Aberdeen Trades Union Council stands with Manchester

The thoughts of Aberdeen Trades Union Council are with all those caught up in the terrible events in Manchester where yet again we have seen innocent people killed and injured in an appalling attack. We condemn these acts against innocents, and especially the targeting of children. We have no words.

We wish to pay tribute to all the emergency services who from all accounts were outstanding as always in extremely difficult circumstances. And to the many citizens of Manchester who rallied to support those affected, including taxi drivers from all different ethnic backgrounds, standing together as we all must against such horrific acts.

We stand in solidarity with all the people of Manchester, Britain and the world against hatred and division. Terrorism will not be allowed to divide our communities.

Congratulations to FELA on their pay victory

Aberdeen Trades Union Council congratulates the EIS Further Education Lecturer’s Association (FELA) in their pay victory with colleges, as a result of strike action by members.  

The union has now suspended all future strike action.

EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: "Following a further round of talks, we have reached a position where Colleges Scotland have agreed to honour the deal.

"This is a significant victory for EIS Further Education Lecturers' Association (EIS-FELA) members and it means that the employers will move immediately to implement Phase 1 of the March 2016 pay agreement."

Lecturers had taken strike action to make colleges implement the Agreement they signed up to in March 2016.  

This deal agreed equal pay for lecturers across Scotland by 2019, with the first payment due in April 2017, and set out key dates for harmonisation of “Terms & Conditions” across colleges in Scotland – all of which have been missed.  

This Agreement was a consequence of the return to national bargaining after 20 years, and which was promised in the 2011 SNP Manifesto.  Local pay bargaining had led to a £12,000 pay gap for some lecturers in the sector, with differences in terms and conditions. 

Next ATUC delegates meeting on 7th June at 22a Adelphi. All welcome

The next meeting of Aberdeen Trades Union Council will be held on Wednesday 7th June at 7.30pm in ATUC premises, 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen. 

There is the usual packed agenda including our planning for the 150th Anniversary celebrations in 2018. The STUC have indicated their support for our plans and will bring a General Council meeting to Aberdeen in the course of the year. We will also review a very successful May Day march and rally.

All delegates and associates are welcome to attend and we hope to see you there.

Register to vote NOW. Don't lose your chance to transform your future for the many not the few

This week a YouGov poll revealed that 18 - 40 year olds overwhelmingly support Labour, with Labour commanding a 15% lead over the Tories among young people.

Unfortunately 2.4 million young people are missing from the electoral register and millions more, of all ages, have never been inspired to vote. But this election is different. Now we have the chance to radically transform our society by electing a government for the many, not the elite few.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday 22nd May. If millions of people register in the next two weeks, then we’ll have already won.

Here’s two things you can do to make it happen:

1. Don’t lose your vote

If you’re not already registered to vote, register now. It takes just 2 minutes, and all you need is your national insurance number. Remember, if you’re a UK resident from the Republic of Ireland or a Commonwealth country you're eligible to vote. 

If you’re not sure where you’ll be on 8th June, make sure you register for a postal vote. Just fill out this form and post or email it to your Electoral Registration Office. It must reach them by 5pm on 23rd May, so make sure to send it this week.

2. Get everyone you know to register

If every single one of us gets five people to register, we’ll win this election. Do your bit, make sure your friends and family are all registered to vote by 22nd May.

Share this video on your Facebook and forward this email to five people telling them to register to make their mark on this historic election.

If millions of us rise up and have our say, we will get Jeremy into Number 10. Let’s fix this rigged system and build a society for the many, not the few.

Aberdeen May Day March calls for human rights for all and an end to poverty

Blue skies and sunshine greeted the hundreds of trade unionists, politicians and community activists as they turned out to celebrate International Workers’ Day.

The May Day March and Rally in Aberdeen,  held on Saturday 6^th May, was organised by ATUC. As always, it was a colourful sight as the procession of banners and flags made its way down Union Street behind the stirring beats of the Guarana Drummers, to call for an end to poverty in one of the world's richest countries. And a celebration of the basic human and workers' rights workers and their families deserve, including decent wages and health and safety standards.

The rally in the Castlegate was co-chaired by ATUC co-Presidents, Kevin Hutchens and Tyrinne Rutherford. Kevin roused the crowds with a poem that he had written for the occasion.

May Day March and Rally in Aberdeen - Get along and celebrate International Workers' Day

A reminder to get along if you can to Aberdeen Trade Union Council's May Day March and Rally on Sat 6th May. Gather at Rubislaw Terrace at 11am to march off at 11.30am  The Guarana Drummers will be leading the March and it will be colourful and vibrant with the drummers, flags and banners on display. Rally at the Castlegate at 12.15pm. Hope you can make it.

ATUC Annual Report 2016

Aberdeen Trades Union Council is pleased to announce the publication of our Annual Report for 2016, which is now available for download from this website.

If you would like hard copies of this report to distribute within your organisations, please contact us on our Facebook page and we can arrange to get copies to you.

This year all the work for typesetting and collating the report was done by our very own Morag Lawrence, and there are many hours of work involved in pulling it all together so we send a big thank you to Morag, and also to everyone else involved, including all the trade unions and other organisations who help to support the work of the ATUC throughout the year, and who support the production of the annual report by providing articles and adverts.

• Download the ATUC Annual Report 2016

Next ATUC delegates meeting Wed 3rd May at 7.30pm. Exec Meeting at 6.45pm

The next ATUC delegates' meeting will be held tomorrow evening, Wed 3rd May at 7.30pm at 22a Adelphi, Aberdeen. Please get along if you can.

There is a lot to discuss including the final arrangements for the May Day March and Rally on Saturday 6th May.

There will also be a report back from STUC Congress from delegates as well as the usual trade reports and the activity reports which will include a report of the International Workers' Memorial Day service.

Please note, there will also be a meeting of the ATUC Exec just before it at 6.45pm

Hope to see you all there.

ATUC joins Dundee TUC at their May Day celebrations to commemorate their 150th anniversary year

ATUC representatives Kathleen Kennedy, Brian Carroll, Steve Gray and Tommy Campbell travelled to Dundee on Saturday 29th April to join trade unionists and activists from across Scotland to celebrate May Day and the 150th anniversary of the Dundee Trades Union Council. 

The bright new banner of the Dundee Trades Union Council led the march into and around the City Centre to the Marketgait, where speakers reminded people of the need to stay strong and work together to fight austerity, poverty and injustice.  

150 years ago workplace negotiations were based upon the Masters and Servants Act which treated a breach of contract by an employer as a civil matter but a trade union activity as criminal act.  Dundee Trades Union Council spokesperson (Mick) reminded all of us we needed to stop this sort of legislation from happening again.

We are delighted that representatives of Dundee TUC will join our May Day March and Rally in Aberdeen on Saturday 6th April with their new banner. We will make them very welcome. 

Click here for details of the ATUC May Day event.