AROUND 100 postal workers walked out of the West Derby sorting office in Liverpool on Wednesday of last week. They were protesting at the behaviour of a local manager. Mark Walsh of the CWU said, "We actually followed the process in place, which is a grievance procedure between Royal Mail and the CWU to try and stop this sort of action and investigate it fully.
WORKERS AT the main refuse collection depot in Brighton & Hove staged a 48-hour unofficial strike on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. The walkout followed the suspension by management of GMB steward Richard Warren. Workers returned to work on Thursday after voting overwhelmingly to work to rule-refusing to work overtime or catch up on work missing during the walkout.
MEMBERS of the RMT union working on Metronet, which controls two thirds of London Underground maintenance, voted by five to one for strike action over the sacking of six track workers.
MEMBERS OF the Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU) were set to strike on Friday this week over pay, conditions, and the continuing crisis in the Youth Service. This is the first time that the union has voted to take strike action 87 percent voted for action.
MAINTENANCE workers at Preston and Chorley hospitals, Lancashire, took strike action on Monday of this week. The members of the Amicus union are fighting attacks on their pay and conditions. Under the government's "Agenda for Change", hospital workers are having their jobs evaluated.
RESPECT: THE Unity Coalition is gearing up to challenge the mainstream political parties in the 10 June elections. At meetings up and down the country the democratic process of selecting candidates for the European Parliament and Greater London Authority elections set for that day is now under way.
ANOTHER KEY trade union is moving to open up its political funds so members can democratically decide how they are used. The Fire Brigades Union is set to allow members to give money to candidates standing against New Labour.
THE FOUR newspaper barons on this page want to whip up fear and hysteria over migrants coming to Britain. They brand migrants as "scroungers" and "benefit tourists". Yet these men are the real spongers who literally rob us of millions.
FOUR MORE lies. Tony Blair ripped up yet more promises last week. "Everyone within the next two years will be able once again to see an NHS dentist," was his pledge at Labour's 1999 conference. The TV pictures of 300 people queuing to register at an NHS dentist in Scarborough last week exposed the grim reality facing millions as the pledge has evaporated.
Myth 1 Migrants are 'benefit tourists' Ask any pensioner, single parent or unemployed person if they would travel halfway across the world to get their meagre benefits. They struggle to get by. Migrants will be even worse off. Home secretary David Blunkett has ruled migrants will not be allowed any benefits unless they have been working continuously in Britain for 12 months. This will give employers a green light to blackmail migrant workers to accept rotten pay and conditions.
THE ARMY spent two days on Leeds University campus leafleting for a presentation on the Officer Training Corps at Sandhurst barracks. Sandhurst is where they train the future battalion bosses to lead the privates to possible death or to commit war crimes. We organised an intervention at this presentation. First came a testosterone-fuelled video showing of Be The Best, interspersed with two wooden corporals losing their lines and composure.
