Conference win >>> Manifesto
2022-12-01 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Online
lus the (very early) #Labour4PR Christmas Party!
Now that conference policy is clear, how do we get Proportional Representation in the next Labour manifesto?
Come along to this briefing to find out:

how is the manifesto written?
how can Labour members and affiliates can have influence
our plan for 2023

On the journey to a Labour conference win, Labour’s electoral reform movement has built up incredible support across the whole party. Now we all need to focus this energy on our next objective: a commitment in the next Labour manifesto.
This 45 minute briefing will be followed by an informal online Christmas Party… bring a mulled wine, mince pie, or whatever gets you in a festive mood!

UNISON Young Members Self-Organised Group Conference
2022-12-02 - 2022-12-04
UNISON’s Young Member Self-Organised Group Committee has agreed to hold a Young Members Self-Organised Group Conference on Friday 2nd December to Sunday 4th December 2022.
Please note the deadline to submit motions on OCS is 12.00 noon on Friday 5th August 2022.
If you have any queries, please contact the Conference Office at conferences@unison.co.uk

Electoral Reform Society 2022 Conference and AGM
2022-12-03 | Cardiff, CF10 2FL
Save the date for the ERS’ annual conference and AGM. This year we are planning a hybrid event, with an in-person AGM in Cardiff and online access from your home.
More details to be confirmed.

Warm This Winter - Day of Action on Fuel Poverty across the UK
2022-12-03
We’re working with groups and communities to put on events and actions in villages, towns and cities up and down the country. We’re planning a huge display of people power to show we have the solutions to the energy crisis and they need to be implemented now.

Here’s how to take part
Events and activities will be distributed around the country showing the breadth of demand for change. Actions and events can look like anything you would like them to.
They can range from a small gathering of friends and family to discuss the issues we’re facing, a stall in your town centre or an event in a local community hall or park. You could share leaflets and information about the campaign and how people can stay warm this winter, it could be a visual stunt making the most of your creative talents, or a demonstration or town hall event where folk can come and hear people speak. You decide what will work for you and your community. Whatever it is, however big or small, it will help spread the word and make it clear that we demand change.

Usdaw North West Regional Conference - Blackpool
2022-12-03 - 2022-12-04 | The Grand Hotel, Blackpool, FY1 2JQ, Blackpool, FY1 2JQ, United Kingdom
For further information contact your local Usdaw office.

Make Votes Matter - Newark
2022-12-03 08:30 - 12:30
Please join us at Southwell market in Nottinghamshire.

Future of the Arts conference - TUC London East & South East
2022-12-03 10:00 - 16:00
This event will focus both on how the sector can weather the current economic storms, but more importantly, how a long-term and sustainable future for the arts can be secured to the benefit of society as a whole. TUC LESE Culture and Leisure Industries Committee has published an action plan called ‘Making Culture Ours’, which is a progressive manifesto for the future. It will be the centre-piece of the event.
To register for the event and for updates please email lese@tuc.org.uk, putting ‘Making Culture Ours 3rd December’ in the subject box. General Council Chamber, TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS

Campaign For Trade Union Freedom & Institute Of Employment Rights
2022-12-03 10:00 - 16:00
From Pentonville to P&O: Union Rights & Tory Wrongs Campaigning For Free Trade Unions
The conference will focus on the need to mobilise and support a major trade union campaign to fight against attacks on workers’ and union rights and the need to ensure a full implementation by Labour of the New Deal for Working People as agreed at the Labour Party Conference.
The conference will take place at:
National Education Union, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London, WC1H 9BD
11:00 am to 1:00 pm. 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Speakers include senior trade unionists, lay union reps in dispute, MPs, lawyers, campaign groups and the left media.
Speakers
Tony Burke, Co-Chair CTUF, Unite, Confederation Of Shipbuilding & Engineering Unions President
Sarah Woolley, Co-Chair CTUF General Secretary of the Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union
Frances O’Grady, General Secretary, TUC
Mick Whelan, Chair Labour Unions (TULO) & General Secretary ASLEF
Mick Lynch, General Secretary RMT
Dave Ward, General Secretary Communication Workers Union
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary National Education Union
Dr. Jo Grady, General Secretary, UCU
Mark Serwotka, General Secretary PCS
Professor Keith Ewing, CTUF/IER
Lord John Hendy KC, CTUF/IER
Barry Gardiner MP
John McDonnell MP
Andy Green, National Secretary CTUF, Unite Executive Council Member, Convenor Tilbury Docks
Nabeela Mowlana, Chair, Young Labour
Ben Chacko, Editor, Morning Star
Laura Pidcock, National Secretary Peoples Assembly
Matt Foot, Lawyer & writers on public order law
More speakers to be announced including union reps in dispute.
Eventbrite: Book your FREE place by clicking here

