The Pulse

The magazine for GMB members

Pulse The

www.gmb.org.uk | Spring 2013

Special Br an ch GMB Bran ch Awards!

W IN a pair o f

Glasto tickets

you’re booked!

See page 23

We give Amazon an ASBO Does your boss keep you hanging on the line? See p14

In this issue...

Tim Roache d North GMB Yorkshire an l secretary na gio Derbyshire re

Leeds branch sponsors Charlotte Pugsley’s African training Page 7

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

Regional

National

4 And the winner is…

9 Make a difference

5 Street life

11 Paul Kenny speaks

6 Wronged rights

12 Blacklisting

8 Ros for mayor

14 Zero hours contracts

25 Look ahead

16 A living wage

Awards from the Branch Activity Weekend

GMB members sleep rough for charity

The worst new government proposals

GMB backs Ros Jones for Doncaster office

GMB is fighting for a Future That Works

26 End the abuse

How we can put a stop to domestic violence

28 Amazon ASBO

GMB young members stand up to Amazon

29 Branching out Meet GMB’s new branch

30 Contact GMB

Names and numbers you can call on

31 Join us!

Membership made easy

GMB regional editor Caroline Jones: 01924 887 266 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

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

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

18 GMB@WORK

How to pay your GMB subs by Direct Debit

20 British Gas offer

Recommend a friend for free insulation and get a £50 voucher with this exclusive offer

23 Win Glasto tickets

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

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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 Pulse 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.

We will not put up with this unfairness any longer Hanging on the door of a closed down Blockbuster store was a sign saying “Thank you for shopping at Amazon!” This was reflecting the feelings of more shop staff thrown on the scrapheap along with those at Comet, HMV and Jessops. The shocking truth is that 19 per cent of high street premises are now boarded up as people spend more online.

But if that’s not bad enough, we then see that despite sales of over £7bn in the last three years, Amazon has not paid a single penny in UK corporation tax.

That is why our activists, led by our Regional Young Members’ Section, turned up at Amazon’s Doncaster site and presented the company with a corporate ASBO to show our disgust and demonstrate against the appalling way they treat their workers, who say they are regularly bullied.

The cuts continue to deepen in the public sector too, and towns and cities across our region are being hit unfairly hard. Why are Yorkshire and Derbyshire councils having funding cut by £140 per person when in leafy Richmond upon Thames it’s £12? Why are our police forces losing 10 per cent of frontline officers when Surrey is seeing an increase of 18 per cent?

The north/south divide is as alive as ever and we are not putting up with this blatant unfairness any longer. The country needs leadership and innovation but all we see is a government lurching from one u-turn to another and an ever-deepening recession.

On the legal front we face many new threats to workers’ rights and I want to thank Thompsons for some fantastic work on behalf of our members.

Our region’s membership is holding up and our finances are strong. I thank and pay tribute to every activist, officer and staff member for helping to achieve that.

Finally, is the very welcome announcement that Paul Kenny will remain our General Secretary and continue to lead our proud union through the many challenges ahead.

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GMB m o r f s w e n All the

branching

out

GMB branches recognised for ievements Branch Community outstanding ach at regional activity weekend Campaign Of winner

The Year

Chesterfield No 1 branch and Leeds branches The judges were unable to decide between two excellent candidates for this year’s award, which recognises outstanding work by branches in promoting GMB@WORK in the community. So for the second year running, Chesterfield No 1 branch received the award jointly with the combined branches of Leeds for their campaigns and initiatives throughout the year.

04 www.gmb.org.uk

H

onoured GMB branches from across the region will be rearranging their trophy cabinets after being officially recognised for their achievements in 2012. The awards were presented at last year’s Branch Activity Weekend, which took place in Wakefield in November.

The event included keynote addresses from GMB regional secretary, Tim Roache and General Secretary, Paul Kenny, and gave members the chance to take part in a variety of workshops.

Three workshops were led by guest speakers, including author and political commentator, Owen Jones, leader of City of York Council, James Alexander, MP for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves, and economist at Leeds University Business School, Professor

Malcolm Sawyer. Paul Novak from the TUC and GMB’s Steve Pryle, Rose Conroy and Eamon O’Hearn Large also gave the workshops a GMB focus.

The workshops covered Austerity And The Economy, Campaigning To Win and Why Politics Should Matter To Union Reps.

