RAGE AGINST LABOUR - Join the Demo

Protest at Labour Party Conference in Brighton
SUNDAY 27th SEPTEMBER for:
JOBS,PEACE & EDUCATION

Cambridge TUC Coach leaves Queens Road (The Backs) at 8.30am – return journey leaves Brighton at 5.30pm

Tickets Cost £2 Unwaged/£5Waged/£10 Solidarity (get your group or union to sponsor seats) Contact: woodcocktom@hotmail.com

Cambridge Printing Back in Business (for now)

Back in January, the Cambridge Printing website was shut down, replaced with a static page instructing its customers to look elsewhere for their printing needs. This amounts to a cynical attempt to make consultation pointless, sabotaging the case for continued printing in Cambridge. Whether fearing repercussions in an employment tribunal or because of a genuine change of heart, the CPSL website now states:

In the meantime we remain very much open for business and we hope that print customers will continue to place work with CPSL

The figures from the past few years show that the workforce are doing more than enough to keep the Press running with per capita production around 30% above industry standard - but their efforts have been frustrated by unsupportive management. So, over the past weeks, union reps have been questioning the Cambridge University Press' plans to close the printing section down, and presenting alternative business models to the Press Syndicate and to management that would see the Printing section make a profit.

Management have now conceded significant reductions in the number of proposed redundancies, as well as some redeployment to other parts of the Press; negotiations continue over numbers, as well as the redundancy package in the event of any job losses.

Support from Waterford Glass Workers; Public Meeting

Wednesday saw a visit to the Press from Donny, a worker at Waterford Glass factory in Ireland, which has been under occupation for four weeks as the workers are determined to keep management from shutting it down. It's been a focal point in Ireland over the last weeks - in fact, another factory has gone into occupation too!

The factory has now been bought by a US firm, which means the plant won't close, but the workers there are still occupying until they know whether their jobs are safe. It's a useful lesson that when people fight back and resist cuts and closures, they can make a real difference.

Donny's vivid description of the efforts of workers at Waterford Glass to thwart the plans of their management to close the plant and put them all out of a job was inspirational. They've managed to keep the glass furnace going - which, once shut down, would have been effectively impossible to re-start so any efforts to save the company would have been pointless. They've managed to force a re-think about getting a buyer for the company after all, and through the solidarity of the local community and workers across Ireland, in getting 8000 people marching through Dublin, they've even managed to get the law changed to protect workers' pensions which were otherwise in jeopardy in situations such as this.

His message was that standing up for ourselves is worthwhile and we can make a difference. He offered us the support of the workers at Waterford for our own campaign against job cuts and we in turn have sent them the message of support below.

Tom Woodcock, the Secretary of the Cambridge and District Trades Council pointed out that the fears of ordinary people are being manipulated to encourage them to fight each other rather than unite to defend themselves against the worst effects of the recession, and meanwhile many of those who might be held responsible for the situation are well-cushioned against its effects.

The Trades Council is holding a public meeting on Wednesday 18th March from 8pm at the University Sports and Social Club in Mill Lane. The meeting will be a solidarity meeting for those facing job cuts in the region, with speaker(s) from Cambridge University Press speaking about our campaign.

Support from Cambridge City Council and University Students?

Next Thursday (26th Feb), Cambridge City Council will be debating the following motion concerning the job cuts at the Cambridge University Press. The meeting is open to the public and starts at 6pm at the Guildhall, Cambridge. If you live in Cambridge, I would encourage you to make contact with your local councillors and pass on any experiences, so that they are well informed about the situation here.

The Council notes with concern the rising count of redundancies being announced by Cambridge-based employers during the current economic recession.

It notes with alarm, in particular, the recent proposals of Cambridge University Press to make 150+ redundancies locally, and the impact that these would have on the fabric of the community and the tradition of an indigenous industry of the City.

Acknowledging the campaign of the employees at CUP (supported by David Howarth MP and Richard Howitt MEP) and the interests of those affected by redundancy proposals elsewhere, the Council calls on employees contemplating redundancies to ensure:

• That their statutory obligations to consult are carried out scrupulously and meaningfully.


• That all alternatives to redundancies are rigorously investigated and, if at all viable, pursued;


• That in their consultations they give weight to the cumulative impact on the local community and economy, in addition to the livelihoods of those who would be directly affected.

The day before (Wednesday 25th), the Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU) will also be debating a motion to:

• Send a message of support to the Amicus-Unite Cambridge University Branch, which represents the affected workers.


• Contact each member of the Press Syndicate expressing CUSU's objection to the job cuts, requesting that they halt the redundancy plans.


• Publicise the online petition of the Campaign to Save Press Jobs through the CUSU Bulletin.

All students have the right to attend and speak at CUSU Council.