Make Votes Matter - Richmond, Yorks - street stall
2022-12-03 14:00 - 17:00
Details to follow soon…
For further information you can contact:
mvmnorthyorks@gmail.com

Young & unrepresented - an LCER Youth event
2022-12-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
All young people welcome for this LCER Youth event as we explore how Proportional Representation can help us achieve the policies we need for our futures.
First Past the Post consistently gives older, home-owning voters in marginal seats disproportionate power over British politics – while young people’s voices are ignored.
To make sure young people’s voices are heard – and to bring about a progressive, more equal future for the whole UK – we need a fair, proportional democracy. Join the discussion about why we need Labour to commit to PR and how we can make it happen.
Featuring:

Ben McGowan – National Chair, Labour Students
Kira Lewis – Labour & Co-op Councillor
Lara Parizotto – Labour Councillor & Migrant Democracy Project Co-founder
Ralph Ali – Young Labour’s Under 18’s Rep

Unison - Champions Day
2022-12-07
UNISON will be holding our first-ever Champions Day, designed to raise the profile of local government workers and highlight how much we appreciate them and the work they do. All year, local authority staff play their part in holding our communities together, supporting us through every stage of our lives – this is the perfect opportunity to recognise and celebrate their contributions.
Workplaces are encouraged to hold their own celebrations to highlight how much local government workers matter – and why we appreciate them. There are lots of ideas and resources available on the campaign webpage.
Find out more at https://www.unison.org.uk/champions-day/

Democracy Network Annual Conference 2022
2022-12-07 - 2022-12-08
On December 7th & 8th, 2022, we are bringing together all the organisations across Great Britain and Northern Ireland working on issues of power, democracy and voice for an exciting schedule spanning two days.
We will have a series of workshops, provocations and activities with collaboration, connection and celebration at the core of the exciting agenda.
We want to recognise and champion the outstanding work being done across our sector to empower people and communities which we will do on the evening of the 7th at our own ‘Democracy Awards Dinner’,
We also want to give lots of opportunities for building collaborations for long-term political change and building alternative democratic realities, fit for the 21st century.
The conference’s speakers and sessions will be guided by these three key conference themes of:

Empowering people
Renewing and challenging our current system
Building democratic alternatives

We would love for you to join us at this special event.
If your organisation would be interested in taking an exhibition space at the conference please complete your details here
If you would be interested in hosting a workshop based on the three themes above, please complete an expression of interest here
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop us an email at democracynetwork@involve.org.uk.

State of Health and Care Conference 2022
2022-12-08 12:00 - 18:00
Our health is in crisis. 20th century improvements in UK population health are reversing; UK health is lagging behind other advanced countries; and the NHS faces the toughest winter in its history.
At the same time, the economy faces big, fundamental and long-term weaknesses. The labour market is struggling; productivity has failed to recover from the financial crash; and we are experiencing a chronic lack of growth.
It is these twin challenges that have inspired IPPR to launch the Commission on Health and Prosperity – chaired by Dame Sally Davies and Lord Ara Darzi. Our formative hypothesis is that a fairer country is a healthier one, and a healthier country is a more prosperous one. Put another way, better health is the medicine our economy desperately needs.

