Unite Clerkenwell & St Pancras Branch - News

Branch Supports StrikeMap UK

18/7/2022

The Branch donated £100 to StrikeMap UK to help ensure it's continuing operation

We would urge all Branch members to consider donating as well to help ensure workers can gain the information they need to be more effective in their actions.

StrikeMap UK contacted the branch directly

Recently we have passed 500 strikes in less than two years. The growing summer of discontent means our map has more action being uploaded than before and thousands more visitors a day. This success is the success of workers across the country, who are leading the fight back against the cost of living crisis.

This success means we need your help to upgrade our map to ensure it can handle the militant struggles ahead, otherwise we will have to lose essential functionality like our postcode search

DONATE TO SAVE STRIKE MAPP

UNITE Pay win at ZSL!

20/5/2022

UNITE members in our branch working at ZSL (Zoological Society of London) after rejecting employer's initial offer have now secured the following:

A pay increase award from 01 May 2022 of 5% on basic pay and London Weighting.
A one-off payment of £800 to those on a full time contract. This amount will be pro-rated for those working on a part time contract.
The one-off payment will be subject to tax and NI and paid to all employees who have been employed from 01 April 2022 and continue to be employed on 15 May 2022 onwards.
In addition to pay ZSL continues to support wellbeing with a specific focus on:
- Financial wellbeing support - partnering with Barclays to provide financial awareness support for ZSL staff.
- Providing a health check for ZSL staff.
- Provide quarterly support for physiotherapy – one visit at each UK site.

176 people were balloted. 151 responded. Of those, 144 voted to accept the offer and 7 to reject.

Branch guided tours

17/5/2022

The branch resumed its much loved guided walks after a long hiatus with last Wednesday's 10th May tour of "Activists, Militants and Pioneers: Women of the Radical Jewish East End". It was led by David Rosenberg of East End Walks

http://www.eastendwalks.com/?page_id=456

NIESR Strike ballot

17/12/2021

National Institute for Economic & Social Research (NIESR)

Our branch members working at NIESR are balloting for strike action.

While average earnings are growing by more than 4% NIESR staff are being offered an insulting 2% rise to cover two years. That’s while CPI inflation is over 5% annually and RPI over 7%!

Solidarity to the researchers, economists, forecasters and support staff in Unite: here’s hoping the new year brings a new respect for their workforce from NIESR management

UNITE General Secretary nomination

1/6/2021

May 2021

At this month's branch meeting the branch agreed to nominate Sharon Graham for next UNITE General Secretary.

Find out more about Sharon's campaign here - https://sharongraham.org/

StrikeMap & LGBT+ History Month

2/3/2021

StrikeMap

Really proud to be able to say we have been the first trade union branch to affiliate to this all important venture to join up workers in struggle.

https://strikemap.wordpress.com/

Make sure you take a look, and show your support and solidarity with colleagues who are on strike. Post your own actions too! We stand together - we win together!

LGBT+ History Month

As part of LGBT+ History Month we organised an online visit from Stef Dickers, Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archive Manager who talked about and showed slides on how their LGBT+ material was gathered, and shared all the adventures of looking after the collection's day to day.

Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archives holds one of the most extensive collections on LGBTQ+ history, politics and culture in the UK. It covers the late nineteenth century onwards. The collections encompass LGBTQ+ history politics and culture, with archives from numerous organisations and individuals. The Institute is also the proud custodian of the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA), including over 350,000 press cuttings from the straight press regarding LGBTQ+ history from the 1890s to today. They hold a library of around 15,000 LGBTQ+ titles, from academic works, biographies, fiction and poetry to pulp fiction, along with over 700 journal titles from around the world. The LGBTQ+ Pamphlet Collection contains around 3,500 items including programmes for festivals and events, material from campaigning organisations and catalogues. The collection also features extensive ephemera such as club flyers, t-shirts, banners and badges. The Institute's Special Collections and Archives also hosts the UK Leather and Fetish Archive, a national collection documenting the history and heritage of fetish, kink and BDSM in the UK. These archives contain organisational papers, flyers, journals, pamphlets, books and artefacts.

https://www.facebook.com/BishopsgateInstitute

Twitter: @BishopsgateInst & @stefdickers

https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/archives

ZERO COVID: The campaign to beat the pandemic

22/1/2021

The attached motion was passed unanimously in support of this campaign and the branch has now affiliated with Zero COVID.

For more details please got to the Zero COVID Campaign website

Through the website you can also contact your MP and ask them to support the Zero Covid campaign. You can also sign up to receive regular updates and to get more involved. There are also links so you can follow the campaign on social media

We encourage you to get involved in any way you can and circulate information about the campaign to colleagues, friends, family, neighbours, groups you are involved in etc etc. This Government are badly letting us all down in so many ways and this campaign is crucial in aiming to turn things around from the chaos of 'living with the virus' and having no strategy whatsoever to a Zero Covid strategy

Defend Council Housing

17/2/2020

Campaign to stop demolition or privatisation of council housing. We demand direct investment in our homes and communities.

At this month's branch meeting Paul Burnham from Defend Council Housing came and spoke about the campaigning work DCH has been doing for over 23 years and what the key issues are today.

Rocketing rents, homelessness and shortage of housing - council housing is the non-market alternative that works. Council housing pays for itself, it helps build and strengthen communities, it means that rents are truly affordable, and that the landlord is accountable. DCH is also campaigning against council home demolitions and over the top increases in service charges for tenants.

UNITE Clerkenwell and St Pancras branch is supporting DCH and urges other UNITE and other union branches to do the same. Invite a speaker and find out what the campaign is all about and how you can get involved! https://www.facebook.com/DefendCouncilHousing/

Socialist Magician and Quiz Night

28/10/2019

Some pictures from the hugely successful evening this year

Support the Bromley library workers in their strike

8/10/2019

Branch meeting: Wednesday 9 October, 6.30pm.

Come and hear directly from Kath Smith from Bromley libraries about the strike action Unite members have been taking there. And come and tell us about what is happening in your workplace and how the branch can support you.

Meetings are held at Unite House, 128 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8TN. Holborn.

www.justgiving.com/cro…/bromley-library-strike-fund…