John Wood's Archive 
Today’s Day of Action on public service pensions is the biggest strike in a generation, so it’s going to set a lot of firsts, but one I’ve noticed is how connected the day is going to be online. Many unions are going to be maintaining liveblogs to keep their members in the loop, and many more will be taking to Twitter to highlight what’s happening. Here’s a roundup of some good places to look for the latest news from unions:
UNISON have produced this great infographic for the Day of Action on public service pensions tomorrow. It shows the impact the government’s proposed changes to pensions will have on public service workers, especially women. Click the picture below to see the graphic…
As the Guardian said yesterday, the Village People never had a line up like this. Including a civil servant, teacher, firefighter, probation officer, nurse, physiotherapist and more, The Workers are a group of 14 public service union members from around the country, who’ve come together to record the rock standard ‘Let’s Work Together’.
The idea is to help inject a bit of solidarity with the UK’s hard pressed public service workers into the charts and the media, ahead of the day of action on pensions justice planned for 30 November.
Great news this morning from Ohio, which along with Wisconsin is one of the slew of US states where Republicans (in this case Governor John Kasich) have been trying to remove collective bargaining rights and key working conditions from public sector workers in the name of austerity.
A publicly demanded referendum has dramatically overturned the law Gov Kasich rammed through in the face of protests last March. That they did so in the face of well funded campaigns by right wing outrider organisations, and attempts to restrict access to voting makes the 2/3 majority result all the more impressive.
Woody Sez is a fantastic musical stage show now running in London’s Arts Theatre in the West End. It tells the story of American folk and protest legend Woody Guthrie, through dozens of his songs. Relying on the musical skills and enthusiasm of just four cast members, it crams in a huge amount of US social history. His experiences amongst people being pushed to the margins in an economic storm have a strong resonance as we face the implications of the current government’s plans for fast and deep public spending cuts.
It’s only running for another few weeks, but the producers have just announced a special “union night” on Monday 21 March, to offer discounted tickets to trades unionists from the TUC’s Southern and Eastern region. For that one performance, tickets will be reduced to £12 if you give the code “SERTUC”, either by ringing the box office on 0203 174 0960, or when booking online at www.woodysez.co.uk
And if you can’t make that, they’re offering another discount offer on the evening of the March for the Alternative, 26 March, when tickets are reduced to £20.
I was lucky enough to see it myself back in January, and have heard from a number of other trades unionists who’ve seen the show since – All agree with me that it’s a great performance and a great inspiration – Catch it if you can!
Whilst headlines have been with Egypt and Libya in recent weeks, Iraqis have also been holding protests in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, demanding further political reforms, more jobs and an end to corruption. Unions have played a key role in these, and their campaign aims to reach a new level tomorrow, with a peaceful mass march planned through Baghdad.
You can read more about tomorrow’s events on the General Federation of Iraqi Workers’ website. Unlike other protests across the region, they aren’t calling for regime change, but for political reforms, especially an improved Labour Law, including release of frozen union assets, and a break from Saddam’s anti-union laws that the current government have kept on the books.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has written a message of solidarity to the GFIW:
“On behalf of the TUC, and workers across Britain, I extend our warmest solidarity and best wishes to you for a successful and peaceful national day of action this Friday, 25 February 2010.
As the calls for freedom and respect for human rights sweep across the region, we hope that the Iraqi Government listens to your demands for social justice, basic services and workers’ rights.”
Iraqis in the UK and their supporters are also organizing a demonstration outside the Iraqi Embassy in London, to express solidarity with their fellow Iraqis’ demands. They’re meeting at 4 Elvaston Place, London, SW7 5QH at 1pm to 2pm.
John WoodIf you’ve got a personal website or run one for your union branch or local group, you can help build the March for the Alternative on 26 March by using our Pledge widget.
Click on the “get widget” button here and follow the instructions to use it with many popular website systems or social networks. And if you haven’t yet taken the pledge yourself, please do so. The widget is already being used by dozens of websites, so your pledge message and message will be broadcast all over the place!
