Tributes to a woman who rose like a lion

The funeral of strike leader Jayaban Desai takes place at 11am tomorrow (Friday December 31) at Golders Green crematorium in north-west London.
In August 1976 she rose like a lion and refused to put up with inhuman conditions at the Grunwick film processing plant in Willesden, north London.
At the height of the dispute that followed 12,000 - mainly white and male - trades unionists formed an early morning mass picket.
The battle to win union recognition for the largely immigrant workforce was ultimately lost.
But it was the dispue that did more than any other to bring together the increasingly diverse organised Labour in Britain - black and white, male and female.
Obituries have been glowing with praise - though in 1977 Mrs Desai and three other strikers were suspended from their union Apex (now part of the GMB) for campaigning for continued solidarity:
The Guardian: Jayaban Desai obituary by Jack Dromey MP, an Apex official during the Grunwick strike.
Socialist Worker: Jayban Desai- death of a great fighter
Morning Star: Grunwick film dispute leader Desai dies aged 77
Permanent Revolution: "We are those lions, Mr Manager." Jayaben Desai, Grunwick strike leader, dies

Walkers' workers do themselves a flavour

The GMB has won the right to negotiate pay and conditions at a crisp factory in the north east of England.
Union recognition was achieved after a ballot of employees at Walkers site on Stephenson Road, Peterlee.
Two hundred and seven out of the 353 employees voted for the GMB to represent them - with eight against.
The result satisfied the two tests laid down in the statutory recognition laws introduced by Labour in 2000.
A simple majority supported recognition - and it was more than 40 percent of the total bargaining unit.
The vote was organised by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) - the quango that adjudicates recognition claims.
The workers to be represented are described as "all individuals who are employed as hourly paid and are located at the Walkers manufacturing site at Peterlee excluding all office staff, frontline management and agency/temporary workers and including engineer (including systems technician); technician (including hygiene technician/lubrication technician); site services operatives (including engineering store men and hygiene PPE), general operatives and quality assistants.
The ballot was required because the CAC was not satisfied more than half of the bargaining unit were union members.
The GMB was formerly the General, Municiple, and Boilermakers union.
There is a report of this case on the CAC website.
COMMENT:
This decision follows hot on the heels of the GMB's recognition win at Severn Trent water which was reported on The Workers United.
Other unions should be learning from the GMB's work in the private sector.

Lose a ballot and do two terms as a union general secretary

Severn Trent employees in Nottingham vote for the union

The GMB has won the right to negotiate pay and conditions for a group of water workers in Nottingham.
Union recognition was achieved after a ballot of employees at Severn Trent's site in Haydn Road.
Twenty-seven of the 53 employees voted for the GMB to represent them - with eight against.
The result satisfied the two tests laid down in the statutory recognition laws introduced by Labour in 2000.
A simple majority supported recognition - and it was more than 40 percent of the total bargaining unit.
The vote was organised by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) - the quango that adjudicates recognition claims.
The workers to be represented are described as "all employees including managers, other than the general manager, at the Severn Trent Utility Services Limited, Haydn Road site".
The ballot was required because just under half of the bargaining unit where union members.
The GMB was formerly the General, Municiple, and Boilermakers union.
There is a report of this case on the CAC website.
COMMENT:
Since July 19 this year eight recognition applications have been submitted to the CAC. Six of them have been from the GMB.
While the trade union movement generally has slowed the pace of new workplace organisation the GMB must be praised for committing resources to making life better for potential members with hostile employers.

Lose a ballot and do two terms as a union general secretary

A man who lost the last postal ballot for the leadership of the GMB is about to start his second term as the union’s general secretary.
Paul Kenny was the only candidate when nominations closed on November 16.
As Wikepedia notes: “Kenny had been defeated heavily by Kevin Curran in the 2003 GMB general secretary election to replace John Edmonds. However, he was appointed acting general secretary on 24 March 2005 following Curran's resignation after alleged election rigging.
“In May 2006 he was elected un-opposed as GMB general secretary.”
The GMB, formerly the General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union has 600,000 members.
COMMENT:
Congratulations to Paul Kenny. But why do none of the GMB’s other 599,999 members fancy a crack at the top job?
I’d be interested to hear from GMBers in the comments box – anonymously if necessary.
DECLARATION:
I was a GMB member in 2003 and voted for Kevin Curran.

