New Year message from the President of Solidarity union

As 2022 dawns, we are entering the third calendar year of having to live with the Covid-19 virus.

The effects of the government’s response to this virus on British workers has been severe; workers in retail and hospitality especially have had a hard time with an early lockdown from last Christmas onwards and on-again and off-again directives and often contradictory advice from the Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay, and Stormont powers-that-be.

The furlough scheme that helped many workers has gone and is probably gone for good. During the pandemic, the adage of never letting a good crisis go to waste has not been lost on some unscrupulous employers. British Gas has been one of the most prominent companies in the Roll of Dishonour trying to ‘fire and rehire’ employees to drive down rates of pay and conditions.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always illegal, but we in Solidarity will continue to do all in our power to challenge and overturn any attempt to fire and rehire our members in the coming New Year.

Another disturbing trend is the growth of a ‘no jab-no job’ culture that threatens to sack workers who – for whatever reason – have decided not to take up the offer of Covid-19 vaccinations. We are disappointed that some other trade unions will not support those of their members who are so threatened.

Solidarity is opposed to discrimination on grounds of race, sex, sexuality, and disability. Our union defends the right of its members to take – or not to take – the various vaccines on offer. Using Employer’s Disciplinary Procedure’s, we will challenge those employers who seek to impose compulsory vaccinations on our members and defend them wherever possible against unfair dismissal.

As we enter the New Year, however, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are signs of hope in post-Brexit Britain.

People are seeking out and buying more British-made goods and services; those keeping fellow British workers in employment.

Solidarity will continue to campaign for its members and supporters to buy British where they can.

There may still be trouble ahead, but your union is optimistic, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst as we gear up to defend the rights of British workers in 2022.

On behalf of the National Executive Committee, I wish you all a happy, prosperous, and undramatic New Year.

Glen Nicklasson

Annual Message from the General Secretary

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) is one of my favourite films. The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams, in order to help others in his community. On Christmas Eve he attempts suicide. He is stopped by his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody. Clarence shows George how he has touched the lives of others and how different life would be for his wife Mary and his community of Bedford Falls if he had not been born. George realises how important his contribution is. It’s a powerful and positive message. Perhaps that’s one reason it has become a Christmas favourite.

But what’s that got to do with a union? I seem to hear you ask. Well, I often think about George Bailey when I see our Reps going about their work. What would people do if they weren’t there to help them save their jobs, protect them from harassment, overturn unfair decisions or get them the benefits they are entitled to? I think about what would happen if our members weren’t there to stand-up and speak out about issues and injusticies in their workplace. I hope that you, like George come to realise your value to your community and workmates.

As we celebrate the holiday season, we remember those whom we lost during the past year. We are also thinking of those members and employees who are currently struggling with ill health, and I would like to take this opportunity to send them our union’s best wishes.

Wishing you a peaceful Christmas, a happy and safe holiday, and all the very best for the New Year.

In solidarity

Patrick Harrington

Rail fare hikes are a stealth tax on workers

Train passengers will be hit with the largest fare rise in nearly a decade after the Department for Transport (DfT) announced a cap of 3.8 per cent from March 2022.

The figure is in line with July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation and will be the steepest increase since January 2013.

In Scotland, the increase will be implemented on January 24. The Welsh government has not announced its plans.

Increases are normally implemented on the first working day of every year but have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Labour shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh claimed the “brutal” fare increases are “a nightmare before Christmas for millions of passengers.”

She said: “Families already facing soaring taxes and bills will now be clobbered with an eye-watering rise in the cost of the daily commute.

“Many will wonder what planet ministers are on if they think people can afford this?”

Labour’s leadership was criticised by trade unionist Howard Beckett, former Unite assistant general secretary, for failing to support renationalising the railways despite a 49 per cent fare rise since the Tories came to power.

He tweeted: “Rail companies have had £3.5 billion of taxpayers‘ money through Covid, likely to rise to a £6bn taxpayer bailout.
“A nationalised rail service, anyone?”

Rail union TSSA blasted the government for “seeming hell-bent on discouraging rail travel.”
General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “The Tories are happy to incentivise aviation by cutting domestic air duty, but when it comes to rail it’s one failure after another.
“This has to stop. Fares rises are staggeringly counterproductive.”

Demand for rail travel is more than 40 per cent below pre-coronavirus levels.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan called the rise “stupid” and said that there was still time for the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary to “see sense and do the best thing for Britain.”
The train union’s Scotland organiser, Kevin Lindsay, urged the Scottish government to “halt the hikes in their tracks and end peak fares which only act as a stealth tax on working people.”

Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, commented: “These increases are a stealth tax on workers. We have long campaigned for renationalisation of our rail industry and we continue to do so: Bring Back British Rail! and bring it back better”.

Inflation rise may leave workers out of pocket

Inflation will hit workers in the pocket if they don’t fight for wage increases

Workers will suffer as inflation rises to the highest level in three decades. Workers will be left out of pocket if they don’t secure above-inflation wage rises.

The retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation reached 7.1 percent last month, the highest level in 30 years. It was six percent in October.
Disruption to supply chains and increasing fuel prices have inflated the cost of living, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

Prices rose across the board for essential items, and services such as transport, food, energy, housing costs and clothing are all going up.

Petrol prices stand at the highest ever recorded, averaging 145.8p per litre. Used car prices have also gone up 31.3 percent since April.

Current estimates by the Centre for Economics and Business Research suggest that costs for the typical family will jump by £1,700 in 2022.

Less than a six percent rise means a pay cut.

The banks and bosses favoured measure of inflation, customer price index (CPI), records the cost of 700 items but excludes housing-related costs, unlike RPI.

They use this figure to deny workers a wage that reflects the actual cost of inflation.
CPI currently stands at 5.1 percent.

High inflation has real-life consequences, and it hits the poor hardest. Workers on a set wage contract will have to cut spending, as their money won’t go as far.

Those claiming benefits will also suffer as most benefits have not kept up with the inflation rate.
Inflation continues to rise faster than pay. This means most workers will face a real-terms pay cut.

The labour market report outlined that basic pay growth slumped to just 4.3 percent per year from August to October.

During the last ONS inflation report, Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Workers’ wages will have to at least match the inflation rate because otherwise, they will be facing a calamitous drop in their standard of living.”

Sharon Graham has now renewed Unite’s pledge to barter for an above-inflation pay rise saying, “Today’s figures mean our members must fight for wage rises above the current rate of inflation, as measured by the RPI.”

Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, said: “all unions must fight for wage increases that keep pace with inflation.”

Image by Darko Djurin from Pixabay

Wetherspoons – switch to UK Butter!

J D Wetherspoon sells millions of breakfasts. All those with toast are sold with Lurpak butter. Lurpak is a brand of butter owned by Arla Foods based in Viby, Denmark. We want Wetherspoons to switch to a UK-made butter. Why?

It’s better for British jobs

Wetherspoon has earned a special place in British hearts by providing good quality food and drink at a reasonable price. It has built up a loyal following and many people visit ‘Spoons’ regularly for meals and drinks. For many, it has become their ‘local’. We want Wetherspoon to give back to our communities by supporting UK jobs whenever it can. Switching to a UK-made butter is something they can do which would support our farmers and support the home economy.

It’s better for the environment

Shortening supply chains and buying as locally as possible is better for our environment. Sourcing products for sale in the UK that are manufactured here makes sense ecologically. As a socially responsible company, we want Wetherspoon to show their commitment to that by switching to UK-made butter.

Sign the petition here

THIS WEEK’S TOP 5 CHRISTMAS GIFT TIPS

Solidarity has teamed-up with the Third Way think-tank and the campaigning group Great UK Products You Can Buy to promote UK-made gifts this Xmas.

Each week in the run-up to Xmas we’ve been suggesting five companies to buy UK-made gifts from. It make sense for the environment and our home economy.

So here are our top 5 picks this week:

1. Christmas Cheese
https://www.thecheeseshed.com/products/cheese-gifts/christmas-cheese

“Who wants a choice of three or four cheeses when you could have five? I know – ‘we would say that’ – but cheese offers a fantastic huge variety that it really is nice to take advantage of it!

The Christmas Five works like this. We start with a core trio of Ford Farm Cheddar, Devon Blue, and Cricket St Thomas Camembert. To that we add the very distinctive rich Jersey milk flavours of Sharpham Rustic … and then there’s a choice of fifth cheese: you can either have a super-soft Rosary goats’ cheese (in the version with herbs) or a fruity washed-rind Helford White. Either way, it all adds up to five beautifully different cheeses for your Christmas table.”

2. Christmas Wine
https://thebritishwinecellar.co.uk/

The British Wine Cellar is a family business, founded by husband and wife team Natasha & Gary to offer a wide variety of high-quality wines from England & Wales

3. Christmas Beer
https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/browse-beers/browse-by-country/british-beers

We’re certainly not short of fine beers made in the UK. They are stocked at all major supermarkets (Mine’s a Joker or Punk IPA!). You can also order online from Beerhawk above amongst many choices.

