Community Issue 17 | Election special 2011
stronger together
Travel Insurance 2011 Annual Worldwide Multi-trip Travel Insurance (includes travel in Europe and UK)
Authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Register No. 307635
Community members can save 35%* on RAC breakdown cover Prices start from only £34.13* for RAC Breakdown Cover. As an employee or member of Community the Union, this offer is available to you and your immediate family** at enrolment and at a 25% discount on renewal. Peace of mind 24 hours a day, every day of the year, the rescue service is available whether you are a driver or passenger in your or another vehicle (Non-commercial vehicles only, excluding certain vehicle types.) At RAC we appreciate that all motorists have different requirements, therefore, choose the level of service to best suit your needs from a menu of options (see table, right). Prices subject to change. (Other service levels are also available. For European cover please ask for details). Calls may be recorded and/or monitored. *Discount based on standard RAC retail prices at the time of application with payment on a continuous annual basis, prices may vary if payment is by other methods. **Immediate family members are those who are related to you and live in the same household, up to a maximum of four additional people. †Joint Cover provides assistance to another named member of your household. Family Cover provides assistance to up to four other named members of your household. Offer applies to all levels of personal based cover and cannot be used with any other promotion. Prices are subject to change. Full terms and conditions apply, which are available on request. Provided by RAC Motoring Services and/or RAC Insurance Limited. RAC Motoring Services (Registered No. 1424399, Registered Office: 8 Surrey Street, Norwich, NR1 3NG) in respect of insurance mediation activities only and RAC Insurance Limited (Registered No. 2355834, Registered Office: as above) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority within the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
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Use your vote
stronger together INSIDE …
Dear member, Welcome to this Election Special edition of our magazine. May 5th represents an important day for a number of reasons. It will be the first chance the electorate has had to express its views on the Tory-led government. Secondly it will be an historic day because of the referendum on the voting system. Community is targeting support to Labour’s campaigns in Wales and Scotland and we are also supporting many members who aim to be Labour councilors as we believe Labour victories would go some way to shielding members from the worst ravages of the Tory-led government’s cuts agenda and they may make the government think again about some of its policies. As for the voting system, Community is backing the NO to AV campaign. We have long held views that the current system of first past the post is the best way to deliver stable government, and a Labour government, in Westminster. May 5th will also represent an opportunity for working people to show that we believe there is an alternative. On 26 March we marched for the alternative and you can read our report about it on page 6. In my role as TUC President, I was proud to be representing Community at the front of the biggest trade union march for a generation. Jobs, growth and justice are what we marched for and they are at the heart of what we continue to strive for as a union, which you can read more about in our news pages. To continue our campaigning work and our work to improve the working lives and communities of our members we must ensure that the union is financially sound. Three years ago we took the difficult decision to commit to an annual increment in the subs. This year the increase is significantly below the current rate of inflation. But to give you something in return we are improving our benefits and making them more accessible. You can find more details inside. I hope you will continue to make the most of your membership
News 4 Victory for OCS strikers; Steps forward at NSPCC; Glen Dimplex settlement; Stirling recognition; Kidderminster FC benefit; Equality award; Is Big Brother watching you? A new voice at Exova; Footwear membership up
March for the alternative Report and pictures
6
Use your vote on May 5 7 Community view on elections and referendum Make the most of your membership 8 Benefits from you membership Backing a sweat-free Olympics 10 General Secretary Michael J Leahy helps launch Playfair 2012 campaign against the use of sweatshops to produce sportswear
If you have any comments or suggestions for the next edition please contact the editor on editor@community-tu.org or on 020 7420 4000 Stronger Together. April 2011 Cover picture: Andrew Aitchison/TUC Editorial Office: 67/68 Long Acre, Covent Garden, WC2E 9FA Tel: 020 7420 4000 email: editor@community-tu.org Printed by The College Hill Press www.collegehillpress.co.uk
of Community. General Secretary Michael J. Leahy OBE
Community April 2011
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news
Victory for striking workers at OCS IN THE last edition of Stronger Together we reported on the strike by OCS workers at Tata Steel in Port Talbot. Community is pleased to report that the dispute has now been
resolved with members securing an inflation-busting pay increase and two additional days annual leave. OCS members stood together against their local management and their solidarity paid off.
