Protect the Right to Strike – Feb 1st Cambridge

Cambridge Trades Council, along with Cambridgeshire NEU, Cambridge University UCU, PCS, ASLEF, Unison, Unite the Union, Cambridge Students Union and other Unions is calling a rally and march from 11am at Parkers Piece on Wednesday February 1st. This will be followed by a march through the city to the Guildhall where we will have an indoor rally.

Our open letter on the issues that matter:

Open letter supporting the right to strike and the 1st Feb strikes and the march and rally in Cambridge:

Over half a million workers are due to be on strike on the 1st of February, including teachers in the National Education Union on the first of seven days of action. Schools, the NHS and other public services are haemorrhaging staff as a result of falling pay. The staff shortages are adding to an increased workload and this vicious circle is continuing to drive our key public services into a deeper crisis. 

The increasing frequency of strike action is an unsurprising response to over 12 years of austerity, crumbling infrastructure and rising inequality. Millions of Britons cannot afford basic goods and millions more have seen their standard of living and access to services dismantled.

Strikes are disruptive, that is the point, but it is not strikes that are causing the day-to-day difficulties: in accessing a doctor; finding a qualified teacher to teach a class;  travelling on a reliable bus route; or an affordable train.? These things are a result of the way our economy is run and of spiralling inequality.

The UK already has among the most draconian laws on the right to strike in Europe and now the government is proposing further restrictions that in some sectors will make it illegal to strike due to minimum service requirements. Workers’ rights to withdraw our labour are a fundamental human right and are a vital condition of any democratic society.

We support the strikes on the 1st of February and the protest march starting at 11am on Parkers Piece in Cambridge. We call on the Government to address: the funding crisis in education, the crisis in health and other public services, pay and the cost of living, and to uphold the democratic right to strike.

“BALLS TO THE BOSSES” POOL COMPETITION & GAMES NIGHT

 

CAMBRIDGE TRADES UNION COUNCIL    “BALLS TO THE BOSSES” POOL COMPETITION & GAMES NIGHT

End the year with a bit of fun & Solidarity raising money for all those taking strike action.

£5 Entry Fee for knockout pool competition – No experience necessary

Prizes for the winner and runner up.

All proceeds will go to the TC Solidarity strike fund

ALL WELCOME – So bring your friends, family and hustlers

There will also be minces pies, nibbles, board games and a raffle!

Look forward to seeing you all there

WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER 7PM

AT THE NCI CLUB -1 HOLLAND ST, ARBURY, CAMBRIDGE CB4 3DL

Facebook event – https://fb.me/e/2qfBDLZcR  

Trades Council Raising raising funds for strikers at Mill Rd Winter Fair

Big thanks to everyone who paid a visit to our stall at Mill Rd Fair on Saturday 3rd December. We raised an amazing £250 for union members taking strike action. A special thanks to all those that contributed to the Solidarity Tombola and to Liz & Jill for pulling all that together along with our “Solidaritea” coasters.

We will be having one more fundraiser before Xmas on Dec 14th, 7pm onwards at the NCI club in Chesterton- “Balls to The Bosses” Pool competition/games night. More info and Facebook Event to follow but put the date in your diary.
Solidarity !

Letter from the Chair of Our Trades Council to Daniel Zeichner MP for Cambridge Regarding the RMT Strike

Dear Daniel,

I write to you this evening as a friend, comrade and as my Member of Parliament for Cambridge.

This evening I have learnt in distress that Labour Party frontbenchers are being instructed not to support the RMT strikes and to refuse to attend picket lines across the country. As you will probably know there will be a picket line tomorrow morning at the Cambridge Signal Box which will be supported by local trade unionists in solidarity with rail workers.

I know as a fellow Trade Unionist and former employee of Unison you must be very distressed by this instruction by our party leadership. As Chair of the Cambridge and District Trades Council area I politely ask you to ignore this instruction and as Kate Osborne has already done prepare a resignation letter from the Shadow Cabinet if necessary.

I think an action by a respected member of the Shadow Cabinet like yourself would not just show our comrades in the RMT that they can rely on our solidarity, as I am certain many have in the past given to our party and our movement; it would also strengthen the hand of many in the Shadow Cabinet who will view this instruction an insult to their constituents and the trade union movement this party was founded to represent in parliament.

As you know I have backed you as our MP since you were elected in 2015, a mere footsoldier in that campaign. I subsequently helped you to be reelected in 2017 as part of the Unite London and Eastern Political Committee and in that election as a committee room manager in King’s Hedges. I did the same for you in East Chesterton in December 2019 despite the fact that my late partner was desperately ill and died in July 2020.

I thank you for all the letters we have exchanged in the past, the condolences you gave which I knew to be very heartfelt, when Jo died of cancer.

I am optimistic, as I know you believe fundamentally in the progress trade unions bring to so many people.

I hope your principles are stronger than your ambition, because this is something I and many of your fellow members and constituents see in you.

Sadly if you are unable to stand up against the Tory austerity machine, fight with our comrades in the RMT, see beyond an utterly incoherent Labour message or really represent people who are desperate because of the Tory cost of living crisis, I cannot offer myself again to organise or campaign for you in subsequent elections.

I remain a Labour member and will of course vote for the Labour candidate at the next General Election.

I hope as Chair of the Trades Council but also a long term Labour Party organiser and activist you will understand how painful but in my view necessary this letter is.

Yours Sincerely, James Youd,
Chair, Cambridge Trades Council
Unite the Union member