65 WORKERS at the Arnaouti Pitta Bread Bakery in Tottenham, North London, are on strike for better pay. improved working conditions and union recognition.
Arnaouti's pitta bread is sold in Safeway and Tesco amongst other places.
The workers at the bakery are paid £3.37 an hour for a contracted 72-hour working week (6 12 hour days) without sick pay or pension rights. They have to work a year to quality for 12 days paid holiday.
The bakery is using agency workers to keep the business running.
Haringey Trades Council has organised mass pickets, lobbies and hardship collections.
The local Bakers Union branch is calling for all union members in the country to donate £1 each to support this struggle.
Send donations and messages of support to: Paddy Hill. Auxiliary Officer, No 1 Region, BFAW, Sinclair House, Unit 9, 66 Willoughby Lane. tion!" was the cry during the election.
So striking NATHE members from Southwark College called on Downing Street the day after Tony Blair moved in to demand that he "put his money where his mouth 150 members of the lecturers union have been on all out strike for the last fortnight against plans to make over fl million cuts from Southwark College's £10 million staffing budget.
The cuts will mean over 30 comredundancies and all part puisory time staff being sacked and reemployed through an agency - on worse pay and no conditions.
Two years ago a similar dispute at the College led to a three week all out strike which forced the Governors to back down. This time morale is high with the strikers again confident of victory.
NATHE delegations from colleges across the country were joined by other local trade unionists in a march which stopped off at John Smith House, Labour's HO, 10 present a letter to the borough s two Labour MPs and to failed Labour candidate and Council Leader jeremy Fraser, calling on them to fight for the resources necessary to halt to secure her Immediate release! the problems New Labour faces. On the one hand the question of accountability has to be confronted. The decision to attack the worktorce was taken by a handful of unelected Governors.
They are intent on driving forward with the process of marketi. sation of education provision. On the other hand, the decision was financially led from central government with a Labour council being a willing party to the imposition of spending cuts.
Neither is this an isolated inciIn North London, Kingsway College workers are set to take action in the next weeks in a similar dispute - and other Colleges across the country face the same stark choices, with govern. ing bodies looking to the same solutions - job cuts and agency New Labour's promises of "Lifelong Learning" and "full time study for young people" as part of a programme to get 50,000 under 25s off the queues will mean nothing if Col. lege places are allowed to disapJohn Smith House,