Trade union membership in the South West is holding steady at around 650,000 according to the latest government figures. Some 1.2 million people work in organisations with unions in the West Country.

Membership amongst women continues to rise and they are now just as likely to be union members as their male colleagues. Unions have continued to increase membership amongst managerial and professional staff.

The figures show a decade of stable union membership. TUC figures are more optimistic with the largest rise in membership in unions belonging to the TUC in a decade. This increase is almost certainly the result of the huge resources unions have put in to reaching out to young workers – the next generation of union members.

Nigel Costley South West TUC Regional Secretary said: “It’s good to see union membership holding steady despite this year’s major economic difficulties, and my advice to workers worried about further shocks to the economy would be to join a union as soon as they can. If nothing else, these figures show trade union members tend to earn more than non-members, earning an average of £12.74 an hour compared to £11.02 an hour.

A new t-SHIRT from Philosophy Football celebrates the South-West TUC’s pioneering Green Workplaces campaign to ensure sustainability where we are employed.

Details from southwest@tuc.org.uk where you can download a FREE copy of the TUC handbook Go Green at Work.

The sleeve says: “South West TUC Green Workplaces”

The T-shirts use faitraded and 100% organic cotton from Ethical Threads. Sizes small (36inch chest/90cms), medium (40inch/100cms), large (44inch/110cms), X-large (48inch/120cms) and XX-large (52inch/130cms). Plus! Women’s skinny-rib fit (34-35 inch chest/ 70-90cms).

Order from Philosophy Football

RMT Network Rail maintenance workers are on strike on Saturday 26th July, over lack of progress on long-running talks on harmonisation of terms and conditions.

There will be picket lines from 12 noon at the following depots in the Bristol area:

Bristol Parkway, Westbury, Weston Super Mare, Queen Anne Road.

Your support on the picket line would be very welcome.

Please email the branch secretary, Glen Burrrows, if you need further details: at Bristolrail@rmt.org.uk

From the Guardian. Group 4 to hire a scab army to be used against the FBU.

One of Britain’s largest private security firms is to be awarded a £100m contract to provide cover for the emergency services when they are on strike or swamped by a national disaster, because the army is too stretched to offer back-up.

The revelation is likely to raise fresh questions about the UK’s military capability and has prompted concerns about public safety. Unions have also accused the government of using the private sector to act as ’strike breakers’ – a damaging charge against Labour as it attempts to shore up its core vote.

Under the Civil Contingencies Act, emergency services have a duty to put in place ‘business continuity’ arrangements to ensure they can cope in the face of industrial action or a major emergency.

In the past this has seen the army fill the void, operating the famous Green Goddess fire engines that provide cover during strikes. But, according to a secret framework document, drawn up by the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) in conjunction with the government, ‘it cannot be assumed that the Armed Forces will be available to provide cover in the event of industrial action by firefighters’.

Instead, the CFOA is to launch Operation Fireguard, under which 33 Fire and Rescue Services in England and Wales will employ a private contractor, Group 4 Security, to supply emergency service personnel at times of crisis.

Under the tendering contract, a draft of which has been obtained by The Observer, the private firm ‘could be called on in scenarios such as pandemic flu, industrial action, or as a result of a catastrophic incident or natural disaster’.

The Observer has also learned that the government has considered using the private sector to replace military personnel offering cover during industrial action by fuel tanker drivers.

On Friday, the heads of England’s regional fire services met privately in London to discuss the plan, which likely to be approved by the autumn. It is believed Group 4 will receive a one-off, up-front payment of about £10 million, and then an annual £9 million over the life of the 10-year contract in return for supplying a pool of staff as cover.

Adverts seeking retired fire-fighters to provide contingency emergency cover were placed last year amid the bidding war for the contract.

Emergency fire crew cover were told they could earn £600 a week, as well as a significant bonus for signing up. The government insists the plan will help Fire and Rescue Services meet their legal obligations.

But Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, attacked the use of retired fire-fighters. ‘It’s a privatised Dad’s Army training for the battle that never comes,’ Wrack said. ‘If the real army had not been cut back so much, this would not be happening.’

And he warned that the taxpayer would end up footing the bill. ‘It is scandalous to offer privatised strikebreakers many times the weekly pay of the squaddies they replace,’ Wrack said.