Make Votes Matter - Shropshire - Ludlow Street Stall
2022-12-09 11:00 - 13:00
MVM Shropshire will be holding a street stall in Ludlow (meeting point to be confirmed) on Friday 9 December, 11am to 1pm. Please drop by and say hello if you’re in the area.

THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS - Pontefract
2022-12-09 19:30 - 21:30
One Man Magic Lantern show of the classic book THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS by Robert Tressell
Actor Neil Gore brings this humorous and absorbing book to life in his one person magic lantern show. Based on the 1914 novel by Robert Tressell, its story is set in the building trades of Edwardian England where painters and decorators struggle to maintain themselves and their families, poverty and the constant fear of unemployment notwithstanding, while renovating a large townhouse for the local mayor.
With projected animation & fantastic story telling there’s something for all the family here, not least the chance to become acquainted with this timeless story of socialism and political awakening.

CONFERENCE: Solidarity * Struggle * Socialism
2022-12-10 10:00 - 16:30
A national conference bringing together the Left & anti-Tory resistance movements in unity to discuss next steps in the fightback in 2023.

About this event

John McDonnell MP // Sarah Woolley, BFAWU General Secretary // Richard Burgon MP // Mick Whelan, ASLEF GS // Nadia Whittome MP // Zita Holbourne, Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) // Lord John Hendy QC // Hilary Schan, Momentum // Ben Chacko, Morning Star // Sabby Dhalu, Stand up to Racism // Heidi Chow, Debt Justice // Mick Burke, Socialist Economic Bulletin // Rachel Garnham, CLPD // Ruth Hayes, Labour Women Leading // Matt Willgress, Labour Outlook // Sakina Sheikh AM // Steve Howell, author, Game Changer // Holly Turner, NHS Workers Say No // Jon Trickett MP // Laura Smith // Barry Gardiner MP & more.
Themes, sessions & international guests tba – put the date in your diary today!

Hosted by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas.

Disabled workers and the cost-of-living crisis
2022-12-12 18:00 - 19:00
Overview

16 November – 16 December is Disability History Month. The month marks the history of disabled people’s struggles for equality and human rights.
This month takes place during a cost-of-living emergency – millions of people up and down the country are facing spiralling living costs whilst their wages are being held down.
Join us for our event on how the crisis is impacting disabled people, including new research from the TUC on disabled people’s pay, and what working people are doing to fight back.
The event will take place on Zoom.
Chair:

Dave Allan, Co-Chair TUC Disabled Workers Committee, Unite

Speakers:

Ann Galpin, Co-Chair TUC Disabled Workers Committee, NUJ
Colleen Johnson, TUC Disabled Workers Committee, NEU

This event had originally been scheduled for 29 November, but has now been moved to 12 December.

Accessibility

Speech to text and BSL will be provided for this event.
If you have additional access needed please email aarkwright@tuc.org.uk.

PCS Virtual picket for member and supporters
2022-12-24 09:00 - 2022-12-25 09:30 | Online
Our strikes in the civil service continue over Christmas and members and supporters can show solidarity by joining virtual picket lines at 9am on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka, and John McDonnell MP will speak at the rally on 24 December and Mark, alongside other trade unionists, will speak on 25 December to bring solidarity greetings and support to our members striking over Christmas.
Whether you are on strike or wish to support the strikers and the campaign please pop in over Xmas to show your support. Everyone is welcome.
What: PCS Virtual Picket Lines
When: 9am – 9.30am on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Where: On Zoom using the link: https://pcs.zoom.us/j/91667632157 (Meeting ID: 916 6763 2157. Dial in +44 208 080 6591)
You can also show your support by:

Signing our petition to prime minister Rishi Sunak
Donating to the strike fund
And sending solidarity messages to editor@pcs.org.uk

Event Contact

Email organising@pcs.org.uk

#Labour4PR - 2023 Campaign Launch
2023-01-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Join us as we kick-off this new year of #Labour4PR campaigning.

With Labour conference fully on board with Proportional Representation, it’s time to get PR in the next manifesto.

