Second Jimmy's Picket in Bath. Pressure mounts.

A second picket of Jimmy’s in Bath passed off with everyone in good spirits and confident of winning the holiday pay owed to former employees of the Jiimy's in Brighton.

The dozen campaign supporters handed out a couple of hundred leaflets during the Saturday lunchtime period. The leaflet outlined the central issue. Non-payment of £1,500 in holiday to three people who worked for Jimmy’s in Brighton and how they are still waiting on P45s. Some customers turned away on hearing how Jimmy’s treat their staff and one tour guide even told us he wouldn't be bringing groups there any more, which could be a big dent in the business!

Security tried to move the protestors on saying the pavement was private - but the picket just stood their ground. Outnumbering security 4-1 and then the police refused to help, so they had to just watch from the side.

Jimmy's Still Does Not Pay, Action Spreads

After three weeks of action, Jimmy's Restaurant (on the Brighton Marina) is still avoiding their responsibilities. Three former workers are still campaigning to get their holiday pay and their P45 documents and we keep receiving contacts of workers facing the same situation.

From the beginning, the management of the restaurant has been denying any responsibility and addressing us to the “Head Office” who, curiously enough, never answer the phone or emails.

Moreover, last week we found out that the workers, having received their payslips with their tax deductions, are not in the records of the HMRC as having worked for Jimmy's. No explanation has been given by Jimmy's but we do hope that this is a misunderstanding.

Jimmy's dispute spreads to Bath

Three Bristol Solidarity Federation members travelled to Bath today (26th March 2016) on an Easter Bank Holiday weekend to picket the ‘Jimmy's' restaurant there after a request from the Brighton Hospitality Workers for collective national direct action against their bosses after they refused to pay them about £1,500 in owed wages and have yet to supply them with a P45.

Kinder Sports campaign school picket

On Friday 18th March, members of Solfed informed parents of Dartford Primary Academy, part of the Leigh Academies Trust, about the ongoing campaign to get Lydia’s wages back. Lydia worked for Kinder Sports, who are contracted by Leigh Academies Trust to provide Physical Education lessons and after school sports coaching. Lydia worked for Kinder Sports for 30 hours between 6th and 30th of October 2015 (including at Dartford Primary Academy) however she has not been paid for this work. We are supporting Lydia in demanding Kinder Sports pay her the full £360 she is owed.

Jimmy's Restaurant Dispute Escalates

Jimmy's restaurant continues to refuse to repay its former workers over £1500 in stolen holiday pay, nor return their P45s. After contact with the initial three workers, and their friends who either have worked for or continue to work for the restaurant, we can see that their case is all but unique. Jimmy's is refusing to treat its employees with respect and we will keep fighting until they do so.

South London Event: Brighton Hospitality Workers Talk / Casework Training Session

start: 
Sun, 13/03/2016 - 13:00 to 15:00

Location

New Cross Gate Trust
Besson Street Community Garden
SE14 5QE London
United Kingdom
51° 28' 32.7324" N, 0° 2' 41.6688" W
See map: Google Maps
Event organiser: 
South London Solidarity Federation
iconimage: 

Hear from members of Brighton Hospitality Workers, a Solidarity Federation campaign that has claimed thousands in owed wages for hospitality workers through direct action solidarity. They will discuss the challenges of organising in a sector where casualisation and wage theft are commonplace, the best approaches for winning disputes and how this fits into an anarcho-syndicalist strategy of workplace organisation.

local, network, collective: 
South London
Access Layer: 
Public
URL: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/1683352518569734/

Protest against privatisation of ambulance service Brighton

At the end of January some of our members joined a demonstration against the privitisation of another NHS service; patient transport. This ambulance service is being privitised to cut costs by the joint Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG’s), who decide how to spend the health budget locally. The demonstration was timed before a CCG meeting to show anger at the imminent sell-off.

Not only is this another dismantling of the NHS and introducing profiteering into healthcare; there are potentially large job losses, changes to terms and conditions for those transferred, changes of criteria for patients eligible for the services and no guarantee of the same standards of care, as a company runs dispatch and then sub contracts the transportation.

Kinder, Pay Up

Lydia worked 30 hours for Kinder Sports between the 6th and 22nd of October. Kinder Sports have repeatedly tried to weasel out of paying Lydia fairly and promptly for the work she undertook for them.

Lydia and South London Solidarity Federation are now calling for a communications blockade on Twitter against Kinder Sports for unpaid wages. Kinder Sports, run by Matt Longhurst, provide after-school sports activities and some school hours provision at locations around Dartford in Kent.

Police Harassment of Bristol Solidarity Federation Member

As a Bristol SF member recently arrived at a UK airport he was not expecting to be approached by plain clothed police and invited to have a little chat. This blatant attempt to harass and intimidate one of our members swiftly ended as the SF member, after realising they were not going to detain him, attempted to record the conversation and chased them off.

Bristol SF have a clear message for the police. We are about working-class solidarity, internationalism and freedom. Your creed is suspicion and paranoia. Your role is to protect privilege and crush dissent. We will never talk to you.