Significant steps forward from NSPCC difficulties GOING THROUGH a re-structure has been a difficult period for many of our NSPCC members. Throughout, Community has sought to give its members full support, whether helping them to achieve satisfactory redundancy terms or in minimising the negative effects on them of the changes. But out of the difficulties significant steps forward have been made and new representatives are coming forward to support their colleagues in NSPCC, bringing the union closer to members. Thanks must also go to one of our key activists, Steve Landy, who is retiring. Thankfully, Steve is keen to carry on supporting Community members and he will continue to be involved in building the union in NSPCC.
ACTION WINS PAY GUARANTEE FOLLOWING A campaign last year, involving industrial action by Community members at Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, a settlement was agreed which included a guaranteed 2.5% pay increase in 2011. The increase was in members’ pay packets as from this April. Members of another trade union on site will also benefit from this increase, but it was Community members with full support and strike pay from the union, who led the way and took the action.
RECOGNITION IN STIRLING COMMUNITY IS now the recognised union at Cowie Panel Processors in Stirling. This means that the union will be negotiating with the company to improve the terms and conditions of our members there. This new recognition deal shows Community’s commitment to organising workers in new workplaces within our communities.
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Community scores a winner
COMMUNITY HAS partnered with Kidderminster Harriers FC of the Blue Square Bet premier league to provide a new benefit to members. Next season Community members will get £5 off all home league matches on presentation of their union membership card – over the season that’s a saving of £115! Members can also see the last game of the season for just a tenner. What’s more we have secured member discounts for using the club’s function rooms. If this pilot is a success we’ll be aiming to roll out similar schemes in other areas.
Equality award COMMUNITY IS proud to announce that Robert Mooney, has been awarded the STUC’s prestigious One Workplace equality award in recognition of his continuing work to secure equality for trade union members and working people in Scotland. Robert is the Branch Secretary at Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries in Glasgow and a member of Community’s NEC and the STUC General Council. The award was presented at the STUC Congress in Ayr.
LEARNING IS ‘THE WAY FORWARD’ COMMUNITAS HAS now opened a fourth workplace learning centre in Wales as part of its ‘Building for the Future – the Way Forward’ project. Union learning reps along with National Officer Roy Rickhuss attended the opening of the centre at Tata Colorsteel’s site at Crosskeys. The centre is fully equipped to provide on-site training and learning opportunities to members. ■■ National Officer Roy Rickhuss (left) with Community reps and works manager Robert Maine
Exova members find their voice Community rep Derek Hutton, right, with fellow fundraiser Spencer Calvert
JOHNSON MATTHEY 9/11 SOLIDARITY
DEREK HUTTON, a branch committee member at Johnson Matthey Royston, also works as a site firefighter. Recently, the Johnson Matthey Fire Crew have been doing lots of fundraising across the year to raise money for Fire Fighters Charity. In November the team are running the New York Marathon alongside New York Fire Fighters to mark the10th anniversary of 9/11. Community has made a donation £100. If you want to support Derek you can donate at www.justgiving.com/user/24184268
AFTER CONCLUDING the pay deal at Exova, a lab and testing company in Shotton, Community made the case that the workforce should have a greater say in the development of the company and in efforts to improve performance. Management responded positively to the suggestion and a joint working group has now been formed comprising Community members and local management, which will give Community members a stronger voice about their future.
New steps in Is Big Brother watching you? footwear MEMBERS IN Tata Steel may have heard recently about the use of hidden camera footage in disciplinaries in Port Talbot. Community has serious concerns about the practice of spying on people at work. It represents a serious breakdown in trust between management and
the workforce. We have also heard reports from members in some other companies. ■■If you think your Big Brother boss is watching you at work then we want to hear about it. Contact your local Community rep or call the Member Service Centre on 0800 389 6332.
COMMUNITY ORGANISATION in the footwear industry is being rejuvenated. The union is building closer links with the British Footwear Association, which represents employers in the industry, and organising plans are being implemented to recruit new members. At Crockett and Jones membership has rocketed by 60 per cent in the past year, thanks to the hard work by branch secretary Mike Foyle and his branch committee.