How we can WIN AS ONE in the next general election
2023-01-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Thursday 12 January 2023 7:00 p.m. Zoom event
We in GET PR DONE! are getting very tired of this situation. You may be fed up as well. The results come in from a general election. Many Conservative candidates become MPs again —- especially in safe seats — when the vote total of the centre and left candidates in numbers of constituencies may have been far greater overall.
This result is down to two things: a) our archaic First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system; b) the fact that so-called “progressive parties” fail to work together and hence Tory candidates slither into many Parliamentary seats unfairly.
The left-of-centre pressure group COMPASS has just announced a new campaign to try to tackle both problems. In about 60 constituencies, COMPASS will be working with other groups to organise a major tactical voting campaign to oust vulnerable sitting Tory MPs and candidates. Building a Commons majority among progressive parties would lead to a second goal: introducing a proportional representation (PR) voting system.
This is a goal that GET PR DONE! is happy to support. So on 12 January we’ve invited Neal Lawson, executive director of Compass, to be our guest on at a public webinar on Zoom to tell us how WIN AS ONE will work and how you can join the effort.
Neal will be interviewed by Katie Neame who is a senior reporter with Labour List, an online publication that reports Labour Party news 24/7.
When the interview is over there will be plenty of time for your questions. No one is suggesting WIN AS ONE will be plain sailing.
This will be Neal’s second visit to a GET PR DONE! His first session in August 2021 was one of the best 20-odd webinars we’ve put on and so we are most looking forward to his return.
Please RSVP via the website below for the zoom link

The Bundle - play - London
2023-01-13 17:00 - 19:00
Join LESE TUC Womens Rights Committee at our fundraising event for Care for Calais, a volunteer run charity delivering essential aid and support to refugees living in the UK, Northern France and Belgium.
The Bundle is based closely on the story of a woman and her three young children. It follows Adilah’s domestic persecution and denial of human rights in Chechnya.
Removed from her Russian homeland by her Chechen father, abducted into a forced marriage and then subjected to a life of servitude, she takes the ultimate risk in plotting her escape to the UK. Here she finds a home but also encounters the Home Office’s ‘hostile environment’ with regard to asylum seekers and refugees. The play moves from the tradition of the folk story to that of biting satire as it charts Adilah’s bid for freedom, safety and hope.
The play is brought to you by the Journeymen Theatre.
Donations: minimum £5.00 (Payment on the door. Cash only please)
Raffles Prizes
Running time I hour
Let us know if you are coming. Contact: s.aitouaziz@hotmail.co.uk

Membership Week - across the UK
2023-01-16 - 2023-01-22
Membership Week is an important part of the Union’s calendar, and vital to the success of this initiative is our dedicated team of reps and activists who will play a pivotal role during the Week.
Area Organisers, Recruitment and Development Officers, and Training Officers will be pulling out all the stops to give the Union a massive membership boost.
Vital to the success of this initiative is our dedicated team of reps and activists who will play a pivotal role during the Week.
Potential
We will only be successful if we work as a team to strengthen our membership where we already have members and reach out to those potential members at unorganised sites.
It promises to be an exciting week with new promotional leaflets and posters in the pipeline and a determination to make a real difference in workplaces across the UK.
We need to identify the thousands of new members who are within our grasp and explain to them how Usdaw can improve their working lives.
Speak to your manager now about time off to organise a stall in the canteen, or time off to talk to new starters/non-members. Arrange your team of reps on to a rota so everyone spends some time focused on this recruitment initiative.
If we all start planning for the week now we can deliver a massive boost to our membership across all Usdaw sectors which will be unprecedented in the Union’s history.
Start planning now: checklist

Speak to your manager about time off to organise an event.
Order recruitment leaflets and promotional materials in advance.
Identify areas/departments in your workplace where membership is low.
Arrange your team of reps on a rota to cover all shifts.
Contact your Area Organiser or local office for help.
Contact the Network/Arena team with details of your event and to discuss photographs and coverage in the magazines.

