30th November Strike - Further Information for Members
25/11/2011
Branches will now be in the process of organising picket lines outside their workplaces on Wednesday, 30 November as part of the trade union campaign to protect pensions, pay, jobs and public services.
Click here to download Bulletin pdf
Click here to download Email Addresses for Local Papers and Media pdf
Click here to download Media Questions and Answers pdf
Click here to download Information about Trade Union Events pdf
Click here to download Leaflet on Picketing and a range of questions which members may have queries pdf
Dear Colleague
Branches will now be in the process of organising picket lines outside their workplaces on Wednesday, 30th November as part of the trade union campaign to protect pensions, pay, jobs and public services. The attached leaflet provides some guidance on picketing and will be of some assistance to branches in their efforts to maximise our presence on the day. This leaflet is also being sent directly to every member. Strike material is still available from NIPSA HQ and the Derry Regional Office. If you require additional material please contact Paul Hartin at NIPSA HQ email: paul.hartin@nipsa.org.uk or Kris Doherty at the regional office kris.doherty@nipsa.org.uk.
Details of Picket Lines
In order to maximise publicity for our activity on the day I would be grateful if branches could provide NIPSA HQ with details of the location and timing of picket lines so that we can advise the media, the public and the other trade unions. Information about picket lines should be emailed to info@nipsa.org.uk. Where feasible, local branches should liaise with members of other trade unions who will be on strike in their areas in order to coordinate activity.
A number of demonstrations and rallies have been organised on the day. The details of these are attached. Any further information about rallies will be emailed to branches and will be placed on the NIPSA website.
Public Transport to Shut Down
You will be aware that trade union members in Translink and NI Railways will also be taking strike action on the 30th November. The effect of this action will be considerable and it anticipated that there will be little or no public transport available on the day of the strike. Members in areas outside of Belfast should support the local events organised by Trades Councils.
Schools to Close
In addition to all the unions representing school support staff, 4 of the 5 teaching unions in Northern Ireland have also called upon their members to take strike action on the 30th November. This means that the vast majority of schools will be closed. It is important therefore that NIPSA members with children attending schools should not send their children to school on the day. The education unions will be placing pickets at schools. The demonstrations on the 30th will provide an opportunity for members and their families to protest publicly against the government’s unfair and unjust attacks on pensions, pay, jobs and public services. Members should make a special effort to persuade family, friends and neighbours to support the day by attending the rallies across Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Students Pledge Support
The National Union of Students, Union of Students of Ireland has also pledged support for the strike and will be encouraging members to join the picket lines and rallies. They have acknowledged the support provided by the trade unions in their successful campaign to prevent the increases in tuition fees and are committed to reciprocating that support.
Public Sector Employers Notified of Strike Action
NIPSA has notified all relevant employers that its members are being called to take strike action on 30th November. This means that NIPSA has called on 43,500 of its members across the whole of the public service to strike. NIPSA will have the largest number of members participating in the strike action in Northern Ireland.
The strike is part of a UK wide trade union response to the government’s austerity measures. However these measures are not just impacting upon public sector employees. Local communities will suffer due to cutbacks in health and education services. People reliant on social security benefits will, over the next period, experience a severe attack on their living standards. This includes the thousands of workers who have been thrown on to the dole due to the economic crisis. In Northern Ireland alone the cuts to the benefits system will remove £500m each year from the economy and this will have a detrimental impact not only on families which depend upon these benefits but also on local businesses as well.
Media Interest in the Strike
In particular members are encouraged to take photographs of their local picket lines and other local activity connected with the day of action and email or text these to their local newspapers. Attached are details of the email addresses of local newspapers in Northern Ireland. In emailing the papers these photographs you should advise the paper that you are a NIPSA member, a reader of and subscriber to their newspaper and you would appreciate positive coverage of the 30th November events in the paper.
It is expected that those interests which are driving the austerity agenda will attack the trade unions and those participating in the strike action using the media. Members should be encouraged to contact radio and TV programmes which are covering the strike. Texts and phone calls should be made by members to these programmes expressing support for the action by the trade unions. Many members will have family members who are employed in or were made redundant from the private sector. There will be a concerted attempt to drive a wedge between private and public sector workers. Members should encourage family members and friends who are or were employed in the private sector to text and telephone these programmes expressing support for the strike and the workers involved. The argument that reducing the value of public sector pensions and terms and conditions of employment will be of any benefit to private sector employees is a nonsense The race to the bottom that this involves will have a detrimental impact on families. Private sector and public sector workers live in the same communities, are part of the same families and their interests are common with all of us relying on the provision of high quality public services. Attached is a briefing paper on answering typical media questions.
Recruitment of New Members into NIPSA
There is still an opportunity for branches to recruit staff who are not trade union members into NIPSA. Recruitment material has already been issued to branches and is also available for downloading from the NIPSA website. Make sure you have a supply of NIPSA membership application forms available at the picket lines as you can still recruit non-members on the day.
Beyond 30th November
It is important that the 30th November is seen as a first step in the trade union campaign to protect pensions, pay, jobs and public services. NIPSA is currently giving consideration along with our colleagues in the other trade unions in Northern Ireland and in Great Britain how the campaign can be developed and strengthened after the 30th November strike.
Yours sincerely
BRIAN CAMPFIELD
General Secretary
Please note rallies in Omagh, Downpatrick, Ballymena, Magherafelt and Cookstown have now been added to the Information About Trade Union Events.
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