Candid

The magazine for GMB members www.gmb.org.uk | Spring 2013

Dr, No!

N I W a pair of Gltiacksetts o

GMB stands up to NHS cuts

See page 23

z e d l a v victory GMB wins race trial for Fraser!

Does your boss keep you hanging on the line? See p14

In this issue...

Paul Hayes GMB London regional secretary

GMB battles to save the NHS Page 28

GMB wins a living wage for Barking and Dagenham members Page 16

Regional

National

4 Anti-racism victory

9 Make a difference

5 Tirbunal trials

11 Paul Kenny speaks

6 Equal measures

12 Blacklisting

8 Political update

14 Zero hours contracts

GMB wins racial discrimination case

Employment tribunals are set to change

Celebrating equality across the region

How GMB members are standing up to the coalition government

25 The big freeze

Help the Labour Party win the next election

A word from your general secretary

How GMB is beating the illegal blacklist

Paul Routledge on the pitfalls of ZHCs

16 A living wage

GMB battles pay freezes in the public sector

GMB is winning fair pay for members in councils across the UK

26 Safety security

18 GMB@WORK

28 Save our NHS

20 British Gas offer

30 Class act

23 Win Glasto tickets

How GMB is keeping you safe at work

GMB hosts a special evening to highlight the Save Our Hospitals campaign

Meet your GMB London region school board

31 Contact GMB

Names and numbers you can call on

GMB regional editor Rose Conroy: 020 7391 6755 Editorial director Stephen Pierce Editor Matt Robinson Art editor Johnny Goddard Contributors Emma Johnston, Jayne Nelson Advertising manager Steve Hulbert Account managers David Parker, Lisa Dunham Production and procurement manager Matt Eglinton Production co-ordinator Katty Skardon Creative director Matthew Williams Art director Stuart Hobbs Director, Future Plus UK Jayne Caple Printed at St Ives Direct

How to pay your GMB subs by Direct Debit

Recommend a friend for free insulation and get a ÂŁ50 voucher with this exclusive offer

Your chance to win tickets to Glastonbury

24 Save a life today

Register as a blood or bone marrow donor and become a life-saver

Produced by Future Plus, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW

We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from well managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certified in accordance with the rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).

Would you like to advertise in GMB Candid magazine?

Please contact Steve Hulbert on 01225 442 244 (ex 5205) Accepting of advertising and inserts and does not imply GMB endorsement of the product or services.

Remember that GMB recommends all services and offers should always be used to test the cost against other commercial companies.

Members are advised to secure at least two quotes on all commercial transactions.

Our goal is to eliminate accidents at work Health & safety at work is possibly the most important item.

Our goal is to eliminate accidents in the workplace. Where accidents do occur, GMB has personal injury solicitors ready to evaluate the merits of members claims, acting at all times in your best interests, when seeking compensation.

If you are ever involved in an accident at work contact GMB immediately or go online www.gmbunion.org.uk and fill in the TU56 personal injury form. You will need your GMB membership number to complete this and send to the Regional Office for GMB solicitors.

Claims must be submitted to GMB within three years of any accident.

We are organising geographical health & safety activists forums.

These are similar to the forums we setup for our equality and diversity agenda, and which have motivated many members and proven a tremendous success. GMB health & safety forums allow us to coordinate a strategy to build up current GMB health & safety workplace organisations. Find out more on page 26.

To get involved contact Tony Warr, at GMB Hendon office, on 020 8202 8272; Keith Williams, GMB Hayes office, on 020 8573 6969; Warren Kenny, GMB Baldock office, on 01462 499 650; Shaun Graham, GMB Norwich, on 01603 626 492; or Dave Powell at GMB’s Chelmsford office, on 01245 345 165.

Your calls are most welcomed, and new activists receive training to help them on their way.

Subject to rule

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l a n o i g e r

E T A D P U

GMB m o r f s w e n All the

JUSTICE DONE! L–R: Chris McNaughton, EAD Solicitors ; GMB member Fraser Valdez; and Tony Warr,head of legal services GMB, London Region.

y a l p Fair

!

B M G

r e b m e m r fo n o ti sa n e p m co s in w GMB who faced racial discrimination 04 www.gmb.org.uk

regional

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G

MB has won an undisclosed but satisfactory amount of compensation for member Fraser Valdez, who works as an environmental management officer at Camden Council, a job he has held for 15 years. Mr Valdez was discriminated against at work because of his race. The issue was exposed in an anonymous letter from a whistle-blower to the Director of the Culture and Environment Department at Camden Council. It included documents written during a job interview, with the papers revealing that Mr Valdez had been the outright winner for the senior role, only for it to be awarded to a white colleague who had scored less than him.

Tony Warr, head of GMB’s legal service, said, “The following extract from the Tribunal judgement says it all: ‘Mr Valdez’s foresight in being a GMB member enabled the case to be brought and won.’ Anyone who does not have the protection of being a GMB member would be unlikely to be able to afford the cost of lengthy law case. GMB is proud to have taken and won the case.

“GMB is proud to have taken and won the case with Mr Valdez.”

“The Tribunal considered the approach to the restructuring process as a whole and the make-up of the teams postinterview, and found that: ‘The clearest breaches of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) Code of Practice on Employment 2011 were perpetuated time and time again.’ The Tribunal also had regard for the fact that there was a failure by Camden council to respond to the claimant’s Equality Questionnaire.

“Mr Valdez and his colleagues suspected foul play shortly after the interview process. They were further upset by what they felt was a lack of diversity awareness when the North and South Environmental Management Teams were racially segregated. They were further deeply upset by the fact that members of the management team at Environmental Services told so many lies after concerns over racial discrimination had been highlighted.”

tribunal trials

Tony Warr, head of GMB’s legal service, reveals how the the rules on employment tribunals are changing In addition to upping the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, has announced that he is bringing in Employment Tribunal fees. The government first claimed the fees were to limit the number of “unmeritorious” claims, but now says that they will reduce the cost of Tribunals to the taxpayer.

Against GMB advice, the government

favoured a two-stage fee system on the basis that it should encourage settlement, to avoid having to pay a second fee to progress a case. There’ll be an Issue Fee of £160 for Level One claims for redundancy pay, unpaid wages, and pay in lieu of notice and a Hearing Fee of £230. For Level Two claims, such as unfair dismissal and discrimination, the Issuing Fee will be £250 and the Hearing Fee £950. There will be separate fees for multiple claims.

Employment Law Reforms 2013 Key provisions include: Enabling employers to hold “pretermination negotiations” in which the employer can propose termination payments knowing that a Tribunal cannot take them into account when considering a claim for unfair dismissal.

Compromise Agreements to be renamed Settlement Agreements.

A requirement to provide information to ACAS prior to the submission of an Employment Tribunal Claim Form.

Introducing penalties on employers who have breached employment rights where the breach has aggravating factors.

A cap on unfair dismissal awards.

A worker will no longer be able to bring

•

• • • • •

a protected disclosure BECOME (whistleblowing) A GMB breach of contract WORKP LACE claim, unless there is a ORGANISER www wider public interest. .gmb.or g gmbwo .uk/ Repeal of the Equality Act on third party harassment and discrimination questionnaires.

Statutory consultation for collective redundancies will be reduced from 90 days to 45 days where 100 or more employees are involved.

New powers to Tribunals to order an employer to carry out an equal pay audit after an equal pay breach.

Removing employers’ statutory breach of duty in relation to workplace injuries.