4. Christmas Spirits
https://brityard.com/

I will be stocking my home bar from Brityard this year. “BritYard is the UK’s first online-only, luxury department store exclusively stocking independent British brands. Founded to change the shopping habits of UK consumers and to redefine what it means to ‘buy British’ by celebrating a diverse collection of independent British brands.” A great way to find all kinds of UK-made products.

5. Clothing gifts for Xmas
https://www.teddy-edward.com/pages/british-made-clothing

There’s a great selection of clothing at Teddy Edward for both men and women. Check out their Made In Britain range (pictured). They are clear in their pro-British philosophy:

“Here at Teddy Edward, we have a simple ethos. Our brand is based entirely on provenance, meaning that we design, source, and manufacture all our luxury clothing and accessories right here in Great Britain. No exceptions. From initial concept to the final product, Teddy Edward values the importance of maintaining age-old British skills, as well as contributing to the ethical and environmental benefits that come with being British-made clothing.“

Try code TEMADEINGB10 to get 10% off when you pay.

1 in 3 workers monitored at work

New polling from Prospect has found that one in three (32%) workers are now being monitored at work – up from a quarter (24%) just 6 months ago in April.

This includes a doubling of the use of camera monitoring in people’s homes, with 13% of homeworkers currently being monitored by cameras compared to 5% 6 months ago.

The polling, which was conducted by Opinium, also found that 80% of workers thought that the use of webcams to monitor remote workers should either be banned (52%) or heavily regulated (28%) with only 8% of workers thinking that employers should be allowed to decide unilaterally when to use cameras to monitor people working in their own homes. The findings extend to supporters of all political parties, with 74% of Conservative voters agreeing that the use of webcam monitoring in people’s homes should be banned or heavily regulated.

The finding comes as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is reviewing guidance to employers on the use of new technologies such as monitoring.

Younger workers (18-34) are particularly at risk with a significantly higher rate of monitoring than their older colleagues. Overall 48% of younger workers report being monitored at work, including 20% being monitored using cameras.

Prospect is concerned that this intrusive monitoring is particularly affecting workers in sectors with higher levels of remote working, larger proportions of younger workers, and low levels of trade union membership- such as the tech sector.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said: “We are used to the idea of employers checking up on workers, but when people are working in their own homes this assumes a whole new dimension.

“New technology allows employers to have a constant window into their employee’s homes, and the use of the technology is largely unregulated by the government.

“We think that we need to upgrade the law to protect the privacy of workers and set reasonable limits on the use of this snooping technology, and the public overwhelmingly agrees with us.”

Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity union, commented: “You really have to wonder about the 8 percent of people who think it’s OK for bosses to monitor people in their own homes without any regulation! Clearly, this is not acceptable and we need to ensure workers are protected from this kind of intrusive surveillance.“

Credit: Camera image by Cristian Molina from Pixabay

Solidarity Launches ‘SHOP LOCAL AND BUY BRITISH CAMPAIGN’

Our union is 100% for the British worker. That’s why we place such great emphasis on shopping local and buying UK-made goods. We want all of the people in our country to have well-paid jobs with good conditions.

This year we are again offering posters for display in home and shop windows (see featured image). Do you want A3 and A4 posters to display? We will send you some! Just send us a self-addressed envelope (SAE) with a large letter stamp on it (£1.29 for First and 96p for 2nd).

If you don’t mind your A3 poster folded then go for a C4 envelope. A standard C4 envelope measures 324mm x 229mm. This is designed to fit unfolded A4 paper. Standard A4 paper size is 210mm x 297mm. If you want your A3 poster unfolded go for a C3. A standard C3 envelope measures 458mm x 324mm. This is designed to fit unfolded A3 paper (which is double the size of A4 paper).

Send your SAE to Solidarity Trade Union, Room 407, 12 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1DD.

Buy UK-made gifts this Christmas

We’ve teamed up with the campaign Great UK Products You Can Buy and Third Way Think-tank to produce some suggestions for UK-made Xmas gifts.

Buying UK-made goods keeps our people in work, boosts our economy, and is more ecological (because supply chains are shorter).

It’s a small way we can all make a positive difference.

We bet you have heard people say “Britain doesn’t make anything anymore“. That’s clearly not true, but you can see why they might think that. Big names in manufacturing have either disappeared or been taken over by companies in other countries. We need to help reverse that trend. So each bulletin till a week before Xmas we will be giving you five websites to look at. Here are the first five:

1. Men and Women’s clothing
https://www.teddy-edward.com/

“We design and produce our entire collection of luxury women’s and men’s clothing and accessories right here in Great Britain, using only the finest materials and most skilled artisans available on this fair isle.

