For full NSSN e-bulletin 197 with info about current national & international
disputes plus a diary of events:-
http://shopstewards.net/2014/06/nssn-197-support-the-fire-fighters-pension-strikes/

NSSN supporters all over the country visited the FBU picket lines at fire
stations giving solidarity to these workers and their union when they took the
absolutely solid action last Thursday.

Fire Brigades Union members are striking again against attacks on their
pension scheme which will mean they pay £4000 more for the same or worse
pension.

Making matters worse, the same attacks from Fire Minister Brandon Lewis mean
firefighters towards the end of their working lives will be drummed out on
‘capability’ grounds for being physically unable to do the job of a 20-year-
old! After national negotiations, the government has confirmed it will plough
ahead with its pensions proposals without further discussions.

Thursday’s 24-hour strike is an escalation of previous action, because it will
be followed by action short of strike for over a week until Saturday 21 June,
when a 7-hour strike from 10am will be followed by action short of strike
through until 9am the next day.

On the picket lines, many fire-fighters supported joining the planned mass pay
strike on July 10th which could see up to 1½ million public sector workers on
strike together.

Victory to the fire-fighters and the FBU!

See FBU video http://www.fbu.org.uk/?p=10225
Messages of support http://www.fbu.org.uk/?p=10226#more-10226

FBU responds to Brandon Lewis’ letter to firefighters (June 13) – In a
circular to members Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, has responded to
fire minister Brandon Lewis letter to firefighters http://www.fbu.org.uk/?p=10236

NSSN News

Come to the 8th Annual NSSN Conference on Saturday July 5th – ‘What recovery?
We want our share! Fight Together for a Pay Rise! – Break the pay freeze,
fight for a real living wage, oppose zero-hour contracts, fight for PAYE’.
Leaflet – http://www.scribd.com/doc/221151679/NSSN-2014-conference-leaflet

It will be on from 11am-5pm in Conway Hall – 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn,
London WC1R 4RL – delegate/visitor fee £6. Confirmed speakers include Ronnie
Draper BFAWU bakers’ union General Secretary, POA General Secretary Steve
Gillan, Janice Godrich PCS President and Peter Pinkney RMT President.

Confirmed workshops include:-
Fast food rights/zero-hour contracts/living wage/$15Now
Fighting NHS cuts
Construction: fighting the umbrella scam and blacklisting
Political representation for workers after the Collins Review
Housing workers fighting back

REGISTER TODAY! Email us now if you want to come as well as if you want
leaflets – info@shopstewards.net.
If you want to put yourself forward for the NSSN steering committee, email us
by 12noon on Thursday July 3rd

Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it
only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it. Also, many
of our supporters pay a few pounds a month. You can set up a similar standing
order to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account
number 90143790. Our address is NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE.
Affiliation letter here shopstewards.net/2014/02/nssn-affiliation-letter/

And if you can, come to one of our regional Conferences. If there is not one
in your area, get in touch to either assist in organising or have a speaker at
one of your meetings or events. Contact Rob or Linda on info@shopstewards.net

Ten CWU members will today (Friday 13th June) receive certificates from the leader of the Scottish Labour Party Johann Lamont MSP to mark the completion of their two-year CISCO Discovery course from Glasgow Clyde College.
The BT workers enrolled on the course in December 2012 after a survey by David Dick, a union learning representative, identified a demand for accredited IT training amongst members.
“This serves as an important reminder that trade unions…play a crucial role in creating better opportunities for workers”
Johann Lamont, MSP
The course was run with help from the Learning Fund from Scottish Union Learning and organised around BT work patterns to ensure there were no barriers to participation.
Craig Anderson, CWU west of Scotland area secretary, congratulated the workers who took part: “I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of these learners is being acknowledged.
“It is a fantastic achievement by all our learners to gain their CISCO certification and I am sure this will provide individuals with future career and employment opportunities in a highly skilled employment sector.”
Johann Lamont MSP added: “This is a great achievement and it serves as an important reminder that trade unions, working in partnership with employers and our colleges, play a crucial role in creating better opportunities for workers across Scotland.”

Crown Post Office members today (Wednesday 11th June) voted overwhelmingly to accept a “first-class” pay deal which will see their pay increase by up to 7.5 per cent. The CWU – which represents thousands of frontline workers across the Post Office Ltd network – negotiated the pay agreement following the longest-running industrial dispute the union has ever experienced. 

Voting closed today with 95.4 per cent of postal workers voting to accept the deal.