Presentations were also made by the People’s Telephone Operator, Move Your Money, UK Uncut and Thorne Credit Union.

Speaking to The Pulse, Tim Roache said: “The branch weekend goes from strength to strength every year. The discussion and debate from the delegates was inspirational and the input from the guest speakers invaluable.”

The highglight of this year’s event was, of course, the awards ceremony, which saw proud GMB branches honoured – as our pictures show!

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regional

Street life GMB members sleep rough to raise £9,000 for homeless charity

winner

Regional Branch Of The Year: The Kerry May Award For Outstanding Achievement In GMB@WORK

Sweet success for Haribo

When Paul Harvey from Pontefract Central branch took over as GMB workplace organiser at Haribo UK in Pontefract three years ago, there were only a handful of members and an employer intent on de-recognising GMB. The branch has steadily built momentum through the GMB@WORK agenda, recruiting workplace organisers, utilising GMB and TUC training and using the GMB learning project to build confidence and increase membership.

From a standing start, membership at Haribo is now at 290.

GMB members from Leeds, along with staff and officers from the regional office, spent the night sleeping under the stars to raise funds for local homeless charity, Simon On The Streets. On a cold evening in October dozens of people gave up their time to meet with support workers from the charity before bedding down outside the Civic Hall.

The charity offers street-based support and operates across Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford, providing front-line emotional and practical care for those in need.

GMB Leeds Civic branch secretary, Neil Cole, said: “We were horrified to see that in the latest figures on homelessness it has increased by 40 per cent in the last year. With these figures in mind, and the fact that Simon On The Streets does not get any government funding, we wanted to raise awareness and as much money as possible.”

GMB regional secretary, Tim Roache, said: “I’m so proud of the GMB members who wanted to do this.

They have raised over £9,000, which is a credit to them. This shows the true side to trade unions and that we are caring, compassionate people and not just about strikes and conflict.”

To find out more about the work of Simon On The Streets visit: www.simononthestreets.co.uk

The Class Of 2012 Award Emma Scott This year’s recipient, Emma Scott, received the award in recognition of the work she and her team did to recruit the most members during the Class of 2012 initiative, which forms part of GMB workplace organisers’ induction training.

winner

We are planning on displaying GMB branch banners in the main hall at Congress 2013. If you would like your branch banner to be displayed at GMB Congress 2013 please contact Caroline Jones at regional office on 0845 337 7777.

Caroline will make arrangements for getting it there and back to you.

5 www.gmb.org.uk 05

regional

UPDATE

injured k? at wo.or rg.uk/

from GMB All the news

www.gmbatwork injured

smashing your

rights

Bill Innes, GMB legal officer, reports on how the government is attacking your working rights

employment tribunal fees A fee to lodge an employment tribunal claim and a further fee for a hearing will be charged from this summer. An unfair dismissal claim that goes to a hearing will cost a sacked worker at least £1,200 in fees. Multiple claims will cost up to £5,700! The coalition is helping employers get away with sacking employees unfairly by pricing them out of justice. GMB is working on plans to ensure that is not the outcome for our members.

Employee-shareholder contracts These contracts remove employment rights, including unfair dismissal, in exchange for shares. ‘Consultation’, when it is a coalition consultation, is a sham. Notwithstanding that 06 www.gmb.org.uk

90 per cent of responses to consultation on this proposal opposed it; the coalition aims to push it through Parliament in April. It says job applicants can choose to decline an employee-shareholder contract. But if they do, they lose welfare benefits for three years.

Some choice! This policy is based on undiluted right-wing ideology and GMB will campaign to kill it off.

redundancy consultation When an employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 100 or more employees, the law requires consultation with representatives, such as GMB, starting at least 90 days before the first dismissal notice. This is to be halved to 45 days as another measure to make it easier and cheaper to sack workers.

Employees on fixed term contracts are to be excluded from the requirement making it easier to avoid consultation in the first place.

whistleblowing The law protecting workers from being victimised for whistleblowing is being diluted, with a disclosure only protected if it can be reasonably said it was ‘in the public interest’.

This is just a small sample of what the coalition is up to. Benefit cuts and the divide and rule policy of stigmatising benefit claimants is part of what is underway – a major rebalancing of power in favour of the most powerful to allow policies that make ordinary people pay for the economic crisis. Unions are the main bulwark against these policies. In 2013, GMB organising people to defend their rights and campaign for a fair society has never been more relevant.

iend Tell a frers hip This is why GMB memb ow is so important. If you kn from fit ne be uld co o wh anyone to join membership, tell them at w GMB no www.gmb.org.uk/join

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here is no let-up in the war of attrition against employment rights.

