Jerry Hicks

Taking matters into our own hands while we wait for the ballot has led to a massive breakthrough with MJN Colston announcing it will stay within the JIB agreement. Last weekend160 sparks met in Glasgow and decided on a series of actions [See details below].  On Monday morning a couple of hundred sparks from West Burton protested outside the Lindsey Conoco site where they were joined by a delegation from the site of 150 sparks. Eventually the numbers swelled to over 500.

In Newcastle last Monday, at an official Unite organized meeting, 150 sparks elected ‘rank and filer’ Jimmy Warne to chair the meeting which was quickly followed by the election of a 4 person rank and file committee to decide the next target/s for protests and demo’s.

URGENT: Everyone who can needs to get to Manchester this Saturday Oct 1st 12.00- 3pm at the Mechanics Institute 103 Princess St M6. To follow what London and Newcastle have done by electing their own committees and deciding future actions.

All this follows last week’s fantastic series of action and civil disobedience across the country. ‘Protests’ ‘demos’ ‘site invasions’, direct action (the TUC supports “civil disobedience”) has already brought a right result and is the way forward, main contractors will wonder “what’s next” it will pile the pressure on the remaining 7 JIB firms to back off, and tell Unite we want a ‘national ballot now’! Multinational companies and their shareholders intend to take the wages out of our pockets to line there own. We will not let it happen.

• Keep on inundating Unites National Construction Officer Bernard McAulay with emails bernard.mcaulay@unitetheunion.org demanding a date for the ballot. 
• Unite should organize a ballot immediately of all electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, HVCA and SJIB trades. Firstly balloting all BBES workers and then the other 7 companies. 
• We demand that Unite announce its intention to ballot for strike action and join 2 million public sector workers in going on strike against cuts on 30th November.

We demand a national meeting to co-ordinate our campaign open to all construction workers. We also demand a national recruitment campaign to build for this strike.

Rank and file action/s…………………………….

Glasgow: Saturday 1st October 11.30am - People 1st March and Rally - Green to Kelvingrove Park - Assemble at Glasgow Green.

Cambuslang: Wednesday 5th October 6.30am at Fire Training Centre Project - Clydemill Industrial Estate Cambuslang -

Glasgow Govan shipyard: Wednesday 12th October 07.00am - Assemble at the middle Gate. Govan Shipyard - Govan Road.

Rank and File meetings...........

Liverpool: Thursday 29th September 7pm-9pm Friends meeting House, 22 School Lane L1

Manchester: Saturday October 1st 12.00- 3pm Mechanics Institute 103 Princess St M6.

Glasgow Govan shipyard: Saturday 8th October - Construction Meeting - Time and Venue to be confirmed

London: Tuesday 11th October 6.30pm Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holburn.

Email us with ideas and let us know if you have actions planned siteworkers@virginmedia.com

Find regular updates

http://www.jibelectrician.blogspot.com/

And finally [for now] History is on our side

Please take a look at these 2 youtube clips [stick with the 2 parts as it is only 5mins total] It shows that Unions can beat the largest car company in the World, and we do the same to the 7

Even though it is in 1930s in the USA, when workers are in struggle it is the same the World over, bosses trying to exploit workers.

Flint Sit down Strike - part 1



Flint Sit down Strike - part 2

In the battle to protect the JIB agreement from being ripped up five of the eight companies have upped the stakes. Balfour Beatty, Crown House Technologies, Spie Matthew Hall, Shepherd Engineering Services and NG Bailey have issued Unite with legal notice of their intention to dismiss, by giving the legally required 90 day notice to thousands of employees before re-engaging them on inferior contracts on December 7th.

So answering the TUC’s call this week for "Civil Disobedience" against the cuts, on Wednesday we obliged and the action kicked off at across the country. At the Grangemouth site in Scotland sparks and pipe-fitters working for BBES voted to walk off the job marking a major advance in our struggle against de skilling and the vicious attacks on JIB agreement. Also in Scotland some sparks protested at the Faslane site.

In London150 protested at Olympic site blocked the main gate and then marched to the A12 main road and blocked the highway in to Stratford for 20 mins causing a major traffic jam. Eventually PC plod moved us on but it certainly caught the public attention which is great.

Manchester chipped in with a protest at the BBES Papermill site. It all amounted to another fantastic day of rank and file activity but the 8 have declared war and 5 of them are going for a rout by issuing the December 7th deadline letters. The rank and file workers on these sites must respond by downing tools and walking off site.