The pay agreement, for Crown Post Office employees, includes:
A consolidated rise by 3.9 per cent in wages with effect from April 1st 2014
A further increase of up to 3.4 per cent to be paid in one per cent instalments when targeted savings are achieved
Lump-sum payments totalling £3,300 ( pro-rata for part-timers), paid in instalments, and linked to Crown Transformation targets

CWU national officer Andy Furey said: “I’m extremely pleased with today’s positive result which will see Crown Post Office workers receive an above-inflation pay increase. It’s fantastic news for employees who stood firm throughout these long and difficult negotiations. This was one of the CWU’s longest-running industrial disputes and we’re delighted that Post Office workers have overwhelmingly voted to accept the pay agreement.
“This is an excellent settlement that would not have been achieved without the strength and determination of post office workers around the UK. Today’s ballot result is testament to the quality of the deal we have negotiated, which will see post office workers pay rise by up to 7.5 per cent with full-time employees receiving a further £3,300 in transformation lump sum payments.
“Post office workers have stayed strong throughout these protracted negotiations and I’d like to thank them wholeheartedly for their support and patience.”

In the US, members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) together with their comrades from other US postal unions are picketing sites belonging to retail giant Staples, after the United States Postal Service started putting post office counters into Staples stores. 

At sites across the nation, APWU members have been protesting against the postal operator’s plans, which union president Mark Dimondstein has dubbed “a dirty deal.”

The deal introduced postal counters in more than 80 Staples stores, staffed with Staples employees rather than fully-trained, uniformed USPS employees, with plans to expand the deal to all of the company’s 1,500 US stores.

According to the APWU, full-time Staples employees’ salaries are around $18,000 per year, which is less than £11,000, and they receive “minimal training” in handling post.
The union – supported by the other US postal unions* and by the US equivalent of the TUC, the AFL-CIO – is urging customers to boycott Staples until agreement is reached to pay USPS rates of pay and meet USPS terms and conditions of employment.

“Our brothers and sisters in the labour movement are key allies in this struggle and we greatly appreciate their support,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein, adding: “we intend to win this fight against privatization and save our public post offices.

Commenting, CWU head of international affairs John Baldwin said: “The CWU sends our full support and solidarity to our comrades in the US” and pointed out that this latest development is “very similar to the franchising of post office services that’s been taking place here in the UK.
“However, a key difference is that in the US there is no equivalent to our TUPE laws and so when workers are ‘franchised out’ in this way, there is zero protection under law of their terms and conditions.”
“It’s so important that we strengthen and develop our international links so that we can defend and protect all postal workers”

In continental Europe, postal workers are also facing almost identical challenges to our own members, John continues, describing a recent international gathering of postal union representatives in Nyon, Switzerland, at which Portuguese delegates reported on partial privatisation of CTT Correos. Plans are also in hand to privatise post Italiane and Hellenic Post whilst Australia Post has confirmed that 900 jobs will be axed over a 12-month period as part of the company’s transformation plans.
“The way things are going, it could well be the case that in the next few years France will be the only country in the European Union with a fully state-owned postal service,” explained John, adding that the CWU is widely admired abroad for the post-privatisation national agreement that we have managed to secure.

“I don’t think there’s any other postal union that’s been able to achieve such innovative and ground-breaking protections for members – when our delegates speak at international events, we’re often asked: ‘How did you manage to get all that’?
“This is why it’s so important that we strengthen and develop our international links – so that we can defend and protect all postal workers across all countries and stop the employers from playing workers in one country off against others.”
*In the US, there are four postal unions. Post Office workers and clerks belong to the 300,000-strong APWU, along with plant and vehicle maintenance staff, while the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU: 50,000 members) organises processing and distribution workers, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC: 300,000) and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA: 100,000) are SOLELY DELIVERY WORKERS.

Find out more about the US postal workers’ campaign and sign the petition here: US Mail is not for sale.

Dear Colleagues,

At a meeting of the NEC it was agreed the dates for next year’s General and Industrial Conferences is as follows:

• General Conference – 26th – 27th April 2015

• Postal Group Conference – 28th – 30th April 2015

• Telecom and Financial Services Conference – 28th – 30th April 2015

All conferences will be held at the Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth

Crown Post Office workers have until Wednesday 11th June to vote on a “first-class” pay settlement. If accepted, the deal will see the pay of staff employed in Crown Post Offices increase by up to 7.5 per cent with lump sum payments totalling £3,300 for full-time employees and pro-rata payouts for part-timers, paid in instalments over the course of the next year.

Reached after months of industrial action and negotiations between CWU and Post Office Ltd, the union is recommending members vote yes to the pay deal.

Commenting, national officer Andy Furey said: “These negotiations have been one of the CWU’s longest running industrial disputes and we’re delighted that we can now recommend this first-class deal to Post Office workers. “This excellent agreement is the result of our members’ effort and patience after difficult negotiations and I’d like to once again thank them for their support. 

“We have no hesitation in recommending a ‘Yes’ vote in this ballot,” concluded Andy.

If you have any questions about what the proposed pay settlement means to you have a look through these Questions and Answers agreed with the Post Office.

Voting will close in just under two weeks (Wednesday June 11th).

Dear Colleagues

Further to LTB 320/2014 dated 14th May 2014 and LTB 348/2014 dated 28th May 2014.