Removing unfair dismissal rights from employees with less than two years’ service was just the start. Other measures introduced last year included ending expenses for witnesses at tribunal hearings – which meant that lost wages for attending a hearing can now exceed the value of a claim. And more restrictions are planned for 2013.

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

regional

the

lue vaof

mon£y BABY LOVE Leeds branch sponsored Charlotte’s neonatal placement in Africa.

life-changing trip Leeds branch sponsors Tanzania neonatal placement As part of Charlotte Pugsley’s paediatric nursing course, she needed to take a 10-week placement. Having already been on placements in Leeds and Sheffield, this time she wanted to go further afield.

She contacted an organisation called Work The World to see if they could help, and they secured her training at Amana Hospital in Tanzania, where she worked on the neonatal ward and even delivered a baby.

“Working conditions in the hospital were really bad,” Charlotte said. “They didn’t have anywhere near the equipment that we have in the UK and it was shocking to see up to five babies per bed and only four nurses working on a ward of over 60 patients.

“The experience was life-changing and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I can’t thank the Leeds Local Government branch enough for helping with my sponsorship.”

ASDA

workers

Sign up to GMB

GMB and ASDA have signed new agreements that cover stores and distribution centres, allowing GMB teams access to meet and speak with ASDA employees about the importance of union membership.

As a result, GMB membership in both areas has increased. Rachel Harrison, from the regional organising team, said: “It’s been good to identify a number of fantastic reps during our campaign; when they receive GMB training, they will become the members’ champions.”

AGREEABLE ACTION Asda employees can chat with GMB reps.

TOUGH TOWN Leeds’ pay packets were worst hit by the recession.

Recession takes a bite of Leeds and Sheffield pay packets GMB has obtained shocking data from the Office for National Statistics revealing that Leeds and Sheffield have been worst hit by the recession in the region. The real value of average earnings in the region has dropped by 13.3 per cent since 2008 – but for employees in Leeds, the drop has been 19.2 per cent and for those living in Sheffield, the decrease is 18.8 per cent.

In April 2008 the mean gross annual earnings for all employees resident in the region, according to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), was £23,227. The ASHE figure for the mean gross annual earnings for all employees resident in the region for April 2012 was £23,558. This is an increase of £331 or 1.4 per cent. Between April 2008 and November 2012 inflation has been 14.8 per cent.

For the UK as a whole, the drop in the real value of average earnings of all employees between April 2008 and November 2012 has been 12.8 per cent.

Tim Roache, GMB regional secretary, said: “These figures showing a drop of 13.3 per cent in the real value of earnings in the region explain why we are on our way to a triple dip recession. The replacing of full time permanent jobs with part time and temporary lower paid jobs is part of this.

“In both the public and private sectors GMB is organising active local campaigns in support of a living wage of £7.45 an hour (£8.55 in London). In addition, GMB is seeking negotiated settlements in the forthcoming pay round. If such settlements are not on offer, GMB has already said that ballots for strike action will be inevitable.” www.gmb.org.uk 07

regional

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

doing it for

doncaster GMB backs Ros Jones as the next mayor of Doncaster

P

otentially one of the most important political events that will take place in the region this year will be the mayoral election in Doncaster. The current mayor is Independent Peter Davies, who is renowned for his controversial right-wing and anti-trade union views. So in the forthcoming election GMB, along with other trade unions, is getting behind Ros Jones, Labour councillor and candidate for mayor.

Ros is a chartered public finance accountant and director of the North Doncaster Development Trust. She served as Doncaster’s civic mayor during 2009/10 and is a school governor at Campsmount School. She also has a strong track record as a campaigner in her own ward.

Ros said: “I’m delighted to be selected

by Doncaster’s Labour members. In me they have a candidate who will work tirelessly for every vote – the hard work starts right away. I was born in Doncaster and have always lived here, I’m hugely proud of Doncaster. In these tough economic times Doncaster needs a mayor who will ensure we fight for our fair share and regenerate this town.”

