Monthly Archives: March 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched a back-stabbing attack on the British Airways workers and their union, demanding that their strike planned to begin next Saturday is called off. He branded the planned strike by British Airways cabin crew as ‘unjustified and deplorable’. In a statement condemning the strike he...
THE Labour Transport Secretary Lord Adonis yesterday demanded that Unite cancel the planned strike action by British Airways cabin crew, despite an overwhelming vote in favour of action by Unite’s cabin crew members. Speaking for the government, Adonis said this month’s planned strikes were ‘totally unjustified’ and even claimed they...
‘THE O’Loan Report confirms Yarl’s Wood abuse and the failure to investigate it,’ says Public Interest Lawyers. Public Interest Lawyers said: ‘Today’s report by Baroness O’Loan adds to the growing evidence of the prevailing culture of abuse inside Britain’s immigration detention centres, particularly at Yarl’s Wood. ‘It contains damning evidence of...
British Airways cabin crew will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March. The Unite union has warned there could be further action after 14 April if a resolution has not been agreed. The decision was taken by the Unite leaders after ...
British Airways cabin crew will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March. The Unite union confirmed it would not strike over Easter, but warned there could be further action after 14 April if a resolution has not been agreed. Unite made the...
‘ACT now to stop another rail tragedy’, demanded the RMT rail union yesterday, in a demonstration alongside members of sister union TSSA outside the headquarters of Network Rail. Dozens of members of both unions waved flags, hooted horns and held up placards warning: ‘Rail cuts cost lives!’ The RMT said: ‘Network...
UNITE, Britain’s biggest trade union, yesterday warned that British Airways bosses are out to smash the union at Heathrow and Gatwick. The union said it was willing to put the company’s own offer directly to Unite’s BA cabin crew members, in an indicative ballot – and would cancel any strike...
OVER 100,000 workers flooded the entire Athens city centre on Thursday March 11th, in a magnificent demonstration on the day of a 24-hour general strike called by the GSEE (Greek TUC) and ADEDY (public sector trade union federation) against the Greek government’s austerity measures. The demonstration was bigger...
THE RMT railworkers trade union has confirmed that members on Network Rail maintenance have voted by 77% for strike action in response to plans by the company to axe up to 1500 safety-critical jobs and to rip up national agreements on working practices. The RMT executive...
Retired Major General Sarath Fonseka will be tried over five charges under Army Act at a court martial within the next few days, Military spokesman, Major General Prasad Amarasinghe told media on Monday. TamilNet reports that he added that the summary of evidence over charges against General Fonseka made in...
THE government is already drawing up crisis measures to privatise the NHS. A ‘long list of possibilities’ is contained in a leaked Department of Health memo to the Emergency Strategy Committee, which include: 1. ‘Abolish primary care trusts and franchise health maintenance and delivery’ 2. ‘Lift restrictions on the location of...
CWU representatives yesterday concluded a two day briefing in Bournemouth on the Business Transformation 2010 agreement reached between the CWU executive and Royal Mail. On the first day (Wednesday) the briefing was split into the different functions which comprise the Post Office e.g. Royal Mail Letters, Distribution, Mail Centres and...
UNDER their ‘Business Transformation’ deal with the Royal Mail, the leaders of the CWU have reached an agreement that will make thousands redundant and drive up productivity. CWU officials are currently being briefed on the deal that follows the cancellation of last year’s national strike action, before it is put...
TALKS between Unite and British Airways passed the second deadline of 12 midday yesterday. This was after BA requested an extension when the first deadline was passed on Tuesday afternoon. The TUC, which is chairing the meetings, had set a deadline of the ‘close of play’ on Tuesday March 9 for...
THE Prime Minister Gordon Brown has presided over a capitalist state rescue of the bankrupt banking system, which has seen the deployment of up to £1.2 trillion in gifts, loans, and guarantees. These state maintained banks are now refusing to lend the cash out, but feel confident enough to resume...
Postal Workers are to be balloted soon on the new deal negotiated by their Union leaders. This Agreement called Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond, has been three months in the making. Your readers will no doubt, have been following the ongoing struggle of CWU members as they fought a long series...
US VICE-PRESIDENT Joe Biden is in Israel where he has declared that the just agreed ‘proximity talks’, which will see US envoy George Mitchell shuttling between the Israeli Premier Netanyahu and the PLO President Abbas, provide a ‘moment of real opportunity’ for an Israeli-sponsored peace deal in the Middle...
Civil Servants on the second day of their successful 48-hour strike yesterday called for all public service workers to join in united strike action. Over 250,000 civil servants were out on strike right across the country against cuts in redundancy pay and against job losses of up to 100,000! In London...
THE leaders of the CWU are backing the deal ‘Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond – a National Agreement Between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union’. The deal, which has been approved by the CWU Postal Executive, would see the union ‘reform its internal structures’, in order to work together...
AFTER calling off last winter’s national strike by their members in Royal Mail without the members’ agreement – and without their members’ demands to stop bullying and sackings being met – the leadership of the Communication Workers Union has now agreed surrender terms with the company. The CWU leaders said...
