On 8 March we celebrate International Women’s Day, when we highlight the fight for gender equality and advocate for the rights of women in the workplace, in the community and across society as a whole.
69% of workers in the City of Edinburgh Council are women. This is 67% of local government employees and 78% of teachers.
Continue reading “International Women’s Day 2023”
UN Anti-racism Day is on 18 March, when anti-racists will rally in George Square in Glasgow as part of co-ordinated international demostration against racism.
A block of activists are travelling from Edinburgh to Glasgow at 10am on the 18th. If you are interested in joining them you can book your space using Eventbrite.
See the Facebook event for full details and information about transport from elsewhere to Glasgow.
In Britain, we face a crisis-ridden government attempting to use racism to make ordinary people pay for the cost of living crisis. The ‘Rwanda plan’, racist deportations and the hostile environment for refugees and migrants are all about divide and rule and scapegoating. Safe passage now!
Continue reading “Resist Racism demo in Glasgow on 18 March”The waves of strikes across the UK continue and over winter we are set to see more and more workers walk out over poor pay and attacks on their conditions.
As a branch, we must show solidarity with fellow workers in their fight for fair wages and fair treatment in the face of a cost of living crisis caused by profiteering companies and the reckless economic strategies of the Tories.
Workers continue to unite, fight and win. Initiatives such as Trade Unions in Community—detailed below—provide opportunities to foster solidarity, make connections and let people know that when they join together they can improve their workplaces and communities.
We must also stand up against injustice and racism, which is why we would encourage all members to attend the demo for Sheku Bayou detailed below.
Here are details of how you can show solidarity with our comrades in other sectors and unions:
Continue reading “Strikes, demos and events”
Join the branch AGM on Thursday 24 March
Your branch AGM will be held on Thursday 24 March from 4pm to 6:30pm—email graeme.smith2@unitetheunion.org to get your invite to come along.
Nominations closed on 28 February, please find the list of nominees and some comments on these below.
This International Women’s Day, our branch would like to draw attention to the historical successes women have achieved within the union movement.
In the past, as now, women within the workforce have struggled with low, sometimes poverty wages and insecure terms and conditions.
Take our survey on women and trade unions in the Council
In 1910 the women chainmakers of Cradley Heath won a battle to establish the right to a fair wage following a 10-week strike. This landmark victory changed the lives of thousands of workers who were earning little more than ‘starvation wages’.
Continue reading “International Women’s Day on 8 March”
Throughout February we are celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender + (LGBT+) history month, a time to remember the struggles, key figures and events in the fight for rights and against discrimination, a fight that continues to this day in society and the workplace.
The theme for this year is politics in art: ‘the arc is long’, taken from Martin Luther King’s quote “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”.
Visit the LGBT+ history month site for resources and events, including an event on 9 February hosted by the University of Edinburgh—’From the 1969 Stonewall Riots to Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners Group: a history or revolt, defiance and solidarity.’
Read how the Council are marking LGBT+ history month on Newsbeat.
This year, from 7 to 13 February, we celebrate the second Race Equality Week. The week is a UK-wide event by Race Equality Matters, a group founded following the Black Lives Matter movement, that challenges organisations to seriously address issues of race in the workplace.
Learn about Race Equality Week.
See how the Council is marking the week on Newsbeat.