Labour leader and Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband said: “I’d like to congratulate Ros on winning the selection to be Labour’s mayoral candidate. Ros is Doncaster born and bred and is a fantastic talent who has the experience, values and skills needed to be a first class mayor. The current mayor has let this town down: he won’t stand up for all people and is ineffective in fighting Doncaster’s corner.”

“Ros is Doncaster d born and bred an t.” is a fantastic talen GMB is hoping to get members to campaign for Ros in the run-up to the election. If you want to help get rid of the Independent mayor, contact Steve Jennings or Trudy Frampton on 0845 337 7777.

Move to Direct Debit www.g mb .or ddmov g.uk/ e

Congratulations

Mark!

Congratulations to GMB member councillor Mark Burns-Williamson on his election as police commissioner for West Yorkshire. Mark, along with Shaun Wright, police commissioner for South Yorkshire and Alan Charles , police commissioner for Derbyshire, had overwhelming GMB backing.

08 www.gmb.org.uk

e getuldalikectotjoiiv n the Labour Party If you wo our political or get involved in any of political ct nta co ase ple s, campaign officer, Steve Jennings on him at 0845 337 7777 or email rg.uk b.o gm s@ ing nn .je ve ste

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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

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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

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15

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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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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.

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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

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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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GMB slams

from GMB All the news

Remploy closure

Fight for

the future GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire members descend on London for the Future That Works march

Y

orkshire and North Derbyshire GMB members were among the 150,000 people marching in London for a better future last October. People from across the UK headed to the capital to demand a ‘Future That Works’ and send a clear message to the government.

Thousands more added their voice in demonstrations in Glasgow and Belfast.

The day was organised by the TUC in protest against the government's austerity measures and called for a new approach, which puts growth and an economy that works for ordinary families at the heart of government policy.

GMB members from the region, along with thousands of other trade unionists, joined people from every walk of life and every ethnicity, to take part in something amazing, collectively making a socially conscious statement to send to the government.

Austerity has failed and it has failed the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in society.

Iris Walters, from Leeds General branch, said: “I marched because I believe MAKING A STAND Iris Walters speaks up! that this government has got

TIME TO ACT Blowing the whistle on government austerity.

Factory cuts are a “bitter blow” from a government that doesn’t care GMB regional secretary, Tim Roache, has criticised the government for the closure of yet another Remploy factory. “The closure is a bitter blow to the workforce at the Manor Lane site in Leeds,” he told The Pulse. “It was more than just a factory; it was a lifeline to many of the workers. The government has attempted to justify the closure on economic grounds but many of the factories have been allowed to deliberately run down.”

The decision to close 36 of the government controlled sites was made in March 2012, even though it would mean job BECOME losses for hundreds of A GMB WORKP disabled workers.

ORGANILACE On the day the Leeds SER www.g mb.org site closed, distraught gmbwo .uk/ workers spoke of their fear for the future. Addressing the workforce, Steve Morris, GMB organiser, said: “You have done all you can in the fight to save this factory and your jobs, you should hold your heads up high. It is the government that has let you down, closing Remploy factories is the wrong thing to do.”

The sacked workers waited until they finished their final shift before staging a protest outside of the factory doors. As a symbolic gesture, a coffin was carried to a nearby cemetery to mark the end of an era.

everything wrong. They are slashing public sector jobs, putting people out of work, meaning they don`t have wages to spend in their home locality and they are forced to live on state benefits. Instead of making a significant contribution to society they are living off it.

This is economic madness, it just allows the rich to get richer while the rest of us take the hit.” www.gmb.org.uk 25

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H

ow do we put an end to domestic abuse? That question was asked time and time again during a two-day seminar focusing on domestic violence and the wide-ranging problems that it brings.

Event organisers, Joan Keane and Michelle Bateson from GMB, decided to hold the seminar in a bid to highlight the sensitive issue of domestic abuse and to look at ways in which the growing problem can be tackled. Guest speakers at the event included John and Penny Clough, whose daughter was brutally murdered, criminal lawyer Sean Conway from Thompsons Solicitors, ex-offender Dave Downs, who has turned his life around and now works with children to help tackle behavioural problems, and Jez Rhodes, a GMB workplace organiser from Bradford, who runs a support group for men in his local area.

JANE’S STORY The seminar was hard-hitting. For the first part, John and Penny Clough told the harrowing story of their daughter, Jane, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Jonathan Vass, after she reported him to the police for raping her.