• • • •

Two big wins for GMB Members

1

GMB secured a 90-day protective award for members dismissed by La Senza, after administrators failed to consult with employees before dismissing staff. Members were guaranteed compensation of up to 56 days from the Redundancy Payment’s Office Insolvency Fund.

2

GMB won a substantial sum for a member who was dismissed from their job as a care worker.

However, the former employer was unable to pay the award. GMB’s solicitors persuaded the local council to pay it, as it was the council that had funded the employment.

5 www.gmb.org.uk 05

regional

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

equality

GMB equality officer Sue Hackett reports on GMB’s fight for fairness

Action plan

G

MB members are seeing rights that they have worked hard for being attacked by a government that has no time for fairness and equality. It is up to us, as GMB members, to make sure that evereryone is fully aware of the impact these attacks will have on their everyday lives.

Our GMB London Regional Equality Conference took place in October last year and had a record attendance of more than 80 delegates. We saw a wide variety of motions that covered many issues facing our members. The REF (Regional Equality Forum) will be putting together its action plan for implementing the resolutions passed at the conference in the early part of this year.

Get learning The all-new GMB Equality Course started in January for branch equality officers and workplace organisers. The take-up has been really good; if you have not already applied, please contact the Education Department at Regional Office. Make sure you get your copy of the GMB Equalities Toolkit (right) when you apply.

New groups The REC also saw the launch of two new groups, for disabilities and race. The women’s group, now known as GMB Sisters, held a successful first AGM on 20 November. They will meet every six weeks – please look out for the meeting dates on our new equality pages on the website www.gmb.org.uk Our LGBT group, GMB Shout! also held its AGM on 29 November. Both meetings were very well attended and we certainly look GMB Young London held its first phone bank on 11 December, and received very positive feedback from the members it contacted.

Young members The young members had their first event on 15 January at GMB’s Euston office, the theme being “Youth Housing Crisis”. Speakers were Jenny Barnes from Centrepoint and London Assembly member Tom Copley.

To get involved in self-organised networks, contact sue.hackett@gmb.org.uk or call the office on 020 8202 8272 and ask for the Equality department. Or go to the Equality Survey online, visit www.gmb.org.uk

TALKING POINTS GMB general secretary Paul Kenny: . one of the many conference speakers 06 www.gmb.org.uk

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regional

for all!

Three cheers for

human rights GMB equality campaigners have plans celebrated the government’s failed From Act. ts Righ an Hum to undermine the on set been has ition coal the , start the (HRA) ditching the Human Rights Act 1998 pean Euro the from it g uplin deco and Convention on Human Rights. the It created a commission to look into e of som but ts, Righ of Bill creation of a UK

the Commissioners saw this as an ts opportunity to scrap the Human Righ lict conf This it. on build than er rath Act s. saw the bill fail to reach a consensu The Human Rights Act is a living document, so can change as society changes. To make sure the Act is rs protected GMB workplace organise ible. poss as h muc as it use t mus

women’s aid From April you will not be eligible for Legal Aid in disputes following the breakdown of a relationship over children, finances and other matters. This is another government attack on working people, which they failed to inform the public about until after this law was passed.

Evidence of domestic abuse is the only criterion for being eligible for legal aid, but this will exclude many women, including those who do not wish to disclose experiences of domestic abuse or where the evidence offered is considered insufficient.

It is largely women who will feel the impact of the cut to family legal aid, and who will find themselves defending or bringing cases on their own without legal representation.

Defend legal aid to

Sign up to get involved cting defend Legal Aid by conta .uk sue.hackett@gmb.org ject sub the in Aid l and put Lega 72 box. Or call 020 8202 82 for ge ssa and leave a me e Sue Hackett. Please ensur me you leave your na and contact details.

Move to Direct Deb www.gmb it .or ddmov g.uk/ e

grouping together On 20 November 2012, GMB Sisters, the London Region’s self-organised group for women, held its first Annual General Meeting. The Sisters raise issues important to women, whether it’s childcare, maternity rights, sexual harassment, domestic violence or women’s health issues. GMB Sisters take these issues back to their branches with confidence.

GMB Sisters are also involved in organising demonstrations and meetings that make a difference. The Save Our Hospitals Demonstration at Ealing hospital on 8 March was led by GMB women members. Look out for future campaigns here: www.gmb.org.uk Come to our meetings!

Our meetings on 14 May and 6 August are open to all women: GMB members are welcome to bring along friends and colleagues. We meet from 6pm–8.30pm at GMB’s office at 22 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HD, two minutes from Euston Station.

We will have speakers at every open meeting. Planned topics include abortion, how to get involved in GMB’s political work and equal pay.

For more information call or email regional equality officer Sue Hackett or email GMBsistersLondon@gmail.com We hope to see you soon!

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH Every March the world celebrates Women’s Histtory Month. www.gmb.org.uk 07

regional

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

! e t a d Up

l a c i polit

ers are b m e m w GMB overnment o h n o y enn on g Warren Kup to the coaliti standing

VOTING CHOICE Labour votes add up to fairness for all.

H

ere are just a few examples of the damage that this unelected, coalition government has inflicted since the general election three years ago: hundreds of thousands of public sector job cuts; pay freezes; attacks on pay, conditions, and employment rights for all workers; and the closure of all our Remploy factories. Funding of the NHS is also being cut in an underhand attempt to shift our healthcare into the hands of privately run companies – whose only accountability is to their shareholders.

At the same time, this government is handing out annual tax breaks of £107,000 to every millionaire. Couple this with the Lib Dem and Tory pre-election pledges to protect funding for our NHS, and the airbrushed picture they presented prior to the last election, and it’s a stark contrast to the reality we have seen unravel. Find out more on GMB’s campaign against NHS closures on page 28.

many – not the few! We were successful in the Corby by-election, the Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner election, and the Milton Keynes council elections.

At our GMB Congress in Brighton, delegates voted to support our National Political Report and Strategy. It identifies that “Politically the Labour Party potentially still offers working people the best route to economic and social justice.” But we must ensure Labour do more to represent GMB values if they want to have a real chance of winning the next general election.

what’s next?

A political landscape with more working class councillors and MPs is the only real chance of achieving social, economic and industrial fairness. We have been running political training sessions for GMB members and activists who are interested in standing as a candidate in their local elections.

This year our attention and activity will gmb members fight back be aimed at supporting our candidates in elections taking place in Four years ago GMB London Region Buckinghamshire, introduced a regional Cambridgeshire, Essex, political forum and with Hertfordshire, Norfolk your support, we’ve and Suffolk on managed to 2 May. campaign and win If this is all across the region. something you In 2012, our have ever members helped considered doing GMB candidates win CELEBRATED CAUSE or, if you would like positions where they Olly Martins wins the to join the growing will speak up for the shire election.

Bedford

Download a copy of the GMB National Political Report available online at www.gmb.org.uk Or call 01462 499 650 to get a copy by post or email.

08 www.gmb.org.uk

number of GMB members who are supporting our activities and Campaign Action Days, please contact your GMB branch secretary or branch political officer. You can also contact myself or Gary Doolan, GMB national political officer on the email addresses below or on 01462 499 650 or 07843 632394.

GMB members winning for GMB candidates – nothing more, nothing less!

BANDING TOGETHER Fighting injustice under the Labour banner!

volvs,ed get urin career in politic

To start yo ansier contact GMB senior org ng aili em by Warren Kenny, g.uk .or mb @g ny en n.k warre icer off al litic po or GMB national n@ ola do ry. ga at n ola Gary Do gmb.org.uk

l na O I T NA

E T A D P U

om GMB r f s w e n e h t l Al

e c n a h c r You to shape

e p o r u e

MEMBER

Stand up for working families in the UK

W

e all now realise the damage this Con-Dem government is inflicting on our public services and on GMB members and their families. The Lib Dems are complicit in the havoc being wreaked on our communities; we should never forget that.

