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Support "Shelter" workers!
Staff working for the homelessness charity Shelter will be striking over management's attempts to cut their pay and conditions. Respect supports their fight and we urge all our members and supporters to give as much support as possible. The first strike is on 5 March. Please click here for details of picket lines across the UK (including at Shelter head office in London - please show them your support.

Their dispute arises directly from the government’s policy of commissioning out public services to the "Third" or voluntary sector - Shelter management says it has to cut staff wages and conditions in order to win government contracts for projects previously provided by public sector workers.

According to the UNITE union, "Shelter's management has intentions not to work in partnership with other agencies in the voluntary sector such as advice agencies and Law centres, but to work in competition with these agencies.

"They intend to expand into other areas of law, with vastly lower pay and terms of service to win contracts and hence put competitors out of business where terms and conditions are higher and so far members have avoided changes.

"If Shelter's management win this dispute and slash terms and conditions it will be a beachhead for other employers to attack terms and conditions in all voluntary sector bodies who are situated in much smaller workplace units than Shelter and less able to fight such cuts and an rely on other agencies to help defend themselves."

This is a serious attack on the working conditions of workers at the sharp end of New Labour's policies.

Ken Loach, a member of Respect's National Council and director of the famous film "Cathy Come Home", which highlighted the issue of homelessness, has said that people should stop donating money to Shelter until it stops its attacks on workers.

"I think Shelter's behaviour is outrageous, telling workers to accept a deal or face redundancy," he said. "I won't be able to support Shelter and I don't think others should. Shelter has always been campaigning and critical of government but it has become corporate and had its teeth drawn."

The union got a 65.8 per cent turn out for the ballot, and a 76 per cent vote for industrial action — so they will be taking a series of strike days over the next few weeks.

Please click here to download a petition - take it around your workplace, community, school etc. and show the Shelter workers your support. You can also download a leaflet explaining the issues behind the dispute and explaining different ways that you can show your support.

Please click here to read a message of support to Shelter workers from Respect MP George Galloway
 

News and articles of interest

Here are some articles and news reports we think are worth looking at

From Triumph to Torture by John Pilger
Two weeks ago, I presented a young Palestinian, Mohammed Omer, with the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Awarded in memory of the great US war correspondent, the prize goes to journalists who expose establishment propaganda, or "official drivel", as Gellhorn called it.

SATs school tests criticised by official report by Harvey Thompson and Linda Slattery
In May, millions of school children throughout England undertook their Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in English, mathematics and science. The statutory tests are widely considered to be flawed and almost universally reviled by teachers and children alike.

Health: Who asked for choice? - Morning Star
IF Health Minister Ben Bradshaw believes that there is political capital to be made by taking on our NHS doctors, he will quickly come unstuck.

Afghanistan troop deaths outnumber those in Iraq by Angela Balakrishnan and agencies
Militants in Afghanistan killed more US and Nato troops than those in Iraq in June after a fresh spate of rebel attacks that highlighted the growing strength of the Taliban.

Iran legally entitled to develop nuclear energy, says UK MP
Iran is legally entitled to develop nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to a British MP visiting Tehran for the first time. George Galloway, who was expelled from Britain's ruling Labor Party for his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war, also criticized the hypocrisy of Israel's belligerence towards Iran, which has its own illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons.

In the Cause of Fear and Ignorance by John Pilger
Muslims are alone as they watch the British state, with its "obstinate incomprehension" of their faith, do to them as it would never do to those of other faiths. Imagine Jews treated this way. You cannot imagine it; the profanity is too great. The silence of British Jews, who have the history, is also great.

Migrant Myths by Adam Ford
As part of her degree course, Kurdish migrant Filiz Celik researched the conditions that workers from overseas face in the United Kingdom. The full text of her study can be read here, but this summary by Adam Ford gives some idea of the reality behind the media-generated myths.

Tesco shareholders reject TV chef's chicken welfare call
Tesco shareholders today voted against a resolution from TV cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which called for the retail giant to improve its chicken-rearing standards.

Academies expelled 10,000 pupils
Academies have been accused of excluding disproportionately high numbers of students after it emerged that they excluded nearly 10,000 pupils for poor behaviour last year.

Let companies run state schools for profit, says Sir Simon Milton
Private companies should be allowed to run state schools at a profit and be free to dismiss teachers who are not up to the job, the head of the Local Government Association (LGA) said yesterday.

For more stories, click here