‘If the government ploughed millions into cash-starved fire services, there wouldn’t be disputes in the first place.’

But Barry Dixon, the chief fire officer of Greater Manchester, said using the army was no longer an option because it was fighting in two theatres of war.

‘The pressure on the military is such that we can’t rely on them,’ Dixon said. ‘This is a difficult decision, but we do need to have business continuity provision.’

Dixon said the changing nature of the challenges facing the service meant they had little alternative but to look to the private sector. ‘The potential scale of a natural disaster or a terrorist act can have a serious impact on the way the service performs.’

G4 Security describes itself as ‘the largest security solutions company in the UK’. The company has 30,000 employees and a turnover of £1.1 billion

Dave Wilshire, Bristol CWU branch secretary and sacked postal worker Mikaela Gibb (Kay) were recently interviewed by Bristol community radio. Listen to it here.

Another great weekend at Tolpuddle. It is a great credit to Nigel Costley, regional secretary of the South West TUC, that he has turned this event around from being a rather dull bureaucratic affair, into a lively festival that celebrates solidarity and trade unionism, but also provides a great weekend’s entertainment whether you are there with your mates for a few beers and the music, or looking for a more family friendly time with your children.

I spent most of Saturday just hanging out: the activities in the childrens’ area this year were good – particularly the story teller – Clive Pig. The Saturday is a great time for mooching about and bumping into other trade unionists – I was impressed that Unison and FBU activists from Swindon were camping for the weekend this year. And on Sunday the GMB laid on a nearly full coach from Swindon in conjunction with the T&G, and I think Unison may have put on their own coach.

Mark Steel gave a barn-storming performance on Saturday night to about a thousand people, which includes very funny but affectionate impersonations of George Galloway and Bob Crow. He even had to deal with six year old hecklers with whistles!

On Sunday supporters of the National Shop Stewards Network leafleted the parade through the village, including some help from my sons. The leaflets got a very warm response. You can look at the leaflet here:

More pictures at Socialist unity.

From the South West TUC web-site:

This year’s Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival should be the ‘greenest’ yet. The South West TUC has worked hard to encourage people to come by public transport, coach or shared cars. People will be urged to recycle and leave no waste; a wind and solar generator will be tested; all caterers are expected to come with biodegradable plates and cutlery and the new South West TUC Green Workplaces project team will be on hand to give advice. The Tolpuddle Green Camp has had a good response and local environmental campaigners and advice agencies will have stalls.

The cottages and museum have had their insulation improved and solar panels are being fitted.

Postal workers Colin Tucker, Kay Gibbs and Paula Franklin have been sacked by the Post Office for alleged incidents during the postal dispute last year.

The Communication Workers Union is campaigning for their reinstatement. Dave Ward, CWU Deputy General Secretary, said: “There’s no justification for these dismissals. The truth is they were instigated by a manager who felt personally aggrieved by the level of support for the dispute in his area and has taken a personal, vengeful approach to make scapegoats of the three.”

Colin and Kay were dismissed for alleged incidents on the picket line at Bristol South East district office. The claims by Royal Mail of evidence caught on CCTV fall apart as the film actually clears the two. Paula was sacked from the Avonmouth office for saying the wrong thing on the Royal Mail Chat website.

A march and rally to demand their reinstatement will be held on

MONDAY 4TH AUGUST 2008

BRISTOL

Assemble at the bandstand at Castle Park at 2.30pm

March commences 3pm

The Rally will then be held at the

Central Promenade Bristol City Centre

Speakers will include a sacked postal worker from Burslem

Dave Ward DGS(P)

David Wilshire Branch Secretary

Glen Burrows Branch Secretary, Bristol RMT

Chaired by Dave Chapple

www.cwu.org 020 8971 7200

The 2.45% pay offer to local government workers is clearly below the current inflation rate of 4% , meaning that they are set to lose out in real terms. This comes at a time when fuel costs are escalating at an alarming rate, meaning that many of these workers will be far worse off in future compared to their previous position. The lowest paid – many of whom are barely above the minimum wage – will be hardest hit.

Council staff provide key services to our local communities.  We rely on these workers in our everday lives. They deserve a decent living.

if you want some of these leaflets, e-mail me on andyd1961@yahoo.co.uk