Send your pictures to: pictures@usdaw.org.uk but please make sure there are no personal details visible in your photos, such as newly completed membership forms.
If you’re on Twitter or Instagram you can follow us @UsdawUnion or use #JoinUsdaw

Unison - 2023 National Black Members Conference - Edinburgh
2023-01-20 - 2023-01-22
Members can now request to be register to attend the 2022 National Black Members’ Conference Bulletin. The Online Conferencing System (OCS) is now open to allow branches to register delegates and submit motions in line with the rule-book requirements.

Wales TUC BAME Labour Rights Day 2023
2023-01-21 10:00 - 16:00
Overview

Let you fully understand labour rights in a pleasant and efficient event.
Solve employment questions and find more opportunities for training and upskilling in one day.
Keynote Speakers:
– Shavanah Taj (General Secretary, Wales TUC Cymru)
– Christopher MUNG Siu-tat, (Executive Director at Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor)
3 productive workshops:
1/ Learning Opportunities (free online courses) by John James at Coleg Gwent
2/ Getting a Job in Wales, by career Wales
3/ Know Your Rights at Work & Joining a Trade Union, by an experienced union officer or rep (TBC)
What are your rights in the workplace? How do you know how to access them? What is a trade union and why is it worth joining one? Find the answers to all these questions in this session!

March and Rally - Oxford
2023-01-22 12:00 - 15:00 | Oxford Trades Council
We are facing the worst cost of living crisis in generations. Inflation is at a 40 year high, and the government’s own forecaster predicts an average fall of 7% in household income over the next two years. Many will lose much more than 7%.
But there has been incredible resistance to the employers’ offensive. In the last few months hundreds of thousands of workers have taken strike action, shutting down postal, rail and border services, and raising the alarm about the crisis in the NHS. More workers are likely to join the strike wave in the coming months. The fact that employers and the government are coordinating their action means our side has to do the same. There have been amazing examples of solidarity between unions, but this needs to be built
into a force that can stop the attacks.
Join the march and rally in support of striking workers – called by Oxford Trades Council and CWU South Central Postal Branch. Manzil Way, Oxford. 12pm, Sunday 22 January.

The economic crisis - was Marx right? (online)
2023-01-23 19:00 - 20:00
With economist & writer Michael Roberts.
Here in Britain and around the world the economic crisis is deepening – was Marx right about capitalism after all?
Join Michael Roberts for debate and discussion – Michael worked in the City of London as an economist for over 40 years. He has closely observed the machinations of global capitalism from within the dragon’s den. At the same time, he was a political activist in the labour movement for decades. Since retiring, he has written several books. The Great Recession – a Marxist view (2009); The Long Depression (2016); Marx 200: a review of Marx’s economics (2018): and jointly with Guglielmo Carchedi as editors of World in Crisis (2018).
was Nye Bevan right, wrong, or both when he said “Marxism put into the hands of the working class movement… the most complete blueprints for political action the world has ever seen?”
Labour Outlook forum as part of the Socialist Ideas series – kindly streamed by Arise- A Festival of Left Ideas.

Holocaust Memorial Day
2023-01-27
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) encourages remembrance in a world scarred by genocide. We promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) – the international day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
27 January marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
The Holocaust threatened the fabric of civilisation, and genocide must still be resisted every day. Our world often feels fragile and vulnerable and we cannot be complacent. Even in the UK, prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all.
HMD is for everyone. Each year across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn more about the past and take action to create a safer future. We know they learn more, empathise more and do more.

Discrimination Law Conference 2023 (online)
2023-01-27 08:45 - 15:45 | Online
Overview

An online event presented by the TUC and Michael Rubenstein Conferences Ltd.
The Discrimination Law Conference gives trade unions, law centres, Citizens Advice Bureau and other voluntary organisations the chance to hear from leading barristers about the latest legislative developments and landmark equality cases.
The event will be held online, tickets for trade unions and NGOs to be charged at a rate of £45. As per previous years, delegates will receive a full pack of presentations from our speakers, available for download prior to the conference.
Speakers include:

Paul Nowak, General Secretary designate, TUC
Ijeoma Omambala KC, Old Square Chambers
Rachel Crasnow KC, Cloisters Chambers
Deshpal Panesar KC, Old Square Chambers
Andrew Short KC, Outer Temple Chambers
Robin Allen KC, Cloisters Chambers
Karon Monaghan KC, Matrix Chambers
Rebecca Tuck KC, Old Square Chambers

To book your place at this high-profile annual conference, please visit our event page.

