Friday 27 May 2011

Meeting Report: 26/05/2011

Rotherham Against the Cuts Public Meeting:
Thursday, 26th May 2011, 7:30pm.
Chair: Jill Adams
Speakers: Gavin Stevenson, Martin Hickman, Chris Bingham, Ralph Dyson.

Around 25 people attended (including speakers). Gavin described the events unfolding in Barnsley College, highlighting the energy and vitality of the students. Martin spoke to highlight the PCS union in the build up to the 30th June strike. Chris spoke about the need to build the anticuts movement to ensure that the cuts don't lead to far-Right gains. Ralph described the recent industrial action to secure jobs in Rawmarsh.

A vote was taken to formally establish "Rotherham Against the Cuts" as an open campaigning group. More discussion about a formal constitution will take place in future (date not set) meetings.

It was agreed that a number of those present should do a campaign stall on Saturday 4th June, giving a week for a group (Chris Bingham, Phil Turner, Jake Smith) to compose leaflets and petitions.

A proposal for another meeting was pencilled in for either on Tuesday 7th or Wednesday 8th June.

Chris Bingham and Ben Vergara volunteered to be responsible for Social Media (Facebook, blog etc).

More information will be found out regardinga potential lobby of the Cabinet meeting on June 8th at 10.30am

Links.

PCS - Public and Commercial Services Union

SWP - Socialist Workers Party

SP - Socialist Party

NUT - National Union of Teachers

Rawmarsh teachers march against cuts

 An article taken from The Advertiser documenting the first Rotherham Against the Cuts demonstrationinMarch 2011.

TEACHERS fighting job losses at a Rotherham secondary school led a march against the cuts through Rotherham on Saturday.

NUT members from Rawmarsh Community School, who staged a series of strikes earlier this year, were joined by young people protesting at youth club closures, council workers, lecturers and Unison health workers from Rotherham General Hospital.

The march was organised by the Rotherham Against the Cuts campaign and Rotherham Trades Union Council.

"Rotherham Against the Cuts" Trades Council Motion

Rotherham Against the Cuts

This Trades Council agrees to support the launch of a Rotherham Against the Cuts campaign which seeks to unite everyone who wants to fight the cuts in the broadest possible unity.

Trades council believes that the current budget deficit is not the fault of the working class of Rotherham, and that we should not be made to pay the price for the greed and reckless gambling of the bankers.

Trades council further recognise that the cuts proposed are not inevitable, rather they are instead the result of an ideological choice to roll back the welfare state.

Trades council applauds the student protests against the Tory-led Coalition Government's attacks on education and agrees to support to:

*support the anti cuts protest in Sheffield on Jan 29
*support Labour Party, TUC and Right to Work Campaign Protest at the Lib-Dem spring conference in Sheffield on March 12.
*campaign for a huge attendance at the TUC national demonstration against the cuts in London on Sat 26th March, including booking coaches.
This Trades council agrees to affiliate and send delegate)s) to a coordinating committee, on which all affiliated organisations will have one delegate (unions, campaign groups, parties etc), to organise the campaign.
Organisations over 1,000 members should have delegates per 1,000 members.

Prop. Phil Turner, South Yorks NUJ.