Grenfell - a message from the FBU

The Grenfell Tower fire must be a turning point in fire safety across the UK.

We welcome the recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry, but they must be implemented quickly and efficiently. This can’t wait until after the second phase of the inquiry is completed. As we saw with the fire at student accommodation in Bolton on 15 November, we need a complete overhaul of UK fire safety – and we need it now.

That’s why we’ve called for a forum to drive through these sweeping changes to UK fire safety. We’ve written to all relevant parties – including tenants, government, and fire safety and housing specialists – asking them to work together to ensure that the recommendations aren’t swept under the carpet.

Lessons must be learnt, and we won’t stop fighting until our communities are safe.

In solidarity,

Fire Brigades Union

Public meeting - Voices of Latin America and Palestine

Open meeting - all welcome.

Helping the PCS General Election Campaign

A general election has now been called for the 12 December. In line with policy agreed at our 2018 annual delegate conference, PCS will be campaigning for a Labour vote including targeted campaigning in 40 seats across England and Wales.

As a union we recognise that the election of a UK Labour government under the leadership and policies of McDonnell and Corbyn is in the interests of PCS members. Key Labour pledges include a return to national pay bargaining in the civil service and related bodies, and end to job cuts and office closures, the recruitment of 5,000 extra DWP staff, and large scale investment in HMRC.

The North West region are asking for PCS members to support campaigning and join PCS canvassing teams in the following seats: Southport, Blackpool North and Cleveleys, Bolton West and Crewe and Nantwich. Campaign dates for each of these target seats will be publicised shortly.

If you are able to volunteer, please email nwrc@pcs.org.uk with your name, branch and preferred email and telephone number.

How members vote is entirely a matter for them, and whichever party is in government PCS will always be there to fight your corner.

To see BB-73-19 (General election campaign update & guidance for civil service members), click here.

Register to vote and for a postal vote by the 26 November

Make sure you and your colleagues use your voice on the 12 December by registering to vote by 26 November. It takes less than 5 minutes to register online - here. All you need is your national insurance number.

Please also consider registering for a postal vote and encouraging your branch reps and members to do the same for this election, the deadline to request a postal vote is also the 26 November. Register here.

Support Coca-Cola workers fighting for their rights

Coca-Cola continues to violate the fundamental rights of workers in Haiti, Indonesia, Ireland and the USA. In Haiti Coke's bottler La Brasserie de la Couronne continues to systematically deny workers their right to form and be represented by a union, SYTBRACOUR.

Haiti is a dangerous place to live and to work. Companies should, at a minimum, be alert to this situation and exercise maximum due diligence. In July 2019, a Coca-Cola truck driver was shot in his vehicle while at work. The Coca-Cola Company has made no meaningful independent investigation of this killing, choosing instead to rely on a version of events provided by their local bottler, which sought to shift blame onto the driver. Subsequent IUF investigations into this case have exonerated the driver and exposed a callous disregard for the truth on the part of the Coca-Cola bottler and The Coca-Cola Company.

In Indonesia Coca-Cola bottler Amatil pursues its long running attack on the rights of independent, democratic trade unions.

In Ireland, The Coca-Cola Company closed two of its directly owned concentrate plants, both of which were strongly unionized, and shifted production to the remaining plant in Ballina, where it refuses to engage in collective bargaining with the IUF-affiliated SIPTU.

In the USA the Company's bottler spent more than 330,000.00 US dollars hiring a union-busting consultant firm to persuade workers at its Greenfield bottling plant to not join the RWDSU/UFCW.

Please show your support for these workers and the fight for rights in the Coca-Cola system.

Click here to send a message to Coca-Cola's CEO and Chairman James Quincey, expressing your outrage over these ongoing human rights violations and demanding the Company act to remedy them. Your name will also be added to a petition that will be delivered to The Coca-Cola Company.