Justice for Cleaners: Further strike action Friday 21 March

Branch email sent out today "Members are encouraged to show solidarity with UNISON members by visiting the picket line from 7.00 am Friday (21 March). The branch has made a donation of £100 and a collection made at the branch AGM will be delivered to the picket line tomorrow.

SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

UNISON cleaners and maintenance staff at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (SOAS) are taking strike action in a long-running dispute over terms and conditions.

The 50-plus workers, who are employed by ISS Facility Services, receive only statutory sick pay and the statutory minimum annual leave, yet colleagues who are employed directly by SOAS receive contractual sick pay, 30 days annual leave and a defined benefits pension scheme.

UNISON balloted its members for industrial action following a series of negotiations and meetings, which ended with ISS refusing to make an offer to improve terms and conditions.

Members returned a 100% vote in favour of strike action. The ISS staff have received strong support from their colleagues working for SOAS and from the students, who understand how important their work is.

UNISON regional organiser Ruth Levin said: "We know that our campaign against the two-tier workforce created by ISS is growing in strength and support.

SOAS as an institution claims to deal with pressing issues such as democracy, human rights and poverty. Yet here we have a situation where it is failing to deal with a pressing issue that is sitting on its doorstep. UNISON is calling on ISS to get back around the table, with no strings attached, to resolve this dispute".

UNISON NDC 2011: The Spirit Level Fringe

On Wednesday lunchtime there was a fringe sponsored by the UNISON "hidden workforce" project.  I have posted about "The Spirit Level: Why Equality is better for Everyone" here and here.  What was different about this meeting was that the first speaker was someone who had suffered first hand from income inequality.  Then we heard about the research from Professor Richard Wilkinson.

The meeting was chaired by UNISON AGS Roger McKenzie. Luis Ojeda spoke first, he is from Ecuador who has lived in the UK for 14 years and is employed as a cleaner at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He described how dreadful it was for him and his work colleagues surviving on minimum wages as contract cleaners with a exploitative employer.  UNISON, the other campus unions and SOAS students campaigned together and the School eventually introduced a Living wage policy for all.

Richard spoke as eloquently and persuasively as ever about how hard research showed that income inequality is simply bad for everyone.  Rich and poor. Even if the biggest cheer he got was when he said that having no friends in society is worse for your health than if you smoked (from smokers)!

He also thought that it was no co-incidence that countries such as Norway and Sweden do better in almost all national well being statistical outcomes, have high levels of trade union density and influence.

So join UNISON and live longer and better!

SWP Witch-Hunting Students

Editor Andy Newman of Socialist Disunity gleefully reports here on the latest SWP cull of dissenters “co-incidentally” just before the start of their conference.

This time students at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) who were apparently associating with “anti-party” elements have been suspended.

I better warn our secretary of my local Labour Party ward to watch out whom she is seen speaking to or they could be for the chop too!

Hat-tip thingy Col. Roi.

Justice for Stalin

Ignoring the obvious joke that it is the SWP who are demanding justice for Stalin, I’m not sure what to make of this report since it’s only on the SWP web site so far.

However, any real activist involved with the real non-SWP front “Justice for Cleaners” (which is led by London Citizens and Unite) deserves our support if they are being genuinely victimised. Check out the original post here and ask for further details but bear in mind the very dubious source.

Demand justice for Jose Stalin

The Unison union at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) in central London is demanding its members are balloted for strikes over the suspension of branch chair Jose Stalin.
Jose has been a leading figure in the Justice for Cleaners campaign at the university, which has won the London Living Wage

Sandy Nicoll, Soas Unison branch secretary, said, “We view this as a form of victimisation and are asking the national union to ballot us for action.”

Jose told Socialist Worker, “Over the last two years our campaign has won better pay for cleaners, and now management has suspended me.”Email messages of support to an2@soas.ac.uk

Solidarity and Rights: Euston Manifesto One Year On

On Wednesday (afternoon and evening) I went to the first “Euston Manifesto” conference held at the SOAS, University of London. It was sold out. I arrived a bit late and the lecture theatre was packed with people, many were sittings on the isles or standing at the sides. There was a notably good mix of people (age, sex and race). I really enjoyed the conference even though some of it made my head hurt. I accept that many will be unclear about what the Euston Manifesto stands for – this is the preamble from the website

“We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not.”

They are "For democracy, No apology for tyranny, Human rights for all, Equality, Development for freedom, Opposing anti-Americanism, For a two-state solution Against racism, United against terror, A new internationalism, A critical openness, Freedom of ideas, Open source and A precious heritage"

There are nearly 3000 signatures to the Euston Manifesto. A left wing mate who heard I was attending this conference suggested that I had become a “liberal tankie” (discuss)

There were five main speakers. I will try to make relevant comments (my own personal interpretations of course) on each of the speakers during the next week or so.