Last Thursday, Nottinghamshire County Council voted through its latest
cuts budget with the “independents” and LibDems tagging along with the
Tory majority.
Nevertheless,The fight against the cuts continues. In Nottinghamshire
they still need to be implemented and, across the river in the city,
it is just over a week before Nottingham City Council meet to agree
their budget. We’ll be there making it clear that we’re not happy with
the way they are meekly following central government’s diktats and
passing on the costs of the crisis to the ordinary people of
Nottingham.
Come along and get involved!
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BOYCOTT WORKFARE
Workfare is the name applied to a number of government programmes in
which people on workfare are expected to work without pay. Instead of
a living wage, they receive only JSA – a tiny £53 a week for the
under-25s – far below minimum wage.
Workfare means those in paid positions may see their jobs replaced by
this unpaid labour. Why would a company pay for people to do these
jobs when they can get free labour from the Job Centre?
There has been a lot of controversy about this over the last week,
following (ultimately successful) protests against Tescos which was a
participant in the “Work Experience Programme”.
In solidarity with Liverpool Uncut’s action against workfare on
Saturday 3rd March, Boycott Workfare has called a national day of
action against workfare. Notts Uncut are organising a demonstration as
part of this in Nottingham.
So many high street stores are involved in taking on forced unpaid
labour that there is plenty of choice – Asda, Holland & Barrett,
Primark, HMV, and Topshop to name but a few.
We can put a stop to this forced unpaid labour – Waterstones,
Sainsburys and TK Maxx have all recently announced that they would no
longer take unpaid placements – the other companies just need a bit
more encouragement to stop this exploitation.
Meet outside Wilkinsons, Parliament Street, 12pm
Protest details: http://s.coop/nottsworkfare
More on workfare: http://www.boycottworkfare.org
—————
OCCUPY NOTTINGHAM
The occupation of Nottingham’s Market Square has now been ongoing for
more than 4 months. The campers are inviting people along to an
outreach and social event in Sneinton. This is an opportunity to enjoy
a relaxed informative insight into the economy, the Occupy movement,
and its aims, achievements and plans the future.
What to expect:
Speakers/Open Debate: 7-8pm
Food, Music & Poetry: 8-9pm
Networking/Open Floor: 9-10pm
…and much much more!
This is a free event organised by the Occupy Nottingham Outreach
working group, and everyone is invited to get involved or attend for
an insightful, educational and fun evening!
The event will be held at Sneinton Hermitage Community Centre,
Sneinton Boulevard, NG2 4GN
More details: http://occupy-nottingham.org.uk
—————
CITY COUNCIL CUTS
On Monday March 5th, Nottingham City Council will be meeting to agree
its budget, slashing jobs and services and hiking council tax.
Notts SOS and Nottingham City Unison will be holding a join
demonstration outside the Council House from 12.30pm-1.30pm.
Unison are also holding a smaller demonstration at Loxley House on
Wednesday 29th February in defence of the essential car user allowance
which has already been cutback and is likely to be attacked further.
—————
ONE MILLION SIGNATURES FOR EUROPE
A petition has been launched calling for the “onerous debt” on Greece
to be written off. The intention is to collect a million signatures.
Under the Treaty of Lisbon, a petition with at least one million
signatures obtained from a number of Member States can be sent to the
Commission inviting it to change the law accordingly.
Petition: http://www.1millionsignatures.eu/?a=en
—————
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Tuesday 28th February, 7pm-10pm
Occupy Nottingham community outreach and social evening, Sneinton
Hermitage Community Centre, Sneinton Boulevard, NG2 4GN
http://occupy-nottingham.org.uk
Wednesday 29th February
PCS protest against closures of DVLA offices. Nottingham Business Park, Strelley
https://imc.li/zxphu
Wednesday 29th February, 12.30pm-1.30pm
Nottingham City Unison protest outside Loxley House in defence of
essential car user allowances
http://www.nottinghamcityunison.org.uk/
Saturday 3rd March, 12pm
Protest against workfare. Meet outside Wilkinsons, Parliament Street.
http://s.coop/nottsworkfare
Monday 5th March, 12.30pm-1.30pm
Nottingham City Council meets to set its budget. A protest is being
organised by Notts City Unison and Notts SOS.
http://www.nottinghamcityunison.org.uk/
Wednesday 7th March, 1pm-7.30pm
Save our NHS mass day of action, Houses of Parliament, London.
http://s.coop/unitenhs
Wednesday 14th March
National student walkout over “reforms” to higher education
http://gu.com/p/35dqz
Saturday 17th March, 2pm
Nottingham Indymedia are organising an online security skillshare at
the Sumac Centre.This will include an introductory session on using
Indymedia to post your own news about campaigns
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/events/2413
Wednesday 28th March
Possible national strike action over pensions by PCS and NUT (and
maybe other unions)
Saturday 12th April, 2pm
Legal observer training organised by Nottingham Defence Campaign and
run by Green and Black Cross. Held at the Sumac Centre, Forest Fields
https://imc.li/2sgsx
—
Nottinghamshire Save Our Services (Notts SOS)
Website: https://nottssos.org.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nottssos
OStatus: https://indy.im/nottssos
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/nottssosfb
Nottingham Indymedia:
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/groups/notts-save-our-services