UK Indymedia

Solidarity protests demand larger slice for Pizza Hut workers

05-02-2012 15:18

On 4th Feburary 2012 Sheffield Pizza Hut Workers Union, part of the IWW, held a protest outside Pizza Hut in Crookes, Sheffield over their ongoing dispute over workers terms and conditions. Solidarity potests were held in Brighton, Bradford, Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Bristol [1, 2], Hull, Liverpool, Calais, Portland, Vancouver and Berlin.

The dispute centers on several specifics aspect of the workers terms and conditions, pay for working on bank holidays, mileage rates and also recognition of the union. Whilst it has been standard practice to pay workers an enhanced rate for working bank holidays, Pizza Hut has decided that it will only pay the standard rate. Delivery drivers who use their own vehicles are given an allowance of 60p per delivery, a static rate which has remained unchanged for several years despite the soaring cost of fuel. Furthermore, "The Pizza Hut Workers Union also has concerns outside of this dispute, including delivery staffs safety gear, a decreasing pay packet that falls behind inflation and a demand for a real living wage for all Pizza Hut workers."

Newswire: Pizza Hut Workers Demand A Proper Slice | Solidarity Picket Glasgow With IWW Pizza Hut Workers Report | London Wobs' Solidarity Picket with IWW Pizza Hut | Pizza Hut Solidarity in Bradford | SchNEWS: Gimme A Slice OF The Action | Pizza Hut solidarity in Brighton | Solidarity Picket in Bristol with IWW Pizza Hut Workers | Birmingham IWW Solidarity Picket with IWW Pizza Hut Union

Links: Sheffield Pizza Hut Workers Union | IWW General Membership Branch Sheffield | IWW | Pizza Hut Workers Call Out for Solidarity | Liverpool Solidarity Federation picket Pizza Hut

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All Out: N30 Strike Birmingham

05-12-2011 13:03

Wednesdays N30 strike was the biggest strike since the general strike of 1926 with 2 million public sector workers taking part and thousands marching on demonstrations across the country. In Birmingham 15,000 marched through the city centre with hundreds more on picket lines and rally's throughout the city.

Birmingham City council had tried to sabotage the event by demanding the organisers pay over £8,000 to cover costs despite only charging a few hundred for previous demonstrations. The march went ahead anyway with up to 15,000 public sector workers taking to the streets. They were joined by students, the unemployed and protesters from Occupy Birmingham whose camp is located near the end point of the march. The march started in Lionel Street Car Park went past St Philip's Cathedral, down Corporation Street and past New St Station and the Mailbox before ended at the NIA where there was a series of speeches.

Elsewhere: Birmingham Against The Cuts - Pickets | Occupy Birmingham

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SchNEWS: One Strike and You're Out?

02-12-2011 09:24

Wednesday's N30 strikes saw 2 million public sector workers striking and hundreds of thousands marching in Britain's streets all over the country, marking the biggest strike in a generation.

Demonstrations and pickets were held in nearly every major town across the UK, with the largest gatherings seeing 30,000 in London, 20,000 in Manchester, 15,000 in Birmingham and 10,000 in Edinburgh and Glasgow. More than 6 out of 10 schools were closed for the day and some activists from Occupy London stormed the offices of the UK's highest paid CEO, Mick Davis, head of Xstrata mining corporation. Reports are of 75 arrests in total, most of them around the occupation of the Xstrata office and in Hackney, after some demonstrators were kettled for four hours, then taken into custody on 'suspicion of breach of the peace'. [More]

See Also:
OccupyLSX | Day of Action News | IMC uk Timeline

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"You Can Shove Your Rubber Bullets Up Your Arse!": 'Total Policing' of N9 Demos

15-11-2011 11:11

Students and construction workers got their first taste of the 'Total Policing' advocated by new Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe at the demonstrations held on November 9th in London.

The MET used intimidatory tactics on Student demonstrators, in the run-up to the day, with threatening letters being sent out to those arrested at previous demos, along with threats of rubber bullets broadcast via the corporate media.

