IT & Comms conference date changed

Unite's National Sector Conference for IT & Comms was scheduled for 30 November.

Because of the mass strike planned for that day it has been moved to 1st December.

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Fujitsu strikes on Monday

With last-minute efforts to reach an agreement not proving successful, Monday's strike by Fujitsu workers in Crewe and Manchester is going ahead. The UNITE press release gives details of the picket lines and the public rally in Manchester on Monday morning.

UNITE members will be buoyed up by the success of PCS members elsewhere in Fujitsu in winning higher pay, as reported in Computer Weekly and elsewhere.

UNITE has an "appeal for support" leaflet (which gives background to the dispute) and a collection sheet on www.ourunion.org.uk and the news page of the same site gives updates.

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Gold Plated Pensions

Next time someone tries to deride those workers who've managed to cling on to decent final salary pensions, you could do worse than point them at this Independent report on pension pots for top company bosses.

We aren't all in it together. We do live in a two-tier society, but it isn't those with final salary pensions v the rest, or public sector workers v the rest, or those in work v those on benefits. It's a small bunch of the greedy, self-interested and reckless bosses v the rest.

They may be a tiny minority, but they wield enormous economic and political power. How can working people stand up to them without organising collectively? We need stronger union organisation in every workplace, and to rebuild the traditions of solidarity - we are stronger united. The most effective way to build the union is to help workers put up a fight over the issues affecting them.

Everyone should get behind the Southampton Council workers fight against cuts, the national demonstration at the Tory party conference in Manchester on 2 October, and the next round of strikes against public sector pension cuts, expected in early November.

The warnings we have being giving about the risk of austerity killing off economic recovery are looking worryingly accurate. Unite has an excellent policy against the cuts, which needs putting into practice.

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