If you’ve ever bought something from Primark, it’s likely come to you via Thrapston in Northamptonshire. Primark’s enormous national warehouse is based there, distributing to stores all over the country. The warehouse is run for Primark by international logistics firm DHL, who employ many hundreds of people on Primark’s behalf. Throughout the pandemic, DHL made long-running mistakes in calculating furlough pay for many staff. They now want to deduct the overpayments from the affected workers’ wages to claw the money back. Whether it’s fair or not, employers do have a right to do this under UK employment law. But workers have some protection in that they should be offered a fair payment plan, not expected to pay it back at once. Otherwise it can count as “unlawful deduction from wages”. That’s what’s happening for most workers at the site, but one group of 72 drivers and office staff are being expected to repay everything at once – in some cases up to £1,300 from one pay cheque! This is because DHL are transferring their employment to another company in February and they think they can get away with it. DHL are retaining the majority of the work at Primark’s warehouse, just not this part of it. And the workers will still be based at the same site and still working for Primark, just not on DHL’s payroll. It would cost DHL very little to play fair by these workers and set up longer term repayments, even after they’ve moved to the new employer. Through their union, URTU, these workers are challenging the decision, but there’s very little time left. Caught between an employer who are trying to get out of their responsibilities, and an imminent deadline, Primark need to step in now and tell DHL to sort it out if they are to have a decent working relationship at Thrapston going forward. They can’t allow employment laws in their warehouse to be breached so flagrantly. Can you please help us write to Primark? Showing customers care about what happens in their UK supply chain will have a big effect on them.

These proposals are short-sighted and regressive. If these cuts go ahead, it will worsen passenger service, safety, security and accessibility. Research by the passenger watchdog Transport Focus has shown that passengers value the presence of staff on the railway, and that they want to see more, not less, staff. Yet, under ScotRail's proposals there is no guarantee that staff will remain present at the station when the ticket offices would be closed. RMT also believes that cuts to hours make it easier to reduce staffing or close more ticket offices in the future. Cuts to ticket office hours ignore the wide range of advice, services and assistance passengers get at the ticket office which cannot be replicated by machines or online ticketing. Rail travel is a sustainable and low carbon form of transport and has a key role to play in meeting Scotland's climate change targets. Yet these cuts will deter passengers from using the railway. From 1 April 2022, the Scottish Government will be running ScotRail directly in the public sector. It is nonsensical that the outgoing operator, Dutch-state owned Abellio, is being permitted to consult on cuts to ticket offices at a franchise it will no longer be managing in just a number of weeks. RMT believes it is clear that the Scottish Government has the power to intervene and scrap these proposals and is calling on it to do so as a matter of urgency. Transport Focus is consulting on ScotRail's proposals. In addition to signing this petition, RMT is urging members of the public to respond to the consultation and oppose the cuts. If particular, it is important to use the consultation response to highlight the impact of the cuts at your local station/s. You must submit your consultation response by 2nd February 2022. You can respond via post or email to: Transport Focus Freepost (RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ), PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ or [email protected]

The BBC’s contribution to the UK public broadcasting landscape goes far beyond news and programming. The BBC provides ten TV services, BBC iPlayer, 10 UK radio stations, over 40 Nations and local radio stations, BBC Sounds and one of the UK’s most popular websites, all for just 43p a day. Here’s a few reasons why the BBC matters: • The BBC became the UK’s largest classroom during COVID-19 - with two thirds of primary school students using Bitesize education during lockdown • It brings us together – during the pandemic most people turned into the BBC for the latest updates • It creates jobs across the UK – already half of BBC jobs are outside London, with over £100 million invested in skills and training over the last 4 years • It supports our creative industries and local news – 39 local radio stations and countless local projects and careers in the creative industries. • Putting British values on the world stage – former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan called the World Service “Britain’s greatest gift to the world this century”. Despite numerous attempts to undermine the licence fee, no-one has come up with a better funding model that would protect its unique local, national and international reach. Any suggestions that the BBC should be funded by subscription or advertising revenue are wide of the mark. The public service ethos of the BBC to inform, entertain and educate is something that we should fiercely protect and fund properly. Join us. Help support our BBC.

Becoming an academy has profound implications for children and young people, parents, staff and the local community. The decision to apply for academy status is made by the school’s governing body, which is required to consult with ‘appropriate’ persons. We believe that it is essential that there should be full consultation with parents and the local community about such an important decision. We have grave reservations about academy status. We believe that any change to the school should be one that makes a positive difference to children’s educational attainment and there is no evidence to show that Stockbridge Village Primary School becoming an academy would raise educational standards. We hope that having considered all of the information, you will share our view that the high level of risk involved in academy status far outweighs any of the suggested advantages and decide to cease seeking academy status. The decision to become an academy is irreversible. There is no going back!