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march for the alternative
Community marched for the alternative
MEMBERS CAME from across the UK to March for the Alternative in London. Community was pleased to be joined on the march by Community member MPs Tom Blenkinsop, Caroline Flint and Hywel Francis. As TUC President for this year, the General Secretary was at the front of the march and addressed the thousands who rallied in Hyde Park. “Today, truly is a great day for the trade union movement and working people. It is a great day for unity and solidarity,” the General Secretary told the crowds. “People have come from all over the UK with one simple message for Osborne, Clegg and Cameron: There is an alternative!” “Today for me has also brought painful memories. It reminds me of my time as a young man in the eighties. The Tories have resurrected TINA: there is no alternative. But I fear it’s not just TINA that is back from the 80s, it’s the same old Tories.” “They said unemployment is a price worth paying. Well I remember that price: 18 years of misery and hardship were wreaked on working people. Workers’ rights decimated; communities divided and industries destroyed.” Labour leader Ed Miliband also addressed the marchers saying: “The Tories say this is a march of the minority, but they are so wrong. We stand here today for the mainstream majority of Britain.” In the words of the General Secretary: “We owe it to working people everywhere to make our alternative a reality.” The first step towards that goal will be to deliver Labour wins on Thursday 5 May.
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Community MPs Caroline Flint and Tom Blenkinsop (above, l and r) joined members marching through London
Use your vote on 5 May Deputy General Secretary Joe Mann gives his recommendation for the elections taking place on Thursday 5 May 5 MAY is an important day as it is the first opportunity that many voters will have to express their opinion on the Tory-led government. Clearly, members in Wales and Scotland also have their own national issues to consider as they place their votes. Has the SNP delivered what it promised? And would Labour be better off without Plaid Cymru? In England, lots of councillors are up for election. Community recommends a vote for Labour on 5 May. We think Labour government in Wales and Scotland would present the best opportunity to protect our members from the worst excesses of this Tory-led government in Westminster. The same goes for local councils. The decision by the Tory Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, to frontload the cuts to councils and voluntary sector groups supporting councils was just the same old Tory attempt to roll back the state by choking the funding. There is a tough task ahead for any
polling day VOTE NO TO AV
council but at least Labour councils know that any cuts must protect frontline services as far as possible. In Wales there is a real opportunity to recapture full control of the Welsh Assembly. This will mean that a truly Labour programme can be delivered, notwithstanding the cuts from Westminster. Welsh Labour has committed to a Welsh Jobs Fund that will support 4,000 new jobs and pledges such as maintaining free prescriptions will show the value of Labour government in Wales. The SNP promised much four years ago but has failed to deliver. Labour has bounced back with a credible and coherent vision for economic recovery in Scotland. This would include 10,000 work placements for unemployed young people through the Scottish Future Jobs Fund; a new Scottish Living Wage of at least £7.15 an hour beginning in the public sector and a guaranteed modern apprenticeship for every suitably qualified young person who wants one. These pragmatic steps would bring about real change for working people in Scotland but it is vital that Labour win a majority to implement their plans in full. Community also has a number of members standing to be Labour councillors and the union hopes that other members will get behind them and give them their vote on 5 May.
IN THE upcoming referendum, Community is backing the No vote campaign. The referendum is happening because it was part of the deal the Lib Dems struck with the Tories when they formed a coalition. The Tories conceded a referendum but the Lib Dems don’t even want the system you are being asked to vote on. Nick Clegg described AV as ‘a miserable little compromise’. Community has been a longstanding supporter of First Past the Post, our current voting system. It’s also the system we use for our own elections and we think it would be hypocritical of the union to back a system we didn’t use ourselves. First Past the Post is easy to understand – one person, one vote – and on the whole it delivers strong singleparty government. The current system works – why go to the expense of changing it.