The GMB Central Executive Council (CEC) policy is to make the Labour Party electable in time for the next general election. GMB is now staffed with a political department and each GMB region has a regional political officer (RPO). These officers’ jobs are to organise politically and they are there to help, so get in touch – see the panel on the next page for details of your regional RPO. GMB is encouraging members to join the Labour Party, become active in their communities and local Labour Parties, and help the party become electable. If our members are involved they can encourage the party to adopt policies which will help people provide for their families.

Only by being politically active can GMB members influence Labour Party policy and make sure it stands for the things we believe in: a stop to the privatisation of public services, a Living Wage for all working people and investment in our schools and hospitals.

As a GMB member you can be part of the Labour Party for just £1.80 a month – that’s only £21.50 a year. Download a form from www.labour.org.uk/trade-union-join and start making a difference!

Bring YOUR mag to life!

Discover a world of extras when you point your smartphone at the pages of this GMB magazine. To get started, download the Layar app from get.layar.com

1 Download the Layar app for iPhone and Android devices.

2 Point your smartphone at a WHOLE page of the mag where you see this logo.

3 Watch as it comes to life on your screen.

www.gmb.org.uk 09

national

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

Shaping a Europe that works for you In the November edition of this magazine we appealed to members to put themselves forward to stand as Labour candidates for the 2014 European elections. This was a huge success and many GMB members will be on the list of candidates to be voted on by Labour Party members in July. The result of the ballot and final regional lists of candidates will be announced at the Labour Party Annual Conference in September.

Some of us see the EU as distant or gobbledygook that we don’t understand and just over 30 per cent of us voted in the last European elections. Yet GMB members benefit from the rights that belonging to the EU brings

us, and we must to fight to ensure these are protected and improved, not taken away.

We have the power of our vote to start shaping a Europe that works for us – and if we want positive change we must vote for it at the next European election. We must vote for the GMB members and other trade unionists who have stood up for us and know that the EU needs change, but not at the expense of our hard-won rights. The rights from Europe came to us when we had majorities of Labour and Socialist MEPs, commissioners and governments at European level. It is no surprise that since we lost the majority across the EU, these rights fell under attack.

What does Europe mean to you?

For GMB, Europe means a basketful of employment and social rights that we might otherwise never have had. Health and safety protection, paid holidays from work, limits on working hours, protection when faced with collective redundancies and rights when the company we work for is sold. The transfers of undertakings (TUPE) regulations give GMB the right to make sure we keep our hard-won pay and conditions. Part-time workers are guarded; fixed term and temporary agency workers’ rights have been improved; we have improved maternity/pregnant workers’ rights and extensive equal treatment and equality rights.

When workers come to the UK to work they have to be paid the negotiated rate of pay and cannot be exploited. And these are just some of the rights we enjoy from Europe.

Yet increasingly, when we hear and read about Europe, it is about why Britain should leave it. It's not about whether it's good for us as working families and everyday people to be in or out; the debate is being dominated by politicians. So if we are going to have a debate about Europe, we want it to be about shaping a Europe that works for us.

Watch GMB TV Want to know more about getting involved? Get it from the horse’s mouth! Watch interviews with Labour MPs and GMB organisers at www.gmb.public-i.tv

10 www.gmb.org.uk

We want honest answers about what will happen to our jobs if we leave the EU. Around 50 per cent of everything we produce is bought

by Europe. The USA has already said that for them the UK is a route to the EU – and if we’re not in they will find another route. All this will have big implications for us as working families, our jobs and our economy.

David Cameron says he wants to renegotiate the terms of our involvement with Europe rather than withdraw altogether. One of the top priorities for him and the coalition is to remove workers’ rights. So any renegotiation under a Con-Dem government is bad news for GMB members. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) would also remove our rights. They are not any friend of GMB members.

So get involved and help us shape a Europe that works for us – because its future is in our hands.

GMB

cts political conta

Get in touch with your regional political officer GMB Birmingham & West Midlands Region Stephanie Peacock 0121 550 4888 stephanie.peacock@gmb.org.uk

GMB London Region Gary Doolan 020 7391 6748 gary.doolan@gmb.org.uk

GMB Midland & East Coast Region

Richard Oliver 0115 960 7171 richard.oliver@gmb.org.uk

GMB Northern Region Chris Jukes 0191 233 3930 chris.Jukes@gmb.org.uk

GMB North West and Irish Region Neil Smith 0151 727 0077 neil.smith@gmb.org.uk

GMB Scotland

Richard Leonard 0141 332 8641 richard.leonard@gmb.org.uk

GMB Southern Region Michelle Gordon 020 8397 8881 michelle.gordon@gmb.org.uk

GMB Wales & South West Region Mike Payne 029 2049 1260 mike.payne@gmb.org.uk

GMB Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Region Steve Jennings 0845 337 7777 steve.jennings@gmb.org.uk

GMB Euston Political Team Cath Speight, national political officer 020 7391 6746 Heidi Benzing 020 7391 6749 Gary Doolan 020 7391 6748 Lisa Johnson 020 7391 6764 Steve Kemp 020 7391 6700 Hilary Perrin 020 7391 6753

! get onrtyline u yo what

Tell the Labour Pa esto 2014 want in the Labour Manif k g.u .or ain rit rb ou at www.y ney Find out who’s giving mo at s rie To to the searchthemoney.com

Paul kenny

says

cretary e s l a r e n e g your GMB m o r f d r o w A

It is a scandal that people are victimised for asking questions

T

here is a line in a Joni Mitchell song which goes “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. How true those words ring when the people you love are no longer around, and I guess that is what the song was written to convey. However, such sentiments also apply to the standards of equality, justice and services which are lost, diluted or just plundered by politicians and the vested interests of markets and millionaires.

We now live in a country where our natural resources are all owned by private companies, who make vast profits selling us back natural resources, like water, which falls from the sky for free!!

SELLING IT OFF Our energy, railways and public services are all seen as primary wealth producers for corporations’ shareholders or entrepreneurs rather than being instruments for a richer economy for all, a planned future for the benefit of the many.

I look in disbelief as this generation of snake oil salesmen that masquerade as our government, package up our health service for privatisation. How they tell us that somehow giving hundreds of millions, currently spent on patient care, to the back pockets of privateers, is the health service we need or indeed want!

RISKY BUSINESS The power of the business lobby is stronger now than at any time in modern government and where better to see that power than to look at the “special advisors” from business, which now adorn every government department. The lobby group who don’t ever have to book an appointment to see the minister. They just waltz right in from the office next door!

These “business” interests, demanding cuts in regulations on everything from health and safety to employment rights and equality laws.

These are the same guardians of our interests who welcomed cuts in public services whilst applauding cash hand outs to millionaires.

The same crew who demanded and got cuts in corporation tax alongside cuts in benefits.

The vested interests of multi nationals who earn billions from our country yet pay nothing or virtually nothing back in taxes on their vast profits.

The vested interests of the companies who were allowed to get away with compiling blacklists designed to discriminate against ordinary men and women whose only crime might have been to attend a meeting about working conditions or airport expansions or similar environmental concerns.

It is a scandal that people who live in a country that politicians like to tell us is a free democratic society are victimised for asking questions or having the desire to just listen to a debate.

