Manchester Area Activists grapple with MP's stance on anti-union laws

We had our UNITE-Amicus Manchester Area Activists meeting this week. There was a good discussion about the appalling lack of support from MPs for the very limited amendments to Employment Bill. The key vote was on an amendment trying to simplify the labyrinthine requirements on unions when conducting industrial action ballots.

The motion, which will now to to the North West Regional Council, read:

1) This meeting notes that British trade unions have to operate under the most restrictive legal framework in the EU, making it easier for employers to victimise reps, close workplaces, employ casual labour and hold down pay.
2) Working people in this country cannot get fair wages or treatment until they have equal trade union rights with workers in Europe.
3) We are therefore dismayed that only 45 Labour MPs voted for crucial amendments to the trade union bill on 10th November.
4) We therefore call for the union to mount an urgent investigation into those MPs with a UNITE Constituency Development Plan, who did not vote for the amendments, and consideration to be given to severing all links with these people if they cannot give good reason for voting against union policy.
5) We also request that UNITE affiliate to the Institute of Employment Rights which campaigns on these matters.

The embarrassingly short list of the MPs who voted in favour of the amendment is available online. If anyone has a list of those MPs who actually voted against the amendment, that would be really interesting.

Tweet

Fighting job losses - members at Steria vote for strike

Congratulations to UNITE members at IT company Steria in Manchester, who have voted by a sizable majority to strike in protest at planned redundancies.

Let's ensure that they get a mass of messages of support (details here). If Steria don't see sense we must all help ensure the action is as effective as possible. This ballot result should be an inspiration to members elsewhere faced with redundancy - it is possible to fight.

Meanwhile UNITE is taking part in an international day of action to protest against planned job losses after the takeover of EDS by HP.

Tweet

Fighting redundancies

I understand the ballot for industrial action among UNITE members at Steria in Manchester closed today, but I haven't heard the result yet.

Let's hope the delays of the painful balloting process haven't undermined people's confidence to fight. The United Campaign to Repeal the Anti-Trade Union Laws reports on the debates and vote in parliament on amendments intended to take small steps in this direction. The vote itself was on an amendment relating to making the ballot process less of a minefield. The campaign's report highlights this as the biggest revolt of Labour MPs under Brown's leadership, with 45 Labour MPs voting to slightly improve workers' rights. While this is quite an achievement for campaigners, it is also an indictment of the Parliamentary Labour Party that there were so few. Perhaps the headline for the story should have been "45 MPs find backbone"?

Meanwhile another tragedy is unfolding for manufacturing in Manchester, with the threatened closure of Rolls Royce Crossley Engines - already a shadow of its former self.

Tweet