Regina Coeli House in West Belfast is the only women-only hostel in Northern Ireland providing accommodation and support to the homeless, those with addictions, mental health challenges or survivors of domestic abuse. The 21-bed facility faces the threat of impending closure as the Legion of Mary, who own the building, claim they cannot maintain it any more. But letting our only women’s hostel shut its doors is wrong. The staff of Regina Coeli House who face redundancy are bravely fighting to keep this vital service open. If the Legion of Mary cannot maintain this building, they must do the right thing and transfer the building to the Housing Executive who must be prepared to step forward to keep this service running. It’s not too late to save Regina Coeli House and the jobs we love. Please join us in calling on the Management Committee to transfer this facility and grounds to the Housing Executive, who must step in to run this service, so that with funding from Communities’ Minister Deirdre Hargey we can expand access to an all-too-vital service for vulnerable women. Thank you The staff of Regina Coeli House

Employers have a right to deduct any money owed to them however employees have a right to demand a repayment plan when the monies owed are exceeding their spare income! Your employment should not generate a debt or have a detrimental impact on your mental and financial wellbeing!

Glasgow as a city has a vibrant nightlife and as stated by the Licensing Policy Statement (2018) the nightlife industry generates £2.16bn every year. The nightlife industry is clearly crucial to Glasgow’s economy however the safety of the workers that allow the industry to function is not the priority for employers, Glasgow City Council or the licensing board. We are calling for this to change. The 17,000 jobs mentioned in the policy report neglects to highlight the precarious nature of this form of employment and the sacrifices night workers need to make to simply get home safe. SafeHome is a campaign led by a network of women and shift workers in hospitality, cinemas and other late night premises; demanding a safe transport home from shifts that does not leave any worker financially worse off or compromise their safety when returning home from work. We have entered the festive period which for most is a time for enjoying Christmas parties with friends and colleagues however the reality for nightlife workers is an extension to license hours for employers to make more profit. This means further harassment,higher difficulty getting home and dealing with the fact that no real safety measures are being put in place to protect staff. We are calling for Glasgow City Council to recognise the difficulty workers face and change the realities of hospitality and late night working in the city. Our campaign highlights the realities of workers trying to get home safe which can range from taxi fares being deducted from payslips, measly £4 credit provided by multi million pound companies and having to pay substantial portions of wages on taxi fare. Workers have to attempt to navigate a busy dangerous city center at unsociable hours and risk being assaulted on the way home after a shift. These scenarios are not hypothetical, they are the reality of working in the nightlife economy. This was the reality for one of our activists when finishing work in the city center earlier this year. When the last bus for the evening failed to show up she had to walk through the city center and was sexually assaulted in the street. This came after her employer refused to provide paid transport past the last bus. Incidents like these are avoidable and this is just one case of many.

By removing the Trade Union Act 2016, we begin the process to repeal anti-trade union laws that have been placed upon us by the Conservatives. The right to strike is just that; a right. Yet Conservative government after Conservative government has decided that we must jump over unnecessary hurdles to earn what is rightfully ours. We must take a stand against this injustice.

Trade unions estimate that this will result in over 400 job losses and essential public services will be severly impacted, if not lost altogether.

The heritage and wider cultural sector was hit very hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of jobs were lost as vital income streams dried up. As museums, galleries and other spaces have been able to reopen to the public and tourism has begun to recover there have been some green shoots of recovery. However this can only happen with both a safe workforce and visitors that feel confident about attending Covid-secure venues. This is being put at risk by the failure of the UK government to mandate the wearing of facemasks for visitors to indoor heritage venues in England. Although masks will only be one part of a comprehensive strategy to address the risks posed by Covid the World Health Organisations recommends them as an important part of this comprehensive approach.

At Christmas time, teachers should receive gratitude and thanks for their hard work. But this Christmas, Dundee City Council have threatened all secondary school teachers in the area with a disruptive restructure. The council is planning to bring together multiple, unrelated departments into "faculties". And they will remove vital Principal Teacher roles in departments, and replace them with "Faculty Heads". If the council’s plans go ahead, there will be fewer teachers in their already under-resourced schools and yet more disruption to students’ learning. That means a higher workload for teachers and less one-to-one time with students. All young people deserve access to quality teaching and learning. But it's clear that the changes will only cause more disruption to schools on top of the difficulties caused by the pandemic. And there is no evidence out there to suggest that the faculties model has any educational benefit. When the council should be supporting schools to recover from the pandemic, they are piling on new, unnecessary initiatives, and leaving teachers to pick up the pieces. The council is ignoring teachers’ voices and concerns, and attempting to implement this chaotic restructure from January 2022. We want Dundee City Council to withdraw the plans. Please add your name to support teachers in Dundee to #StopFaculties. This petition is just the beginning. Add your name and join the campaign.

Scaffolders employed by contractor Actavo (UK) Limited and working on the British Steel site in Scunthorpe are striking in a long running dispute over pay. Employers cannot be allowed to break national agreements and erode workers' pay for greater profits. We are prepared to fight tooth and nail to stop the race to the bottom. Can you show solidarity with striking workers and add your name to the petition?