Greening our workplaces - 'Green Skills' for trade unionists - 3 day course
2023-01-30 - 2023-02-13
Overview:

Course duration:
3 days of learning (1 day per week spread over 3 weeks).
This course will take place online on 3 consecutive Mondays – the 30th of January, 6th and 13th February 2023 – learners will need to attend each session.
Course delivery:
Online group sessions, facilitated by a trade union education tutor via Microsoft Teams.
Who should attend?
This course is aimed at both new and experienced green/environmental reps as well as other trade unionists who wish to take action on the climate and nature emergency in their workplace. It is suitable for all union officers, branch officials, reps, health and safety reps, union learning reps and equality reps who wish to find out more about the trade union approach to sustainability.
Course description:
Workers across all sectors will be affected by changes and will be part of the efforts to decarbonise and move Wales to a more sustainable, zero-waste, circular economy. And trade union members have the knowledge and ideas to help deliver the changes needed.
Workers have a huge amount of knowledge that can help organisations looking to reduce their environmental impact. It’s often the workers on the ground who are most likely to understand how to do this effectively. Trade unions can play a key role in identifying and delivering best environmental practice at workplace level.
Unions can ensure that efforts to reduce an organisation’s environmental impact are developed collaboratively and in full consultation with workers. Involving workers can make sure that changes are fair, effective and have the full support of people in the workplace.
This course focusses on the practical skills needed to develop union-led sustainability initiatives in the workplace. It covers the core skills required for trade unionists who want to take practical action on the environment in their workplace or become a trade union environmental or ‘green’ representative.
Across Wales, union reps are already working with their members to make workplaces more sustainable. They are finding ways to cut carbon and reduce waste, campaigning for cleaner air and creating green spaces to support nature. This course uses the Wales TUC’s new Greener Workplaces for a Just Transition toolkit as a resource and aims to support all trade unionists who want to be involved in the movement to green our workplaces.
The course covers:
➔ Understanding the climate and environmental emergency and identifying the impact on your workplace.
➔ Working with the branch and members to identify sustainability issues that need to be raised with management.
➔ How to carry out workplace environmental audits.
➔ How to review and develop workplace environmental policies and agreements
➔ Awareness raising and promotion of green workplace practices.
How to apply: Fill in our application form or contact the course tutor, John James, directly on John.James@coleggwent.ac.uk or 07527 450276
Venue: online
Hours: 9.15am to 16.45pm
Time-off to attend training:
Guidance on paid release can be found on pages 8 – 9 of the Wales TUC education course directory.
ACAS guidance states that it is good practice for employers to offer time off with pay for specialist reps such as green or environmental reps to attend training and carry out their duties.
Please speak to your own union for advice about securing time off and for guidance on any relevant agreements/procedures agreed between your employer and your union.

LGBT+ History Month
2023-02-01 - 2023-02-28
Claiming our past – Celebrating our present – Creating our future
LGBT+ History Month is for everyone; whether you work in education, a museum, library or art gallery, a business, a service, are a member of a network/social group or an individual.
It is celebrated every February across the UK, and was founded in 2004 by Schools OUT co-chairs, Paul Patrick & Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders. It was first celebrated in February 2005.
Every year Schools OUT sets a different theme for LGBT+ History Month and provides free resources for education settings, businesses, services and organisations to help them celebrate and Usualise LGBT+ lives in their full diversity.
Follow us on social media, we’re on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
Our hashtags are: #LGBTplusHM, #Usualise, #educateOUTprejudice
