Oldham Campaign Against Academies Latest:

Demonstration organised by Waterhead residents group Waterhead Anti Academy Group (WAAG)

Wednesday 20th August 2008

From 3:30pm

Site of the former Orb Mill, and site for the planned Academy to replace Counthill and Breeze Hill schools (minus most of the sporting and recreational facilities), Huddersfield Road, Waterhead

This protest represents the latest phase in a strong local campaign against Academies, which shows the Oldham Chronicle's criticism that OCAA is entirely driven by education unions' sectional interests is false. Several large public meetings have been organised by WAAG, independently of the unions - although union representatives were proud to be invited as guest speakers. New groups have recently entered the arena in the form of Save Grange and Breeze Hill School groups - again resident and parent-led.

Oldham TUC will be there to support the demonstration. We urge all interested parties in Oldham to join in. This is the crucial time in the campaign, as the new Liberal Democrat administration appears to have capitulated to central government blackmail by deeming academies as a necessary price to pay to qualify for the maximum BSF funding. This is despite several examples around the country - notably Barrow - where substantial BSF money has been secured without taking unnecessary risks with children's education. Oldham Council can still be persuaded to follow suit if enough individuals and organisations give support to the campaign.

See our Campaigns Page for earlier articles on OCAA

Domestic Violence - a trade union issue?

 Oldham TUC held a special meeting on Thursday 10th July to discuss the role trade unions have in dealing with the effects of domestic violence.

Women are by far the more common victims of domestic violence, and clearly we have a role inside the workplace to ensure that victims can come forward and find a sympathetic reponse from their employer. If victims do not have the confidence to speak about what has happened to them, this can lead to ill-health and deteriorating work performance. Trade unions should give priority to drawing up a policy on dealing with domestic violence with their respective HR managers.

We also have a role in preventing abuse in the first place by working on the perpetrators, i.e. men. We can do this by giving the issue a high profile on our union noticeboards, including it in union reps training, and by participating in initiatives in the community such as the White Ribbon Campaign.

The photograph below shows Oldham TUC delegates with White Ribbon Campaign director Chris Green and Oldham Family Crisis Group co-ordinator Jenny Taylor.

Actions agreed were to work towards an event in Oldham during the White Ribbon Campaign's 16 "days of action", hopefully in association with other agencies in Oldham. And to explore ways of mainstreaming domestic violence as a workplace issues in TUC Education training programmes.

The Congestion Charge: Oldham TUC supports it!

Yes, that's right - we are one of the many organisations in the Greater Manchester area which - despite being ignored by the media - supported the GMPTA's bid for transport infrastructure funding last year. That means we support the proposed congestion charge which is a necessary part of the package.

Since the ten unitary authorities comprising AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) approved the TIF bid last year, three members have declared their opposition to the plans. That means only one more local authority has to change their position for the bid to collapse. Now that Bolton MBC has announced it is to hold a referendum, the leaders of the remaining councils are discussing the possibility of a region-wide ballot. The outcome of the ballot would be binding on all ten local authorities.

We believe this is a sensible move. The importance to the environment and regional economy of the TIF bid cannot be understated; and the majority of councils which back the bid should not be penalised because of a populist backlash in one town focusing on the one controversial part of the jigsaw - whipped up by a tabloid media campaign which reduces the debate to its lowest denominator.

We are stating our position here, but don't expect our local media to report it. Last year, most local newspapers chose to run an anti-road charging campaign without giving balanced coverage of the case for the TIF bid. If a referendum is held across the AGMA region, we intend to add our support FOR the TIF package of sustainable transport measures. Below we have pasted the press release issued by our regional body - the Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils - last year in response to the initial consultation. In our view, the arguments still apply.

Posted 26th Jume 2008

Press Statement from the Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils 16th July 2007

Congestion Charging in Greater Manchester

The Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils (GMATUC) has given its broad support to the objectives of the GM Future Transport strategy put forward for consultation by the GMPTA.

GMATUC believes that the GMPTA proposals are a step in the right direction towards a publicly owned and democratically controlled integrated transport system, which the region badly needs both from the point of view of environmental benefits and the need to attract capital investment to its deprived areas.

Our support is conditional on the promised improvements to public transport in advance of the introduction of congestion charging actually materialising. The GMPTE is confident that this will be the case, however we remain sceptical that this will be delivered as long as the buses and trains are operated by private sector companies. For the strategy to succeed, the GMPTA must be in a position to resolve the disparities in transport choices which currently exist within the region, and the shortfalls in capacity, reliability and safety which have been highlighted by many working people during the consultation must be addressed.

GMATUC recognises that the congestion charge proposal is controversial when considered in isolation. However we believe that the GMPTA - with the right kind of support from central government - is capable of resolving the anomalies which would unfairly penalise workers and businesses.

We therefore urge the local authorities and the general public to support the GMPTE's proposed bid for investment funds for the Future Transport strategy.

Stop Press: Since we posted this article, the Oldham Chronicle published a story based on our press release which was bot balanced and a useful contribution to the debate. We would like to thank the Oldham Chronicle for doing this.