Union films are not just for Christmas

The website of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) includes a review of cinema featuring trades unions.
Films from Made in Dagenham to On the Waterfront are analysed.
Watch the video here
And feel free to take the discussion forward in the comments below.
What's the best union film?
Have the CWU missed any out?

Len McCluskey to address Keep the Post Public meeting

Newly-elected Unite leader Len McCluskey is to speak in support of keeping the postal service public at a rally in central London today (Wednesday).
The event is organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) which represents the vast majority of workers at privatisation-threatened Royal Mail.
Unite covers management grades - and co-operation between the two groups is rare.
The rally is from 11am - 2pm at Central Hall, Storey's Gate, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH.
There is a long list of speakers.
After the rally supporters of the Keep the Post Public campaign will lobby members of parliament.
Opponents of privatisation can find a model letter to write to their MPs.
DECLARATION: I'm doing freelance work for the CWU and will be reporting from the rally on the union website.
EXTRA:
MINUTE BY MINUTE: Keep the Post Public rally coverage
AS IT HAPPENED: Keep the Post Public demo and rally

Outsourced call-centre workers in Liverpool win recognition for CWU

A group of outsourced call-centre staff on Merseyside have won the right to negotiate their pay and conditions collectively.
Activists from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) recruited their fellow Adecco employees at a facility managed by IBM on behalf of Virgin Media.
They demonstrated to the government conciliation service ACAS that more than half the call-centre and helpdesk staff are in the union and the company agreed to negotiate.
Read the story on the CWU website.
COMMENT: This is an excellent example of patient member-lead organising in the hostile world of the outsourced hi-tech private sector
DECLARATION: I'm working for the CWU as a freelance.

Keep the Post Public - London and Witney events planned

Postal workers will take their campaign against Royal Mail privatisation to parliament in December.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is organising a public rally at lunchtime on Wednesday December 15 at Central Hall, Storey's Gate, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH.
The main speakers are Green MP Caroline Lucas and shawdow business secretary John Denham.
Other campaign events include a demonstration on Sunday January 9 in Witney, Oxfordshire - the constituency of prime minister David Cameron.
The union is urging people to support their Keep the Post Public campaign.
And pledging to link to blogs that oppose the sell-off of Royal Mail.
DECLARATION: I'm working for the CWU on a freelance basis.

Campaign promised to defend historic link between UK trade unions and the Labour Party

Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell has vowed to launch a "broad-based campaign" to defend his party's links with the UK trade unioon movement.
McDonnell's pledge follows a call from shadow chancellor Alan Johnson to bring in "one member one vote" elections in the Labour Party - which would deny a say to members of affiliated trades unions.
There is a detailed report in this morning's Morning Star newspaper.
McDonnell is the MP for Hayes and Harlington in west London and chair of the Labour Representation Committee.
The Morning Star quotes a spokeswoman for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) saying: "Trade unions created the Labour Party and it's important to maintain that link."

McDonnell's bill aims to give workers the right to strike

Nearly 150 people crammed into a committee room at the Houses of Parliament, in London, to express their support for a private members bill to stop employers using trivial legal loopholes to prevent industrial action.
Two hours and 15 speakers later the numbers had dwindled considerably.
Those who stayed heard union leaders describe how - despite massive votes in favour of strikes – they had lost legal cases because the wording of a ballot notice had been slightly wrong, or there had been a short delay in telling bosses the result.
John Hendy QC, a top employment lawyer, said: “These irregularities do not harm the employer or cause them a damage or detriment.
“And the legislation has no concern for the democratic vote of members. The court takes no regard of whether the vote for action was 91 percent or 51 percent.”
Labour MP John McDonnell has tabled the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill to protect union members’ right to strike.
The meeting heard that where union members are strong and determined they can defy the law.
Maria Eagle, from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said of postal workers: “When the law doesn’t fit our members walk out anyway – and the employer doesn’t take action.”
In 1994 it was made unlawful to induce prison officers to take industrial action – but there have been unofficial strikes since.
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), said: “If any public sector prison is privatised, we have already decided, we will have a workplace ballot and strike.”
Other union speakers were from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT), Trades Union Congress (TUC), Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), Unite, and the United Road Transport Union (URTU).
The bill is before parliament on Friday October 22. Rules say 100 MPs must attend for the legislation to go any further.
Trades unionists can lobby their MPs and urge them to turn up and support the bill by using www.writetothem.com.
COMMENT
UK union laws are draconian and should be scrapped so union members can decide their own rules democratically.
John McDonnell’s bill is a small step in that direction.
But highly paid union officers shouldn’t be allowed to use the complications in the law as an excuse for making mistakes or frustrating workers who want to take action.
And expecting people to sit through 15 speakers is an affront to their solidarity.