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Wednesday 14 December 2011

RUGBY TUSC ALSO SUPPORTING PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS IN DISPUTE OVER PENSIONS


PRESS RELEASE                                For immediate use December 13th 2011

WORKERS AT RUGBY CEMEX TO JOIN PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS AND STRIKE OVER PENSIONS?

Unite, Britain's biggest union, today agreed to ask workers at the building materials company, CEMEX, if they are prepared to be balloted for industrial action over pensions.  The dispute concerns workers in the cement business at Rugby, Warwickshire and South Ferriby, North Lincolnshire, as well as drivers and other workers based at a number of sites across the country,” Rugby TUSC spokesperson Pete McLaren informed us today. 

“What this shows,” he continued, “is that attacks on pensions are happening in the private sector as well as in the public sector, as we said on November 30th when we supported strikes around the slogan ‘Fair Pensions for All’.  Rugby TUSC, and Rugby Against the Cuts, will support CEMEX workers as we support public sector workers.  Attacks on pensions in the public and private sector are driven by an ideological desire by the Coalition Government to make workers pay for the economic crisis they did not cause.

“In this instance, Unite is challenging the company over its two pension schemes. Firstly, its decision to close the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to existing members, and secondly Unite is also challenging the company over its defined contribution (DC) scheme which was opened to new starters about five years ago. The union believes that the scheme provides inadequate benefits to workers.

“Unite wants an outcome which would provide decent pensions for all CEMEX employees. However, to date the company has refused to enter into serious discussions. Unite is calling on the company to reconsider its attitude and position and is consulting with Unite members on strike action’ he concluded.

Unite, national officer John Allott confirmed: "Unite is to ask workers at CEMEX if they are prepared to take part in an industrial action ballot over pensions.  The company are refusing to negotiate with the union to achieve decent pensions for all its employees. We hope that the company will now get round the table and negotiate in good faith."

CEMEX is a global building materials company and a leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. In the UK, CEMEX also provides asphalt, roof tiles, concrete block solutions and railway sleepers. The company generates over £1 billion in annual sales and has a UK supply network with over 500 locations.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

RUGBY TUSC SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS STRIKES

Following the issue of a Media Release outlining how Rugby TUSC had been promoting the Public Sector Pensions Strike on Nov 30 with stalls and leaflets, BBC CWR contacted local TUSC spokesperson Pete McLaren and subsequently interviewed him live on Saturday December 3rd about the impact of the strike.  The interview can be heard at  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00ltpvt  

Thursday 1 December 2011

TUSC REACTS TO VILE COMMENTS BY JEREMY CLARKSON WITH IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE


JEREMY CLARKSON SHOULD BE SACKED AND CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been reported as saying that public sector strikers should be shot.  On the ‘One Show’, he apparently said, “I’d have them all shot.   I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families.”

“If the report is accurate, and Jeremy Clarkson did say that public sector strikers should be shot dead, then I believe, at the very least, he should immediately be charged with Hate Crime and sacked by the BBC,” Pete McLaren, spokesperson for Rugby Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), said today. “There may be other offences he has committed as well. “

“Whether or not he said it tongue in cheek, and I did not see the programme, his reported comments are extremely offensive and bordering on the fascist.  You can not make a joke about executing people in front of their families.  These reported comments are beyond reproach even in a society that correctly values freedom of speech.    Such a freedom should not extend to the right to publicly call for mass exterminations, which is effectively what Clarkson was reported to have said.”

“This is more than just an insult to the millions of public sector workers on strike today to defend pensions and fight cuts.   If the comments have been accurately reported, they indicate a desire to wage terror and war on ordinary working people whose jobs are in the public sector.  The authorities must deal with this immediately,” Pete McLaren concluded.