Waltham Forest Trades Council congratulates the striking Unite bus
drivers who have won a major victory in securing air conditioning in
their cabs to control excessive heat and cold. They shouldn’t’ve had to
go on strike as this was an obvious, basic health and safety at work
requirement. Well done. Look out for more like this as climate change
really hits home.
As I write this piece, the Trades Council has just said its farewells to our late president, Tommy Anderson, at his well-attended funeral, and a tribute at the Waltham Forest Community Hub, one of the charities Tommy assisted. Most of the report was written before his sad passing in January 2025, but we felt that his role in the trade union movement should be marked in the annual report.
Tommy, a proud Glaswegian, spent most of his working life in London, working on refuse and street cleansing teams in a number of London boroughs. He joined the Transport & General Workers Union, one of Unite’s legacy unions, and was acquainted with Tommy Douras, who later became a T&G full-time officer.
He came to Waltham Forest around 2005, and joined the TGWU branch, having briefly been in the GMB. He became a shop steward on street cleansing, where most significantly, he led the famous protest against Single Status wage reductions.… Read on ...