Please note the freephone number listed in the LTB’s above is incorrect. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

TO REGISTER A CLAIM :

Call Unionline on freephone 0300 333 0303
Visit http://www.unionline.co.uk/ (complete claim form on line)
Contact your local Branch Official to obtain an LS3 form in the usual way

NB:

The freephone number for Unionline on 0300 333 0303 can also be used to obtain legal advice on other non work related issues. Additionally, members will also be able to get advice on employment law procedures. This is a new service. However, this will not include assessing the merits of any claim.

When using these new services, members will be required to provide their membership number.

These changes do not affect those Branches in the Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and IOM. Their existing arrangements will continue.

If you have any queries regarding the above, please contact Tony Rupa, Head of Legal Services, Communication Workers Union, 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX. Telephone 0208 971 7444 or via email trupa@cwu.org

The CWU has welcomed a major contract win within BT Wholesale to carry out transmission services work for Mobile Broadband Network Ltd. (MBNL).

The deal gives rise to a TUPE transfer of around 51 people from Ericsson (who currently manage this work for MBNL) into BT Wholesale and will bring with it secure work and also a recruitment opportunity for the union.

Acting assistant secretary Ken Woolley said: “As a direct result of winning this contract there will be an additional 30 permanent roles for BT people currently based in the Manchester office. Those that have been identified to move onto this new work had previously been employed on MEAS L2C but declining volumes on that product has enabled the move. The individuals are fully aware of the changes in the Manchester office.”

Additionally, 26 contractors who currently carry out the transmission services work, in order to maintain service during the transition of work will come on board too.

They will all be in the BTMSL organisation and be managed within the Complex Customer Services organisation.

Both the Ericsson permanent staff that will TUPE transfer and the contractors will be working from the following BT offices: Glasgow Dial House, Manchester Dial House, Dorking TE, Leavesden, Reading and Coventry (Coventry is a temporary location while the office at Leamington Spa is developed for the individuals joining).

Commenting on Royal Mail Group’s announcement today (Wednesday 21st May) of pilot Sunday deliveries within the M25, to implement nationwide Parcelforce Sunday delivery service and open the 100 busiest enquiry offices on Sundays, CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail’s announcement today about expanding delivery and collection services to seven-days-a-week is an exciting innovation which we welcome. We have worked closely with Royal Mail to develop how best we can go forward to grow the company together and improve the services for customers.

“We appreciate that in order to stay competitive in a broadly unregulated sector Royal Mail has to expand its services to its customers. We believe that offering Sunday delivery and collection services is the right response from the company. With ever-increasing numbers of people opting to shop online, Sunday services are necessary to deal with the growing demand in parcel delivery.

“Earlier this year we delivered a ground-breaking deal for Royal Mail workers and we are committed to continuing to set the benchmark for terms and conditions across the postal industry. The union is negotiating with Royal Mail nationally to ensure that postal workers who are affected by these changes receive good terms and conditions and where appropriate, that work is performed on a voluntary basis.”

See Dave’s letter to members working in Royal Mail here: Introduction by Royal Mail of Sunday Services

The CWU and GMB announced today (Thursday) a “first of its kind” trade union legal firm. UNIONLINE will provide a comprehensive legal service to almost one million trade union members as the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) granted its licence today.

New law firm, UNIONLINE, was formed as the two unions saw a significant opportunity where a deregulated legal profession allowed for new organisations to operate in the legal marketplace.

UNIONLINE, based in Sheffield, has been set up by the CWU and GMB as an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) offering comprehensive legal services to the whole membership of the two unions. Unions have a long and proud history of providing top-class access to justice for their members. The new rules allow GMB and CWU to bring that tradition right up to date.

A partnership of UNIONLINE approved solicitors firms will act for the many thousands of CWU and GMB members legal cases each year under the authority of the UNIONLINE monitoring board, ensuring that CWU and GMB members retain access to legal redress.

CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: “UNIONLINE is a unique opportunity for both the CWU and the GMB to compete in a previously highly-regulated industry. We want to make sure our members get the very best legal advice and by creating and operating our own legal services we can ensure that.

“This is the first legal service of its kind. With legal assistance being such an integral part of the benefits offered to trade union members this is a truly exciting innovation of which we are immensely proud of and will be overseen by CWU head of legal services, Tony Rupa.”

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: “GMB is delighted that the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) has granted a licence to this highly innovative new law firm jointly owned by GMB and the Communication Workers Union to serve the needs of almost one million trade union members.

“We look forward to providing a one stop shop for members which will provide a comprehensive legal service, and unlike the High Street, there will not be deductions from their personal injury awards. We have significant plans for the future and look forward to giving trade union members a unique advantage in their choice of legal services.”

Contact UNIONLINE for free comprehensive legal advice on FREEPHONE 0300 333 0303. The UNIONLINE website will be launched in early June.