Early Day Motion 977: Vic Turner [One of the Pentonville 5]
That this House wishes to commemorate the passing of former London dock leader, Vic Turner, who was imprisoned at Pentonville, along with four fellow workers at the order of Edward Heath's National Industrial Relations Court in 1972,who became known as the Pentonville Five; notes that Vic Turner and his fellow imprisoned shop stewards were released after one of the largest mass demonstrations ever seen in London and following the threat of a general strike; further notes that Vic Turner was a much-loved family man, who subsequently became both a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Newham and a mayor of the same borough; pays credit to a trades unionist, who in the words of fellow docker and now General Secretary of the Unite Trade Union, Len McCluskey, never lost sight of working class interests and was never swayed from supporting that cause; and recognises that at a time when trades unionists are once again under attack from a Tory-led Government and when many are still being blacklisted by employers for being members of a trades union, the inspirational qualities of working class leaders such as Vic Turner andhis colleagues in the Royal Docks Shop Stewards Committee are needed more than ever.

Sponsors: Morris, Grahame M / Campbell, Ronnie / Cryer, John / Lavery, Ian / Mearns, Ian / Skinner, Dennis                        House of Commons: 28/01/2013


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Early Day Motion 978: Inez Mccormack  [Veteran Trade Unionist]
That this House mourns the loss of Inez McCormack, an internationally-renowned human rights activist from Northern Ireland; praises her work in promoting employment equality in Northern Ireland as the Regional Secretary of UNISON and in working with others to ensure that the trades union movement was widely recognised as a non-partisan agent for change in the Northern Ireland peace process; notes that she was the first female President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and that Newsweek last year placed her in its 150 Women Who Shake the World for her work in enabling women to improve the quality of their lives; further notes that she was the founder of the respected Participation and the Practice of Rights organisation, which provides support to disadvantaged communities and groups in using a rights-based approach to change social and economic inequalities and deprivation; and joins her many admirers, including President Michael D Higgins, Hillary Clinton, Meryl Streep and President Mary Robinson in remembering an extraordinary and inspiring woman who dedicated her life to championing women's rights and combating gender-based violence in Northern Ireland and in countries of conflict.

Sponsors: Anderson, David/ Connarty, Michael / Durkan, Mark / Glass, Pat / Ritchie, Margaret / Ruane, Chris                     House of Commons: 28/01/2013


Trade unionist Inez McCormack dies
Ms McCormack began her trade union career in the late 1960s before rising to become president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. She was born in Belfast in 1943 into a working class family and spent most of her adult life fighting for the rights of those around her.
Read more: BBC News N. Ireland, 22/01/13

NUJ Manchester Branch Leads Support for Iraqi Journalist

 

The Manchester and Salford NUJ branch has launched a campaign in support of a political journalist who fled Iraq in 2010 after being threatened as a result of newspaper articles he had written at the time of the elections.

Rzhwan Amin (Jaf), who had been living in Tameside, Greater Manchester, is now in Morton Hall immigration removal centre, Lincolnshire, after being detained when he went to report at Dallas Court Home Office Reporting Centre, Salford, on January 8th. Rzhwan, aged 32, wrote political reports for a newspaper in Kirkuk, a city which is disputed territory in Iraq and has one of the country's biggest oilfields on its doorstep.

He left Iraq after he was summoned to appear at a meeting of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party (PUK) to discuss his journalism – he was warned by a friend not to attend because it was a trap.  PUK, whose leader is Jalal Al Talabani, the president of Iraq, has a history of dissension with other Kurdish political organisations.

Read more: http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2773

NUJ January Branch Meeting

Tuesday 15th January
Carrs Lane Church Centre
Carrs Lane
Birmingham
B4 7SX

6:00 pm for 6:30 start

Any apologies to branch chair:  alan.weaver1@ntlworld.com

Agenda

1) Introduction by chair/those attending

2) Minutes of November  meeting

3) Secretary/Treasurers reports

4) Branch reports

5) Up date on disputes

6) Any other business


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Branch Annual General Meeting Will Take Place in February
All branch posts become vacant at the AGM and all members can stand to serve the branch for 2013/2014. Current posts are Chair, Vice chair, Secretary/Treasurer (combined post) , Equalities, Communications, Minutes Secretary, Recruitment, Welfare.

Posts of Secretary/Treasurer and Communications, each carry a bursary of £600.

Nominees will need a seconder and nominations can be made at anytime before the February meeting, send nominations to Branch Secretary Stalingrad O'Neill  <stalingrad1@yahoo.com>.

If you have any news/stories for branch newsletter,
Email <birminghamcoventry@nuj.org.uk>