DEMAND ACTION GMB has led the way in both exposing and demanding action on these matters, from tax avoidance by the Starbucks and Amazons of this world to the companies like Carillion and McAlpine whose involvement in blacklisting is now out in the open. If anyone thinks GMB will tire of pursuing these companies, then they better think again.

The first political party which has the courage to break the strangle hold of the self-interest buccaneers will be embraced by millions of British people who have become victims of the snout in the trough arrangement, the “we can do whatever we want” culture, of so many companies and individuals whose only interests are their own. I hope that party is Labour. I hope Ed Miliband has the strength to follow his own natural instinct on justice and equality.

And a vision which enhances the lives of British people, not on servicing the vested interests of an unelected rich elite.

After all when it comes to political support, as the song goes, “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. www.gmb.org.uk 11

national

UPDATE

3 1 2 , 3 from GMB All the news

d e t s i l k c a l b

e of the on , ow kn u yo ne eo m so is or u, yo Are 3,213 names on the construction industry blacklist?

M

ore than 3,000 names appear on an illegal blacklist used by companies in the construction industry. The map, right, was made by GMB to show how many people in each area of the UK were on the blacklist of 3,213* workers.

The blacklist first came to light in 2009.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) seized a Consulting Association database of 3,213 construction workers used by 44 companies to vet new recruits and keep out trade union and health and safety activists.

By autumn 2012, only 194 of the 3,213 blacklisted workers knew they were on it.

After GMB pressed for disclosure, the ICO agreed to supply names, dates of birth, trades and towns of residence on a restricted basis to enable GMB to check our own membership records to find members who are on the blacklist. We found 200 exact matches and are in contact with these members to get their files from ICO. GMB appointed lawyers Leigh Day are preparing litigation to get compensation for them.

There were a further 300 names on the list, who may be GMB members, but we need more information to assess if they are.

We publish the map, based on locations supplied by ICO for all 3,213, to prompt responses from members to help us in this.

If you were a construction worker from one of these areas and as a trade union or health 12 www.gmb.org.uk

STAND UP FOR JUSTICE Blacklisting makes innocent members into outlaws.

1 northern ireland

1 eire

and safety activist were denied work for reasons you could not explain, get in touch so we can crosscheck the records.

GMB’s priority is to step up the campaign to get every blacklisted GMB member compensation.

GMB is calling on councils not to award work to the companies that operated the blacklist until they compensate those they damaged. GMB is also pushing ICO for a proactive action to inform all builders affected that they are on the blacklist.

A GMB report on blacklisting showed that it was not something isolated or rare. The

report estimated that in one quarter, Carillion, for example, checked 2,776 names with the Consulting Association, and in the period from October 1999 to April 2004 it estimates that Carillion checked at least 14,724 names.

SIGN up for the GMB eNEWSletter AT www.gmb.org.uk

NATional

1

Orkney islands

highland

15

aberdeenshire

54

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7

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34

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glamorgan swansea

15

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monmouthshire

19 3

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bath

8 dorset

7

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14

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454

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“Blacklisting is not something isolated or rare.�

57

london

32

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1

9

12 herts

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suffolk

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4

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25

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69

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62

56

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16

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64

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53

183

merseyside

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12

lancashire

fy mo If you can help us identi the on d me of the people na rst, hu ite Wh il Ph l tel blacklist, on r ice off GMB construction il. ph or 0 81 8 07968 33 k whitehurst@gmb.org.u son en ph Ste or GMB, 22 Way, London NW1 2HD.

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northumberland

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GRIM PRACTICE GMB members demonstrate at . a Carillion court hearing in Swansea

mid lothian w loth

16

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52 12

dundee city

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east sussex

west sussex

* When alias names and duplicates are excluded there are 3,213 individuals on the blacklist. The map shows where 2,554 lived or worked. There are an additional 12 unmapped in Wales and 8 unmapped in Scotland. For 639, or 20%, no proper addresses are given. The ICO using NI details could, with help of DWP, find current addresses for most of 3,213 but they have not done so.

www.gmb.org.uk 13

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BECOME A GMB WORKP ORGANILACE SER

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www.gmb .org gmbwo .uk/

hangin’ on the

telephone Daily Mirror columnist Paul Routledge on how zero hours contracts are keeping UK workers waiting by the phone

D

ON’T call us – we’ll call you!”

That’s the old showbiz gag.

Promoters who exploit struggling artistes tell them to stay by the phone on the off chance of something coming up. But it’s no joke in modern-day Britain, where employers impose “zero hours contracts” (ZHC) contracts on people desperate for work.

These breadwinners spend hours listening for the boss to call them in for a few hours’ paid work. Sometimes the phone rings, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s not a job. It’s not even a genuine contract – it’s a con-trick.

But nowadays it’s year zero every year in UK plc, as employers rush to turn their workforce into casual labourers. Once upon a time, it was the dockers, gathered at the dock gates waiting for the foreman to shout 14 www.gmb.org.uk

“You, you and you! The rest go home.” Today, this system goes right across the board from fast-food outlets to the NHS. Exactly what are we talking about here?

Under a zero hours contract, employees are obliged to make themselves available for work – but the employer is under no obligation to provide work. There are no specified hours, and work can vary from week to week. Workers are paid only for the time they work, so the waiting time they spend by the phone is unpaid. And some employers don’t even pay for waiting time spent on work premises, though legally workers are entitled to payment.

ACAS, the employment relations service, says, “National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations state that workers on ‘stand-by time’, ‘on-call time’ and ‘downtime’ must

still be paid the NMW if they are at their place of work and are required to be there.

“Similarly, such time is likely to count as ‘working time’ under the Working Time Regulations if the worker is required to be on call at the place of work. This means that it’s against the law to ask employees to ‘clock’ during quiet periods but still remain on the premises.” Workers should be aware of these provisions.

It’s obvious why the employers like this evil system. As GMB puts it: “This isn’t a proper job at all, but being on a bank of agency workers, with no rights, no guarantees and unable to plan their lives.”

Security work has been particularly hard hit by the zero hours revolution.

And as the union for security workers, GMB members and GMB workplace

SIGN up for the GMB eNEWSletter AT www.gmb.org.uk Bring these pages to life! organisers have spotlighted the excesses and are driving action by the union in the workplace and in a wider public debate.

GMB has successfully challenged ZHCs in a number of companies, where the employer has agreed minimum hours so workers have a “default position” knowing just how much they will get.

tough fight But it’s a tough fight we have on our hands.

The industry is highly fragmented, with many people working alone and on night shifts.

Where workers are isolated, and communication is poor, it’s easy for them to be abused by management.

Security is probably the worst in terms of exploitation, but ZHCs are also found in local government, schools, food processing, telecommunications, agriculture and some parts of manufacturing. And in the NHS, one Trust in south-west England has more than 1,000 people on ZHCs at all levels of the organisation: healthcare assistant, midwife, doctor, surgeon and admin worker. None have security of income.

Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, has called on the coalition government to halt the spread of ZHCs in the NHS pending an urgent review into the potential risks to continuity of care and patient safety. “What we’re seeing is the casualisation of our health service, turning parts of the NHS into a temping workforce,” he warned.

Reliable figures across the nation are hard to come by, but the official government Labour Force Survey calculates that in pre-recession Britain of 2005, there were

JOB INSECURITY Factory workers suffer from unfair contracts.

