Wednesday 28th July “Don’t Let Corporate Courts Block Climate Action”
7pm till 8pm Zoom webinar organised by Global Action Now
Register here: https://globaljustice.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eebd66b68746be9844586842a&id=4f1cec3dce&e=0c25474dcd
Jean Blaylock, Campaigns & Policy Manager, Global Justice Now
Niels Jongerius, Economic Justice Programme, Transnational Institute
Stuart Trew, Director, Trade and Investment Research Project, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Corporate cou
rts, written into trade rules, are an obstacle to a clean energy transition and to achieving climate justice.
- The Netherlands is being sued by two fossil fuel companies for phasing out coal power
- The US is being sued by a Canadian fossil fuel company after President Biden cancelled the Keystone tar sands pipeline
- A UK fossil fuel company is suing Slovenia over fracking
The UK should be getting rid of corporate courts. Instead the government wants to set them in stone – signing new deals with corporate courts in them, like the UK-Canada deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and recommitting to an existing big corporate court deal, the Energy Charter Treaty.
The government hopes to get away with this under the radar, because not enough people know what’s going on.
That’s why we’re bringing together speakers from the UK, Netherlands and Canada to learn more about this.
Saturday 31st July “Building for COP 26 – Transport and the climate”
11am to 1pm Stalls and speakers outside Sheffield Town Hall. Organised by Sheffield Climate Umbrella COP 26 Action Group.
Better Buses South Yorkshire and other campaign groups concerned over transport issues will be there to argue why public transport is central to fighting the climate emergency with their banners, leaflets etc. Sheffield Climate Alliance, Green New Deal, XR, trade unions, political groups, Clean Air, cycling, community groups etc are also invited so, please raise this in your organisation and encourage people to come along. We want speakers too from as many different campaigns as possible!
COP 26 is the 26th International Conference of the Partners where world leaders meet to discuss action on climate change. This year it is being hosted by UK in Glasgow in November. SCCUG is planning a series of action days like this one taking up a particular theme and what needs to be done to address climate change
Please share this information as widely as you can.
Tuesday 3rd August Sheffield TUC CV 19 Council of Action
7pm zoom event with speakers and debate on COVID and the Government’s response.
Britain is opening up fast – too fast? We have one of the highest death rates per head of population and the DELTA variant is spreading. Other nations are watching events in the UK unfold with some alarm. Most health workers, transport workers and those in retail want to keep at least some restrictions in place. But the vaccination rate here is very good and many people want things to get back to normal so what’s the risk? And what should be the trade unions’ response?
Speakers:
- Prof Susan Michie, Indie Sage
- Jack Czauderna, Sheffield Community Contact Tracers
- NEU speaker to be confirmed
Plus plenty of time for comment and debate
also: Holly Johnston “Nurses Say NO! to 3%” on the fightback on NHS pay. Nurses and other NHS staff have seen 10 years of wage freezes and below inflation increase. Even 15% would not fully restore what they’ve lost
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83354850991?pwd=N2RKSXRXQlYxbjk2WTFKa0ROQjJLQT09
Meeting ID: 833 5485 0991 Passcode: 791298
Saturday 7 August 2021 Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Lecture
“Sylvia Pankhurst: women, race and class – then and now” will be delivered by Professor Mary Davis
“The work of Sylvia Pankhurst was remarkable in its day for bridging the separate spheres of women’s, race and class politics. What can this teach us today as we attempt to navigate the cul-de-sac of identity politics? How should we understand the interconnections between the struggle to end exploitation and oppression? Drawing on the work of Sylvia Pankhurst, this lecture will examine the way in which racism & sexism as oppressive ideologies and practices are founded on class exploitation and are central to its maintenance.”
Sponsored by the Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee, the National Assembly of Women, and Wortley Hall.
The lecture will be followed by light refreshments.