The MET tactics appeared to have some success with numbers on the demo much lower than expected. Those that did join found that the whole march took place in an enormous kettle, which they were unable to leave, with all side roads blocked off, and police in riot gear at junctions. In addition to the thousands of uniformed cops controlling the route, plain clothes cops infiltrated the crowd, making an aggressive arrest.

The corporate media continued to mainly ignore the demos organised by the 'Sparks' and UNITE, for construction workers who are under threat from massive pay cuts as their employers ditch pay agreements. Sparks who wished to show solidarity with the Students, were prevented from doing so and found themselves kettled later in the afternoon.

Elsewhere in London, RMT affiliated cabbies brought Trafalgar Square and the Strand to a standstill, and UK Uncut disrupted the speech of the Permanent Secretary for Tax of HM Customs and Revenue at a Corporate Tax Conference

Further demos have been called for November 23rd and November 30th [more]

Previous Feature: Sparks Will Fly on November 9th!
On the Newswire: Authorities panicking over November 9 protest! | Police harass activists traveling by coach to nov9 protests | a few pics and words on november 9 student protest | Nov9 The final kettle, arrests and dispersal | Cabbies Protest
Video: Nov9 Sparks push through police lines | #Nov9 Arrest of protester by undercover police | Violent arrest of a protester during #Nov9 by a large group of undercover cops
Plainclothes Cops: N9: Pics of moment undercover cops arrest protester | N9 arrest figures from Met police | Undercover Cop Faces at N9 | N9 new police tactics: Undercover cops active and aggressive
Analysis: After Nov 9: Where do we go from here? | N9: The Bigger Picture

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Sparks Will Fly on November 9th!

05-11-2011 15:06

Fat Cat bosses from the eight largest construction businesses are seekingto further expand profit margins through moves that would see industry workers lose up to a third of their take home pay. The employers seek to withdraw from various agreements including the Joint Industrial Board (J.I.B.) agreement, and to impose new contracts which would downgrade safety and skill levels. Earlier this month, Balfour Beatty issued 1700 termination notices to workers, and began sacking those who took part in protests and refused to cross picket lines.

Rank and file electricians, calling themselves 'The Sparks' have challenged both their employers and the UNITE union by launching their own wildcat actions whilst remaining in the union. London actions to date include two blockades of Blackfriars station construction site, a picket outside Stratford's new Westfield Shopping Centre and most recently an attempt to blockade 110 Cannon Street, a site run by Gratte Brothers. On arrival the Sparks found that management had already closed the site, and headed for Cannon Street Tube where they held a short rally before marching to the #OccupyLSX camp outside St. Pauls. Outside of London actions have taken place at Sellafield, Grangemouth and Ratcliffe power stations, and Lindsey oil refinery.

Next Wednesday the Sparks will be joined by plumbers, and heating and ventilation engineers from across the country. They plan to assemble at the Shard near London Bridge at 11.30am before marching to the Blackfriars Station site and then on to parliament.

Also taking place on the day, will be the national demonstration against fees, cuts and privatisation which will bring together university, further education and school students from across the country to stage the biggest education protest in the capital since last December. Also planned is a mass walkout of schools, FE colleges and universities by students in support of the demo. The “March on the City” will see thousands descending on the streets of London, starting at the University of London Union, Malet Street through Trafalgar Square and up the Strand, before passing #OccupyLSX camp outside St. Pauls and ending at London Metropolitan University Moorgate campus next to the City of London, the heart of the financial capital. The day of protest is aimed at the government’s education reform bill which is a crude attempt to corporatise the education sector.

Upcoming Protests: National Construction Industry action | N9 Anarchist Bloc on the Student/Education demo

On the newswire: Sparks blockade Blackfriars station site | Siteworkers and OccupyLSX blockade Blackfriars | Latest London sparks protest | Electricians/Sparks Protest in Newcastle | Proposed Electricians Pay Cut Sparks Resistance | Manchester support the Sparks! | National Construction Industry action Nov 9th

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Sheffield J30 Strike

01-07-2011 22:21

On June 30th thousands of strikers and their supporters gathered in Sheffield for a protest against the governments cuts to public sector pensions and public sector cuts in general. following a rally in Barkers Pool there was a short march down the Moor and back up to Division Street and back to Barkers Pool for a second rally.