IN a controversial vote, the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) Executive Committee gave its support on Sunday to proposed indirect peace negotiations with Israel. ‘In the light of the Arab stance and on the basis on its national responsibility, the Palestinian leadership decided to give the US proposal a...
‘Over 250,000 of our members have turned out on strike today, the biggest strike in the civil service since 1987,’ PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said yesterday, at the start of a 48-hour national strike. ‘The government thinks it is cheaper to sack our members, when they provide vital,...
A DOCUMENT, entitled ‘Business Transformation 2010 and Beyond – a National Agreement Between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union’, is to go before a meeting of CWU officials in Bournemouth this Thursday. It will then go to a ballot of CWU members in Royal Mail. The document reveals the union...
OVER 100 people packed out Hither Green Cremat-orium yesterday for the funeral of John Breen. His wife Doreen, their two daughters, family, friends and a generation of printers, who took part in the heroic Wapping Struggle of 1986-87, were all present. Also attending was Arthur Scargill, General Secretary of the NUM...
TENS of thousands of Greek workers, students and youth took part in strike rallies last Friday throughout Greece against the ‘socialist’ government’s austerity measures. In Athens over 30,000 participated in two separate rallies outside the Vouli (Greek parliament) one organised by PAME, the Greek Communist Party’s trade...
EXTENSIVE talks have been taking place over the last seven weeks under the Chairmanship of TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber between Unite and BA, after BA imposed new terms and conditions of service onto its cabin crew. BA is in head-on collision with the UNITE trade union and is imposing...
Protests against the crippling siege imposed on the Gaza Strip should spread across the world, said Palestinian lawmaker Jamalh Al-Khudari yesterday, as the blockade entered its 1,000th day. ‘The siege harms the people, as well as the environment, health, the economy and social life. ‘It constitutes a serious attempt to...
OVER a quarter of a million civil servants will walk out at the start of a 48-hour national strike today against the government’s decision to unilaterally slash their redundancy payments. There have already been mass redundancies in the civil service, but more cuts are planned. Around 270,000 members of the PCS...
‘THE Government today asked two High Court Judges to allow them to cover up evidence of torture even more thoroughly than they did in the case of Binyam Mohamed,’ said legal charity Reprieve on Thursday. Lawyers had gone to the High Court to demand the release of information about the...
UP to 270,000 civil and public servants from across the UK are set to launch a month of industrial action, with a 48 hour strike beginning next Monday, in a dispute over imposed changes to redundancy terms. Strike action will involve civil and public services every week of...
Dozens of Palestinians were injured as Israeli forces entered East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following Friday prayers yesterday, firing tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades. More than 200 police officers clashed with worshippers in the Haram Ash-Sharif, or noble sanctuary, which houses the mosque. Over 200 Israeli soldiers and police...
DEMONSTRATIONS will be staged in eight different countries today, from Britain and the United States to Poland and Italy, demanding the release of British soldier Joe Glenton, the first soldier in Europe to publicly refuse to fight in Afghanistan. If convicted, he could be jailed for two years. Demonstrators will assemble...
Israeli officials remained silent in the wake of a Dubai police decision to seek the arrest of the Israeli prime minister and the head of its spy agency over the assassination of a top Hamas commander in the Gulf emirate. Last Wednesday, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office nor the...
UNDER the cover of a Voluntary Separation Programme GM is seeking to push through more redundancies at GM Vauxhall including a number at Ellesmere Port, despite all of the months of publicity that there would be no redundancies at Ellesmere Port. On Tuesday the GM management put out the following...
RUSSIAN President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday he does not rule out sanctions against Iran but added that if used, they should be balanced and wise and not target civilians. China however does not agree. It says diplomacy should be given further time in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. China’s...
British Airways boss Walsh boasted at a meeting of selected staff at BA headquarters yesterday that he has 6,000 staff signed up to break any strike action by cabin crew. He added that he has appealed to other airlines for support and that support was now forthcoming. Following this ‘bring it...
THE situation for Greek capitalism has become so serious that Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos has demanded that Germany returns the Greek gold that was looted by the Nazis during their occupation of the country in World War Two. Pangalos made his call as Greek workers staged another general strike...
BBC WORKERS and unions and many artists and cultural figures, have condemned the massive cuts announced by BBC Director General Mark Thompson. The unions warned that action will be taken to defeat the cuts and large numbers of people said that they would support such action. Thompson...
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted on Monday that the Israeli enemy was forced to change its tone and to seek pacification on its northern border, warning that the choice of war has major and dangerous implications and it is not limited to Israel. Sayyed Nasrallah’s message, delivered via...
AS the regime of savage cuts gets under way, in the run-up to the general election, it is no surprise that the local government workforce that maintains a very large number of vital services is the number one target. As far as the government and the bankers and the ruling...
THE Israeli occupation forces have stormed the historic Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, injuring 12 Palestinian worshippers. The Palestinians suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation as Israeli forces with riot gear attacked the worshippers gathered near Bab Al-Majlis, the gate leading into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, on Sunday. One woman, in...
MOTORISTS and shopkeepers showed their enthusiastic support and passers by joined in, as the march to save Whittington Hospital went through Holloway in north London on Saturday. The size of the march grew to up to 2,000 people as it made its way along Holloway Road to a rally outside...