Next Events

It's a busy week this week with three events going on in Derby.

On Monday 5th there is a vigil from 4pm outside the Derby Assembly Rooms in opposition to cut in disabled people's benefits.

On Wednesday 7th there is an event highlighting the current attack on the NHS. There will be an introduction be Dr Sally Ruane of De Montfort University and "Keep our NHS Public" followed by a showing of the DVD "Wake up Call" by Health Emergency.

To view the flyer click here.

On Saturday 10th it's International Women's Day and to celebrate there is a free event at the Derby Assembly Rooms.

To view the flyer click here. 

To see what's coming up please visit our Diary of Events page by clicking here. 

Survey - Greening the Workplace

There is still time to complete the TUC survey on on trade unions, greening the workplace and climate change. The survey is being conducted by the Labour Research Department and is supported by unions affiliated to the TUC. Many thanks if you have already completed the survey and apologies for contacting you again.

We hope the survey will provide a useful picture of progress on trade union action on environment/climate change in the workplace and the role of the trade union movement in this vital area.

We would be grateful if you could complete this questionnaire as soon as possible. It should take about 10 minutes. Just click on the link below. 

http://www.lrd.org.uk/surveys/greenwork/

Join us on Thursday 15 December at a lobby of the council meeting. 5pm at the Assembly Rooms, Derby. Learn more in our flyer.

Whether you’re public or private sector everybody deserves a decent pension-it’s an issue for us all. Please circulate to your contacts display on your website etc. but most of all join us on the day to raise the focus of pensions, jobs, services and industry. 

Moz Greenshields Secretary Derby Area Trades Union Council

Download the flyer here

March for the Alternative - Birmingham

Date: Sunday 18 September
Assemble at 11 am on Granville Street B1 1JW

Speakers include: Billy Hayes CWU, Mark Serwotka PCS, Christine Blower NUT, Paul Kenny GMB

This year the Lib Dems are having their annual conference in Birmingham and the TUC is organising a march and rally to show opposition to the Coalition Government's disastrous policies of pay freezes, cuts and attacks on public services that are producing rising unemployment, cuts in living standards and stagnation. The march will also show the support for The Alternative. We need jobs, growth and justice for a sustainable future and this event will send that message loud and clear.

Flyers are available to download. Click here

More information can be found on the TUC website. 

Thameslink contract reinforces the lack of competition in the rolling stock market

The Thameslink contract will exacerbate the anti-competitive nature of the rolling stock leasing market, says the TUC today (Tuesday) as the issue has been selected by the Labour Party front bench for debate to coincide with a Congress motion about the contract to be moved by ASLEF and Unite.
The TUC believes that the Thameslink contract consolidates ownership in the highly concentrated and anti-competitive rolling stock leasing market, and that the government and rail regulators are failing to act to keep the market open.The TUC had called for the decision not to award the Thameslink contract to Bombardier be referred to the Office of Rail Regulation and the Competition Commission over concerns that the contract potentially takes away fair competition and leaves the market dominated by a couple of providers.
The winning Siemens consortium is part financed by 3i Infrastructure, the Jersey-based private equity firm that also part-owns Eversholt one of the three leasing companies (ROSCOs) which control 95 per cent of UK rolling stock.
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady cited a Competition Commission report from 2009 that raised concerns about competition in the rolling stock market, even before the Siemens contract was won. Responding to a market investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation, the Competition Commission report found that the concentration of ownership and significant barriers to new entrants contributed to a lack of competition in the rolling stock market.
The TUC also believes that the complexity of the contract and the leasing requirement within it could be seen to favour bidders with existing capital investment functions and higher credit ratings, such as Siemens.
However, in response the Secretary of State and the Office of Rail Regulation chose not to investigate the issue of concentrated ownership arising from the design and award of the contract.
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O' Grady said: "Awarding the Thameslink contract to Siemens is not only terrible news for the thousands of workers at Bombardier, but it's bad value for money for the government who will be paying out benefits when they should be collecting taxes for workers leading our manufacturing revival.
"We have written to the Secretary of State and the Rail Regulator to raise serious concerns about the awarding of the Thameslink contract, as it consolidates more of the UK's rolling stock into the hands of one company. We are disappointed that the government has side-stepped this issue which has adverse effects on an already anti-competitive market.
"We also believe the way the Thameslink contract has been formulated favours a particularly financial model, which will impact on future contracts such as Crossrail.
"The government hasn't yet signed the final contract and still has time and legal power to re-examine the Thameslink bid."

April Events

The DATUC committee are pleased to invite you to some exciting events in April:


On Tuesday 26 April the historic documentary "Dole not Coal" will be screening at the QUAD in Derby. Tickets cost £2 each and £1 of this will go to charity.

Saturday 30 April sees the annual Silk Mill March and Rally take place in Derby. The March will go from the Assembly Rooms in Derby to the Silk Mill (where we will pause briefly to lay the chaplet). Unlike previous years we will then head back to the Market Place for speeches and entertainment from The Banner Theatre Group.

After the Silk Mill Rally (also on Saturday 30 April) there will also be a discussion group, organised by the Derby People's History Group on "The Silk Mill Lock Out: Strike, Lockout or Revolution?". 






See Diary of Events for the details of these and all forthcoming events. 
If you want more information please contact the named contact against the event or myself (Julia Williams) at julia.union@gmail.com