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contributions
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EARNINGS
Per week Per year P < £221 < £11,492 1 £222–£331 £11,493–£17,244 2 £332–£498 £17,245–£25,893 3 £499–£663 £25,894–£34,487 4 £664+ £34,488+ For other grades please see our website
NEW BENEFIT
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JUNE 2011
WE AIM to provide Community members with the best support, advice and representation at work available. But support at work is not the only benefit. We also pride ourselves on being a union that helps you at home as well as at work. In return for your monthly contribution, you get access to a range of benefits and services designed to save you money and give you peace of mind. We are producing a new booklet that outlines all the benefits that we currently offer. It should be available soon from your regional office or local Community representative. By making the most of your membership you could save up to £1,000 just through being a Community member. But that is not all, our core membership benefits can be worth hundreds more. In order to maintain the level of benefits and to continually improve the support available to members we need to ensure that the union is strong financially. A number of years ago we committed to an annual increment in contributions rather than no increase then sudden leaps in cost. To ensure that we can continue to meet your needs and give you value for money the union has made a number of changes to the way we work. This year we have created a National Operations Centre to provide more support to Community representatives and members. The increase in contributions is below the current rate of inflation and will be introduced from 1 June. It’s just pennies a week but making the most of your membership is worth pounds.
GRADE
Make the most of your membership Per week
£1.33 £2.70 £3.31 £4.42 £5.52
10% DISCOUNT for Community Members on luxury villas and apartments on two beautiful golf resorts in southern Spain. Members can stay in luxury apartments from as little as £45* per person per week and from £65* per person per week in luxury villas. They make an ideal base for a family holiday. They are situated on the El Valle and Hacienda Requelme Golf Resorts and both are within easy reach of Murcia and Alicante airports and the lovely beaches of Los Alcazares. For details contact Neil or Della Brook on 0034 966791796. ■■ Figures based on four people in an apartment and six people in a villa
Who is covered? Everyone in your family: you + your spouse/partner you + your spouse/ partner + all your children who drive
What is covered? All the vehicles in your household are covered – every type of car, van and commercial vehicle
FREE 24/7 vehicle recovery We will come and recover your vehicle and your family 24/7 throughout the UK for FREE in the event of an accident – even if that accident is entirely your fault!
Service from Community’s lawyers All personal injury claims will be taken care of by Shakespeare Putsman, who are Community’s long-standing law firm of choice
Outstanding cover and services and amazing to get for free, yes …
… but why do you need it?
Here are some of the answers our other members have given: Motor insurance not good enough “Motor insurance has gaps in it; things it doesn’t provide that the Community cover package does. For example, with Community I’ll get a new Range Rover to drive while my old Range Rover is repaired, not some unsuitable little hatchback courtesy car. Also, I like the way physiotherapy is included, because that’s another thing I don’t get with my insurance. There are loads of examples!”
Won’t have to pay insurance excess
All these extra services will be FREE In the event of a road accident in the UK that’s not your fault:
“If you call your insurer you’ve got to pay the excess on your policy even if the accident isn’t your fault, whereas with the Community scheme you never pay the excess! Frankly, I think that’s just great!”
●●We’ll repair your vehicle locally ●●We’ll replace your vehicle* ●●Physiotherapy at a private local clinic with no waiting list ●●Expert care from the best lawyers
“I drive to work every day and there’s a lot of traffic, so it’s good to know that I’m covered and so is my car if anyone bashes into me.”
* FREE replacement vehicle Instead of just a courtesy car, we will deliver you a like-for-like as-new replacement vehicle the same as your own, e.g. a BMW 525i if your own vehicle is a BMW 525i
All for a total price of only
… nothing!
Because it’s a FREE Community benefit!! To find out more and to register your membership for FREE today go to
www.community.one1one.co.uk It’s well worth taking two minutes to register yourself online for FREE because then you’ll get our full Member’s Pack for FREE: card, tax disc holder, glove box pack, PLUS EXTRA MEMBER DISCOUNTS PACK!
Driving to work Saving money every year “Because legal services are included in this package, I no longer need to buy the extra legal expenses insurance that’s offered with my motor insurance, which saves me about 25 quid!”
Immediate help from a person “I like the fact that the 24-hour helpline is answered by an actual person who can help me immediately, not by a machine.” This is a FREE benefit for all Community members and their families, so if you call our helpline number we’ll automatically treat you as a full member and provide you with the full service, including 24/7 FREE vehicle recovery. So in the event of an accident anywhere in the UK, call this rapid response helpline number FIRST:
0844 879 4229 add it to your mobile phone now!
