News updates - from the web

A round up of relevant news items, selected by Steve Ion of ARMS.

• How long do we have to continue to hear such so called solutions, either this or a social care increase in National Insurance? The answer never raised by so called academia is tax the rich. Collect the billions of unpaid taxes for a start. Increase corporation tax and shift the balance of resources from the 1% to the 99%. Sounds a bit repetitive but needs to be said again. Click here.

• Some interesting facts on the history of the state pension and how it works now. but it is an attempt to sell pension insurance. What happened to simply making sure the state pension become a living wage? Click here.

• Exercise gives your brain a boost. Click here.

• Interesting concept that clearly needs more work, but good to see the intergenerational input. Click here.

• Excellent article which clearly demonstrates the impact on health of good housing. Click here.

Hitting the phones at Jack Jones House

If the 1% pay cap had been imposed on MPs,
they would receive £6832 less now.

Merseyside ARMS members, myself, Steve Ion and Steve Hughes hit the phones recently reminding members to vote in the strike ballot.

Based on the responses of the members we spoke to, we can report overwhelming support for the proposed action and, where members declined to say which way the voted, they had returned their ballot paper.

Encouraging, but no time for complacency. As many members as possible should hit the phones and speak to the shop floor. The members appreciate the time given to contact them.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS Mersey

_____________________________

P.S. A message received today from the PCS NWRC in Liverpool:

Firstly thanks to all of you who have volunteered to participate in phone banking thus far. This is just a brief reminder that we are still looking for volunteers to participate in phone banking for the forthcoming weekend and week.

Phone banking will take place this weekend, Saturday 14h July from 10:00am and the office will be open until 2:00pm. If you can spare some time to help please contact NW Regional Office as soon as possible via e-mail: NWRC@pcs.org.uk and let us know what time you are available to come in to help.

Phone banking is also continuing on weekdays up to 7:00pm each evening until Wednesday 18th July inclusive. At this stage in the ballot we need to make all efforts to contact as many members as possible, so if you are able to give some time to help the campaign, please email the NW Regional Office.

The more reps and members help with the campaign, the greater the likelihood of our success, so please consider sparing an hour or so to assist.

Full instructions, together with a script will be provided and a full time officer will be on hand to assist you with any questions you have. Reasonable travel costs will also be met.

Thank you in anticipation of your support.

PCS North West Regional Centre

The wit and wisdom of Esther McVey

She said the rise of food banks was 'positive' and 'expected'.

She said benefit sanctions 'help' people find work and compared claimants to school children.

She vowed to take 300,000 people's disability benefits, saying 'bodies heal'.

She said jobseekers would be sanctioned for refusing a zero-hours contract.

She said there was 'no robust evidence' that linked soaring food bank use to welfare cuts.

She repeatedly defended the Bedroom Tax.

And finally: she said 'success isn't anything to do with luck'.

From the Daily Mirror. For the full article, click here.

NHS 70 - demo in Southport

Volunteers sought for Pride march - non-LGBT+ welcome

NHS London demo this Saturday - coach from Manchester

Dear all,

March with us this Saturday on our "Free for all, forever" national demonstration in defence of our National Health Service and its staff. The attempts to privatise Wigan hospitals' staff, the ongoing cuts, the conditions faced by health-workers, the inadequacy of the extra money - all of these are among the reasons to march this Saturday! So, join us!

We have a coach going from Manchester city centre, 6.30am beside Chorlton Street Coach Station and getting back there about 10pm, tickets are £25 waged (cost), £30 solidarity or £10 unwaged. To book your place email me back with what ticket rate you'd like and your phone number. Multiple bookings welcome and tickets are paid cash on the day.

Cheers,

Hugh Caffrey,
Secretary,
Greater Manchester Keep Our NHS Public.

Wirral - NHS 70 Birthday Celebration

Stand Up To Racism - North West Regional Summit

Stand Up To Racism - North West Regional Summit

Supported by Unite Against Fascism

FROM TRUMP TO TOMMY ROBINSON

TAKING ON THE RACIST RIGHT TODAY

• Saturday 23 June
• 2pm to 5pm
• The British Muslim Heritage Centre, College Road, Manchester M16 8BP.

To book places, please contact northwest@uaf.org.uk

London NHS demo 30 June - travel from Liverpool

Here are details of travel from Liverpool for the NHS demonstration in London on 30 June which PCS is supporting:

Keep Our NHS Public has booked a coach leaving from the Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BP at 7.00am on Saturday 30 June.

Tickets cost £20 waged and £10 unwaged and are available now from News from Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY.

PCS NW office will circulate further travel information and details of local demonstrations as and when they receive them.

The People's Festival Celebrating Chartism

Preston Peoples Festival: Sat 16 June 2018 

Festival Facebook page here.       Blog Preston post here.

The March of the Banners will take place after the dedication ceremony to the life of Mary Slater, a Preston nurse and heroine of the Spanish Civil War.

Banners ready for midday please at the Peace Garden, Friargate. The Banner March will move of at 12-30 led by the Lostock Hall Brass band.

Mary Slater served as a nurse with the International Brigade to help combat Franco's fascism. She was born in Preston on 24 January 1903, baptised 11 February at Preston St Mary's. Her parents were Charles Stephen and Mary Jane Slater and her father was a biscuit maker. They lived at 27 Ephrain Street.

Mary Slater

Mary was originally a weaver and via a trade union scholarship trained as a nurse. She was active in politics from an early age and was a lifelong anti-fascist. In 1931 Mary qualified as a nurse and when the Spanish civil War broke out in 1936 she went there and later joined up with the International Brigade to help combat Franco's fascism. She served in field hospitals. Many were without water which was brought in by cart. Sometimes Mary and other nurses were accommodated in local homes and schools but often they had to sleep in the open. On one occasion they converted a slaughterhouse near the fighting line into a hospital. They carried out hundreds of operations and nursed both soldiers and civilians, many of whom had pneumonia. There was no heating and they only had a few blankets. She nursed in a hospital where typhoid and dysentery broke out. Supplies were short and they only had methylated spirits and creosote to use as disinfectants. Their food often consisted only of dry bread and beans. 

She twice returned home to Britain for rest but during her rest periods, she toured the UK extensively with members of the International Brigade to raise money for Spanish Aid. Mary stayed in Spain until the civil war ended and was repatriated to Britain in August 1938. On her return, she nursed in the London Blitz. After she returned to Preston in 1945, she became matron of Ribbleton Day Nursery and then transferred to Deepdale Hospital until she retired. Mary died on 30 November 1983.

There are tapes of interviews with Mary Slater recorded in 1975 in the Imperial War Museum collections. The Imperial War Museum gives an outline of what the tapes contain, including these facts: Mary Slater was a former worker in a cotton mill who had attended Hillcroft College and then trained as a state registered nurse in London She left for Spain in 1936 without giving them notice, for which she was fined £5. This was ultimately paid by the Medical Aid Unit for Spain. "Is true working-class, having been a Lancashire mill girl before she trained as a nurse". There is a News Chronicle cutting in December 1938 with a picture of her accompanying 55 wounded from Spain to Victoria Station.

Mark Serwotka - public meeting in Liverpool

The PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka will be addressing PCS members at a public meeting on:

• Wednesday 20 June
• 12.30pm
• Cotton Exchange, Bixteth Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ.

Mark will provide an update on current issues and this is an opportunity to hear from the General Secretary at first hand. The meeting has been scheduled for lunchtime and we expect it to last about an hour which should allow members to attend in their own time.

To find the venue, there is a map here.

Justice for Grenfell - event in Preston 14 June

Walking football at the Pensioners' Parliament in Blackpool

Do you like football? Are you going to the Pensioners' Parliament 

in Blackpool? If so, this may be for you.

ARMS North West Newsletter number 10 - June 2018

The ARMS NW Newsletter issue 10, June 2018, has just been published. 

To read it, click here. Previous newsletters are here.

Spirit of 1868, performed by Banner Theatre

"Why not have a Congress of our own?" said Samuel Nicholson, President of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council, who sent out the call to the first ever Trades Union Congress in 1868.

A stirring dramatisation of some of the struggles, protests and moments of resistance that shaped our past and our present! This play has been commissioned by the Mechanics Centre Trust to celebrate the founding of the TUC and 150 years of union struggle.

Book your tickets for the June 2nd 7.30pm show today! Ticket website here.

Conference votes to defend civil service pensions scheme

PCS national conference resolved on 23 May 2018 to defend the civil service pension scheme and other public service pension schemes and stay at the forefront of the fight for security and dignity in older age. Debating motion A63, proposed by Ian Albert on behalf of the NEC, conference heard how the government’s plans to shift away from defined benefit schemes and to offer only defined contribution schemes was part of its continuing attacks on public sector pensions.

Ian told conference we must resist the attacks on people in later life. He said: “It’s to the credit of this union in the way that we have stood up in defence of pensions but it’s a battle that’s far from over. The fight for dignity in retirement must go on, for the many, not the few.”

Renewed threat

The motion was seconded by Bobby Young of Revenue and Custom Glasgow and Clyde HMRC and Valuation branch. The motion condemned the government’s pension policy that will over time bring about a renewed threat to the future of the core civil service pension scheme. The motion reaffirmed our intention to explore any campaigning or legal options to challenge the use of measures such as CPI which offer less protection against inflation and to place unfair constraints on the transitional protection relating to imposed changes which have cut pension benefits.