Earlier in the day there was a Sheffield Uncut action and there is a Uncut - 'Teach In' planned for Saturday 2nd July, 12pm, City Hall steps.

Newswire: Sheffield Rally at start of March | Sheffield March Against Cuts | Sheffield Rally at the end of the March | Public sector strike hits across Britain | More rally pics

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J30: Generalise the Strike

29-06-2011 23:26

Read full article for a round-up of J30 action: a day of protest against pension cuts and more

See also regional features (links below) and the J30 topic.

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#J30 March Together, Strike Together!

29-06-2011 23:11

On June 30th over 800,000 public sector workers will be on strike against attacks on their pensions. This is a key fight for everyone who wants to defend public services and oppose cuts to pensions, benefits services and our communities. Strikers and anti-cuts campaigners from across South Yorkshire will be marching through Sheffield, please join them.

Thu 30 Jun 2011, 12 noon assemble at Peace Gardens; 1pm rally Barkers Pool, organised by Sheffield Anti-Cuts Alliance, supported by Sheffield Trades Council.

Other protests listed on j30strike.org are, a student march around the pickets, meet on Howard Street (Sheffield Hallam Uni main entrance) at 9am and Sheffield Uncut action, meet at tram stop outside the Cathedral at 10am.

Newswire: J30: Building up for the next “big one”? | J30 List of UK Protests | Sheffield Trades Council March and Rally Tomorrow

Links: sheffieldanticuts.wordpress.com | www.ukuncut.org.uk | www.j30strike.org

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SchNEWS 773: No Spain No Gain

28-05-2011 06:14

As mass protests in Madrid raise the bar for European anti-austerity actions. We've got the Arab Spring – what about a European summer? It's a week since thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators pitched up in central Madrid (see SchNEWS 772) - and revolution fever is spreading across Europe like nits in a playground. With the Spanish sit-in still going strong – and intending to remain until at least the 29th - street demonstrations have also hit Greece, Georgia, and, er, Bristol. Protests are spreading to Italy, France, Portugal, Austria even Germany - could it be that last year's initial protests against austerity measures are maturing, one year on, into a broader demand for political reform?

In SchNEWS: SchNEWS 773

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Mayday! Mayday! This is May Day

01-05-2011 06:21

With future May Days under threat, policing in the build up to this May Day has been particularly pernicious. Operations were mounted against social centres, projects and activists as the MET and other forces engaged in a series of pre-emptive arrests. In London raids took place at the Rat Star Social Centre, Offmarket Social Centre, nearby Petrosiege and The Community Project in Sipson (Grow Heathrow). The Met were also involved in raids on squats in Brighton, and Telepathic Heights in Bristol - where a police raid caused last week’s Battle of Stokes Croft - was evicted, causing further disturbances. Indymedia reported that an arrest was made in Cambridge and one in Edinburgh after groups and individuals were raided in Scotland in relation to March 26.

On the newswires:

Police Raids on social centres and projects: London 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Brighton 1 | 2 | Bristol 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Fitwatch analysis |
May Day: Event Announcements Glasgow | Brighton 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Bristol | London 1 | 2 | 3 |
May Day Reports and Repression: Birmingham | Birmingham photos | Birmingham action against banks | Newcastle | Brighton | Leeds | London | Nottingham 1 | 2 | Cambridge | Oxford | Roundup of northern Mayday events | Reports from around the world: Spain photos | Ukraine | Russia photos | Berlin photos |
Royal Wedding: Repression 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Identify these thugs | Announcements London | Newcastle | Bristol and Bath | Reports London | Oxford | Manchester | Sheffield | Newcastle | Analysis 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |