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Lancashire Association of Trade Union Councils |
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Articles, etc |
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PRESS RELEASE
Stop NHS privatisation, 1/12/09
LETTER
Letter to Lancashire Police, 9/11/09
Chief Constable Steve Finnigan Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters Dear Mr Finnigan
We hope that the Lancashire Police will take action to prevent any gatherings in Lancashire which may be organised by the English Defence League or similar groups. An indication of the kind of organisation this is shown by the regular reports of Nazi salutes being made by their supporters at the public demonstrations they arrange. The use of Nazi salutes took place at the organisation's demonstration in Manchester in October 2009 and at previous demonstrations in other cities. We hope that the Lancashire Police will refuse to allow this group to insult British troops who died fighting the Nazis in the 2nd World War. It is clear that their intention is to come into an area from outside and attempt to provoke violence. They are not wanted in Lancashire.
PRESS RELEASE
Stop commercialisation of NHS, 17/7/09
The LATUC has decided to add its name to an open letter (see below) to the Prime Minister supporting the British Medical Association’s (BMA) criticisms of the commercialisation of the NHS. The letter is also being sent to the leaders of all major political parties.
LATUC secretary, Peter Billington, said: “People must act now as plans are about to emerge in every area around the country that will involve the transfer of community health services to private companies. The door has been opened for profit-making companies to run any NHS community service. Local NHS bodies are currently working on their business plans and local people must be alerted to these proposals.”
OPEN LETTER
Dear Prime Minister
We believe that the commercialisation of our NHS must stop. Public funds are being used to create a market for commercial businesses where profit is the priority. Instead we urgently need to restore an NHS that works cooperatively as a public service for patients. This view is now held by people and organisations right across our community .
We, the undersigned, express our support for the Eight Principles adopted by the BMA and recommend them as a framework for open public debate about our future NHS.
These Principles come from health care workers determined to defend the interests of their patients, their professional standards and the social value of the NHS. They are endorsed by members of the community who want to protect the local services that they rely on and pay for. Together we send a unified and urgent message to protect and build upon the key strengths of our NHS. We support the call for an NHS which:
1. Provides high quality, comprehensive healthcare for all, free at the point of use 2. Is publicly funded through central taxes, publicly provided and publicly accountable 3. Significantly reduces commercial involvement 4. Uses public money for quality healthcare, not profits for shareholders 5. Cares for patients through co-operation, not competition 6. Is led by health professionals working in partnership with patients and the public 7. Seeks value for money but puts the care of patients before financial targets 8. Is fully committed to training future generations of health care professionals
PRESS RELEASE
Result of European Elections, 04/06/09
Following the result of the elections to the European Parliament, LATUC Secretary, Peter Billington, said
“We regret that Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, has been elected as an MEP for the North West region. Only a minority of people support the twisted views of the BNP. In public statements, Griffin has made clear what some of these views are:-
On Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists: "'There is a strong, direct link from Oswald Mosley to me."
On Race: "…we affirm that non-Whites have no place here at all and will not rest until every last one has left our land."
On Nazi leader Adolf Hitler: “Yes, Adolf went a bit too far. His legacy is the biggest problem that the British nationalist movement has to deal with. It just creates a bad image."
On the Holocaust: “I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that 6 million Jews were gassed and cremated or turned into lamp shades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the earth is flat …”
Griffin may have become an MEP but thousands of trade unionists in the NW do not accept a convicted racist and fascist sympathiser as their representative. The policy of the TUC is to continue to campaign against the BNP in local communities and at national level in the run-up to the General Election.” LETTER
Letter to all Lancashire MPs, 13/06/09
Dear Colleague
VOTE ON WELFARE REFORM BILL, 17/3/09
We regret that you were one of the MPs who either supported the Welfare Reform Bill, or were not present to oppose the Bill, when it came before Parliament on the 17 March. We cannot understand how you came to decide that it was justifiable to introduce a Bill of this kind at a time when unemployment is increasing because of the effects of the recession. All the empty talk of ‘rights and responsibilities’ is meaningless in the context that the ‘right’ to Jobseekers Allowance is worth £60.00 per week and the ‘responsibilities’ are an extra set of demeaning conditions. As we pointed out in an earlier letter, as an MP you earn a large salary of £64,766 a year. Compare this with the low wages of many workers in Lancashire. Perhaps if you had to earn the £5.73 an hour minimum wage and a yearly income of £10,428 you would be more understanding of the anger which will be felt by those who suffer the consequences of your vote.
MOTION TO NW TUC
Police surveillance of demonstrations (passed by the NW TUC Annual Conference, 2009)
The Guardian newspaper published an investigation on the 7 March 2009 showing that the police are keeping video footage, photographs, names, addresses and other details of innocent people taking part in legitimate political demonstrations and employment disputes. The Guardian investigation shows that this information is stored on a database which is accessed by all police forces. The investigation also showed that the police kept video footage, photographs and names and addresses of journalists covering demonstrations or disputes. Many NW trade unionists have been videoed by police at demonstrations (particularly anti-racist or anti-war demonstrations) over the last few years. The NW TUC condemns the police action in undermining civil liberties.
The NW TUC will carry out the following actions:-
· Ask all police forces in the NW to immediately stop taking video or other records of innocent people taking part in demonstrations; · Ask all police forces in the NW to destroy any existing surveillance records of innocent people taken at demonstrations; · Write to Liberty supporting its challenge to police surveillance tactics in a judicial review at the court of appeal; · Organise a Freedom of Information Act request by a representative group of respected NW trade unionists to establish police use of a database of innocent people.
LATUC AGM DECISIONS
Motions passed by the LATUC AGM, 2009
1. NHS PRIVATISATION IN LANCASHIRE
In a recent study, the NHS Support Federation found that only a fifth of primary care trusts (PCTs) were explicit in their public documents about the fact that new health centres were being put out to tender to be run by private companies. The LATUC will:
· Write to all Lancashire PCTs to ask the following questions: · What stage have your plans reached with introducing a new GP led health centre under Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care? · What have you done to include the views of local people? · Are you including information about the fact that these centres will be put out to tender and will be run by a private company or a non NHS provider? · If you have signed a contract with a provider to run the new GP led health centre who is it and how was your choice effected by the views of the public? · What other plans have you to put health services out to tender?
The LATUC will also send a copy of this letter to all Lancashire MPs expressing concern about how the public have not given their consent to the commercialisation of the NHS.
2. UNOFFICIAL ACTION
The LATUC supports workers who take action in defence of trade union principles regardless of anti-union laws. Recent industrial action in the construction industry highlights the fact that unofficial action can avoid the traps and pitfalls set by the Tory legislation retained by New Labour:
· Debate and a show of hands, instead of complex balloting procedures, that can be delayed or overturned by legal action; · Immediate action once a decision is taken, instead of notice which gives the employer plenty of time to prepare counter-measures; · Immunity from sequestration, although this makes solidarity all the more important.
We will support union members in Lancashire who decide to defend their jobs, wages, conditions, and trade union principles through unofficial action.
3. ECJ DECISIONS
EU laws and regulations insist that most contracts of any size have to be put out to tender and must be open to bids from anywhere in the EU. Recent cases at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have upheld the 'right' of contractors and sub-contractors to employ labour on terms and conditions inferior to those prevailing in an industry in another region or country - irrespective of agreements negotiated with unions. The LATUC will lobby the Government to refuse to implement these unjust ECJ decisions, in the same way that the Government refused to implement EU legislation which would have prevented it from bailing out the banks.
4. MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN
The number of British soldiers deployed in Afghanistan has more than doubled in the last three years to 7,300. Over 120 of them have been killed since June 2006. There are currently over 70,000 NATO troops in the country and all the signs are that the new US President Barack Obama plans to increase that number by a further 15-20,000. Few believe that this ‘surge’ will help the US-led invasion achieve its aims: Bin Laden remains at large, the Taliban now have a permanent presence in three-quarters of the country and they mount on average one hundred attacks a week. With US incursions across the border into Pakistan now routine, there is a real danger of heightened tension and instability across the region.
Civilian casualties have risen steeply due to the increased US reliance on air power. Meanwhile the country remains one of the most impoverished in the world: a report for the US Congress notes that for every $100 spent on military effort, only $4.5 is allocated to reconstructing Afghanistan – and much of this is swallowed by corruption.
A recent BBC polled indicated that 68% of people in Britain favour troop withdrawal. The LATUC believes that this should be accepted and acted upon by the Government in order to bring about one of the essential conditions which would allow the people of Afghanistan to gain sovereignty over their country.
5. ROYAL MAIL PRIVATISATION
The LATUC fully supports the CWU campaign calling on government to abandon its plans for privatisation of Royal Mail. We note the overwhelming support for EDM 428, and the growing public concern at attempts to privatise a much loved public post service.
EDM 428 reads: “That this House notes that the Labour Party Conference 2008, with the backing of ministers, supported ‘a vision of a wholly publicly-owned, integrated Royal Mail Group’; welcomes the conclusion of the Hooper Report that the current universal service obligation offered by Royal Mail, including six days a week delivery, must be protected and that the primary duty of a new regulator should be to maintain it; further welcomes the recommendations in the report that the Government should take responsibility for the pensions deficit which followed an extended contributions holiday; endorses the call for a new relationship between management and postal unions and welcomes the commitment of the CWU to negotiate an agreement which would support the modernisation of the industry; observes that in 2007 the Government agreed to a £1.2 billion loan facility on commercial terms to modernise Royal Mail operations; rejects the recommendation of the Hooper Report to sell a minority stake in Royal Mail which would risk fracturing one of Britain’s greatest public services; notes the Government is currently advertising for a new Chair of Royal Mail and urges the Secretary of State to appoint a Chair and management team who are committed to the principles of a modern public enterprise.”
To this end the LATUC calls on all Lancashire MPs to sign EDM 428 and oppose the part privatisation of Royal Mail. We will support and work with the CWU in its campaign to halt this part privatisation and for a modern postal service that provides an improved service for all customers and decent terms and conditions and job security for postal workers. We agree to invite a speaker from the CWU to address our next meeting on the campaign and to forward a copy of this motion to the Prime Minister and the NW CWU Regional Secretary.
6. MINIMUM INCOME STANDARDS
The LATUC supports the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on minimum income standards which found in 2008 that: · A single person without children needs to spend £158 a week, and a couple with two children £370 a week, not including rent or mortgage. · To afford this budget on top of rent on a modest council home, a single person would need to earn £13,400 a year before tax and the couple with two children £26,800. · For families with no adult working, state benefits provide for less than half the minimum budget for single people and around two-thirds for those with children. The basic state pension provides a retired couple with about three-quarters of the minimum, but if they claim the means-tested Pension Credit their income is topped up to just above the minimum income standard. · The minimum income is above the official “poverty line” of 60% median income, for nearly all household groups. This shows that almost everybody classified as being in poverty has income too low to pay for a standard of living regarded as “adequate” by all members of the public who took part in this research. The LATUC will organise a public campaign in support of the right of all individuals to decent minimum income standards.
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National Care Service
View LATUC submission to the Government consultation on a ‘National Care Service’:
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Reform of Council Housing Finance
View LATUC submission to the Government consultation on ‘Reform of Council Housing Finance’:
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Blacklisting of Trade Unionists
View LATUC submission to the Government consultation on ‘Blacklisting of Trade Unionists’:
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