The Teddy Edward name has fast become synonymous with British-made excellence, so make a statement with high-end designs that seamlessly take you from country chic to city glam and right back again.”

2. Retro football and rugby shirts
https://www.toffs.com/

“We sell a massive range of more than 1,000 retro replica football and rugby shirts, inspired by the most famous classic kits worn by the greatest teams throughout the ages. We sell vintage football shirts inspired by hundreds of football and rugby teams from all over the world, as well as T-shirts, track tops, polos, athleticwear, sweatshirts, hoodies, and many other styles of sportswear and memorabilia.

The TOFFS brand is a guarantee of quality. All our replica football and rugby shirts have been manufactured by hand at our factory at Gateshead since 1990, and we are dedicated to providing a premium level of detail, comfort, and authenticity in our vintage shirts and sports fashion. When you buy with TOFFS, you will be getting a product made by fans, for fans.“

3. Bags and satchels
https://www.cambridgesatchel.com/

“A beautiful blend of old and new, that’s Cambridge, and it’s in our DNA. In all our bags you’ll find a taste of tradition, brought back to life with style, finesse, and fun! Behind every design lies a story waiting to be told. Behind every bag, a story waiting to be written.“

4. Scented candles
https://hotwax.shop/

“We’ve been as busy as Santa’s Elves working on our new winter scents and we just know you’re going to love them as much as us.
Whether you’re being dead organised and starting your Christmas shopping early (go you, I’m jealous!) or whether you’re treating yourself (go you, too!) – you’re not going to be disappointed!
Let me introduce the winter gang…

Après Ski (the divine scent of frosted pine)

Cinnamon

Winter Spice
Can’t pick just one? We’ve got you covered…check out our Winter Gift Set, which includes all three and comes gift wrapped, ready for you to pop under the tree.“

5. Chocolates
http://www.choctree.co.uk/

Chocolate Tree is a Scottish artisan firm that takes ecology seriously.

Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, said:

“A friend gave me their dark chocolate Peppermint bar as a gift. It was delicious and though my daughter doesn’t generally go for dark chocolate she liked this (probably as the Peppermint took the edge off the usual bitterness). They deliver free for orders from most of the UK over a certain amount.”

Tory MP speaks out on low pay

Peter Bottomley, MP for Worthing West in West Sussex has spoken out on low pay: ‘I don’t know how they manage. It’s really grim.’ He spoke with passion on how ‘desperately difficult‘ it was for some managing on their salary.

So who was Mr. Bottomley speaking of? Nurses, cleaners, care workers, or, perhaps public sector workers? No. Mr. Bottomley was concerned about MPs who were struggling to live on their salary.

MPs earn £81,932 for their roles in parliament, with the average salary in England standing at £31,461 as of last year.

His comments were made on the same day that the Universal Credit uplift of £20 came to an end, leaving tens of thousands of the most vulnerable in the UK under more financial strain.

Wes Streeting, the shadow child poverty secretary, told Radio 5 Live that he was “genuinely infuriated” by Bottomley’s comment.

Referring to the £20 per week universal credit cut being implemented this week, he said:

“We are perfectly well paid, and unfortunately too many MPs on the Conservative side, at the same time as whingeing about very high – relatively high – levels of pay that MPs get in this country, at the same time they are clobbering people who are losing over £1,000 a year, which is 10% of their income in some cases.

This is my problem with the Tories – it’s not that they’re evil, bad people who go into work every day thinking ‘How can we plunge more kids into poverty?’ but, as Peter Bottomley’s comments show, they just don’t know what life is like for a hell of a lot of people in this country and they make policies that are actively hurting people who are going out, working hard, trying to make the best for their family and are really struggling.”

Mr. Bottomley subsequently told LBC that he had not known the interview would be published this week, but that he stood by his remarks.

He said he was trying to make the point that increasing MPs’ salaries from the current average of just over £80,000 a year would make it easier to widen the pool of people interested in changing careers to become parliamentarians, without having to take a pay cut.

“If people can’t switch across to being an MP, you’re going to exclude a whole lot of people,” he said, such as headteachers and public sector executives.

Patrick Harrington, general secretary of Solidarity, commented: “Clearly the timing of the statements was unfortunate for Mr. Bottomley. Perhaps he was unaware that his comments would be published on the very day that Universal Credit was cut. He should have realised that was a possibility though and how it would be taken.

As to his argument about increasing the pool of MPs, I would argue that we need more people from a working-class background rather than more from higher-income backgrounds. I admired the Militant Tendency-linked MPs of the past who took only the average workers’ wage. That kept them more in touch with the people. It was principled. That’s what we need, principled leadership. Being an MP shouldn’t be seen as a career but a vocation.“