After the Floods

The recent floods in the Calder Valley, affecting Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge areas, have been devastating. Some 2500 homes were affected either by partial or total flooding and some 1700 businesses were flooded. The costs of this latest excess of rainfall amounts to something like £15 million with many homes uninsured or with losses – the material ones, at least – difficult to calculate. In addition to the human and personal consequences, roads and bridges have been affected to the tune of £35 million, money that will have to be found to repair Elland bridge and canal towpaths as well as other aspects of the Valley’s infrastructure.

Action against Jimmy's spreads to South London

The Solidarity Federation today escalated it's campaign against wage thieves Jimmy's Restaurants, with a picket by the South London local of their Wimbledon restaurant.

Jimmy's owe their former workers in Brighton £1,500 in holiday pay and have failed to provide the workers with  P45s or pay income tax to the HMRC (despite tax being taken from their pay!) The manager of the Brighton branch has refused to engage with SolFed when confronted with this, insisting it is the responsibility of head office who never answer our calls and emails.

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.