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75,000 employees on zero hours contracts, 32,000 of them women. In 2011 this had increased to 146,000, with 85,000 women.

tip of the iceberg These figures show a doubling of ZHCs since the bankers’ recession hit the economy, with women now more likely to be exploited by employers. And the official numbers are just the tip of an iceberg. They exclude hundreds of thousands of agency workers – who are not technically employees.

The clear and present danger of exploitation from zero hour contracts has prompted GMB to back a call for a National Minimum Hours strategy to complement the National Minimum Wage, with GMB giving evidence to the Low Pay Commission.

GMB executive policy officer Ida Clemo says: “Employers regard these workers as ‘flexible’, but it is GMB policy that if workers

“Where workers are isolated and communication is poor, it’s easy for them to be abused by management.” have a regular pattern of work over a fixed period then they must be offered employment on a permanent contract, not a casual one.”

The security industry is traditionally a low-wage economy with long hours.

In addition to this many sites are not GMB-organised sites, and there is a high potential for guards to be exposed to violence. As such security guards are SIA-licensed and vetted to high standards. The big players, with whom GMB has recognition agreements, fund the license with the cost repaid if guards leave before the end of the three-year license period.

However, most guards who aren’t GMB members are on ZHCs and have to pay for their own license and training with no guarantee of work.

The logical outcome of this cut-throat business practice was perfectly demonstrated during the Olympic Games, when security firm G4S – many of whose security officers were on ZHCs – failed dismally to produce the tens of thousands of guards required to keep the sites safe.

ON CALL Andy Burnham, Shadow Health Secretary, objects to ZHCs. That’s because ZHCs cut both ways. How can an employee treated badly in this way feel any loyalty to a company that treats him or her like an industrial serf? These work deals first reappeared in the recession of the ’90s. They didn’t guarantee any hours or pay.

But they were a contract with that employer, so the employee could not work anywhere else, nor could they sign on for benefits.

Where did they go afterwards? As soon as the labour market eases and better forms of employment become available, people stop accepting them and they become rare.

But there are few signs that the labour market is picking up. Quite the opposite. And with the UK economy bumping along the bottom, most new employment is low-paid, part-time work. Hundreds of thousands of worthwhile jobs in the public services have been sacrificed in the name of austerity but the private sector only wants “flexible” staff who can be called out when they’re needed.

This is a recipe for disaster, because dissatisfied workers are reluctant workers.

Whatever the nature of the work, you need people who are committed to doing a good job. “A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” is an old maxim, but one that reflects the British way of life. A way of living now under siege from the zero hours mobsters.

get help from gmb ered a zero Have you been off ch hours contract? Get in tou ice off al with your region or find out more online at www.gmb.org.uk

www.gmb.org.uk 15

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from GMB All the news

GMB calls on UK councils to pay

IT’S A LIVING THING GMB secures a living wage at Barking & Dagenham council.

a living wage

The campaign steps up as some councils make the first step to get on board

I

pay freezes have meant that this progress has t’s nonsensical that council been halted and dragged back, leaving some workers’ pay has to be topped up by GMB members at the lower end of the pay state benefits. More councils are scale on £6.30 per hour. GMB is determined signing up to the GMB living wage that members on these lower pay rates, who campaign all the time, so check out the are forced to claim tax credits, free school latest list of the councils that haven’t at: meals, housing benefit and council tax benefit www.gmb.org.uk/livingwage to make ends meet will be paid a living wage.

GMB is calling on all UK councils to pay a Around 280,000 – 16 per cent of living wage. In England and Wales local authority staff – would GMB wants councils to pay £7.45 benefit from a living wage. Jobs per hour. With a much higher currently paid £6.30–£6.38 cost of living in the capital, per hour include home help, GMB is seeking an hourly teaching assistants, rate of £8.55 from the 33 rts pe ex at The hourly rate th cleaners, grave diggers, London boroughs. The ed ne le op pe y sa an admin assistants, sure-start, campaign is being backed to be paid to have d ar nd sta caretakers, care workers and

by Labour Party. A le ab pt acce school crossing patrols. sokesperson said, “Labour of living (£8.55 in London).

You will find GMB living wage councils are leading the way in material at www.gmb.org.uk/ committing to pay a living wage livingwage GMB has petitions to their staff and subcontracted among council workers and is meeting with workers. As part of Labour’s policy review we the chief executives of councils and calling on are now looking at ideas for extending it elected councillors to vote for a living wage. further into the private sector.”

At the time of writing, 35 councils in Council rates of pay have been pushed up England, including 10 London boroughs

by GMB negotiators over time, but years of

£7.45

which will pay the higher hourly rate, have committed to pay a living wage. They are Ashfield, Blackpool, Birmingham, Brent, Brighton & Hove, Calderdale, Camden, Carlisle, Chorley, Croydon, Dartford, Deal, Derby City, Ealing, Enfield, Gloucester City, Hackney, Harrow, Hounslow, Hyndburn, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newark & Sherwood, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford City, Preston, Sheffield, Southwark, Wirral, Wolverhampton, Barking & Dagenham, Greenwich and York.

Scotland is leading the way by paying £7.20 from 1 April this year in all 26 Scottish councils. GMB Scotland intends to move on to the private sector contractors delivering catering and cleaning services to councils by extending the campaign to cover them too.

None of the 26 Northern Ireland councils have signed up to the GMB living wage aims Only two of Wales’s 22 councils, Cardiff and Swansea, have signed up to pay a living wage of £7.45.

GMB wants a living wage for members in the private sector too, not just in councils.

GMB wins a living wage of £9ph for members at Barking & Dagenham council in London.

16 www.gmb.org.uk

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How GMB makes life easier for you GMB workplace organisers are there to offer support and advice, so whether you are having a problem that you need help with, or if you just want to know what your rights are, call them!

Don’t worry, Clive.

Just fill in a direct debit form and I will send it off to GMB. it’s that simple.

One afternoon…

Jen, I Start a new job next week and my new boss won’t deduct My GMB contributions from my wages.

you have a legal right to be a GMB member wherever you work, Whether your Boss recognises GMB or not.

I Still want to be a GMB member.

What can I do?

Yes, I saw your names on the list of staff who are leaving.

I’ll be meeting with you both later in the week.

Thanks, Jen. If you give me the Direct debit form I’ll fill it out now. By the way, Helen is moving to the new depot.

The End

18 www.gmb.org.uk

Gavin Roberts

Great! I’ll Ask Helen to fill in a Membership Transfer Note. Then payroll can keep her GMB deductions going.

national

UPDATE

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

from GMB All the news

50 could be yours!

VOUCHER

EXCLUSIVE TO GMB MEMBERS!

Refer a friend to British Gas for free insulation and earn yourself a £50 voucher!

B

ritish Gas is offering a FREE £50 voucher to anyone who refers a friend on qualifying benefits to receive free insulation worth up to £1,000. If you have a friend on any of the benefits listed in the table to the right, you could get them FREE insulation and a £50 voucher for yourself!

The voucher will be sent to you once the installation has been completed. What’s more there is no limit on the number of people you can refer.

As well as getting FREE insulation, the customer you refer will be paid £50 too and they don’t even need to be a British Gas customer to be eligible.

The offer is part of a government initiative to help Britain’s homes become more energy efficient – and it is FREE to anyone who qualifies. The whole process is hassle free and is usually complete in less than a day.

What’s more insulation can save your friend money on their bills. Loft insulation alone could save as much as £175 a year!

ND REFER A r,FtelRl anIE eligible To earn a £50 vouche British Gas on: friend or relative to call

0800 107 1683 ’ with your name, quoting ‘GMBMAG number. address and telephone

Who qualifies?

