Together Against the Far Right - campaign building meeting January 28th 7pm Chalkhill Community Centre

 

Community support for St Mungos strikers on the picket line in Willesden

 

 

Local activists and Brent TUC  joined St Mungos strikers on the picket line in Willesden this morning to show solidarity with their struggle for a decent pay rise to address  the 25%  real terms reduction  in their wages and the erosion caused by inflation.

 

 Outside the St Mungos facility in Pound Lane

 

Like many charities St Mungos has left its roots to be more of a corporate enterprise with highly paid executives and low paid workers actually on the front line working with the homeless.  The changes, as with housing associations comes about as charities and the third sector are called upon to perform functions abandoned by the welfare state.

 

 

 

The support from the public for the strikers came over loud and clear as passing traffic tooted in solidarity.

That support will be demonstrated again when a Solidarity Rally, addressed by Dawn Butler, takes place at noon on Friday June 16th outside Brent Civic Centre in Wembley Park.

The Civic Centre is an appropriate venue as St Mungos gets the majority of its funding from local authorities, many London boroughs, including Brent. The strikers are keen that councils put pressure on the St Mungos management to negotiate a fair deal. Half the workforce of 1,600 are unionised and many taking part in strikes, leading to agency workers with little experience attempting to deliver the service for which the borough pays.

If the contract is failing to deliver there may be a case for councils to suspend their contracts.

 

STRIKES: Solidarity actions and locations this week - from information provided by Brent TUC

From Brent Trades Council

 

LOCATIONS

TOMORROW

 

 

Brent Council Cabinet confirms megaphone protection order will not limit/affect protests

 

Jonathan Fluxman spoke at today's Cabinet Meeting about Brent Trades Council's concerns  LINK that proposed Brent-wide Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO ) prohibitions on the use of megaphones and amplified microphones would curb the free speech rights of political campaigners and protestors.

 

Fluxman said that in the present form in which the prohibition was framed there was no exemption for such protests, He went on to criticise what he termed a 'flawed consultation and said that Brent Trades Council should have been directly consulted on this aspect of the PSPO proposal.

 

Commenting on the meeting he said:

 

We were pleased to hear several reassurances from Cllr Butt that the PSPO is not intended to limit protest.  My comments are now on record.   I said in its present form there is no exemption, and we would like to see the wording of the exemption to ensure our rights to protest are protected.  Cllr Butt said everything would be minuted and the right to protest would not be restricted: the right to protest is protected in law.

 

He also said we would be added as stakeholders in future, and indicated to the officers  that they should do so.

 

We do need to ensure that the wording of the PSPO is clear when it is published, but it is all minuted, and the Cabinet were clear that the our fundamental rights to demonstrate will not be limited. 

 

 

If you do nothing else this weekend turn up for this amazing Fundraiser in Willesden on Saturday to help our Trades Hall survive for another century of struggle!

 

 

 Brent Trades Council took to the airways to publicise the 100th Anniversary of Willesden Trades Hall on K2K Radion this week in a sort of labour movement Desert Island Discs.

Maha Rahwnji interviewed  Mary and Diane to learn about the history of the iconic building. Mary Adossides is Chair of Brent Trades Council and Secretary of the Willesden Trades and Labour Hall Society and Diane White is Manager of BBMC and bassist in band, Akabu.

 

Tickets include food and range from £5 unwaged to £20 general entry and £50 solidarity. Book HERE.

The  Celebration of 100 Years of Working-class History in Brent fundraiser  will be held on Saturday 15th October 2022, from 7pm till late at the Brent Black Music Cooperative (Theorem Music Complex). High Road Willesden. Nearest tube Dollis Hill,  Close to the Trades Council building.

 

 

Programme

 

Akabu - reggae band

Food and Bar

with contributions from

- Dawn Butler MP on why the Trades Hall matters

- Chris Coates, a short history of the Trades Hall

- Fitzroy on the Apollo Club

- Sundara Anitha on the Grunwick strike and screening of a clip from the Grunwick strike

 

 

The history of this amazing building

 

The Willesden Trades and Labour Hall was registered as a friendly society on 30 August 1922. The Trades Hall became the HQ of the Labour Party, but also of local trade unions. 

 

Through the 1920s and ‘30s, the Hall was mainly used for union and LP meetings with popular speakers such as Sylvia Pankhurst. In 1932 the local branch of the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement was given the large hall for 2 days every week and later in October, 60 of the 500 strong Scottish and West Coast contingent of the National Hunger March slept over in the hall. In February 1934, the Hall was under police surveillance during a meeting of 12 women from the Catering Section of the Willesden Hunger March Solidarity Committee. 