He was charged with nine counts of rape and four counts of assault, but at the initial hearing the judge declared that he was not a threat to Jane and freed him on bail. She lived in fear, not only for herself but for her baby daughter. On the evening of 25 July 2010, those fears were justified when Vass followed Jane to her place of work and stabbed her 71 times before cutting her throat.

Vass was never charged with the rapes, only the murder, because the judge deemed them insignificant.

“Anyone can be affected by domestic abuse.”

26 www.gmb.org.uk

SEEKING JUSTICE Michelle Bateson, John Clough, Penny Clough and Joan Keane.

The Justice for Jane campaign was set up by John and Penny.

It aims to change the law around a victim’s right of appeal, and to make judges more accountable. The first aim has been achieved with an amendment being made to the Bail Act, which now gives victims the right of appeal should another judge make such a blinkered decision; the other aim is a work in progress. Penny has been

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GMB seminar calls for an end to domestic abuse

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awarded an MBE for all her hard work in driving this campaign forward, and deservedly so. We are all safer thanks to the Justice for Jane campaign.

speaking from experience Support worker Dave Downs spoke about his own background and experience of violence, RETIRE which didn’t involve domestic abuse but did FROM result in him spending time in prison. He is WORK now using these negative experiences to NOT G work with the police and schools to tackle www.gmb MB .org behavioural problems. The results simply gmbrma .uk/ speak for themselves; challenging kids learn how to deal with bad situations and channel their anger in other, more positive ways.

GMB workplace organiser Jez Rhodes, from Bradford, spoke about the work he does supporting NEW PARTNERSHIP GMB and Hesco Bastion a local men’s group. The group was formed to help join forces. deal with anger management issues and supports men from all walks of life who feel their anger and fear can sometimes become all-consuming.

They learn different coping mechanisms, and through the support provided by Jez they can help themselves change their own belief system. He also runs a ‘lads and dads’ group, which has seen amazing results in family life.

Domestic abuse is on the increase and it doesn’t discriminate; anyone can be affected by it. This brings us back to the earlier question; what can we do to put an end to domestic abuse? The answer to Barrier and defence systems that is many things, which include highlighting and producer Hesco Bastion has addressing the issue through campaigning, and the signed a recognition agreement less obvious solution – work with the perpetrators with GMB. Following a swift towards stopping their violent behaviour. campaign, GMB met with the company’s senior management and ACAS to hammer out the basis of an agreement.

Talks continued at the Leeds site with company managers Kevin Lyons and Andrew Taylor until an If you are experiencing domestic abuse or agreement was finally reached. know someone who is, call the National The workforce elected two GMB Domestic Violence helpline (24-hour) on workplace organisers, John 0808 200 0247. To find out more about Robertshaw and Nick Farrah.

GMB’s campaign to put an end to domestic The recognition agreement abuse contact Joan Keane or Michelle Bateson was signed by GMB’s membership on 0845 337 7777. development officer, Bill Chard, and chief executive, Mike Hughes, in the presence of GMB senior organiser, Neil Derrick, the GMB reps and Kevin Lyons.

Hesco Bastion is famous for the production of defence barriers

Deal done Defence company Hesco Bastion signs recognition deal with GMB

Don’t suffer in silence

UNITED FRONT People from all walks of life are searching for a solution.

used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the military base known as Camp Bastion is named after the Leeds-made barrier. It is home to more than 28,000 people in Helmand Province.

Bill Chard said: “I met with the workforce on a number of occasions, and the steps from first contact to signing the recognition agreement were contained to within six months. The region is currently campaigning for recognition at a number of other workplaces where employees have decided they need union organisation, and in today’s Tory Britain they have never needed a union more.”

MARCHING ON GMB defends Hesco Bastion workers.

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regional

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

amazon

asbo

GMB young members tell Amazon to pay its tax

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MB members have handed an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) to Amazon at its Doncaster distribution centre. The company’s accounts show that despite booming business it did not pay a single penny of corporation tax in either 2010 or 2011.

Corporation tax is one of the biggest sources of income for the government and is used to pay for services such as hospitals, schools and care homes.

Tim Roache, GMB regional secretary, said: “If these tax avoiding companies paid tax, just as decent hard working GMB members do, then the extra revenue coming into the treasury coffers would make the UK’s budget cuts unnecessary.”

UNHAPPY SHOPPERS GMB members give Amazon an ASBO.