Visit www.britishgas.co.uk/smallprint or see the table below:

If you receive one of the following benefits: 1. State Pension Credit or 2. Child Tax Credit with an income below £15,860 or 3. A combination of the following: Income-related employment and support allowance, which must include a work-related activity or support component

Has parental responsibility for a child who ordinariliy resides with that person where the child is: (i) under the age of 16; or (ii) 16 or over but under the age of 20 and in full-time education (other than higher education)

Income-based job seekers allowance

A child tax credit which includes a disability or severe disability element

AND

A disabled child premium Income support

A disability premium, enhanced disability premium or severe disability premium A pensioner premium, higher pensioner premium or enhanced pensioner premium OR

Working tax credit and has a relevant income of £15,860 or less

AND

Has parental responsibility for a child who ordinariliy resides with that person where the child is: (i) under the age of 16; or (ii) 16 or over but under the age of 20 and in full-time education (other than higher education) Is in receipt of a disabled worker element or severe disability element Is aged 60 years or over

TERMS AND CONDITIONS To be eligible, a member of the household must be on eligible benefits call 0800 107 1683 or see britishgas.co.uk/smallprint for details. British Gas installs in mainland Great Britain only. Not all homes are suitable for insulation. Offer only applies to loft and cavity wall measures recommended by an appointed surveyor. Offer includes up to £1,000 of specialist equipment at the discretion of the appointed surveyor. Tenants must seek landlord permission. Offer only applicable to residential properties and excludes all other properties including commercial or part commercial premises. The Offer is subject to availability and subject to change or withdrawal at any time. A £50 Love2shop voucher will be sent to the Applicant and the Referrer within 30 days of completion of insulation installation. Employees of British Gas, members of their immediate family and British Gas contractors are not eligible for the £50 reward. Referrers may refer more than one Applicant. Applicants must provide proof of their eligibility for the Offer, including proof of receipt of eligible benefits as set out above and/or proof of age and proof of their residential address. Free insulation is limited to one per Applicant. Phone lines are open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm on Saturday and 9am-4pm on Sunday. Closed on Bank Holidays. Calls are free from 20 however charges from mobile phonesand other networks may vary. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded for quality assurance and compliance purposes. a BT landline,www.gmb.org.uk

iStock

£

A

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SIGN up for the GMB eNEWSletter AT www.gmb.org.uk Bring these pages to life!

y b ver o ed l w o b be l ’l u yo

congress 2013 plymouth, 2–6 june

Save the

TELEVISIO

N

Watch it liv Congress Te on V! Go to www.gmb .public-i.tv

’ s r ine m m a h Dur

Dave Hopper, general secretary, Durham Miners’ Association appeals to GMB members GMB Central Executive Council is backing the future of the Durham Miners’ Gala, which was first held 142 years ago and is the biggest celebration of trade union values in Britain today. However, the cost of the Gala is increasing year on year and we need your help to keep this institution running.

MINERS’ MARCH The Durham Miners’ Gala is 142 year-old tradition.

Since our coalfield was destroyed 20 years ago by a vengeful Tory government, we have had no regular subscription to our funds from working miners. Our financial problems have now been further compounded, as we have to pay more than £1.4m in legal fees.

Anyone who donates £2 a month or a one-off payment of £24 a year will become a member of The Friends Of The Durham

Gala

Miners’ Gala Society, and each year will receive a glossy magazine with photographs of the Gala and a report of the speeches.

Donations can of course be more than £2 per month if circumstances allow, and one-off payments are equally acceptable.

To join or donate, please contact us through our website (details below). You may also wish to buy one or more of the items for sale from the site.

This year’s Durham Miners’ Gala will be held on Saturday 13 July.

please donate

la The Durham Miners’ Ga lp! he ur yo s need org www.durhamminers.

www.gmb.org.uk 21

national

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

mother

care

Going to be a mum? Don’t miss out on your maternity rights

G

MB has worked hard over the years for maternity rights and pay. Here are some basic facts for new mothers:

What maternity pay will I get?

If you earn the lower earnings limit of £107 a week and you have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks before the 15th week before your baby is due you will probably be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).

though you are not entitled to SMP, this is Contractual or Occupational Maternity Pay. You should look at your employment contract or the maternity policy to see what it says about maternity pay.

There may be a requirement for you to pay some money back if you don’t return to work for a certain length of time.

Remember...

The situation with your employer may change, so always discuss your individual situation with your GMB workplace organiser. This is a brief guide to your legal minimum rights and is not a definitive guide to the law, which may change.

Is it true that all women get 52 weeks’ maternity leave no matter how long they have worked for their employer?

Yes! The first 26 weeks of leave is known as Ordinary Maternity Leave and the second 26 weeks is Additional Maternity Leave.

Employers will assume you're taking the full 52 weeks’ leave. If you want to go back to work before the 52 weeks, you must let your employer know the date you will return to work.

What if I decide not to go back to work?

You never have to pay back any SMP. If you are getting more than SMP, or if you're getting payments from your employer even

Fighting for cancer GMB and Macmillan help with cancer in the workplace

Four in 10 people in the UK will be affected by cancer at some stage of their life. Many cancer sufferers say that work is important to them, as a job can help restore normality, routine, stability, social contact and income.

However, Macmillan Cancer Support has established two hard facts: 91 per cent of workers suffer a loss of income and/or increased costs as a result of cancer, and 48 per cent of cancer patients are not given any financial support information.

Macmillan is keen to work with GMB in raising the profile on what can be done for 22 www.gmb.org.uk

sufferers

working people suffering the emotional and financial effects of cancer. GMB, which has long campaigned on the prevention of workplace

elptial Work getn h has an Essen

Macmilla le at at & Cancer Toolkit availab /work, .uk rg n.o illa cm ma w. ww for or call 0808 808 0000 a t jus or rt po sup , ers answ quick chat on the issues.

cancers, will be getting involved to roll out the issue on a regional basis with the help of workplace reps.

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Bring these pages to life!

WIN!

this could be you!

Your chance to win a pair of tickets to Glastonbury.

A pair of tickets to Glastonbury Just register at www.gmb.org.uk and update your profile to enter!

F

ancy going to this year’s Glastonbury festival, taking place from 26–30 June? We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away in association with the Workers Beer Company. For your chance to win follow these steps to update your GMB profile on GMB’s new-look website.

Step 1

• Go to www.gmb.org.uk • Select ‘GMB members login’ • Enter your GMB membership number

and password or create a new password

Step 2

Last issue’s iPhone winner!

Select ‘update profile’ and enter your: Email address Mobile number Home address

Rex Features

• • •

TERMS & CONDITIONS The winning entry will be drawn at random from fully financial GMB members only who register for/login to www.gmb.org.uk members area and update their GMB membership record with additional data before close of business on Friday 3 May 2013 . The winner will be notified by GMB. Prize is subject to availability. No purchase necessary. Entries from employees of GMB or their families will not be accepted. The winner must be prepared to participate in publicity arising from the competition. Winners’ names and photos may be published in future issues.

GMB member Mercedes Fernandez Regalado-Tivy won a brand new iPhone when she entered the prize draw in the last issue of GMB magazine.

she’s a winner!

Mercedes receives her new iPhone from her GMB branch secretary Vaugha n West.

www.gmb.org.uk 23

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UPDATE

Be a life-saver from GMB All the news

GMB backs charity ACLT’s call for blood donors

T

here’s nothing more tragic than a young life needlessly lost, as Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis told GMB’s equality conference.

