Over 80 trade unionists gathered in Manchester last Saturday for a successful Organising For Fighting Unions (OFFU) dayschool.
The opening session on trade union freedom and the right to strike was introduced by Brian Caton the general secretary of the Prison Officers Association and Jane Loftus the President of the Communication Workers Union.
Barry Conway from Bolton NUT talked about the fight against pay restraint. Jenny Lennox from the NUJ highlighted the need for unions to build the Stop the War Coalition demonstration on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Ian Allinson from Unite, who was chairing, encouraged people to attend the Campaign against Climate Change trade union conference as well as the north west planning meeting for the National Shop Stewards Network.
Babs Hennessy from Unison spoke about the compulsory redundancy threat in Liverpool’s social services and the likelihood of similar cuts elsewhere.
Farah Reza from Abortion Rights explained the current threat to a woman’s right to choose, why it is a trade union issue and the urgency of campaigning to defend our rights.
Evan Pritchard from Defend Council Housing spoke, as did sacked nurse Karen Reissmann.
A meeting to plan further OFFU events in Manchester is taking place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 5 February in the NUJ’s Manchester office.
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