Owen TudorThe TUC is supporting a Labour Start appeal to defend the President of the Kirkuk Oil and Gas Workers Union, Jamal Abdul-Jabbar who has been forcibly relocated by his employers. International union protests have prevented this sort of management harassment before. The Northern Oil Company of Iraq has forcibly relocated the President of the Kirkuk Oil and Gas Workers Union, Jamal Abdul-Jabbar, to a remote location. Jamal recently led a major walk out in support of better rights for contract workers and for a better, safer working environment. Act now to defend Kamal by taking part in the global Labour Start e-action. Defending unions anywhere means building stronger unions everywhere.
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The union campaign to recall Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin achieved another success today when recall votes were announced for state Senators Dan Kapanke of La Crosse, Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon. Recall petitions also have been filed for Alberta Darling of River Hills, Shelia Harsdof of River Falls and Robert Cowles of Green Bay, and decisions will be made on those recall campaigns next Tuesday. Democrats need to win three seats to take control of the Wisconsin Senate. Supporters of a recall needed about 15,000 signatures to secure recall elections for each senator. In each case, more than 21,000 signatures were gathered. You can still buy a ‘We Are One’ solidarity badge to show your support to the union campaign in Wisconsin – each badge sold means more money for the campaign for workers’ rights.
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We’ve just completed our second module on the Diploma in Organising at the Academy which covers research.
During one of the activities, the group had to undertake research based on a well know sporting company, answering questions from the basic name through to it’s bottom line. I took a photo of one round of answers because I think it highlights to me, the need for unions to undertake thorough research before undertaking a campaign.
Do we know the views of the company of unions and its workers? If it’s negative, how can we overcome that to gain union recognition or bargain effectively?
Research into issues, helps us to understand where we are, where we’re going and ultimately determine where we want to be.
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Perhaps the u-turns and climb downs pioneered by this Coalition are catching.
On Sunday Andrew Rodda, operations manager at premier Cornish clotted cream firm A E Rodda was quoted in the Observer giving his considered views on pay rises for staff.
He told the paper that he pays “slightly above” the minimum wage but reckons staff can be unduly spendthrift.
“We’re all told you must go on holiday all the time and do all these other things,” he complained. “There’s more to be gained from teaching employees how to manage their money more effectively than giving them more money to mismanage.”
Perhaps it was because he was safe in the warm embrace of the Institute of Directors when interviewed that Rodda felt comfortable espousing views more suitable for when the firm was founded in 1890.
He probably hadn’t considered if it was a mite hypocritical having told a profile he enjoyed skiing twice a year and endurance quad biking.
And since this has been a family-owned firm from the start and remains tightly in their control he probably doesn’t have that same fear about stepping out of line that others may have.
Nonetheless, the clot from Cornwall quickly found out that people don’t take kindly to such patronising comments. Within a day #roddaclot was doing the rounds on Twitter and there were calls from union members and Cornish councillors for a boycott.
With both The Daily Express and South West Business highlighting criticism it didn’t take long for the humble pie to come out.
Today managing director Nicholas Rodda has apologised for the comments of his brother saying:
“We regret any offence or upset this has caused. We pay considerably over the minimum wage… We also pay a bonus in the summer and at Christmas, our busiest times.”
This is more than simply pointing out the idiocies of executives. It also highlights the fact that wages in Cornwall are notoriously low while the cost of living is on the rise. It’s not an issue you’re likely to find discussed much in the media. Sometimes even clots have their uses.
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Australian union the AWU runs a special recruitment week – the May offensive – every year (although in the last two years it was July), and this year has produced record gains: 1428 new members in the first two weeks. The month-long recruitment effort includes weekly updates of membership gains.
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Bit of a cheat blog post but well done to the NUJ for a great victory on behalf of interns. Their PR is below
NUJ wins first victory for intern
The NUJ has warned media employers to “pay interns or face the consequences” after union member Keri Hudson successfully sued TPG Web Publishing Ltd over her unpaid internship.
Keri Hudson, 21, was successful at a Central London employment tribunal today in proving she had a right to be paid for work carried out over several weeks at the My Village Website in late 2010.
The tribunal heard that despite the fact she worked each day from 10am – 6pm and had been personally responsible for and in charge of a team of writers, for training and delegating tasks, collecting briefs, scheduling articles and even hiring new interns the company had told her she was not eligible for any pay because they considered her an intern.
In her evidence Keri Hudson said she had been asked when the site was taken over by TPG Web Publishing Ltd if she would stay on and work for the new company. She was assured her pay would be fixed. After 5 more weeks she was informed she would not now be receiving a payment for the work she carried out – she resigned and took out a grievance.
With the support of the NUJ and Thompsons lawyer Richard Williams, she took today’s proceedings.
The tribunal found she was a worker in law even though she didn’t have a written contract and was therefore entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage and holiday pay.
NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: “Today’s judgement sends a clear warning to all employers to pay their interns, abide by the law or face the consequences.
”It is unacceptable that full time staff are being sacked while unpaid interns are being exploited. This is the first case of its kind – if employers continue to break the law it will not be the last”.
NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said: “This sends a clear message to media companies that if they treat interns like cheap labour, the NUJ will take you through the courts. If in reality interns are workers, they are entitled to National Minimum Wage and holiday pay and NUJ will fight for these rights to be enforced”.
The NUJ has appealed to other interns who believe they should have been paid to contact the union at legal@nuj.org.uk
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Policy Exchange released a report today in which they take aim at public sector pay and employment relations. In the context of the Coalition’s fiscal austerity measures, the report calls for an overall freeze in public sector pay until 2014/15 (to bring wage costs back down to 2003/04 levels), the introduction of a graduated pension levy, and the replacement of national with local bargaining. (Curiously, it also suggests that the scrapping of the Two Tier Code would help to reduce wage costs, despite the fact that the government abolished it last December.)
There is an undercurrent in the report that private sector employment relations practices should be a model for the public sector. It is unsurprising that Policy Exchange would attempt to manufacture a Wisconsin-style divide between public and private sector workers in this manner, given its general antipathy towards unions and collective employment relations.
In any case, Policy Exchange’s proposals are seriously muddle-headed. The report points to the growing disparity between public and private sector pay as justification for its recommendations, including the claim that “several predominantly private sector occupations have seen no real terms increase in their income since 1997”.
This is not an outcome to aspire to. As the NIESR noted last week, declining wages equals declining consumer spending equals lower tax revenues. How this makes for good economic policy is anyone’s guess.
The British economy is unlikely to recover until we see growth in the wages of private sector workers. An extension of collective bargaining could assist in this process, particularly since the continued decline in private sector union density and collective agreement coverage most likely contributed to the sharp fall in real wages over the past few years.
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said last month that “collective bargaining rights are important, especially in an environment of stagnating real wages… Stability depends on a strong middle class that can propel demand”.
Policy Exchange’s prescriptions would almost certainly see further wage decline across the British workforce. Policymakers should instead be looking to public sector employment relations as a model for delivering wage-driven growth.
Becky Wright
Nigel Costley
Carl Roper
Chris Wright