Their son, Daniel, had battled for years with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; a bloodrelated cancer. He had overcome many of the hurdles that a cancer sufferer faces, however at the age of 21; he tragically passed away from an unrelated illness.

Aged eight Daniel needed a life-saving bone marrow transplant if he was to win his [then] three-year battle against leukaemia. At this time in 1996, there were only 550 donors from black communities on the entire UK bone marrow register. Sadly, for the black, mixed race and ethnic communities this translated to a one in 250,000 chance of

HAPPY FAMILY Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis with their son Daniel.

finding a matching bone marrow donor; compare this to the one in five chance for a white member of the UK population. Such statistics were the reason for Beverley and Orin forming the ACLT. For the past 17 years the charity’s few but hard-working staff and volunteers have recruited thousands of blood donors.

There are now 40,000 people of minority ethnic origin on the UK bone marrow registers. This has improved the odds, but only to one in 100,000.

It is the racially specific characteristics of bone marrow that mean compatible donors for black and mixed race sufferers must come from the black or mixed race population. GMB urges members to sign up to become a blood or organ donor, irrespective of racial origin,

but particularly if you are from a black, minority ethnic or mixed race community.

Sufferers from these backgrounds are three times more likely to need an organ transplant but only one per cent of people on the NHS organ donor register are from this community!

The ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust) was inspired by Daniel. After his successful bone marrow transplant, he enjoyed a precious 12 years with his friends and family. To give other sufferers a similar opportunity, the charity raises awareness throughout the UK, to enable potential donors to come forward and make them potential life-savers.

To join the bone marrow, blood or organ donation registers, or to make a financial donation, call the ACLT on 020 8240 4480 or visit aclt.org

and change Have fun the world Verity Jones on why you should join Woodcraft Folk

SERIOUSLY FUN Woodcraft Folk members use fun to make a serious point.

24 www.gmb.org.uk

You might have seen Woodcraft Folk at the TUC march in London last October.

There were parents, children and volunteers of all ages in our group – having fun, but taking action on a serious issue at the same time.

Woodcraft Folk is a movement for children and young people, which aims to help young people value the planet. We believe no one is too young to learn about social change, and that no one is too old to play games and have fun. We put all this into practice in our local groups, where all ages work together to make the world a fairer place.

If you’ve got children, or if you want to volunteer for a youth movement that cares passionately about society and the environment, go along to your local Woodcraft Folk group. Find your closest group at www.woodcraft.org.uk Alternatively VERITY JONES email info@woodcraft.org.uk or call Verity loves being part 020 7703 4173. of Woodcraft Folk.

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UPDATE

regional

from GMB All the news

The Betrayal of

charing cross

MP Andrew Slaughter on why GMB must battle an inadequate, privatised health service

I

n a disgraceful act of betrayal Tory led Hammersmith & Fulham Council (H&F) has accepted the closure of Charing Cross Hospital and three other threatened A&E departments in west London.

Here are the facts • C haring Cross A&E will close and be replaced by an ‘urgent care centre’ as planned by NHS North West London.

• If you have a stroke outside Charing Cross you will be taken to St Mary’s Paddington or Chelsea & Westminster.

• The current 500 beds and all specialist acute services will go.

• The will be no acute services at all, only primary – that is GP and nursing – care, on 20 per cent of the current floor space.

• A major teaching and acute service hospital will be reduced to the size and function of a cottage hospital and local clinic.

• T he promised £20–30m for new primary care will be increased to £60–90m. A fraction of the money that will be raised by selling the site of the demolished hospital (about 60 per cent of the site).

• Even after the decision, the NHS was saying no decision had been taken.

• But the NHS denied that Charing Cross would become a “Specialist Health and Social Care Hospital” as the Council claim.

This is a double betrayal. By pulling its support, H&F Council has left not just Charing Cross but all four hospitals high and dry.

H&F Save our Hospitals campaigners knew nothing of the Council’s betrayal and have pledged to fight on to save all of London’s threatened hospitals. With the support of Ealing Council, campaigners across London and every single resident, I believe we can still save our local hospitals. We need to win this battle or face a second-rate, privatised and wholly inadequate health service.

GMB’s Dave Powell puts the heat on pay-freeze employers The public sector has been decimated since the coalition government came into power. Cuts and austerity measures are the order of the day, and despite evidence that shows these cuts to public sector spending are not improving the economy and we are in fact heading for a triple dip recession, the government have now announced that these measures will remain in place until 2017.

Local government are shedding jobs, services are being decimated, but in all of this chaos loyal, hard Updat working local government your GMe employees are trying to ProfileB maintain vital services to the w ww.gmb public despite enduring a .org update .uk/ four-year pay freeze, which in effect is a 15 per cent cut in living standards. It should not surprise anyone to know that even the cuts are not done fairly – Labour controlled authorities have been hit harder than Tory controlled. For example, 12 of the hardest hit 15 boroughs in London are Labour boroughs.

So much for all in it together!

The NHS has fared no better. Waiting times are up, A&E departments are targeted for closure, hospitals are entering administration and ambulance services are failing to meet response targets, yet they’re having to take vehicles off the road to meet budget cuts.

GMB is entirely committed to fighting these cuts, both locally and nationally. We are linking our industrial, political and campaigning arms to protect public sector workers and show this coalition government up for what it is, a one trick pony, a failure and an enemy of the public sector and of working people.

You can play your part. Get involved in our demonstrations and campaigns, get your work colleagues join GMB. Together we can and will make a difference. www.gmb.org.uk 25

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UPDATE

inju at worred k www.g mb.org ?

from GMB All the news

injure .u datwo k/ rk

The government is attacking workplace safety, but GMB is here for you

W

e’re all familiar with the TV commercials showing the woman falling on a marble floor, or the man who injured himself falling off a ladder. These adverts plug a thriving legal industry that feeds on personal injury at work. But you don’t have to go to these sharks.

As a GMB member, if you get injured at work, you are already entitled to help through your GMB membership.

That’s what GMB is here for and that’s what it’s good at. GMB funds thousands of members’ claims each year and recovers £1m a week for GMB members who have been made ill or injured in an accident at work.

Employers have a legal duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment for their employees. But if they don’t, who is going to stop them breaking the law? GMB is!

The vigour with which GMB pursues health and safety matters has resulted in numerous improvements in legislation.

However, there is now a real worry that there will be an erosion of health and safety laws by the Tory-led coalition government’s intentions to weaken existing regulations.

growing danger Action by GMB members is now more important than ever. Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest employers are taking the safety of workers less seriously.

The number of HSE prosecutions went up in 2011–12. After years of reducing workplace fatalities, the last two years have seen a significant increase. In 2009–10, the HSE reported 152 workplace deaths, while in the last two years the number has increased by 13 per cent. It’s not just fatalities; in 2011–12 more than 27m working days were lost due to accidents. This cost the UK £13.4bn in 2010–11.

The number of non-fatal accidents has come down over the years, but there were still more than 111,000 in 2011–12.

Indeed, some workplaces are more dangerous than others. For example, workers in the caring industry have statistically significantly higher rates of injury and ill health. Education workers’ ill health

m 7 2 days working o lost due t s accident

26 www.gmb.org.uk

rates are higher compared to other industries.

For injuries, transport and storage, construction, manufacturing and human health activities have significantly higher rates compared with all industries. These statistics are likely to get worse.

The reason is this government’s attitude to workers’ safety. The Conservatives and Lib Dems have introduced the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. If this bill becomes law, it will remove the right of an injured worker to rely on breaches of health and safety regulations in civil claims.

