TUC march 18 October 2014

Branch member Ollie Wilson has posted a blog containing lots of photos of the TUC's Britain Needs a Pay Rise March through central London on 18 October 2014 - and the train the Trades Council hired to get us up there:

http://oliverspoetrygarret.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-red-train.html

Britain needs a pay rise: TUC demo 18 October

There's a TUC march and rally in London on 18 October, which the branch is supporting:
http://britainneedsapayrise.org/

The Brighton Trades Council is organising a train to encourage people to attend the TUC 'Britain needs a pay rise' demonstration in central London on the 18 October.

We expect to leave Brighton station at 8:30am and return from Victoria at 5pm. The Journey will be longer than normal as the direct line is closed to all trains that weekend.

We have block-booked 10 seats on the trades council train that's going up, so ask anyone who wants to go to contact Phil at philmellows@btinternet.com and the first 10 NUJ members can have a free trip. Non-NUJ members can pay for a seat via this Eventbrite page (which includes details on times etc):

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brighton-train-to-tuc-britain-needs-a-pay-rise-demo-tickets-13289634655

Strike Day - Thursday 10 July

This Thursday 10 July an estimated 1.5 million public sector workers across the country will be out on strike for a decent pay rise. Council workers in the Unison, GMB and Unite unions will be joined by the firefighters of the FBU, the teachers of the NUT and civil servants in the PCS.

You can show your support for workers taking on a government that's attacking us all by joining the marches and rally that will be taking place in Brighton on the day:

10.30am - Marches from Hove Town and Hollingdean Road bin depot

Midday - Rally on The Level

Look out for the NUJ banner!

There will be picket lines from about 7am at Brighton Town Hall (Black Lion St), Hove Town Hall, the bin depot in Hollingdean Road, the fire station at Preston Circus - take your pick!

Brighton Branch marches with the TUC against austerity

On Saturday 20 October, a Brighton and Mid-Sussex Branch contingent travelled up to London on the Trades Council chartered train to take part in the TUC's 'A future that works' anti-austerity march. Here is a photo of the NUJ group - including our General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet - which was near the back of the march, along with the 'entertainment unions'. It was a great show of solidarity and a big thank you to the Trades Council for organising the trip.

Join the TUC Demo October 20th

No to Austerity! March Together! Organise to Strike Together! 

The NUJ Branch will be reserving a block of seats on the train to the demo as described in the following Trades Council announcement:

The TUC have called a demonstration for ‘A Future That Works’ in central London on 20th October. This has the potential to see many hundreds of thousands on the streets - a huge show of anger against the government. The Brighton Trade Union Council with the support of most of our city’s union branches has booked a train so we can all travel up and back together. 

Book a seat today and join us! 

We have seen 350,000 public sector jobs lost, 4 years of pay freeze, NHS privatisation, 1 million youth unemployed, university fees tripled, benefits slashed, EMA cut... and only 15% of the cuts have been made so far. All this as the deficit and the coffers of the super-rich keep expanding! Our movement shook the government on 30th November when 2 million workers were on strike against the pensions robbery. In Brighton the strike was solid and 10,000 demonstrated.

Brighton Trades Council is against ALL cuts, ALL austerity, and believes that if strike action had continued and been escalated it could have forced the government to retreat. This demonstration needs to be as big as possible, not just to show the government we won’t put up with cuts, but also to be a chance to organise our workplaces, colleges, communities and towns to reject austerity.

Join the joint union train! Hundreds of subsidised seats available! If you are a union member your branch or region is probably already involved so contact them for a seat. If you do not belong to a union you can book seats direct with the Trades Council.

Email Phil at BrightonTradesCouncil@gmail.com

Train from Brighton approx 10am, return from Victoria approx 5pm.
Book a seat for full details.

TUC events

We're sure you've been following the announcements on the NUJ's main website, but we'd like to remind you about a few events taking place in Brighton next week as part of TUC Congress.

First and foremost is the NUJ social evening on Tuesday 11th September, which we've helped to organise. It'd be great to see as many people there as possible and guests/possible recruits are more than welcome.

NUJ social evening
Come join the NUJ on the last night of TUC Congress for a few drinks and friendly banter.

Donnacha DeLong, NUJ President, and Ewa Jasiewicz, Unite organiser and NUJ freelance member, will kick things off with a short discussion about building the NUJ and then chill out, have a few drinks and network. Journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, Tweeters, PRs, publishers, web designers and comradely trade unionists welcome, you don't have to be an NUJ member (yet) to come along.

Time: 7pm, Tuesday 11 September.
Venue: Upstairs at the Mesmerist - 1-3 Prince Albert Street, Brighton, BN1 1HE.

The night before, on Monday 10th September, there will also be a fringe meeting around the Leveson inquiry:

Speakers: Michelle Stanistreet NUJ, Mark Serwotka PCS, Tony Burke Unite, John Hendy QC, Helen Goodman MP, Des Freedman CCMR, Granville Williams CPBF, Owen Jones, author of Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class.
Title: The press post Leveson: how a unionised workplace can deliver ethical journalism
Time: Monday 10 September, 17.30
Venue: Brighton Centre, the Restaurant.

Refreshments provided.
More details here

The NUJ is also supporting two fringe events held by the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group

Title: Fighting Austerity - Co-ordinated Action
Chair: Michelle Stanistreet
Speakers: Matt Wrack (FBU), Mark Serwotka (PCS), Bob Crow (RMT), Kathy Turner (UCU), John McDonnell MP
Time: Monday 10 September, 12.30 to 2pm
Venue: Meeting Room 3, Second Floor, Brighton Conference Centre

Title: Work Under Attack! - Health, Safety and Violence Against the Workforce
Chair: Bob Monks (URTU)
Speakers: Ronnie Draper (BFAWU), Hilda Palmer (Hazards), Jerry Glazier (NUT), Steve Gillan (POA)
Time: Tuesday 11 September, 5.30pm to 7pm
Venue: Meeting Room 3, Second Floor, Brighton Conference Centre

GFTU and IER Sunday Night Special at the Ship Hotel
The Institute of Employment Rights: Days of Action, Protesting Against Austerity: with the United Campaign for the Repeal of anti-trade union laws
Chair: Carolyn Jones
Speakers: Keith Ewing, IER President, John Hendy QC, IER Chairman, Len McCluskey, UNITE

As ever, we hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Brighton & MidSussex NUJ branch committee