It was agreed that PCS must work with the TUC, other trade unions, and campaigning organisations such as the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) and Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) to:

• secure substantial improvements to the state pension
• cancel any increase to the state pension age above 65
• compensate women who were affected by the speeding up of the move to a single pension age
• put back in place a state backed scheme which can guarantee an underpinning pension of 70% of the living wage, an option for an affordable earnings related pension
• extend the means by which our members can exercise the option to buy additional state pension to compensate for contracted out pension equivalent (COPE) deductions.

The motion, which was carried, also called for civil service pension administrator MyCSP to be brought back into the civil service.

TUC Manchester - volunteers for stewards requested

With Congress taking place in Manchester this year, the TUC is looking for North West trade unionists, or friends and family, to help steward during the four days.

Congress will run from Sunday 9 September 2018 until Wednesday 12 September 2018. They are looking for people with some experience of event stewarding, and also welcome others with less experience who will be given roles which reflect this. There will be briefings beforehand and they will also provide online training for stewards.

They need approximately 25 stewards, who will work on a rota during the following hours:

• 10.00am until 7.00 pm on Sunday
• 8.15 am until 6.00 pm on Monday and Tuesday
• 8.15 am until 4.00 pm on Wednesday. 

Stewards are paid a disbursement equivalent to the Living Wage, which is subject to income tax and national insurance deductions. In addition lunch will be provided for those working. The TUC will also cover a small amount of expenses relating to travel to and from the venue each day.

If you know of people who would be interested in doing this, could you please ask them to contact Jay in the first instance on 0151 482 2710 or jmckenna@tuc.org.uk

Tax fraud - the acceptable crime

To investigate every £100 million lost to fraud,

DWP employs 275 staff while HMRC employs one.

Manchester Arena bombing - one year on

There are several events taking across Manchester city centre to mark the first anniversary of the terror attack to mark a year since the most devastating night in the city’s history.

Last year’s terror attack at Manchester Arena killed 22 people, injured many more and left the country in mourning.

As a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the atrocity, bells will ring out from St Ann’s Church, St Mary’s Catholic Church and the Town Hall at exactly 10.31pm this May 22 - the time of the attack.

The solemn moment will be one of several events to mark the first anniversary of the terror attack.

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS strike 23-24 May.

UNISON members working at three hospitals in the North West are on course for industrial action over plans to outsource their jobs to a new company, set-up and owned by the NHS trust, in May. Members at the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS foundation trust voted to reject the plans and ask the union for a strike ballot by 93% in a 79% turn-out.

Workers in catering, cleaning and portering will be on strike on for 48 hours on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 May.

Nearly 900 NHS staff who work in estates and facilities across the trust’s three hospitals are threatened by the plan to outsource them to the wholly owned subsidiary company, WWL Solutions. They are worried that their terms and conditions could be cut, that new starters will get inferior pay and pensions, and that they could all ultimately be moved to a private-sector company.

UNISON North West regional organiser Sean Gibson said the consultative ballot had shown staff members' "deep concern" at what he said were damaging proposals. "Good quality catering, cleaning and portering services are all crucial to the efficient operation of the hospitals and to the experience of patients. The staff performing these roles form a key part of the NHS team and they should remain in the direct employment of the Trust – not pushed away into an outsourced separate company.

"The bosses’ plans are designed to cut costs at the expense of staff and could lead to back door privatisation. We don’t want the likes of a Carillion or a Capita to be getting more involved in our NHS."

Supporters are invited to visit the picket lines at the three hospitals in Wigan, Wrightington, and Leigh.

Mostly from the UNISON website.

Show support to Acas conciliators striking this week

A strike by PCS members working as conciliators at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is set to go ahead on Friday (11 May).The members are striking to protect their jobs and services.

As there has been no movement on the issues from Acas management since the action short of strike began on 25 April, then regrettably PCS members are forced to go ahead with the planned one day strike on 11 May. PCS remains available for talks and we very much hope to be able to settle this dispute.

Our conciliator members are taking industrial action in a long-running dispute over the imposition of detrimental changes made by ACAS management. They have been taking action short of strike since 25 April and unless management improves its position, they will be taking further strike action on 6 and 7 June.

The imposed changes include the downgrading of conciliation work and unacceptable and unmanageable workloads. The imposition of a change programme, together with the excellent decision in 2017 to overturn fees for access to employment tribunals, have meant that conciliators are struggling.

Show your support
There is a rally to support the strikers and the PCS pay campaign from noon on Friday (11 May) at Piccadilly Gate in Manchester.