The consequences are that if an employer fails to meet health and safety law, which results in death or injury, it may be that the employer is not legally responsible. This represents a winding back of the clock by over 100 years. It will be a bad day for GMB members if the government gets its way.

You can help by ensuring that bad Health and Safety practices are brought to the attention of your employer and GMB safety reps.

As a first step, please compete the GMB health and safety questionnaire at www.surveymonkey.com/s/gmblrhands or on the insert your will find in this magazine.

1in3 % c

rease in workpla c deaths sin e ce 2010

SIGN up for the GMB eNEWSletter AT www.gmb.org.uk

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£1m

t GMB The amoun red ju wins for in members k every wee

The GMB London Region is committed to protecting you in the workplace, protecting your employment rights and ensuring your health and safety at work.

Act now!

Don’t miss out

YOU’RE PROTECTED GMB regional secretary, Paul Hayes, is dedicated to keeping you safe!

If you have had an accident, or have been injured at work our GMB panel of specialist solicitors will help you with your claim.

Complete the GMB Health & Safety Survey Help GMB keep you safe at work by returning your Health & Safety survey.

Find your GMB survey in this magazine or complete it online at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/gmblrhands www.gmb.org.uk 27

regional

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

RETIRE FROM WORK NOT GM B www.g mb.o

r gmbrm g.uk/ a

save our GMB hosts special event to save our hospitals

G PAUL HAYES GMB regional secretary inspires community leaders.

28 www.gmb.org.uk

MB London Region has continued the campaign to stop proposed cuts to west London hospitals, hosting a special evening attended by Labour MPs and 450 guests.

The proposals to close A&E, maternity and some special care departments will see 700,000 people without vital local services. Last year, thousands of GMB members took to the streets to demonstrate against the plans.

The Save Our Hospitals event saw speeches from GMB President Mary Turner, who gave an insight into the NHS as a patient, and Andy Gwynne, Labour MP. GMB London regional secretary Paul Hayes said: “The campaign to Save Our Hospitals has shown a determination that has been second to none and the GMB London Region is proud to be working alongside community leaders in the fight to save our NHS. The fight is one that must continue.�

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regional

SPECIAL EVENT GMB members, doctors and MPs gather to stand up for the NHS .

s l a t i p s ho

just getting started

And GMB’s work has only just begun. GMB members continue to raise the profile of these cuts with weekly candle-lit vigils at the four hospitals affected: Charing Cross; Ealing; Hammersmith and Central Middlesex.

GMB London Region has also sent more than 4,000 signed post cards to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, objecting to the cuts.

Visit www.gmb.org.uk for details of events taking place near you soon.

mmittee Join thnehascnoo w set up its own NHS GMB London Regio st in or have a keen intere committee. If you work to hear from you. e in the NHS we would lov 01462 499650 Contact Tony Hughes on gmb.org.uk or email tony.hughes@ ls. tai with your contact de

PATIENT TALE GMB President Mary Turner talked about being an NHS patient.

www.gmb.org.uk 29

regional

Upda your GtMe ProfileB www.gmb

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

.org update .uk/

GMB@School Meet your GMB London Region School Board

F

Useful contacts ra Vincent,

ind out more about the about the people putting your views to the London Region School Board. This information is updated at www. gmbunion.org/schools/schoolsboard.html

Martin Foster GMB branch secretary I started work as a school cleaner in 1993 became a rep for GMB Luton branch in 1997 and started to build a large membership in schools across Bedfordshire.

As the membership grew, in 1999 the region opened Beds County Branch and appointed me branch secretary. This is a post I still hold and I am proud to say the branch is now one of the largest in the region with thousands of school staff as members. I have school support staff’s interests at all levels.

Sand For all queries and concerns, contact 9200 or 518 GMB lead schools officer, on 0208 To arrange email sandra.vincent@gmb.org.uk lead GMB r, Gree Colin act cont , a school visit gmb.org.uk recruitment officer, at colin.greer@

Theodora Savva GMB workplace organiser I work at a special needs borough school in Redbridge and I enjoy my job. I became a GMB workplace organiser five years ago due to a pay dispute. Thanks to GMB many staff at the school received back-dated pay and a pay increase amounting to several thousand pounds. I attend GMB training, which enables me to work for fairness in the workplace. I also attend regular meetings with management, who address any issues or concerns.

Cathy holland GMB workplace organiser I have been a GMB workplace organiser for 12 years. I look after all members in the Essex County Council area, which covers most of Essex. The majority of my work is in schools where I cover all GMB members’ issues, including all pay, risk assessments, advising people of their rights and keeping members up-to-date with legislation.

Lessons learned GMB experts answer some common questions from members working in schools

Q A

I am employed at a school and am paid under the National Joint Council (NJC) but in some schools in the borough they appear to receive higher pay.

What can I do? ou must ensure that your job Y description reflects the job that you do.

It may be that your job has expanded – write a list and put everything down.

Then speak to your GMB workplace organiser or branch secretary to assist you in requesting a pay review.

30 www.gmb.org.uk

Q

I work at a school and also work at another company – am I still covered

by GMB?

A Q A

es as long as you are paying the Y correct GMB rate.

I have been hit by a child and been told that it is just part of the job. o one should be expected to be N harmed at work. Every employer has a Duty of Care to their employee.

Take GMB’s safety survey You will find it inserted in this magazine or online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ gmblrhands

SIGN up for the GMB eNEWSletter AT www.gmb.org.uk

Christopher doolan Christopher Joseph Doolan passed away on Christmas Eve 2012. He was a member of GMB London region for more than 50 years. He was a man who believed in social justice and that every worker should be a member of a trade union. Christopher was an exceptional man without an ounce of malice in his body and was respected by his friends, family and the community. He was a man of principle and integrity and will be sadly missed by many.

GMB LONDON REGION

Contact GMB

If you have a problem at work, contact your GMB workplace organiser. If you do not have one, go to the GMB website at www.gmb.org.uk. Still no luck? Call the GMB regional office on 020 8202 8272 and ask to speak to the duty officer.

We are planning on displaying GMB branch banners in the main hall at Congress 2013, to be held this year in Plymouth. If you would like your branch banner to be displayed, please contact your GMB organiser

or senior organiser, who will make the arrangements for getting your branch banner to GMB Regional Office, Hendon, by Friday 17 May and then to GMB Congress and back to you once Congress has finished.

Important dates for you

GMB LONDON Regional Office HENDON Thorne House, 152 Brent Street, Hendon, London NW4 2DP. T: 020 8202 8272 F: 020 8202 2893

GMB CHELMSFORD

53 Duke Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1JA. T: 01245 345165 F: 01245 345129

GMB FULHAM

691 Fulham Road, London SW6 5UJ. T: 020 7736 5683 F: 020 7371 7457

GMB GANTS HILL

8th Floor, Wentworth House, 350-352 Eastern Ave, Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex IG2 6NH. T: 020 8518 9200 F: 020 8518 9209

GMB HAYES

213 Church Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 2LG. T: 020 8573 6969 F: 020 8756 0276

GMB baldock

The Maltings, 44 Whitehorse Street, Baldock, Herts SG7 6QQ. T: 01462Â 499650 F: 01462 499699

GMB norwich

38-40 Bethel Street, Norwich NR2 1NR. T: 01603 626492 F: 01603 766516

GMB southend

41 Queens Road, Southend, Essex SS1 1LT. T: 01702 390512/390427 F: 01702 435074

www.gmb.org.uk 31