LATUC RESOLUTIONS TO 2011 NW TUC ANNUAL CONFERENCE

STUDENT PROTESTS

The NW TUC supports the aims of the student protest campaigns which began in November 2010. We are concerned at the police response to the protests. We are aware that the same tactics will be used against trade union campaigns. We express our commitment to:

• The right to organise and protest
• Defence of those arrested in the recent student protests
• The prevention of police brutality and intimidation
• A ban on police 'kettling'

Baton charges and the use of ‘kettling’ only serve to fuel anger and frustration and in part, at least, are deliberately designed to provoke strong reactions from demonstrators.

We call for a ban on ‘kettling’ as a means of control and intimidation of peaceful protesters. ‘Kettling’ has been added to the armoury of police aggression towards protest, alongside baton and horse-mounted police cavalry charges, to intimidate protesters and dissenters.

We believe ‘kettling’ is arbitrary imprisonment and is a direct attack on our basic human right to protest, contravening Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act. We call on student and labour movement organisations to actively oppose ‘kettling’.

PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS

The NW TUC is opposed to every cut in the £83 billion austerity package demanded by this millionaire ConDem government.

We will not accept

• a million job cuts
• doubling of student fees
• drastic cuts to welfare benefits
• increasing the pension age to 66 and beyond
• mass privatisation of services

We believe that these cuts will only be defeated by powerful union action led by the trade unions and backed up by campaigns of service users, welfare claimants, students, pensioners and others.

We support the decision of the UNISON Scottish council to consider, with other public sector trade unions, organising industrial action in opposition to the cuts, including a one-day Scottish public sector strike, early in 2011. We will support any similar action organised by trade unions in the North West.

The Government tell us ‘we are all in it together’ as they plan cuts in jobs, pay, pensions, benefits, and public services that will hit the poor ten times harder than the rich. The cuts they plan will plunge us into a slump. Cuts in the public sector destroy jobs in the private sector. Cuts on the scale of the 1930s will produce unemployment on the scale of the 1930s. What we need is massive investment to create jobs, regenerate the economy, and provide the goods and services people need.

CUTS IN HSE AND LOCAL AUTHORITY WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS

LATUC LETTER TO MPs

At the last LATUC meeting I was asked to write to you to ask that you consider taking further action to try to stop the planned cuts in Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and local authority workplace inspections. Our concern came about after two young Lancashire men were killed in December 2010 in an accident at the Sonae Chipboard factory on Merseyside. As you will see from the attached news report from liverpoolwired, the factory had already had four cases taken against it by the HSE and had been fined for health and safety breaches on four occasions. We are sure you are aware of this case.

We think it is important that people are aware of the possible consequences of the ConDem Government’s position that the HSE has got to take its share of public spending cuts. It almost goes without saying that hardly any Tory or Liberal MPs who support this attitude will have carried out rough, dirty jobs in industries where there is dangerous machinery.

liverpoolwired
MP's condolences over Knowsley Sonae factory deaths
Published: 8th Dec 2010 15:25:46

Condolences have been expressed in Parliament to the families of two men killed in a Merseyside factory. The men were working at the Sonae site on Knowsley Industrial Estate, Kirkby, when they were fatally injured. An investigation by Merseyside Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is under way, and the site remained cordoned off on Wednesday.

George Howarth, Labour MP for Knowsley, asked the prime minister whether necessary action would be taken.

The factory, which makes chipboard, has faced four previous HSE investigations in the past 10 years, amassing £132,000 in fines. Mr Howarth told the Commons that the two men were "tragically killed" at the factory on Tuesday. "I'm sure the prime minister will join in me in expressing deepest condolences to the families of those who were killed," he said.

Mr Howarth asked the prime minister to ensure any necessary action was taken "And will he agree that when the health and safety and police investigations into what happened have been completed, whatever action is necessary will be taken." Prime Minister David Cameron replied: "I certainly join the right honourable gentleman in what he says about his constituents and the dreadful accident that took place. It is important, we have procedures in place for the Health and Safety Executive and others to investigate these issues, and as he says they should follow the evidence wherever it leads."

The HSE has brought four previous cases against Sonae for incidents in April 2000, March 2001 and June 2002. The company was fined £15,000, £35,000 and £12,000 respectively. In June 2002, a worker was injured in an explosion at the factory and the firm was later fined £70,000.

Fire crews and paramedics were called to the factory at about 1545 GMT on Tuesday. Despite their attempts to help them the pair both died at the scene.

Police said the victims were both British men, aged in their 20s, and contractors from outside the Merseyside area.

Rossendale Free Press
Two Rossendale men killed in Merseyside factory conveyor belt horror
December 09, 2010

Two men have been killed after becoming entangled with a conveyor belt at a chipboard factory. Both of the men are believed to be in their 20s and from the Rossendale area.
One was Thomas Elmer – a popular member of Rossendale Rugby Club. The accident occurred in the Sonae chipboard factory in Knowsley, Merseyside, at around 3.45pm on Tuesday. Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the factory. The building has been closed while an investigation is carried out by police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Both men were working for Haslingden-based sub-contractors Metso.

Rossendale MP Jake Berry called for the investigation into the deaths to be carried out as quickly as possible. "This is a terrible loss of life and my thoughts and sympathies go out to the families, especially as this has happened just before Christmas," he said. "It is devastating news and it is absolutely vital that a full and thorough investigation be carried out as soon as possible. "If there is anything I can do to assist in this, then I will."

Merseyside Police is leading the investigation into the incident. Detective Inspector Tom Keaton said: "At this point the scene is sealed and will remain so until we are satisfied that all relevant evidence has been gathered. "Industrial operations at the site have been suspended and will remain so for now. We are in the early stages of what will be a very thorough and detailed investigation into the deaths of these two men, and my thoughts are with their families."

Metso were unavailable for comment.

Nick Ingham, chairman of Rossendale Rugby Club, said "Tommy was a very nice lad and he played prop with us for many years. His work commitments meant he was on the fringes of the first team."

LATUC LETTER TO ALL LANCASHIRE COUNCILS

LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN

We are writing to ask whether any of your Council’s employees are paid less than £7.14 per hour. This is the ‘Living Wage figure’ set by the campaign group Citizens UK. The Living Wage is the minimum pay level required to provide a low cost but acceptable standard of living for a family. The national minimum wage (NMW) of £5.80 per hour is not enough to live on in the UK whereas the Living Wage is worked out according to the real cost of living. In London the official Living Wage is £7.60 per hour (Greater London Authority 2009). Outside London, the best national approximation is £7.14 per hour (Minimum Income Standard, Loughborough University 2010).

We are contacting all public bodies in Lancashire asking them whether they pay at least the current Living Wage figure. We believe that the public sector should be taking the lead, both as direct employer of many low paid workers and as buyer of services from firms who employ many more. We intend to draw up a report based on the replies we receive.

Over 100 employers nationally have signed up to the Living Wage Employer mark committing them to pay their workers at least the current Living Wage rate. These employers include banks, caterers, local authorities, schools, universities, Government departments, skills training bodies, and the 2012 national Olympic organisation. We would like to see a Lancashire Living Wage Employer mark set up for all those employers in the county who pay their workers a minimum of £7.14 per hour.

In-work poverty has been gradually rising since about the late 1970s. The Department for Work and Pensions doesn’t draw attention to this because it suits politicians of all parties to claim that work is the route out of poverty. Work that doesn’t provide a sufficient income is much more to blame for poverty than worklessness.