Your messages to Cameron
24.02.09
Just a few hours ago, we sent an email to union members and activists, asking them to sign our petition to tell David Cameron and the Tories that our workplace rights matter.
Already, hundreds of people have signed up, to make it clear that the rights that are guaranteed in the Social Chapter (that Cameron has vowed to scrap as his “top priority”) are non-negotiable.
The right for parents have time off to spend time with young children, the right to four weeks paid holiday, the right to be consulted about changes in our workplace - these are too important to put at risk. Sign the petition here:
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/hiddentruth
You’ve also been letting us know your messages to Cameron. These are just some of them.
“Going back to the Thatcher era are we Dave? Thought it wouldn’t take long for the real you to emerge!”
“The Social Chapter provides us with MINIMUM standards at work - you should be working to improve on these rights not taking them away.”
“You won’t get my vote with your plans to pull out of the Social Chapter.”
“Leopards don’t change their spots - once a Tory always a Tory.”
“We fought for far too long to sit by and allow you to take our rights away.”
Add your voice to our campaign too.
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/hiddentruth
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Faking it
24.02.09
The Tories have put a lot of effort - and money - in to telling us that they’ve changed. “Dave” has cycled around town, hugged some huskies and popped in to Woolies for photo ops. He has talked about a “good society” and claimed to be “progressive”.
But for all his family friendly rhetoric, Dave’s plans to pull Britain out of the Social Chapter reveal the truth behind all the slick marketing. He wants to roll your rights back by twenty years. But we can stop him - sign our petition to protect your rights.
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/hiddentruth
The Social Chapter is our legal guarantee that we get four weeks paid holiday, the right to be consulted about changes at work and parental leave - axing it would deny parents the guaranteed right to spend time with their newborn babies in the critical first few weeks. Those are just a few examples of the dozens of rights under threat.
And Cameron has insisted that scrapping it would be his “top priority” if he got in to No 10.
He may say the Tories have changed, but the facts are clear. Ignore the PR, just look at the policy. He’s faking it. That’s why we need to send him a message - sign our petition and ask your friends to do the same:
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/hiddentruth
Thank you. Our rights are precious - we need your help to protect them.
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campaigning with unions in Burton
23.02.09
I’m Ruth Smeeth, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Burton in the Midlands.
I am also a proud and active trade unionist. In 2007, Burton-on-Trent was designated the average British town by the BBC. The reality is that my constituency is anything but average! Burton encompasses 2 towns and over 20 villages. We have a huge range of industries and several very large employers; from the breweries to JCB and the local NHS Trust. As such we have a proud tradition of strong trade unionism and many active branches.
As an aspiring politician, the greatest challenge is engaging with the local community and making sure that you are highlighting issues that really matter to working people. This is even more important in the current economic environment. As a committed, lifelong trade unionist my relationship with my local unions, convenors, stewards and members has meant that not only do I have a good understanding of the issues facing families across East Staffordshire, but I also can offer practical solutions to the challenges we face together.
At the moment, in partnership with UNITE, I am campaigning to save the Fox’s Biscuits factory in Uttoxeter. Our campaign aims to save 950 jobs and over 600 UNITE members and is symbolic of the relationship which can and should exist between the Labour Party and the wider labour movement.
I’ll regularly be contributing to unionstogether.org.uk, and hope to keep you up-to-date about the important campaigning work I am doing with the unions in Burton.
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Justice for asbestos victims?
20.02.09
On 17th October 2007 the House of Lords dealt a terrible blow for the ordinary men and women who, having been negligently exposed to asbestos, went on to develop pleural plaques. And in doing so, it gave a £1.4 billion windfall for the Insurance Companies.
As an elected member of Labour’s National Policy Forum, trade union lawyer, and passionate defender of the rights of working people, it was my privilege to be able to propose a policy amendment calling for the Government to overturn the House of Lord’s decision at last year’s Warwick meeting.
After challenging but constructive meetings with Ministers, and with considerable support from colleagues in various trade unions (not least UCATT, Unite and the GMB) and who have consistently campaigned on this issue) we reached an agreement with the Government which confirmed that pleural plaques victims would receive compensation provided there was a positive outcome to the then ongoing Ministry of Justice consultation process.
That Consultation has now closed and Gordon Brown recently confirmed that an announcement would be made very soon.
The powerful Insurance lobby have attempted to confuse the debate - arguing that any reversal of the Lord’s ruling would open the floodgates to thousands of claims and undermine the very laws of negligence. This is plain nonsense. For over twenty years, victims had been compensated and their employment histories (and crucially, details of their employer’s insurers) had been logged - this has never resulted in an unmanageable flood of claims, nor has it brought into question the most basic principles of negligence.
Insurers knew full well of the dangers of asbestos, set their premiums accordingly and had it well within their powers and expertise to advise employers on the correct precautions to be taken.
Pleural plaques are the most common pathological effect of asbestos inhalation. The pleura is the slippery membrane which covers the lungs and aids respiration. The plaques are fibrous tissue / scars. These scars are irreversible and their presence is absolute evidence of exposure to asbestos at a sufficient level to cause other types of asbestos-induced disease, eg mesothelioma, a cancer which is always fatal.
Some medical evidence has suggested that the level of exposure required to cause pleural plaques places the victim at a one thousand times greater risk of developing mesothelioma, which is now the third fastest growing cancer in the UK. It kills more people a year than road traffic collisions kill those travelling in motor vehicles.
My clients have often referred to feeling like they have a ‘ticking time bomb’ inside of them. Dr Rudd (regarded as one of the leading experts on asbestos, he is a Consultant at St Barts and head of their Mesothelioma Research Centre) said: “...for many the anxiety is ever present. Every ache or pain or feeling of shortness of breath renews the fear that this may be the onset of mesothelioma. The anxiety is real for all and for some has a serious adverse effect on quality of life.”
The three Lord Justices in the Court of Appeal and the five Law Lords in the House of Lords all accepted that each of the claimants had been negligently exposed to asbestos by their employer. How can it be right that an employer negligently exposes an employee to asbestos, who as a consequence suffers an irreversible change to their body, and who as a consequence of that exposure to asbestos is placed at a significantly increased risk of developing a fatal cancer with all of the anxiety that must come with that, and yet escapes without legal liability? What effect will this have in encouraging employers to ensure safe use of chemicals and substances in the future?
When law and politics collide, it must be remembered that it is for the Courts to say what the law is, but it is for Parliament to say what the law should be, and make it so.
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