If you require accommodation at Wortley Hall for the night, please contact them on 0114 2882100, info@wortleyhall.com www.wortleyhall.org.uk
Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee, 07932 873838, megan@gn.apc.org, www.gn.apc.org/sylviapankhurst
National Assembly of Women, naw@sisters.org.uk, www.sisters.org.uk
Sunday 8th August “Coal and the End of Industrial Britain”
3pm Zoom Meeting organised by Media North You can join the event through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpc-qhqDkuE9zfkMwlxCBHw3XoxZ_KyE9T
Sponsored by Wortley Hall
The publication of an important new book, “The Shadow of the Mine” by Huw Beynon and Ray Hudson, is the focus for this meeting, timed to coincide with when we would usually hold our annual South Yorkshire Festival event at Wortley Hall. The book explores the political consequences of what happens when an industry disappears and the cultural and social activity tied to that employment is lost. We’re delighted that Huw Beynon and Ray Hudson will be speaking at this topical and important event.
Jean Spence and Carol Richardson, who contributed to the second edition of Shafted and have written extensively on women and mining, are also speaking. Our final speaker is Nick Jones, former BBC industrial correspondent, who has written extensively on the mining industry
For more information go to www.medianorth.org.uk or contact cpbfnorth@outlook.com
Monday 16 August Organising meeting for the SUtR/TUC conference on 19 September
6pm. If you or any members in the region would like to attend the organising meeting, the details are below. It would be great if others in the trade union movement across the region could collaborate on this regional conference:
Topic: Yorkshire and Humberside SUTR/TUC conference organising meeting. Time: Aug 16, 2021 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88985493697?pwd=bU5OeWc1N3lEdmE0T2YvREZjSm13Zz09
Meeting ID: 889 8549 3697 Passcode: 717530
Wednesday 25th August “Save the UNIVERSAL CREDIT £20 Uplift!
See flyer: Universal Credit 25 August Day of Action
Day of Action organised by UNITE Community. We are waiting for details of a rally/protest event in Sheffield which will be supported by Sheffield TUC
The fact is the UK has one of most un-generous social security systems in comparable European countries. The £20 a week increase has only highlighted that the level of benefits were simply not enough to protect the growing number of households forced to turn to them when the crisis hit. It provides a vital boost to the economy as well through higher household spending!
Please see message from Health Blakey UNITE Community:
“I’m sure most of you are aware of the impending cut to Universal Credit – £20 means slashing a single person’s allowance from £95 to £75 – and pushing families already struggling, further into poverty. Unite Community is relaunching our campaign and very keen to get non-members involved as well as our own members. We now have a sign-up page for supporters to keep in touch with the campaign – if you can help get this out to your networks and encourage people to register for updates, that would be brilliant.
https://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/cancel-the-cut/
We have a couple of campaign videos out to share too:
Campaign launch https://www.facebook.com/Unite.Community.UK/videos/3093591757592079
Emma Lewell-Buck MP https://twitter.com/uniteneyh/status/1407972147369218048?s=21
Ed Miliband MP https://twitter.com/UniteNEYH/status/1407267423410139143?s=20
https://www.facebook.com/uniteneyh/videos/400123144609586
If you’re not already in touch with your local Community branch, and you’d like to work with them on this campaign, please let me know! I will happily put you in touch.
It’s worth saying that we are also demanding the increase be extended to people on legacy benefits too, who have never even received the increase – but one thing we know for sure is that it won’t be extended if the cut to Universal Credit goes through, so we have to stop this from happening!
Thanks for your support.
Heather Blakey
Unite Community & Unite in Schools Co-ordinator (North East, Yorkshire & Humber)
19th September Stand Up to Racism Trade Union Conference
We are organising a conference on racism with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional TUC who have agreed that Dominic Bascombe from the black workers group will speak for them
We have also confirmed Shaka Hislop, Jake Bowyer, A Roma Traveller journalist and Care4Calais.
Sunday 3rd October Protest the Tory Party Conference
12 pm assemble at Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 2, United Kingdom 
Organised by Peoples Assembly Against Austerity
The Tories are back in Manchester and so we will be there to protest them every step of the way. There will be a national demonstration and march on Sunday 3 October and all Manchester venues will be alive with counter politics over the rest of their conference.
Solidarity and #ToriesOut