Seagull Weekly Briefing 30/08

Good morning, and welcome to the Brighton Seagull's Weekly Briefing. It's been a few weeks since we've brought you the news but in that short time we've lost nearly an hour and a half of daylight. Autumn is on the way, bring on the cooler days and beautiful leaves!

Union launch legal battle against council over sex discrimination and equal pay

GMB union members have lodged 400 legal claims against the council around equal pay.

The claims, which are estimated to be worth tens of millions of pounds, centre around sex discrimination over the pay of members in roles predominantly occupied by women.

These are expected to be the start of more to come: Lib Whitfield, GMB senior organiser, said that 'more claims will follow as more and more people join the campaign'.

Lib Whitfield continued:

This sex discrimination in how the council pays its staff is serious, systemic and long-running.

GMB members are leading the way in this battle against discrimination by Brighton and Hove City Council.

GMB expects our members, who are predominantly low paid women, will win the money they are owed after years of unfair and unequal pay.

GMB is collating the next tranche of legal claims now, which will be submitted over the coming weeks.

GMB say they approached the council for a meeting to discuss equal pay issues, but the council have yet to agree to a meeting.

Jess Gibbons, the council's chief executive, said that 'genuine equal pay claims' will be addressed. She said:

We have always tried to retain positive working relations with both UNISON and GMB and to act promptly on any information provided to us by them.

It is important to point out we have made multiple requests to GMB for information relating to the equal pay claims they are making which have been outlined in the media today. The council has not received any details from GMB.

If there are issues that need to be addressed we would work with both trade unions and apply the resolution to any affected staff member in either UNISON or GMB, or staff who are not members of either union.

ACORN give council petition to stop using bailiffs

ACORN Brighton delivered a boot to Hove Town Hall yesterday (it's symbolic, they want to give bailiffs the boot), along with a petition of hundreds of signatures, demanding the council stop using bailiffs for council tax collection.

The community union is asking that the council instead focus on fair repayment plans and an ethical debt collection policy.

According to ACORN, research has found more than one in three people who have come into contact with bailiffs have reported rule breaking such as:

• Breaking into properties
• Intimidation
• Lying about powers
• Taking items needed for medical care or work.

They also shared that a recent FOI request found that, in 2022, the council only set up 680 repayment plans for council tax debt, while bailiffs were used nearly 3,000 times.

Poppy, the chair of ACORN Brighton said:

Bailiffs are brutal and unnecessary. These bullies traumatise our communities and leave people afraid of every knock on the door.

The council needs to boot bailiffs out of our city for good!

🖋 News in Brief 🖋

• Congratulations to everyone who's received their GCSE and A-level results this month! GCSE results have shown an increase on last year’s figures, achieving grades above pre-pandemic results of 2019 for the second year in a row. A-level results show students have outperformed the national average—they have been on or above the national average for the last 11 years.
• Twelve Pay & Display machines will return to the city on a three month trial basis. They'll be available for contactless payments in Rottingdean, Grand Avenue, King Alfred Leisure Centre, Kingsway, Marine Parade, Madeira Drive, Norton Road, and Spring Gardens. Pay by phone is still possible too.
• The 17 bus to Horsham now runs on Sundays again!
• Councillor fashion watch: councillor Leslie Pumm was spotted walking near Palmeira Square. Eyewitnesses say he 'looked grumpy but had a nice orange t-shirt'. Think you have a better fashion spot for us? Email and let us know!

What's happening? An open letter has been written to The Cowley Club, an anarchist social space on London Road.

Who has written it? It's been written by a group going by Concerned Cowley, who say they 'have organised in the Cowley for years, making long-term improvements to the space such as replacing the boiler and managing 2019’s crowdfunded repairs'.

What does it say? The letter, which was co-written by 16 members and users of the space, have raised concerns about racism, transphobia, queerphobia, ableism and classism, which they say 'have all been repeatedly witnessed within the monthly general meetings and during events held in the space'.

How far back do the concerns go? The open letter links to a statement written in March 2016, which says 'no one here is in charge so no one is accountable'. It says:

You cannot topple capitalism without simultaneously decolonising, tackling racism, anti blackness, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, transphobia etc and all their branches and crossovers.

Over and again people of colour in particular try to get involved or air their concerns and are ridiculed, silenced and excluded. Over and over the place says it wants to learn but isn't willing to listen if that means actually making changes.

Who has signed the open letter? Signatories include Cowley Club members, former volunteers, former committee members, Brighton Zine Network, DIY Kodak Collective, and members of groups that run out of the space.

What resolution do the signatories want? They've said, amongst other things, that the admin group should regularly rotate 'to stop hierarchy from forming', there should be no ‘managerial positions’ and that general meetings should have decision making by consensus.

What have The Cowley Club said? In a statement on Instagram written by the Cowley Club Ents Collective, they said:

As a starting point, we want to be clear that we feel there is no space for any oppression—whether it be racism, transphobia, ableism, speciesism, classism or misogyny—at the Cowley Club.

We appreciate that despite our efforts, people still feel unwelcome at the Cowley. We have created a new email address (feedback@cowley.club) for feedback.

We want to be accountable where there are complaints and we want to be open to community feedback. In order to understand what has happened and to change it we need to know about specific incidents or behaviours.

If you value having an anarchist, co-operative space in Brighton, the number one way to improve it is to get involved!

How can I get involved? Consider signing the open letter, email Concerned Cowley with any questions.