IN THE NEWSLETTER: JULY 2008
Tube cleaners striking for a living wage
LONDON UNDERGROUND cleaners working for four private contractors are to strike after voting by a landslide 125:1 margin for action.
The cleaners, members of the RMT union, are demanding a
London living wage of at least £7.20 an hour, 28 days’ holiday, sick pay, decent pensions and travel facilities, and an end to .third-party sackings in which they can be dismissed, with no disciplinary hearing or right of appeal.
We are united against fascism
PAUL MURPHY FROM campaign group Unite Against Fascism spoke at June’s Barnet TUC meeting. He spoke of the gains for the British National Party (BNP) in May’s local elections: smaller than they had hoped for but, obviously, much bigger than trade unionists would like. The election of Richard Barnbrook to the Greater London Assembly is especially upsetting.
Paul said he believed that people did not necessarily vote for the BNP because they were right-wing, but because there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the social record of the Labour government and a lot of unmet needs, especially for housing.
We resolved to join the march against fascism that was held in
London on 21 June and to campaign to stop the BNP growing further.
