Clydebank TUC sends shudders into the bankers and toffs in the Savoy along on the March Against the Cuts in London on March 26th.
Clydebank Trades Union Council
Public Meeting: The People’s Charter - THE ALTERNATIVE TO CUTS AND AUSTERITY
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THURSDAY 12 APRIL @ 7PM
Speaker: Phil MCGarry RMT
The Hub Community Education Centre - Clydebank
HUB COMMUNITY CENTRE, KILBOWIE ROAD, CLYDEBANK.
G81 2TX
ALL WELCOME
Welfare reform - PCS Union Pamphlet
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  Welfare reform - PCS Union Pamphlet | This pamphlet challenges these false allegations, busts the myths that have been created, and argues that welfare is a basic human right for any civilised society – as its founders believed. | 4021 Kb |
The current government is attacking the welfare system by cutting £18 billion from welfare, while giving away more than £25 billion in corporatetax breaks over the same period. It is emphasising the cost of fraud when £1.5 billion is lost in this way, but turning a blind eye to £120 billion of tax lost through evasion, avoidance and non-collection.
But the attacks on welfare are not just financial. Welfare is being vilified in a propaganda campaign that suggests welfare is too generous, claimants are lazy and fraudulent, and that public servants are not fit to run welfare services.
This pamphlet challenges these false allegations, busts the myths that have been created, and argues that welfare is a basic human right for any civilised society – as its founders believed.
Download the PCS Union pamphlet: http://pcs.org.uk/download.cfm?docid=195B90B7-93BA-4319-BE10C4B8762B1670
Exclusive: PCS head - we cannot give in to defeatism
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PCS union leader Mark Serwotka rallied Britain against the great pensions robbery today, hitting out at a "defeatist" mentality among some senior figures within the labour movement.
Writing exclusively in the Morning Star at the end of a tough year for public servants, Mr Serwotka heaped praise on millions of rank and file trade unionists who braved government threats of further anti-union legislation to stage two major strikes this year.
"The pensions dispute, following on from the huge March 26 demonstration and with fantastic days of action on June 30 and November 30 (N30), has become the first mass challenge to the coalition," he said.
Insisting his union would stand firm on the issue, Mr Serwotka suggested that this "pivotal moment" could still be squandered by a hesitation among some leading trade unionists to fight back industrially.
"Danny Alexander crowed in Parliament at the end of December that the 'heads of agreement' deliver the government's key objectives in full, and do so with no new money since our November offer," he said.
"There is a deep-seated fatalism within parts of the leadership of the movement that says you can never win. That industrial action, even on the scale of N30, will never beat the government back. As one union has put it, 'damage limitation' was the best that was ever possible.
"People ask how can a coalition government of millionaires be still winning in the opinion polls despite its cuts and deeply hostile attitude to public services?
"In my view it is because of the failure of leaders in the Labour party and the trade unions to make a credible stand.
"Unions now have to make a decision of enormous significance: accept the government's proposals on pension age, contributions and the value of pensions, or demand real negotiations on the real issues."
The unprecedented comments by Mr Serwotka come after the government tried to exclude PCS from pensions discussions after the union's executive rejected its proposals.
PCS confirmed today the union was considering legal challenge over the decision.
Unison and GMB have both signed "heads of agreement" which define the structure of negotiation, with a view to thrashing out details in the new year.
But Unite has not lifted its suspension of the local government agreement until the union's national committee considers it in early 2012.
Asked whether the comments would be seen as divisive within the trade union movement, a PCS spokesman said: "We need an honest assessment of where we have got to and where we are going next."
Communist Party of Britain general secretary Rob Griffiths added: "Unions need to meet urgently to draw up a strategy based on common objectives and which recognises the value of a bold and imaginative approach to various forms of popular and industrial action."
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http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/113639
UCS Work In Upper Clyde - 40 Years On - Lessons For Today
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In today's climate where workers and their communities are again under vicious attack from a Tory led government, this meeting will look at the world famous militant struggle on the Clyde when workers took on and defeated a government of the ruling class.
This was not just a walk down memory lane but a discussion on what today's trade union and community activists can learn from the brilliant tactics and strategies of the Clydeside shop stewards. Recorded Thursday 6th October 2011 in Clydebank to mark the 40th anniversary of the Work In.
Professor John Foster who co wrote the seminal book on the Work - In.
Click the Read More button to see further videos from this event.
Why & How Should I Join a Trade Union
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Join a union
All workers have the right to join a union if they so choose.
It is in your best interest to join one as research has shown that members within unionised workplaces receive better pay, conditions and benefits.
Therefore, joining a union is the best decision you can ever make as a worker.
The "There is a Better Way" campaign run by the STUC has a handy form you can fill in here which can guide you as to which Union is best suited to your line of work.
Cuts are 'Avoidable, Unfair and Regressive'
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| The Cuts - Avoidable, Unfair and Regressive | Publication from the STUC | 383 Kb |
This document from the STUC is full of well researched facts and figures that show how the cuts are 'Avoidable, Unfair and Regressive'.
The Coalition Government is fundamentally misleading the country over the economic impact of its austerity programme. Our publication 'Avoidable, Unfair and Regressive' argues that the current approach is wrong-headed.
STUC will offer the chance for Scotland’s communities and voluntary organisations to come together to campaign alongside STUC for 'A Better Way' and to play a major role in shaping its direction."
“We are already attracting widespread support from Scotland’s communities and voluntary organisations. And we mean over coming months to provide a genuine platform for community opinion in stark contrast to the divide and conquer “what would you cut” exercises being undertaken by governments at various levels.”
There is an alternative... The case against cuts in public spending
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| PCS Alternative to Cuts | The case against cuts in public spending | 622 Kb |
Really useful document from the PCS Union about the alternative to cuts.
"Public spending is an investment, not a debt. Public servants – the vast majority of whom are low paid – deliver vital services to our communities. The campaign of vilification against public services is motivated by a desire to cut and privatise these vital services. The reality is that there does not need to be a single penny taken away from any public service, or a single job lost."
Spread the word! Download this pamphlet and send it to your friends, or share it using social networking sites......
Why cuts are the wrong cure
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Unions, get set for battle
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Britain's students have certainly put the trade union movement on the spot. Their mass protests against the tuition fees increase have refreshed the political parts a hundred debates, conferences and resolutions could not reach.
We know the vast rise in tuition fees is only the down payment on the Con-Dem package of cuts, charges and job losses to make us pay for the bankers' crisis. The magnificent students' movement urgently needs to find a wider echo if the government is to be stopped.
The response of trade unions will now be critical.
Read more from the Guardian: We must join students in a broad strike movement to combat attempts to strangle the welfare state
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