoney

In truth, the Tories simply haven’t changed. No matter what they say, they remain a Party of the few not the many. I think we deserve better - tell Cameron that your rights matter, especially in these tough economic times, by signing the petition now.

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/phoney

The stories behind the stats

18.03.09

“I was once made redundant and I found it the most traumatic experience. The aim of a redundancy is that trade unions and government must work together to lessen the impact of any loss of work.”

That was one of the many messages that our supporters sent us last week, to back up our campaign for making redundancy pay fairer.

Just this morning, we heard the news we’d been expecting for a while - a rise in unemployment to over 2million.

It’s easy to get caught up in statistics though - and easy to forget that behind the figures there are real people whose lives are being turned upside down. And not just those who have lost their jobs - as Paul Kenny, the Vice-Chair of TULO and General Secretary of the GMB has said, “as well as the misery for the two million on the dole add the fear of millions of others who know that they too are at risk of redundancy.”

And the Labour government also understands the importance of remembering the stories behind the statistics. Just today, Tony McNulty, the employment minister has said: “these latest figures show the human impact of the global recession. No matter how hard times get, we will not give up on anyone who loses their job and will continue to provide real help to everyone who needs it.”

Unions have been campaigning hard over recent weeks for a fairer deal on redundancy pay, to make life that bit easier for those losing their jobs. Just last Friday, we saw dozens of Labour MPs turn out to support Lindsay Hoyle’s bill in the House of Commons.

Thousands of people got in touch with their MPs, and hundreds got in touch with us to tell us their story about why redundancy pay should be fairer. The strength of feeling is clear - and now we hope the government listen and act in the coming weeks.

These are some more of your stories:

“It is important at any time but with the current recession it is vital that workers get a decent redundancy settlement.”

“I’m living in Oxford East and there have been a large amount of job losses announced. I only think it fair that they are given a decent redundancy package.”

“For a Labour government, fairness is everything.”

We won!

13.03.09

I’ve just got back from the gallery in the House of Commons where I was watching Lindsay Hoyle’s Bill being debated.

Thanks to your work, enough MPs turned up to make sure Parliamentary loopholes couldn’t be used to “talk out” the Bill.

So thank you - we won this round!

The video we made with our supporters was shown and sent to MPs yesterday. We’re being told it had a big impact.

Watch it now:

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/fairplayvideo  

We’ve taken an important step towards fairer redundancy pay today - and we couldn’t have done it without you.

We’ve still got a long way to go before this becomes law - but the message is clear: people want fair play on redundancy pay. We hope the Government will listen and act in the coming weeks.

We’ve shown what we can achieve when we organise and rally round together.

Thank you.

fair play on redundancy pay - your words

11.03.09

This Friday, Members of Parliament will have the chance to vote to make redundancy pay fairer, as Lindsay Hoyle MP’s Bill is due to receive its second reading in the Commons.

Labour’s trade unions have worked together on this campaign, to get a better deal for workers - a better deal that is more important than ever in these tough economic times.

Unions work hard to look after their members’ jobs - but when redundancies do happen, unions also want to make sure that those affected get a fair deal. But for most workers, if they are made redundant, the payment they would get for each year of service is not based on how much they earn a week - it is capped at £350 - about half of average earnings.

This is an issue that matters to millions of ordinary working people up and down the country - thousands of people have got in touch with their MPs to ask them to support the Bill. Earlier this week, we asked our supporters to get in touch with us to let us know why fair redundancy pay matters to them.

This is what you told us:

Being made redundant has a huge impact on individuals, families and communities. It’s only fair that we make sure people get the fairest deal possible.

We have had great support for this campaign from Labour Members of Parliament, and we urge them to turn out this Friday to vote the Bill through. And we also hope the government listens - to their own MPs, to the trade unions, and to all the ordinary people who deserve a better deal - and acts to right this wrong.

Tony Woodley

Chair, TULO - Labour’s unions together
Joint General Secretary, Unite the Union

PS. Email your MP now if you haven’t yet done so.

MPs urged to oppose blacklisting

10.03.09

MPs asked to support EDM 1020 to oppose blacklisting 

Following last week’s news about blacklisting in the construction industry, trade unions are calling on MPs to support Early Day Motion 1020. The Commons motion calls on the government to act now to ban employers and agencies from blacklisting workers.

If you have a few minutes to spare, take a look at whether your MP has signed up yet, and if not then drop them a line to ask them to support this important campaign.

Advice for workers who think they may have been blacklisted

UCATT is also providing advice for workers who think they may have been blacklisted. They say:

The Consulting Association, held and developed data on construction workers, including personal information, marital status, employment history, and trade union membership and activity. Details on more than 3,200 persons were held in the database, many of them could be UCATT members, who due to the blacklist were barred from employment. The company is now facing prosecution by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Over 40 construction companies, including the majority of major UK construction firms, bought the data from the firm before employing new workers.

Companies investigating about workers before employment include Balfour Beatty, Bam Nuttall, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Morgan Ashurst, Shepherd, Robert McAlpine, Skanska and many others. For the full list of companies, click here.

If you are concerned you could have been on the blacklist by The Consulting Association you need to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

You can call the ICO Helpline on 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 545 745. The Helpline will be able to answer the enquiries only from Monday, 16 March 2009, 9.00am.

You will need to provide your name, date of birth and National Insurance number.