Community April 2011
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Playfair JESS HURD/REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK
Michael J Leahy and TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber at the launch
Community backs ‘sweat free’ Olympics GENERAL SECRETARY Michael J Leahy was present at the launch of the Playfair 2012 ‘sweat-free’ protest. Playfair 2012 – a coalition of unions and campaigning groups – held a day-long protest in Westminster to lobby members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who were in London for a two-day board meeting on the London Games. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber met with IOC representatives and urged them to ensure that all workplaces in the many Olympic and sportswear supply chains are free from poverty wages, insecure employment and excessive hours, and that the workers are allowed to join unions. Playfair campaigners want the IOC to include a clause in the Olympic charter and in its code of ethics ensuring that all companies involved in the manufacture of sportswear and other Olympic branded products do not exploit or abuse their workforce. Playfair aims to make London 2012 the first ‘sweat-free’ Olympics. Handing out postcards containing the message ‘Make
10 Community April 2011
the London 2012 Olympics sweatshop free’, the campaigners took along a giant ‘Guaranteed sweat-free’ deodorant can “There has been exploitation and ill-treatment in the run up to every previous Olympic Games, and we fear that such abuses are unlikely to have disappeared completely. Only the IOC can stop those abuses for good, and we want them to put the Olympic ideal of fair play into practice in their code of ethics. “For London 2012 unions have been working closely with the organisers and we have achieved a strong code of conduct. But we are still calling for more transparency about which factories are making Olympic goods.” Community has already been involved in Playfair 2012. Last year members in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire met with representatives of an Indonesian textile union, whose members are employed by contractors for sportswear clothing manufacturers. In October last year, regional rep Brenda Clarke – a former textile worker – spoke about Playfair at the TUC’s high-profile World Day for Decent Work event in London.
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Are you facing redundancy? Community’s only approved Independent Financial Adviser can help. Fiscale Financial Services Limited is the only Independent Financial Advisory firm approved by Community to help members deal with the financial implications of redundancy. THEY CAN HELP MEMBERS IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
Decide which pension option is right for you Advise on repaying any debts as an alternative to investment How any tax-free cash and redundancy settlement should be invested
Why use Fiscale Financial Services Limited? Fiscale Financial Services Limited are a firm of independent financial advisors. This means that they are free to use the products from the whole marketplace. This allows them to choose the product that is right for you from any financial institution. This contrasts with the vast majority of banks and buildings societies in the United Kingdom that are “tied.” This means they can only promote the products of one financial organisation.
. FINANCIAL SERVICES .
Facts & Figures
A tied advisor is an agent of the product provider he or she represents
Independent financial advisors are the agent of the client
When things go wrong! In the first half of 2009, the Financial Ombudsman Service received a total of over 69,000 complaints. Lloyds, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Abbey National and HSBC alone accounted for 38,286 of these cases. Source: FT Advisor Magazine 15.09.09
What do I need to do? Should you wish to receive Independent Financial Advice from Community’s approved firm, then simply contact Fiscale Financial Services on 01226 791204
For a free no obligation discussion call 01226 791204 FISCALE FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED
www.fiscale.co.uk
. 36 Guest Lane . Silkstone . Barnsley . South Yorkshire . S75 4LF . Fax 01226 791 204 . Email richard.broom@fiscale.co.uk . Fiscale Financial Ser vices Limited is an appointed representative of Financial Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Ser vices Authority. FSA number 467979. Registered of fice: 36, Guest Lane, Silkstone, Barnsley, S75 4LF. Registered in England & Wales, company number 06218216
Community April 2011
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REASONS TO SAY
NO...
AV makes elections unfair. At the moment we all have one vote and the person who gets the most votes wins. Under AV, supporters of fringe parties can have their vote counted several times and the candidate who comes third can steal the election.
1
AV is a Lib Dem fix leading to more hung parliaments and more broken promises, like the tuition fees U-turn. Instead of the voters choosing the government, the politicians will decide who governs in shady backroom deals. Under AV, the only vote that really counts is Nick Clegg’s.
2
AV is complicated and expensive requiring councils to dump our traditional ballot boxes in favour of costly electronic voting machines. That is why it’s used by just three countries in the world - Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. And Australia has compulsory voting to make sure people turn up.
3
Our country can’t afford it SIGN UP A NEW MEMBER VOTE LABOUR ON 5 MAY They can call freephone 0800 389 6332 or visit www.community-tu.org/join