Bite-sized strikes over Macclesfield pensions freeze

Workers at the Macclesfield factory of the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca are on strike today (Friday) over changes to their pension scheme.
The dispute involves the GMB union which represents 250 of the company’s several thousand UK workers.
Today is the eighth day of strike action and involves three two-hour walkouts. The next strike is on Tuesday November 16 and will follow the same format.
GMB members are stopping work from 5am to 7am, 10am to noon, and 4pm to 6pm.
They are also refusing to work overtime.
The workers voted 70 percent for strike action in a ballot earlier this year.
They will be picketing the factory at the Hurdsfield Industrial Estate, Queens Avenue. Macclesfield.
Unions agreed in 2000 to close the company’s final salary pension scheme to new recruits.
Now the multinational is attempting to push members of the final salary scheme to choose between continuing making contributions, but with their pensionable salary frozen at current levels, or transfering to worse scheme.
The Cheshire plant is AstraZeneca’s second largest facility worldwide. Workers there produce the anti-cancer drug Zoladex.
Unite is also a recognised union at AstraZeneca.
Report from Macclesfield Express

Care home workers in Nottinghamshire sign up for union recognition

A group of care home workers in Nottinghamshire have cleared the first hurdle of a campaign to have their pay and conditions negotiated by the GMB union.
Under the union recognition laws introduced by Labour in 2000 the GMB had to prove it was likely to win the support of more than half the staff.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) - the quango responsible - said the test had been passed in the union's bid to organise staff at the Loxley Lodge Care Home, School Street, Kirkby in Ashfield.
The union submitted evidence that it had eight members out of the 20 workers the employer said were in the proposed bargaining unit. And 12 people signed a petition in support of being represented by the GMB.
The workers who would be represented are hourly-paid care workers and domestics.
The employer - Leyton Healthcare - initially claimed to the CAC that some of the staff who had supported the union "did not realise what they had signed up for".
Now the application for recognition has been accepted by the CAC there will be an opportunity for the union and the employer to conclude a voluntary agreement.
If they cannot the CAC panel will convene again to adjudicate on any disagreements.
A detailed report is on the CAC website.
COMMENT:
The GMB - formerly the General, Municiple, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union - is to be applauded for its efforts to organise vulnerable and low paid workers.
As reported on The Workers United last month the GMB is also campaigning for recognition at a small plant hire firm in south Wales.
It is vital that - while the Labour movement is concentrating on defending jobs and services from cuts - unions keep putting resources into offensive work.

GMB takes on hostile employer in south Wales

The GMB union has cleared the first hurdle on the way to winning the right to represent workers at a plant hire firm in south Wales.
Under the union recognition laws introuduced by Labour in 2000 the GMB had to prove it was likely to win the support of half the staff.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) - the quango that deals with union recognition - ruled that this test had been satisfied in the GMB's bid to organise workers at Pontyclun-based Hire One.
The union submitted evidence that it had eight members out of 17 workers in the proposed bargaining unit and that 13 people signed a petition in support of being represented by the GMB.
The workers who would be represented are fitters, drivers, hire shop managers, and a hire desk operative. They are based in Ponyclun and at hire shops in Aberdare, Llandow, Newport, and Swansea
The employer has resisted dealing with the GMB.
Hire One bosses claimed some workers had been duped by the union into signing the petition.
Some workers were phoned at home by the managing director and quizzed about their support for the GMB.
And the company said it was considering job cuts which might hit some union supporters.
A detailed report is on the CAC website.
The next stage of the process is to agree the bargaining unit.
COMMENT:
Well done to the GMB - formerly the General. Municiple, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union.
Organising small hostile employers is vital for the future of the trade union movement.
And it helps bring public and private sector workers together to fight the cuts.

Trade unionists protest at Brixton, south London

Trades unionists in Brixton, south west London, are demonstrating against the government cuts today (October 30) - at 12.30pm in Windrush Square.
The protest has been called by the Lambeth branches of the GMB union, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Unison, and the University and College Union (UCU) and Lambeth Save Our Services; with support from the Right to Work, Defend Council Housing, Green Left, and Youth Fight for Jobs campaigns.

Council parking charge is an opportunity to organise

Swansea council will today – October 21 – vote on imposing car park charges for its own staff.
Annual passes will cost between £99 and £399 – and won’t guarantee a space.
Mike Davies, of the local government union Unison, told the Western Mail newspaper: “Staff are particularly aggrieved that councillors have the ability to reclaim the charges on expenses."
COMMENT:
This unpopular act is a golden opportunity for the council unions – usually GMB, Unison, and Unite – to strengthen their organisation.
I would call a mass meeting – giving control of the campaign to the members.
Let the meeting listen to everybody’s ideas – and come up with some innovative ways to fight the parking charges.
Everyone who used to have free parking should take out a grievance. That would leave the council with thousands of hearings to organise – and appeals.
Managers and union reps would be unavailable for weeks as they went through the procedure.
In my experience as a union organiser guerrilla grievances were a very effective form of action – usually winning.
Council workers could boycott the car parks when the charges start. The visual image of big empty spaces would ram home the unpopularity of the move.
The union should leaflet door-to-door in the streets where members will now have to park. Apologise to residents for the inconvenience, explain what is happening, and give them the direct lines of the council chief executive and local councillors so they can complain.
Workers could agree to start half-an-hour later and finish half-an-hour earlier to make up for not being able to park close by.
And keep the rest of Swansea on side by demanding free public transport for everyone.
This potential campaign offers a great chance to build team spirit among union members, to recruit new people to the union, and maybe even to win.