Unite are slowly getting involved. Two officials were at Olympic protest and, while we welcome the support, let’s be wary of a takeover followed by a sell out. This is a rank and file dispute and it’s our future that is at stake. Unite has told employers that these bullying tactics will lead to a sharp deterioration in industrial relations on major sites up and down the country, putting into jeopardy the ability of companies to deliver projects on time and within budget. Unite has called on eight break-away construction companies, who are imposing semi-skilled grades into the mechanical and electrical sector, to ‘pull back from the brink’ before industrial relations deteriorates to harmful levels.

Bernard McAulay, the National Officer has said: “These rogue employers should pull back from the brink as their attack on workers’ skills, pay and terms and conditions is causing widespread anger among workers."

Words are fine but Unite needs to be put under pressure to negotiate a proper deal for us. A ballot for strike action of all electricians, pipe-fitters and other trades would make that more likely. So lets inundate Bernard McAulay with emails bernard.mcaulay@unitetheunion.org demanding a date for the ballot. And don’t wait until the end of December, Mr McAuley.

Of course we want a ballot but we can’t afford to sit back and wait or it will be too late and we will be on £10 .50 an hour. So we must force the issue and spread these actions across the country. Lets step it up gear blockades, occupations, traffic jams, until an agreement has been reached.

Rank and File meetings:

Newcastle: Friday16th September 7pm in the Labour club.

Scotland: Saturday 17th Grangemouth September 10.00am

Scotland: Saturday 24th September Edinburgh time and place to follow.

Liverpool: Thursday 29th September 7pm-9pm Friends meeting House, 22 School Lane LI 3BT

Manchester : Saturday October 1st 12.00- 3pm Mechanics Institute 103 Princess Street M6 DD

Rank and File protests planned so far:

Manchester: Wednesday 21st September 6.30am Manchester town hall & Baileys site BBC Media City at 10am.

London: 21st September 6.30am-8.30am Farringdon Station, Crown House site.

• It is imperative that everyone joins Unite and elect stewards.
• Make sure stewards from the sites, once elected, meet area officials from Unite before any meeting with your employer.
• Unite officers only meet with the employers when all stewards are present. None of this ‘we meet the employer, sort out a deal and tell you to accept it’ crap. That set up must come to an end. Its totally undemocratic, it may have been Hardacre's style, but he’s gone. Democracy is vital, a settlement on the rank and file's terms is the only honourable settlement.

We are fighting for our future and for future generations. Demand these basic trade union principles from Unite. No sell-outs. We can and will win this dispute. Unity is strength!

Email us with ideas and let us know if you have actions planned siteworker@virginmedia.com

In the week that the TUC meets in London unofficial protests by electricians and fitters at high profile construction sites are spreading across the country. The protests are over the threat by eight major Joint Industry Board (JIB) contractors to withdraw from the nationally negotiated agreement by March 2012. This will pave the way for hourly rates to be slashed by up to 35% and de-skilling of the electrical industry.

Over the last few weeks, hundreds of workers have been targeting sites in London. In an escalation of the dispute, last Wednesday saw simultaneous demonstrations in London, Newcastle and Manchester. There is clearly a lot of anger and electricians won’t stand for it - these rank and file, grass roots protests will only get bigger.

The next focus for the protesters is the prestigious London Olympic site in Stratford on the 14th September, deliberately singled out to put the employers under the spotlight. Future meetings to organise protests are being planned in, Hull, Cardiff and Liverpool as well as in Scotland where it will see the first demonstration at the Grangemouth oil refinery near Glasgow on Wednesday.

Interestingly, up to now Unite the union has kept away from protests although an officer from London did show up at the most recent demo. One of the organisers, Alan Keys said "it was great to see one of our officials at the Shard, a real boost for the protestors. All being well, Unite will get behind its members and organise a ballot for industrial action".

He went on to say that whatever happens the obvious anger of rank & file union members means that they will continue protesting up to Christmas and beyond if necessary. Indeed plans are being made to get round all the sites where one of the eight is working.

Notes to editor:

The Olympic site is situated in Stratford, Pudding Mill Lane and the protest will be on Wednesday14th September beginning at 630am -830am. There will be similar protests elsewhere on the same day

The eight contractors are NG Bailey Building Services, Crown House Technologies, SES, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, Tommy Clarke, Gratte Brothers, MJN Colston, and SPIE Matthew Hall.

