UNISON members in Newham have voted to commence a series of one-day strikes following the New Labour-council's decision to "derecognise" the branch.
As the Branch officers have put it "Tony Blair's favourite local authority is set to be rocked by industrial action"
Since the end of January, Newham council has banned all consultation and negotiations with UNISON, the largest union in Newham. This followed the Branch's criticism of an £11,000 pay rise given to a manager in the Chief executive dept, while refusing to regrade low-paid staff. The council is demanding UNISON withdraw its criticism.
An agreement reached, in a meeting in February with the employers and the national union officials to the settle the argument was and backed by Council Leader Robin Wales.
It is no coincidence that this came at the same time UNISON had announced the consultative ballot of London members over our £4,000 London weighting claim.
Robin Wales, chair of the ALG- the body that refused to give the London cost of living allowance - is the same person authorising this attack The UNISON branch in Newham has recently had some successes for its members in the housing repairs call centre and for social workers.
The derecognition of the union is an attempt to strike a blow against the union as it is scoring victories against New Labour's agenda of privatising services and introducing flexible workand his statement in his final "left-sounding" address to the conference when he said that if i failed to deliver in the summer discussions on public spending The would be re-introduced. government, will only erable pressure from below. This was reflected in his Gels of low pay in councils across Britain. omy, about 10%. the Government «Cover to Contract" industrial action average of E19,500. However it is clear that Doug, so long committed to partnership with the Blair be moved into action by considdefend the members' interests.
Outlook possibility for these people to move out of the camps in which they have lived for the last 50 years. No wonder Jenin camp and the other camps across the territories have been the site of some of the fiercest resistance to the latest murderous onslaught by the Israeli state - and the strongest for the Intifada:
And HOW hundreds of homes have been bulldozed, many with people still inside war machine has done - and the one in which so far the greatest number of Palestinians have been slaughtered. It is also tragically typical of what has been meted out to the Palestinian people by their Zionist occupiers in town after town, camp after camp across the West Bank.
The 1200 people 'that packed into a London rally to hear the report demonstrated with brutal stance, together with opposiclarity where he stands in all BONE Zionist war of this. At huge public machine have brought expense, he recalled increasing numbers of peoParliament - to conduct an ple out onto the streets across utterly pointless debate on Britain in these last weeks. the death of a 101-year-old his political radiracist, snob and scrounger. calisation has Of course even Blair's enor- been strongest, mous power could not pre- not surprisingly VenI the death Mrs in the Arab and Windsor - though he sought Muslim communities, many to exploit it. of whom have seen more But there has been no such • accurate pictures of the realmeasure to discuss the avoid- ity of the Zionist massacres able slaughter of hundreds of Al-Jazeera than on Palestinians by an army sup- British TV. plied with British arms, But other activists from the bankrolled by the USA, and anti-war and anti-globalisagiven a bank cheque for tion movement, from colslaughter by Blair's good leges and schools have friend George W. Bush. increasingly participated The British government alongside them. does have the power to stop Significantly, sections of the selling arms to Israel, and to Jewish community have also stop giving political support marched to show their disto the war criminal Sharon. gust with Sharon 1S But these questions, along doing in their name. with the continuing war in The Palestinian people will Afghanistan and the threats not, cannot give up their to Iraq were not even up for fight for freedom. It is the debate at the "mother of duty of every socialist to Parliaments",; despite calls build the broadest possible from the back benches. solidarity with their struggle Outrage at Blair's criminal