Amicus

Large engineering and general union

West Midlands Land Rover dispute

Trade union Amicus has written to Land Rover, asking them to resume talks to resolve the pay dispute at the Solihull and Gaydon plants in the West Midlands. TGWU and Amicus members at Land Rover are due to hold another 24-hour stoppage on Monday 9 February after holding a successful strike on Monday 26 January. The workers are angry that the company's six-and-a-half percent pay offer will not give them parity with colleagues in Ford-owned Jaguar. They voted overwhelmingly to reject the company offer by 82% in a ballot in October. There has already been the introduction of an overtime ban in...

Obituary: Hugh McGrillen

Hugh McGrillen, a long-time MSF left activist and for many years London regional secretary of the MSF, has died of cancer. Hugh, a qualified chemist, worked as an advice worker at the London Hazards Centre. He was also a member of the Irish national chess team. In 1999 the London Region of the MSF was excluded from voting in the Labour Party mayoral ballot on the utterly spurious grounds of late payment of affiliation. Hugh and his comrades fought the exclusion. The right wing leadership of the MSF under Roger Lyons, decided to pursue a disciplinary investigation into the London Regional...

Retired members dominate union vote

In the regional section of the elections for the Executive of Amicus (the union formed by merging AEEU and MSF), the majority of the votes were cast by retired members. According to figures published in the "Finsbury Communist", 94,733 retired members cast valid votes for regional representatives on the Executive, and 71,279 employed members. The turnout was 49.6% among retired members, and 10.3% among employed members. The industrial-sector and women's members of the Executive were elected by employed members only. The political balance of the results in those sections of the Executive was...

Left wins in Amicus

The left slate has won 23 of the 48 places on the executive of Amicus, the union formed by merging AEEU and MSF. The new executive took office on 1 January. According to Amicus insiders, most likely is the development of a 'centre-left' majority in the executive working closely with new general secretary Derek Simpson. But it will be spurred on by a harder left minority within the executive and represents progress over the old right-wing regimes in AEEU and MSF.

Amicus election results announced

Amicus, the union formed by the merger of MSF and AEEU, has released the results of the elections to its National Executive. 23 of the left ( Amicus Unity Gazette ) candidates were elected, out of the 48 Executive places. The left ( Amicus Unity Gazette ) candidates were: EAST - Mick Longley SOUTH EAST - Peter Kelly SOUTH WEST - Ray Bazeley LONDON - Pete Gillard WEST MIDLANDS - Derek Barlow EAST MIDLANDS - Matt Simmons YORKSHIRE - Steve Davison NORTH EAST - Brian Cole NORTH WEST - Brian Pemberton SCOTLAND - Davy Brockett WALES - Meurig Thomas IRELAND - Laurence Gailbriath AEROSPACE &...

Amicus ballot at Rolls Royce over pensions

Balloting for industrial action has begun at Rolls-Royce over a pensions dispute. Workers are voting on whether to strike against plans to cut their pensions. The firm says the cuts will total £80 million a year. Amicus said Rolls-Royce is proposing to slash £800 million from pensions, costing each worker up to £16,000 each. Amicus general secretary Derek Simpson said: "Rolls-Royce is not treating its workforce in way that's commensurate with their levels of loyalty and skill. "Rolls-Royce pension scheme members are prepared to pay increased contributions to ensure they have a fair and living...

Royal Mint workers vote for strike

Workers at the Royal Mint have voted to strike in a pay dispute. Workers at the coin manufacturer in Llantrisant, South Wales, backed action in protest at an offer they said was worth only 1%, after a pay freeze last year. Management had rejected union proposals for a 9% pay offer over three years. The Mint, a government agency founded in 1992, said it was "very disappointed" at the strike threat and maintained that its offer was worth at least 3% plus £400 in year one, and 2.5% plus £400 in year two. Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said the offer was an "insult", especially when...

Voluntary sector: Action on child poverty - and attacks on workers

Workers at the charity Child Poverty Action Group struck for the day on 17 September, in a strike for equality. Management is bringing in new workers on terms worse than those current employees receive, with cuts in sick pay, compassionate leave and annual holidays. The vote for strike action by Transport and General Workers Union members in a secret ballot was 98%. Twenty workers were on the picket line. The voluntary sector while it includes many fluffy charities is notoriously stony-faced in its dealing with its own staff and their unions. But the strike is believed to have been the first...

What we say: Fight for labour representation!

New transport union leader Tony Woodley has pledged to coordinate a trade-union drive "to get Labour back representing working-class people". After winning election as the new General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, Woodley declared on 1 June that: "A fighting T&G will help coordinate like-minded unions to campaign to put the 'Labour back in the party' on a range of issues. I'll fulfil my promise to call a summit of affiliated unions to discuss how to get Labour back representing working-class people... "It means representing members rather than ministers as we take the...

Ending the Amicus sweetheart era

by Dale Street It was standing room only at a meeting organised by the Amicus Unity Gazette and MSF London Left on 20 October and addressed by Derek Simpson, the joint General Secretary-elect of Amicus. Simpson stressed the need for further democratisation of Amicus, the product of a merger between the MSF and the AEEU. The National Executive of the AEEU section of Amicus remains dominated by the right wing. And in the MSF section of Amicus, Roger Lyons and his hangers-on remain in control. The left is the merged union therefore needed to work together in the run-up to next year's National...

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