 

The Labour Party was still an active presence in the Hall and continued to organise larger meetings there, including on the Cuban crisis 1962. In June 1962, during a brief visit to London, Nelson Mandela was invited to address the Willesden Trades Council in the Anson Hall. 

 

When Willesden and Wembley joined to form the London Borough of Brent in 1965, it became the home for the merged Brent Trades Council. In 1969, the Trades Hall welcomed the London Apollo Club which became a famous London music venue, occupying much of the Ground floor. It is said that Bob Marley played there when he first came to London. During the 1970s until this century, the Apollo Club became one of the most popular reggae venues in Brent. 

 

The 1980s brought dramatic economic changes to Brent with major factory closures of well-known names like Smiths Industries and Guinness. The building became nationally known during the Grunwick dispute 1976-78, when a small group of mainly Asian women workers in a photo-processing factory in Chapter Road took strike action to protest their low wages and poor working conditioning. 

 

By the turn of the century, it was clear that deindustrialisation, had deeply affected the Trades Council’s base and income. The Society, which owns the building, ceased to be a registered. The Trades Hall and the Apollo Club are now closed to the public for health and safety reasons as the older part of the building is in a poor state. Celebrating the centenary of this iconic building and of its rich working class history will provide the opportunity to relaunch the hall and the Apollo Club to serve as a Labour Centre in Brent at a time of revival of the trade union movement.

 

DEMAND BETTER: join the TUC demonstration tomorrow. Assemble Portland Place from 11am, start March at noon and Rally in Parliament Square at 1pm

 

 

From the TUC

 

This Saturday, workers, families and pensioners will be marching through London as the TUC holds our We Demand Better demonstration. With hundreds of coaches booked from every part of the country and the weather set fair, it’s shaping up to be a memorable day. And we’ll be delivering a simple message to the government: enough is enough. 

 

With a PM who is more concerned with his own job security than anybody else’s, and a Chancellor who spends more heating his swimming pool than a minimum wage worker earns in a year, it’s time for change. Trade unions are fighting for action on the cost of living, for higher wages, and for a New Deal for working people.

 

We believe the cost-of-living emergency is the result of political choices made in Downing Street. Of course, it’s hard for government to control global energy prices – but austerity, benefit cuts and attacks on unions have held our living standards back. Even now, with City bonuses rising six times faster than wages, ministers are choosing to tax working people rather than wealth. And just last week, the PM warned workers against bargaining for higher pay.

 

The pressures facing households are getting worse. It now costs more than £100 to fill a family car, with many low-paid workers unable to drive to work. Energy bills are set to rise 23 times faster than wages. And next year, the influential OECD think tank forecasts zero growth for the UK economy – the worst performance among the G20 industrial nations, apart from Russia.

 

Rather than the Chancellor’s belated, half-hearted support package, we need real change. A decent pay rise for public sector workers. Fair pay agreements. A £15 minimum wage. And the Employment Bill we’ve been promised not once, not twice . . . but 20 times. And instead of bashing unions, ministers should back working people and boost collective bargaining.

 

But if the government won’t do what’s right, then we will. We are the trade union movement – and standing up for working people is what we do. And that includes workers who feel they have no alternative but to vote for industrial action to win fair treatment.

 

Now is the time to stand up for what we believe in. If you’ve had enough of this rotten government, and if you’re fed up with everything going up but wages, then join us in London this Saturday. And encourage your workmates, friends, family and neighbours to come too – and encourage everyone to join a union.

It's time to demand better. See you from 10.30 am in Portland Place.

 

18TH JUNE WE DEMAND BETTER PROTEST - BRENT TUC DELEGATION

JOINING THE DEMO ARRANGEMENTS

 

Brent TUC delegates and supporters will join the demo as a group so they can

march together behind BTUC's banner. 

11.30 meet at Regents Park Station on the Bakerloo line.