If your union hasn't sent messages of support, ask them to contact the printers' Father of Chapel at grantwelham@hotmail.co.uk, or the campaign address, savepressjobs@googlemail.com

Demonstration report and update

Many thanks indeed to everyone who came along to the rally in central Cambridge on Saturday and helped make it such a success.

According to Cambridge News, around 500 people attended, which was a fantastic turnout. They were addressed by

• Richard Howitt, the local Labour MEP


• David Howarth, the local Lib Dem MP


• Tony Burke, Assistant General Secretary of Unite


• Ann Field, Unite National Officer


• Tom Woodcock, Chair of Cambridge Trades Council


• Roger Gascoigne from Cambridge Printing


• Doug Williamson from Macmillan's Unite Committee, who came across from Oxford and for whose solidarity we were particularly grateful.

David Howarth told us he's raised his concerns about the job cuts personally with Stephen Bourne and others have been in touch with the University Vice Chancellor and the Press Syndicate.

The rally and the march around the city centre drew media coverage - see the links on the sidebar - and the attention of the general public to our fight against the cuts: all in all it was a great start to our campaign.

The 30 days' consultation with staff in Education and Cambridge-Hitachi continues, as does the 90 days' consultation in the Printing section.

On the publishing side, this week the Press have conceded that workers should be represented in the consulting process, after pressure from Unite. Some pertinent questions were raised at the first formal meeting last Thursday, such as how redeployment will work in practice and what impact an offer of redeployment would have on redundancy entitlement (clarification has now been sent to staff). The next consultation will explore how viable the proposed new structure is, how it will be able to deliver the product committed to, how a reduced sales force can be effective, whether building the structure to a budget rather than what is needed to be successful with new targets may be a downward spiral, and how Cambridge-Hitachi think they can turn an approx £200K FY09 loss into a FY10 profit of £365K with a severely reduced team. In this way Unite hopes to be able to defend roles that are currently down to be cut.

What you can do

The Bad News is: The workers at Cambridge University Press are facing major redundancies.

The Good News is: There is a campaign to save the jobs and the Press - and you can make a big difference in winning the fight!

Here are a few things you can do to support the campaign...

1) Sign and share the petition:
Download a hard copy of the petition here, or sign it on line.

If you can leaflet your workplace then email Tom: woodcocktom@hotmail.com

2) Join the March and Rally on Saturday 14th:
Saturday 14th February - Assemble 12 noon, Cambridge Guildhall

The march will start and finish at the Guildhall via Petty Cury, Sydney Street, Trinity Street and the Senate House!

Bring your friends, family, banner and placards. If you know anyone else whose job is under threat elsewhere, bring them too - as we nosedive into a major recession it is important that we defend each other!

3) Send a message of solidarity to the Unite branch at CUP:
Print Workers' Father of Chapel: grantwelham@hotmail.co.uk
General campaign address: savepressjobs@googlemail.com

4) Write a short message to your elected representatives:
http://www.writetothem.com/
We are looking for support in particular from Cambridge City Councillors and the MP, David Howarth.

5) Write to the Press Syndicate and Vice-Chancellor:
The names of the Press Syndicate (the senior academics who oversee the Press' operations) are: G. Johnson (chairman), R. G. Barker, C. Y. Barlow, W. A. Brown, J. K. Chothia, T. M. Cox, U. C. Goswami, T. N. Harper, C. J. Humphreys, D. J. Ibbetson, T. W. Körner, M. S. Lane, A. M. Lonsdale, D. J. McKitterick, J. S. Morrill, A. M. Reid, D. W. Runciman. Members of the University can contact them through UMS/CUSU-MS, or they can be looked up by email.
The Vice-Chancellor's official contact details can be found here.

Rally to Save Jobs at the Press

12 noon, Guildhall, Cambridge Market, Saturday 14 February

At the end of October 2008 the University Press announced that about 80 jobs in printing looked as if they might have to go. Then, on 21st January 2009, the Press sent a letter to all staff announcing that 133 of 170 print jobs would be going, 25 of 50 in the Education department on the publishing side. They did not announce in the general letter that many jobs in Cambridge-Hitachi would be lost as that department merges with the 'New Directions Group'. Cambridge-Hitachi staff were informed of their situation separately, also on that day. Staff in all sections are understandably unhappy, and feel that these redundancies are unnecessary and ill-timed. There is also significant frustration with the way the Press is managing the situation. 

The Printing section of Unite initiated a call for a rally, and a campaign meeting with reps from Printing, Publishing, and the Trades Council set the date for Saturday 14th February. We will assemble at the guildhall, and intend to march to the Senate House, to put pressure on the University to protect these vital jobs. Whether you are an employee of the press, or a local resident concerned about the state of the economy, please come and show your support for the affected workers.