NG Baileys one eight of the companies who intend to pull out of the national agreement is also heavily involved in the blacklisting of union activists, has 10 years work on the massive Crossrail project in London.

For more information contact Alan Keys on siteworker@virginmedia.com

Or telephone Jerry Hicks on 07817827912

Today (Wednesday 7th) saw a magnificent turnout in London at the shard site where it was good to see a Unite official turn up to support - hopefully they’ve woken up at last?

As the Shard protest was ‘hotting up’ there were simultaneous protests in Manchester outside the Town Hall [BBES site] and in Newcastle 50 sparks demonstrated at the RVI Hospital Crown House site. Things are building up and it’s spreading across the country.

Dates and places to be seen at (so far) are:

Glasgow
10th (Saturday) September: A meeting to plan action. 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6NG 10.00am – 12noon.

London
13th (Tuesday) September: A fringe meeting at the TUC conference at ULU Malet Street Room 3b 6.30pm -8.30pm organised by ‘Unite Rank and File committee’ (elected at the Conway Hall meeting). With various speakers including Mick Dooley, the UCATT General Secretary candidate and a film show of blacklisting. We hope to lobby Unite delegates during the week of the TUC conference at Congress House.

14th (Wednesday) September: Demo at the Olympic Stadium, Stratford, Pudding Mill Lane [DRL] at 6.30-8.30am. We will do our best to get some media coverage and may have a few surprises in store. Spread the word - let’s make it the biggest protest so far.

Manchester
14th (Wednesday) September: Demo at Balfours site New Paper Mill in Carrington. Junction 8 off the M 60 and 4 miles along the exit road on the right at 6.30am.

Newcastle
16th (Friday) September: A sparks rally at Newcastle Labour Club at 7pm hosted by Newcastle Central Branch. This meeting is the chance to get together and decide ‘what next for the North East’ A demo outside Balfour Beatty, Percy St Newcastle 6.30am seems a pretty good idea for the following Wednesday (21st ). Unite Offices are just around the corner, so not far for them to come!

Manchester
1st (Saturday) October Meeting at the Mechanics Institute 12noon - 3pm. To discuss the dispute and to decide ‘What next for the North West’ all welcome.

Don’t wait for us. If your Town is not included in the above then here’s what to do. Choose a site, pick a time, date, and venue and protest. Let us know what you’ve decided and we will help get the message out.

Keep up the fight. United together we can defeat this outrageous attack on our agreement. Join unite today, get organised, take these rouge traders to the cleaners!

For more information email siteworker@virginmedia.com

Veteran of the Labour movement Tony Benn addressed over 150 electricians in Stratford, East London yesterday, 31 August 2011.

Benn spoke to the electricians who were demonstrating against the move by a breakaway group of electrical contractors who want to set up an alternative negotiating body which may undermine the preferred terms of the Joint Industry Board, the current national negotiations body.

Many of the breakaway electrical contractors are the same ones who are prominent in blacklisting workers, Balfour Beatty, Crown House Technologies, N G Bailey and SPIE (Matthew Hall). However this is not deterring the demonstrators.

Electricians angry at the move to de-skill their trade & undermine their bargaining position have hit back. The sparks in London have decided on a series of demonstrations outside major high profile sites in the hope of building momentum and support from other workers.

Speaking to the workers, Tony Benn told them that the essence of trade unionism was joining together to become stronger using an analogy of a child stuck in a well who asks his rescuers to join their ropes together to get him from the bottom of the well.

Other speakers included Michael Dooley who is a candidate in the current UCATT General Secretary election, who promised to be on every single demonstration, Steve Headley from the RMT and other supporters.

Alan Keys, a spokesperson for the electricians said "this is a fight we will need to win if we want to maintain our bargaining position. We all hope that our union UNITE will move quickly in support of the electricians, but in any event we will proceed with our plans and future activities"

The Shard in London Bridge is the electricians next target for a demonstration at the Shard, London Bridge [the tallest tower being built in Europe] next Wednesday, 7th September 2011from 6.30 a.m.

For more information contact Alan Keys on siteworker@virginmedia.com or telephone Jerry Hicks on 07817827912

The following links may be of help. http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2008-09/1357

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2011/08/31/westfield-and-t-clarke-latest-me-pay-row-targets/

http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/node/1253

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/101581