March 2018

Secretary’s Report for March 2018

Wolverhampton, Bilston & District TUC www.wolvestuc.org.uk info@wolvestuc.org.uk

TUC Love Unions week – great success in Wednesfield and Bilston – see www.wolvestuc.org.uk Unfortunately BFAWU was unable to assist with McDonalds campaign, the national focus of the week in W’ton. We have made offer of future help from us at any time.

Wed 14^th March 7.30pm The General Strike Speaker: author David Taylor W’ton Civic & Historical society meeting The Old School, 73 Dudley Road, Wolverhampton WV2 3BY http://www.youcaxton.co.uk/1926-general-strike-in-the-black-country/

Thursday 15^th March PCS & UNITE public meeting 6-8pm Britannia Hotel WV1 1DD with Mark Sewotka, Eleanor Smith & Howard Beckett

Friday 16^th March @ Friends’ Meeting House, 8b Summerfield Rd Wolverhampton WV1 4PR Wolverhampton Palestine Solidarity Campaign public meeting Free Ahed Tamimi and all child prisoners NEU-NUT speaker 7pm for 7-30 start

Saturday 17^th March Wolverhampton Palestine Solidarity Campaign #StopArmingIsrael protest 10am-12noon outside HSBC, Queens Sq Wolverhampton

Thursday 22^nd March 2018 our delegate meeting will be a week later than usual venue Unite Office, 6 Victoria Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1LD next to bus station, over bridge from train station

until Saturday, March 24^th, Votes for Women, is on at the City Archives, Molineux Hotel Building, Whitmore Hill, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SF admission to the exhibition is free.

English councils have cut funding for buses by a third since 2010 and 500 bus routes were withdrawn or reduced last year. TUC Midlands Pensioners’ Network on the tenth anniversary of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme; campaign to keep the bus pass as a universal non-means-tested benefit and for bus services that meet people’s needs with a Hereford to Skegness bus tour 7^th to 21^st April. In Wolverhampton Wednesday 11^th April arriving from Walsall on a 529. Then campaigning in Queen Square from 12 noon till 1pm. Then all aboard a 126 and off to lunch at The Pie Factory at Tipton.

Union Reps Stage 1 Mondays from 23^rd April; Health & Safety Stage 1 Tuesdays from 24^th April ten weeks 9am–4pm 10 weeks at Shrewsbury College & GMB Offices, Hanley, Stoke on Trent

Saturday 28th April 2018 12.30pm at the Workers’ Memorial Day Tree, Cenotaph, St Peters Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1TS speakers: Andrew Scattergood Fire Brigades Union Brigade Chair, Eleanor Smith MP Wolverhampton South West, Chris Cooper UNISON Safety Rep of the Year, Marie Taylor Wolverhampton TUC President John Welsby Industrial chaplain

Tuesday 1^st May Pegasus Wolverhampton May Day festival doors open 6-45pm speakers Greg Brackenridge FBU, Joginder Bains IWA, Geoff Ferres CPB. Acts Dhol players, One Love featuring Sunev Wilson and headliners The Beat Goes Bang – The Beat & Dexys Midnight runners supergroup. Trade union donations being sought towards £1750 expected total bill.

A New Deal for Working People – TUC March and Rally

The TUC is holding a national march and rally on Saturday 12^th May 2018 in central London – contact us about local subsidised train travel

Branch re-affiliations received for 2018: ASLEF, Community W’ton Craft, FBU, NEU-NUT, UNISON Sandwell General, City of Wolverhampton UNISON, UNISON Acute (New Cross), UNITE Faith workers

14% pay rise won for work of 2,000 volunteers this summer

Wolverhampton TUC made a formal complaint last November to the Wandsworth and Battersea TUC who own the Workers Beer Company about the rate of remuneration for volunteer-hours on their bars at music festivals such as Glastonbury that we send volunteers to. Last night’s meeting of Battersea and Wandsworth TUC and the Workers Beer Company discussed our complaint and agreed a 14.3% rise from £7 to £8 for this year and to increase regularly in future. We had taken the decision last month that we would no longer work for the Workers Beer Company while the rate paid to us for volunteer work was worth less than the National Minimum Wage.
It would have been the end of our fundraising for the Morning Star and the end of our main source of income, for campaigning (£38k since 1998) so was not an easy decision to come to . Now we are pleased to be back at festivals for our twentieth year. Half of the income that have we received from our volunteers’ work at festivals has gone to the Morning Star Fighting Fund and Morning Star adverts.
https://wolvestuc.org.uk/fancy-free-entry-to-music-festivals The Workers Beer Company has helped many dozens of other trade union and labour movement groups raise over £7 million by sending volunteers to work on their bars since 1986. Long may they continue to set the standards and be an alternative to the corporate greed of festival promoters. This increase will increase the funds raised by their groups for the 2,000 volunteers that the Workers Beer Company uses each year. We would encourage other labour movement groups to look at www.workersbeer.co.uk to see how they could also raise funds this way. It has been vital to or funds as well as much fun and helped bring in many new people into our activities over the years.

Watch the server guide video here to see what it’s all about

2018 festivals available for us to work at

Malahide Castle 10mile north Dublin near beach and airport- LCD Soundsystem – Tuesday 5th June 2018

Malahide Castle – Kodaline – Friday 8th June

Malahide Castle – Gorillaz – Saturday 9th June 2018

Malahide Castle – Liam Gallagher – Friday 15th June 2018

Malahide Castle – Saturday 16th June – Nile Rogers/CHIC – Freak out!!

Finsbury Park, north London – 29th/30th June &1st July -hostels not camping

Lovebox/Citadel west London Gunnersbury Park – 13th – 15th July-hostels not camping

Tolpuddle Dorset – 20-22nd July 2018 we worked before only small crew

Electric Picnic, Co. Laois, Ireland -60miles SW Dublin – Friday 31st August – Sunday 2nd September

• Glastonbury from 2019 no Leeds/Reading nor Latitude anymore as corporate greed of festival promoters has made it unviable for Workers Beer company to run bars.
• We only recruit local trade unionists prepared to support our aims and campaigns – if you are interested in working future festivals visit http://wolvestuc.org.uk/fancy-free-entry-to-music-festivals