Thursday 16^th September 2010 - 7.15pm start, all trade unionists welcome.

• adult hourly rate of the minimum wage should increase from £5.80 to £5.93.
• development rate (which will cover workers aged 18-20 years) rises from £4.83 to £4.92
• rate for 16 to17-year-olds moves from £3.57 to £3.64, from 1st October 2010.
• there should be a single apprentice minimum wage rate of £2.50 per hour for those apprentices currently exempt from the national minimum wage; that is, all those under the age of 19 and those aged 19 and over in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship. 

The Government accepts these recommendations.

Mike Edwards who spoke at our last delegate meeting is attempting to re-establish a TU studies centre in Wolverhampton/black country.
Courses being run locally by the WEA finished earlier this year, but Mike and the Shrewsbury TU Studies Centre will be running TUC Shop Stewards and Health & Safety Reps courses here from September.

Courses will be delivered at: Bilston Campus, Wellington Road, Wolverhampton WV14 6BT  sign up now.....

watch the latest Hope Not Hate video explaining who and what the EDL are

UCU members at City of Wolverhampton College  - 91% of UCU members voted in favour of action short of a strike while just under 70% voted in favour of strike action. This was in opposition to Management who had  issued a section 188 notice for 160 potential job losses. They have a strong and well organised branch with over 280 members.

In response, College bosses have abandoned compulsory redundancies and accepted a small number of voluntary redundancies; therefore the strike did NOT go ahead on 21^st June and UCU plans for this day to picket all campuses in the morning have been called off. Protest continued:

July 2010 - Bilston North by-election - the fascist Bnp are trounced as their voters of two months ago abandon them.

The fascists received the lowest number of votes in any council ward they have EVER contested in the local council.

Local elections, May 6^th 2010 - our 3-week 2010 election campaign - we delivered our anti-bnp message to 16,000 homes in the wards where the fascists stood. We maintained our 100% record of campaigning each time they stand. we remain undefeated as they struck up another 5 dismal election defeats! 

Save Our Public Services - Tories & Liberals threaten massive cuts so that this year's council tax doesn't have to go up by a tenner. [Next council elections Thursday May 6th 2010].

Tories & Liberals have closed Underhill Older Peoples home despite the offer of free cash from an appauled benefactor to keep it open.  The council shamed our city by  evicting a 106 year old resident in the worst snow we'd had all winter.  Transport to Day Centres was cancellled and no dustbins were emptied that day due to heavy snow yet our council evicted Wolverhampton's oldest citizen.  The council's "reasons" for closure are untrue.

Join the  Meals -on-Wheels Facebook

Local government unions outraged at pay freeze
Local government unions, UNISON, GMB and UNITE, representing 1.6 million workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, have today been told that their members face a pay freeze in 2010/2011. The unions are calling on the local government employers to think again, saying that local government workers will struggle to afford basic essentials, with over 5% inflation rendering the pay freeze a real terms pay cut. The unions are calling for them to come to their senses and make a reasonable offer, saying that there is room in council budgets to give workers decent pay.

Minimum holiday entitlement has risen to 28 days