What can we do about the Nationality & Borders Bill? Brent TUC November 24th

 

BRENT TRADES COUNCIL ONLINE PUBLIC MEETING

THE NATIONALITY AND BORDERS BILL

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

WEDNESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER - 7PM

SPEAKERS:

Wilf Sullivan – TUC National Race Equality Officer

Tamzin Doggart - Brent Care4Calais

 

Priti Patel and the Tories lack basic humanity. Boris Johnson's government has

taken a further step towards authoritarianism with this anti-refugee and asylum seeker legislation intended to divide

our communities, increase racist attacks and distract from the real causes of

inequality and injustice.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83653029009?pwd=cVJuVmtXTXVQZmRkc0hEY3V1S05TUT09

Meeting ID: 836 5302 9009

Passcode: 337236

 

Harrow Law Centre will speak on Police Bill plus update on Harrow Unemployed Workers Centre at Brent TUC April 28th 7pm

 

From Brent Trades Council

 

REMINDER 

ONLINE TRADES COUNCIL MEETING (Open to non-delegates but you will not have voting rights)

Wednesday 28th April at 7pm.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/s/83837305555?pwd=Ykx0WlJpTVk5OWxMMnpHQVlaejlGQT09#success

Meeting ID: 838 3730 5555

Passcode: 182387

BTUC has invited two speakers.

Pamela Fitzpatrick - Director of Harrow Law Centre and delegate to Harrow TUC Speaking on the Police Bill

It is quite clear the Tory government's intention is to curtail any protest, including pickets, strikes and other protests that workers take in pursuit of their interests, as well as social movements like BLM.  The ongoing brutal assault on the working class and the major unrest following months of restrictions due to lockdow is resulting in a legal crackdown of immeasurable proportion. BLM has forced a reckoning over this country's colonial and slave-owning past, as it calls into question the entire legitimacy of the ruling class.

 

May 1st is a national day of action over the police bill.  Lets try and mobilise as many people as possible for the demo on the day.

Anthony O'Hara (Anti-Racist Alliance and delegate to Harrow TUC)

speaking on the developing Unemployed Workers Centre

As the furlough scheme comes to an end unemployment levels will go through the roofand the further rise in poverty is a consequence of Tory failure to provide an  economywhich provides jobs to ensure working class people can provide for themselves and their families.

The meeting's Agenda includes

Reports from our delegates:

 

Gerry Downing on the Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group;

Jonathan Fluxman on the campaign against Centene/Operose;

Sonia Morgan on the Metroline Travel and Metroline West bus dispute

protesting at employers proposal to introduce remote sign on; our online

petition has 1026 signatories

Report from our Secretary (Nick Jones)

Report and vote on our audited 2020 accounts (Padraic Finn)

Brief update on the Willesden Trades and Labour Hall

A cultural intervention from Debbie Allen who has offered to read a short poem to commemorate the Amritsar Massacre (13 April 1919) when British troops fired on a large crowd of  10 000 unarmed Indian women, men and children in an open space known as the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.

Delegates only will be entitled to vote.

PS 1026 signatories have been added to our open letter to Sadiq Khan opposing remote sign on.

 

A press release has been circulated and with delegates agreement the letter will be sent to the Mayor following our trades council meeting.

PLEASE KEEP SIGNING AND SHARING THE OPEN LETTER TO SADIQ KHAN No to REMOTE SIGN ON

https://www.megaphone.org.uk/p/BrentTradesCouncil

NO TO REMOTE SIGN ON, DEFEND BUS DRIVERS TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Brent Trades Council urges support for bus drivers over remote sign on - please sign open letter to Sadiq Khan here

 

Brent Trades  Council is urging local residents and trade unionists to sign an open letter to Sadiq Khan urging him to stop  attempts to change the working conditions of London bus drivers.

The change, called 'remote sign on', would mean drivers instead of going to a garage to begin their working day going to a bus stop or other venue and joining a bus. Their working time would begin at that point and pay would be reduced if the bus was late. Drivers would only be paid for the time they are behind the wheel. The bus stop would of course lack the facilities of toilets and canteens available at a garage and limit interaction with other bus workers.  It is believed that the change would equate to a 7% fall in earnings.

SIGN THE OPEN LETTER  HERE

We urge you as Mayor of London to stop remote sign on which bus operators are proposing to introduce on some bus routes. You have already instructed the Board of Transport of London (TfL) to order a moratorium on remote sign on in London which is conditional on “research” being done on its impact.

Why is this important?

Research shows that remote sign on is bad news for drivers, detrimental to passengers and risks the safety of all road users. If a bus is delayed the driver is left, unpaid and in the open, for considerable lengths of time in all weathers, increasing issues of tiredness and fatigue. Driver fatigue is a health concern and a tired driver places passenger safety at risk. Also Unite the Union, of which you are a member, calculated that remote sign on would equate to an immediate seven per cent cut in wages on average for affected workers.