Donate to the strike fund: cheques made payable to the PCS BEIS hardship fund can be sent to the BEIS group treasurer at 9 Medina Way, Upper Stratton, Swindon, SN2 7NW or money can be transferred to Unity Trust bank account 20240992 sort code 60-83-01.

Send messages of support to: Leeds@pcs.org.uk

Find out more about the dispute.

March For A New Deal For Working People

NPC Campaign! Bulletin

Please find a link to the May 2018 issue of the National Pensioners Convention's Campaign! Bulletin here. 

They have also produced a print friendly version which reduces the amount of ink needed if you want to print the document. This can be found here.

McStrike - They're Not Loving It

McDonald’s workers in Manchester are going on strike on International Workers Day (1 May 2018). They are standing up for a living wage of £10 an hour, guaranteed hours and for their right to a union to be respected. They need your support. Please attend their demonstration and picket to show that Manchester backs the workers.

When: 
      Midnight picket at 00:01, 1 May 2018
      Morning Picket at 07:00–08:00, 1 May 2018
Where:
      McDonald's, 36/38 Oxford Road, Manchester M1 5EJ
What:
      Picket and Demonstration - attend the McStrike picket.

The workers in Manchester will be picketing the store at midnight as the strike starts and in the morning. Please click 'Going' on the Facebook event to show you will be attending at either time.

Read the article on the Socialist Resistance website.

Public meeting: lessons from the sacked 47

The 47 councillors gave Liverpool an alternative to Thatcher's austerity. 

Labour in 2018 can oppose the Cameron/May austerity - if they dare.

Liverpool 47 website here.

Workers Memorial Day, Preston - 28 April

Stand Up To Racism - Manchester demo

Liverpool May Day 2018

Manchester May Day 2018

Guest Speaker: John McDonnell MP - see comment below.

Salford May Day 2018

Women Workers - Fellowship Is Life

The famous poster of the National
Federation of Women Workers

In recent weeks, there has - quite rightly - been much celebration of the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, and the fact that it wasn't granted by the Establishment, but was earned only after hard-fought and at times costly and painful battle. On International Women's Day, we should remember another struggle that women faced 100 years ago.

It wasn't only in the world of politics that women faced resistance: organised labour in the UK often did not welcome women workers. Some trade unions resisted accepting women members entirely, while others left the decision up to local branches. The historic London matchgirls strike of 1888 had been pivotal in improving dangerous working conditions in that industry but had not led to any general acceptance of women as union members.

The all-women National Federation of Women Workers was formed in 1906 and was led by the inspirational Scottish suffragist and trade unionist, Mary Macarthur. She recognised the relationship between the low wages that women received and their lack of collective organisation. While the union was set up to address that problem, it was never intended to be permanently separate from the mainstream, male-dominated union movement of the time. 

The NFWW represented its members like any other union, but its long-term aim was to break down gender barriers where they existed in the labour movement. Accordingly, they willingly passed over their own members to any union or branch that decided to open its ranks to women members, and in 1921 it merged with the National Union of General Workers (now the GMB). 

The struggle for the right of women workers to be organised in trade unions was as important as the battle for the vote, although it has scarcely been mentioned in any the recent celebrations. For Mary Macarthur, suffrage and union organisation were not separate issues. This is a struggle that deserves to be more than a footnote in our history.

The quotation on the poster is from William Morris:

"Forsooth, brethren, fellowship is heaven and lack of fellowship is hell; 

fellowship is life and lack of fellowship is death; 

and the deeds that ye do upon the earth, it is for fellowship's sake that ye do them."

Join the 100th week of fighting for Chorley A&E

Austerity Fight - challenging Tory neo-liberalism!

A documentary by Liverpool-based filmmakers Hazuan Hashim and Phil Maxwell. 

The austerity policies of the Tories have targeted young and old. The NHS is chronically underfunded and is being privatised. Students are leaving college with huge debts. Children, pensioners and the disabled are living in poverty and millions live precarious lives on ‘zero hour contracts’. Austerity Fight challenges the notion that we have to live in a world where public services are cut, workers' rights removed and poverty a daily reality for millions. Austerity Fight champions equality, practical alternatives to austerity and a vision of a world based on co-operation rather than the greed of a global super elite.

It will be screened with a question & answer session by Emily Thornberry MP.

• Friday 2 February 2018.
• 7.00 pm.
• Plaza Community Cinema, 13 Crosby Road North, Crosby, L22 0LD

Tickets £6 from: tinyurl.com/y7nexhcu

All proceeds will go towards hiring the cinema and our next film, Pensioners United.

The Plaza is proud to be working in association with the food bank to help support the local community. Please bring an item for the food bank.