Tim Roache, continued: “We are highlighting the fact that by avoiding paying their taxes, there is a negative impact on funding for hospitals, schools and other services. What they are doing may well be within the law but the majority of people find this behaviour morally repugnant. All tax

avoiders should be made to feel ashamed; this is the unacceptable face of capitalism.”

If they paid what they should the treasury coffers would be richer to the tune of £25bn and the austerity measures could be avoided!

der 27? nts are you unld like to get involved in eve If you are under 27 and wou ’ Network. Contact like this, join GMB’s Young Members rison to find out Har hel Rac er offic GMB young member b.org.uk or call more. Email Rachel.harrison@gm GMB Yorkshire k boo Face 0845 337 7777. Or search bers.

Mem ng You hire bys and North Der

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Laura Rushton joins the Sheffield team as the new receptionist/office administrator, to replace Jan Murray who sadly left GMB due to ill health.

Laura has recently moved into the area with her family and has a wealth of experience to share.

Trudy Frampton joins the political department in Wakefield. She has previously worked for Colin Burgon, former MP for Elmet and Rothwell. Politically, Trudy has already been in the ‘thick of it’ dealing with constituents and irate politicians, so she will fit in well to the GMB team.

Louise Foster-Wilson joins the organising team in Wakefield. She has previously worked as a nurse for Airedale Hospital in Keighley. There she became involved with GMB as lead workplace organiser while organising campaigns around the changes that are being made to the NHS.

& learning Get qualified with GMB

GMB’s education department is proud to report recent figures that show that a high percentage of GMB representatives are being trained to receive diplomas that befit their position within the workplace.

Back in 2005 GMB’s education department re-launched the Annual Education Programme.

It was designed to provide a learning pathway that would educate and train GMB representatives to enable them to deliver a high-quality, confident and competent service for our members.

The programme has been developed year on year following feedback from representatives who undertook training and the 2013 programme now has seven individual learning pathways.

These pathways culminate with representatives being able to embark on training courses that equate to a diploma level accredited qualification.

find out more You can find a copy of the 2013 education programme at www.gmbyorkshire.org.uk/ education/

want to be a gmb rep?

You can make a difference. If you do not currently have an elected representative in your workplace and would like to find out more about the role, then please contact GMB on 0845 377 7777.

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

e n o d l l e w lesley!

Lesley O’Mara gets her degree Congratulations to GMB employee Lesley O’Mara, who has recently completed her five-year degree in Social Sciences. Lesley studied with the Open University, which meant that she could choose from a wide range of modules and complete them in her own time. “I wrote essays on human rights, the role of international organisations such as the World Bank, and differing views on providing aid to developing countries,” says Lesley. “I had a 70 per cent mark in my final essay, I was absolutely amazed!”

Lesley encourages all GMB members to consider studying. “It has increased my confidence and I’ve found subjects interesting that I would not have considered before.”

GMB’s new

branch

inju at wored www.gmb rk? .org in .u jured atwo k/ rk

Introducing GMB Ripon and Thirsk General

Congratulations go to the members from Severfield Watson Ltd in Thirsk on the recent formation of their own branch, Ripon and Thirsk General. The branch was formed after GMB reached a recognition agreement with the company after just two days of negotiations. In this time 170 employees signed up to GMB. A great deal of time and effort was spent building the foundation for good industrial relations at the site, which has enabled GMB members to gain improvements to their terms and conditions of employment.

Speaking to The Pulse, branch secretary, Ben Kirkham, said, “We’re in this position thanks to the support of Bill Chard and Rachel Dix from GMB and because of the sustained hard work and commitment of everyone

regional

notice board ● do we have your correct details?

So that GMB can communicate with you in the most effective way we need to check that we have all your correct details. Simply fill in the postcard inside this magazine, letting us know your name, mobile number, email address and workplace details. Don’t worry, we’ll pick up the cost of the postage, so make sure you fill yours in today.

● The social network Do you want to keep up to date with the latest news from the Yorkshire and North Derbyshire region? Now you can connect with us on Facebook to get the latest information straight away.

Search for ‘GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Region’ and ‘GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Young Members’ to join the groups.

● english classes

WELCOME ABOARD Say hello to our new branch! involved in the branch, especially the workplace representatives. In discussions with GMB representatives at the site, it was decided that rather than having a workplace branch it would be far better to set up a general branch to support the local community, and to attract new members from businesses in the area using the success of Severfield Watson Ltd as a blueprint.”