Terms and conditions of London bus drivers are under attack by bus operators. The outsourcing of routes to 16 different operators means bus drivers have different rates of pay, different contracts and different sets of terms and conditions depending on the company they work for.

Drivers working for RATP London United are already taking industrial action across 7 bus depots for improved pay and in defence of their terms and conditions. Metroline and Metroline West bus depots have now won their ballot for industrial action opposing the introduction of remote sign on and in defence of their terms and conditions.

Only bus operators benefit from this scheme as they cut costs by reducing wages. This is why despite your moratorium Unite’s 4,000 members have vowed to fight remote sign on with everything they have as they are concerned your moratorium will not achieve a suitable outcome. 

They have given overwhelming support to taking industrial action in defence of their terms and conditions.

Please ensure that as Mayor of London, you give bus drivers a cast iron guarantee that bus companies are not allowed to compete on pay and conditions for staff, please set a minimum and equal standard of employment for all bus drivers and re-assure bus drivers, who are essential workers, that both their pay and their terms and conditions are in safe hands whilst you are Mayor of London? And please keep to your pledge if re-elected Mayor on 6th May.

URGENT: Brent TUC launch petition to stop closure of Wembley Ambulance Station

 

Sign the petition to Garrett Emmerson, Chief Executive London Ambulance NHS Trust SIGN HERE

Brent-wide Cavalcade for Jobs - Saturday November 7th from 10am

 

From Brent Trades Council

BRENT TRADES COUNCIL'S DAY OF ACTION

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7TH 2020

CAVALCADE FOR JOBS 

WE WON'T PAY FOR THE BILLIONAIRES' CRISIS

Assembly 10am Sainsbury's Willesden Green Car Park and drive through Church End, Harlesden, Wembley, Sudbury, Kenton, Edgware, Cricklewood, Kilburn and back to Willesden.

BRING YOUR CAR OR RIDE YOUR BIKE THROUGH BRENT

UNIONS JOIN THE CAVALCADE

BRING YOUR POSTERS

PUBLICISE YOUR DEMANDS

HONK, HONK AND HONK SO EVERYONE CAN HEAR

Take a photo of the convoy as it passes by  it and post a message saying 'WE WON'T PAY FOR THE BILLIONAIRES' CRISIS, WE WILL FIGHTBACK' or make up your own message and post on https://www.facebook.com/brenttuc.org.uk

Share the photos across social media and then send them all to Boris Johnson. 

Share on Twitter using hashtag:
#WEWILLNOTPAYFORTHEBILLIONAIRESCRISIS If you are on Twitter, tweet the photo using the hashtag . Tag our MPs, tag Rishi Sunak, so they all know about the protest.

Stop Annexation, Brent Divest: meeting Monday July 13th via Zoom

 

Zoom meeting on Monday July 13th 7.00 - 8.45PM 

email brent2harrowpsc@outlook.com for zoom log-in

  
Stop Annexation! Hugh Lanning, Labour & Palestine 

The Israeli Government, with the support of Donald Trump, is threatening to annex more Palestininan lands. How do we build a campaign to stop them?

Brent Divest!  Liz Lindsay and Martin Francis, local activists and BHPSC 

Building a campaign to get Brent Council to divest its pension fund from companies who are complicit in the oppression of Palestininans.    

Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign supported by Brent Trades Union Council and Brent Stop the War

Members of the Brent Council Pension Fund particularly welcome 

- the pension fund is your deferred wages

Brent Central Hustings on Austerity Saturday December 7th

Hear about the PCS union's pay campaign Wednesday 26th June - civil servants fight back on pay & restriction on TU rights

FIGHTBACK IN GOVERNMENT SERVICES’

Speaker Cathy Cross – PCS officer

Brent Trades Council open meeting on

Wednesday 26^th June 2019 7.30pm

 

PCS pay campaign-Repeal the Trade Union Act

Hard working civil servants have seen the value of their pay fall through the floor over the past decade. They need a pay rise. 

Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)  members in the civil service voted by four to one in favour of strike action and action short of strike over pay. The ballot turnout of 47.7%, was the highest ever achieved, but is still just under 3,000 votes short of reaching the required 50% threshold.

In a politically motivated attack on workers’ rights, the coalition government introduced an undemocratic restriction with the Trade Union Act 2016 requiring a 50% turnout threshold and other restrictions.

 

Willesden Trades and Labour Hall

375 High Road

London NW10 2JR

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Willesden Trades and Labour Hall

375 High Road

London NW10 2JR

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