LAMBETH UNISON NEWS November 2018

HELP UNISON GROWLambeth UNISON has been growing in the last few months and quite a few members have praised us for all the campaigning work we have been doing recently.

UNISON is having a big push in November to recruit more members nationally called GROvember. If you recruit someone to the union then you will be entered into a prize draw for £1000 (4 second prizes of £500).

Make sure that you put in the details of each person you recruit over the next four weeks and alert us at SHANNAH@LAMBETH.GOV.UK so we can keep track!

Good luck! Let's see how many new members we can recruit!

Anna’s story A couple of months ago I read this heart rending but powerful story about a woman who was forced in to sex slavery, but managed to escape: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-45103617. There is a programme on BBC2 based on the book being shown on Monday 5 November: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06mxryq

The oppression of women in 2018 is still a huge blight on societies around the world. One side of that oppression is women who are forced in to the sex trade, either through poverty, or through being physically forced to. UNISON has long stood for fighting for equality and promoting women’s rights and this harrowing story is just one example of many as to why the fight for equality is a long way from being achieved.One side of this story about Anna (not her real name), is that she after she escaped she had to give up her studies because she could not afford her fees. It is a scandal that many people cannot afford to study because of increasing fees and debt. This disproportionately affects women and other oppressed groups and one of the things that Jeremy Corbyn has said is that he wants to scrap fees and transform the education system.If you want to find out more about UNISON campaigns for women members please see here:https://www.unison.org.uk/about/what-we-do/fairness-equality/women/Lastly if you want to donate to Anna’s just giving page so she can complete her studies please donate here:https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/supportinganna

Fascism in Brazil? Join the unity protest 17 November. If you are keeping up with what is happening internationally then I know you will be as concerned as  we are about the victory of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.  He is a racist misogynist and a bigot whose followers have already started killing LGBT people across the country. A gang of his supporters attacked a woman who was protesting against Bolsonaro and carved a swastika into her chest with a pen knife. The man is a fascist.

He is joined by people like Donald Trump in the USA, Viktor Orban in Hungary and Matteo Salvini in Italy - va growing number of powerful politicians with far right views. The Lambeth UNISON Branch Committee will look at ways that we can support trade unionists in Brazil and other countries under threat from the far right.

UNISON are mobilising for a very important march on 17 November. It is a unity demo, backed by the TUC and most other unions, to show solidarity and strength against the violent racists and fascists that are gaining so much support.

We have some wonderful new “Proud to be an anti racist, anti fascist trade unionist” T-shirts that we could all wear on the demo. it would be great to have a huge number of us there to show everyone what a brilliant trade union branch we are and how much we are dedicated to the fight against the far right.

So keep 17 November in your diary! The demo starts at 1pm in Central London. We will let you know more details over the next week or so.

2012

CALAIS WINTER APPEALJOIN the delegations taking donations on Saturdays 1st or 8th DecemberDONATE: food, money, clothes and time. (Info at http://care4calais.org/)SUPPORT the Care4Calais warehouse in gathering, sorting and distributing donations to those refugees in need.

Stand Up To Racism is organising trade union solidarity visits to Calais and Dunkirk, please join us. You can also support us by donating using the link below:https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/care4calaisThe death rate in the Mediterranean has now soared to an all-time high of one in five and our government has played a leading role in the criminalisation of NGO rescue ships that now are unable to operate.Ring/text Rahul – 07956 579446 or Sara – 07971 453336 to find out: how to help, to donate, the drop point for donations or come to Calais to volunteer

October 2012 ISSUE 45

BRANCH MEETING 22 NOVEMBER 2018 FROM 12.30 IN ROOM B06 AT LAMBETH TOWN HALL Contact the publicity officersIf you would like to write for or have an idea for an article for the bulletin, please contact the publicity officers:Gurmeet Khurana (gkhurana@lambeth.gov.uk) or Colette Townend(ctownend2@lambeth.gov.uk)