GMB is running English classes at the regional office in Wakefield, courtesy of the Community Organising Project team, to help members when English is not their first language. Classes are run by volunteers who are full-time students at Wakefield College. COP project worker Piotr Plonka said: “I can’t say how grateful I am to Dzesica Kozlowska and Iza Bobinska who run the classes. It proves that full-time students are not only interested in trade unionism, but as active members they can also promote lifelong learning.”

If you are interested in attending classes then please contact Piotr on 01924 887277 or email him at piotr.plonka@gmb.org.uk

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RETIRE FROM WORK NOT G www.gmb MB .org

UPDATE

from GMB All the news

gmbrm .uk/ a

Strip sponsors GMB B30 branch sponsors Queensbury Celtic football team.

Back of the net!

Football gives B30 branch a boost Bradford Public Services branch has gone from strength to strength following its re-launch in 2010. Back then membership stood at just 1,200 but recently that figure has increased to just short of 2,500.

Branch secretary, Gary Nesbitt said, “Primarily we are a public services branch, however, we are seeking to forge stronger links in the community through the sponsorship of a local football team, which is run by one of our members. Queensbury

Celtic football team now carry GMB’s logo on their football shirts. Our involvement with the club helps us to spread the word about trade unionism and to explain to the youngsters what unions are about and what we do.”

The branch also provides funding for an anger management group, which is run by Jez Rhodes, who is a workplace organiser in the branch (see feature on page 26).

GMB

RTH YORKSHIRE & NO DERBYSHIRE

Contact If you have a problem at work and need advice, in the first instance speak to your GMB workplace organiser. Alternatively, contact your local GMB office.

GMB Regional Office

Obituaries Ian green Ian Green was a GMB workplace organiser at Arla Foods and was the branch president for GMB Asdair branch. Ian, 55, died after a short illness. He was an active trade unionist and since his election in 1999 helped organise his workplace, providing invaluable support and assistance to many GMB members. Ian was part of a team of seven GMB reps at the company and his easy and efficient manner will be missed.

Regional Secretary: Tim Roache.

Grove Hall, 60 College Grove Road, Wakefield WF1 3RN T: 0845 337 7777 F: 01924 887272

GMB brighouse Office Clifton House, Clifton Road, Brighouse HD6 1SL T: 0845 337 7777 F: 01484 721 222

GMB chesterfield Office 34 Glumangate, Chesterfield S40 1TX T: 0845 337 7777 F: 01246 234521

Lord Geoff Lofthouse Geoff was born into poverty in 1925 and started work at a colliery at 14. A member of Yorkshire Coal Staff branch of Apex, he served on Pontefract and Wakefield councils between 1962-1978, when he became an MP. He was Deputy Speaker in the House of Commons, was knighted in 1995 and stood down at the 1997 general election when he was elevated to a peerage as Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract. He will be missed.

Robert Mackie Robert (Bob) Mackie was a GMB workplace organiser at Remploy in York for many years; a GMB life member and branch president for York General branch. Bob used to attend Remploy wage conferences where he was an articulate ambassador for the region. He and his wife Moira, who also worked at the Remploy York factory, had an almost parental care for their work colleagues. Bob will be sadly missed.

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GMB sheffield Office

Thorne House, 188-190 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 1SY T: 0845 337 7777 F: 0114 273 9601

GMB york Office

75 Gillygate, York YO31 7EA T: 0845 337 7777 F: 01904 674045

GMB REGIONAL WEBSITE www.gmbyorkshire.org.uk

FOLLOW US ON

You can follow us @GMB to stay connected and Campaigns find out all the latest news.

How do I join?

Just fill in the form below and hand it to your local GMB workplace organiser, or post it to GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire region, FREEPOST NEA524, Grove Hall, 60 College Grove Road, Wakefield WF1 3SY (you do not need a stamp).

Join GMB at

www.gmbyorkshire.org.uk

Or if you have any questions call 0845 337 7777

Remember – GMB membership covers you for all of your jobs, wherever you work. GMB contributions are £2.70 if you work 21 hours or more per week, £1.55 if you work between 10-20 hours per week and just 85p if you work less than 10 hours per week.

GMB Yorkshire and North Derbyshire region membership application form

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