Solidarity calls and emails for Office Angels dispute

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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 19 2011 16:56
Solidarity calls and emails for Office Angels dispute

Please forward/translate and distribute widely!

Solidarity Federation are organising a campaign against this agency after an ex-employee asked for our assistance. Dan worked for Office Angels for three days in December of last year. He was assured by the company that the lack of a time-sheet would 'not be a problem'. However, Office Angels are refusing to pay him the wages he is owed - falsely claiming he only worked for one day, despite them having called him at work on his third day. After completely ripping him off, they had the nerve to harass him for seeking advice on an internet discussion forum.

We are asking for our supporters and comrades across the globe to show solidarity with this campaign by phoning and emailing complaints on Wednesday 20th April to the branch that Dan was working for. The details are below:

Phone: 020 8542 6688 (international calls dial +4420 8542 6688)

Emails: wimbledon@office-angels.com

Temporary workers face similar unacceptable conditions every day. They work without sick pay or maternity leave, are vulnerable to unfair and instant dismissals and have no union support. Rising unemployment and a bleak economic climate will force even more of us to accept these precarious conditions - yet another example of working class people being exploited by an economic system that only benefits the rich.

The best way to improve our conditions at work and in our communities is by standing together and resisting. We want to hear from any current or previous Office Angels employees that have come into conflict with this company and its culture of disrespect. We know that this is not an isolated incident and the more people get involved, the more pressure we can put on the company to start treating its workers properly.

#2
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Chilli Sauce's picture
Chilli Sauce
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Apr 20 2011 00:36

Bump

#3
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 20 2011 07:58

Let's get started! grin

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Mike Harman
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Apr 20 2011 08:04

Is there a template for this?

Do we just call him 'Dan'?

#5
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 20 2011 08:24

Not yet, and yeah call him Dan.

#6
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 20 2011 08:37

If anyone wants to do a bit more, is in London and has some free time, there is a picket at noon outside the Office Angels at 25 Oxford Street.

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Chilli Sauce's picture
Chilli Sauce
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Apr 20 2011 10:09

Bump.

#8
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Nadia
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Apr 20 2011 10:54

thanks for the info, and next time please tell us in advance! smile

we've made a short article about the problem in Slovak (see here: http://www.priamaakcia.sk/Podpor-zamestnanca-v-boji-o-nevyplatenu-mzdu.html) and called on people to send e-mails.

Hopefully the picket will go well, in any case let us know afterwards. good luck!

#9
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T La Palli
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Apr 20 2011 11:32

I've called a few times. They are definitely getting cheesed-off with this. Give them a call if you can.

#10
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 20 2011 11:42
Xander wrote:
Jim Clarke wrote:
If anyone wants to do a bit more, is in London and has some free time, there is a picket at noon outside the Office Angels at 25 Oxford Street.

Until what time?

Probably a few more hours, will find out and let you know.

Cheers T! Hopefully we'll get a result, if we don't we've got a lot more planned. grin

(Reply to #9)
#11
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 20 2011 11:51

The picket will be on till 3, if anyone who's going down can take more leaflets that would be great!

#12
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Ed
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Apr 20 2011 14:14

Yo, so how's it going? Sent a shitload of emails, wish I could call but international rates are massive on a mobile.. sad

#13
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Mike Harman
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Apr 20 2011 15:24

Skype.

#14
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syndicalist
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Apr 20 2011 19:45
Quote:
From: wsany [AT ] hotmail.com
To: wimbledon@office-angels.com
Subject: We support Office Angels workers!
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:44:00 +0000

Dear Office Angels,

The North American Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA) stands in support of Dan and all Office Angels workers in their effort to gain better conditions of employment.

Very truly yours,
Mike Harris
W.S.A. Corresponding Secretary

W.S.A.
339 Lafayette Street-Room 202
New York, NY 10012, USA

#15
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Between Your Teeth
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Apr 20 2011 21:30

hey solfed! you might want to flag up your own leaflet:

http://www.solfed.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/officedevilsv2.pdf

any response from office angels yet? if this needs to be escalated then i know Bristol IWW and Nottingham AF are looking to get involved. Co-ordinated day of action?

#16
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thegonzokid's picture
thegonzokid
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Apr 20 2011 22:16

Sent a few emails this morning from different accounts. Best of luck and solidarity!

#17
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Chilli Sauce's picture
Chilli Sauce
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Apr 20 2011 22:57

Picket went great! Dan had contact from Office Angels (before the picket even began!) where they said they were "definitely" going to pay him. However, the money's not in the account yet, so the pressure will be kept up until we get a result.

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Joseph Kay
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Apr 21 2011 01:44
Between Your Teeth wrote:
any response from office angels yet? if this needs to be escalated then i know Bristol IWW and Nottingham AF are looking to get involved. Co-ordinated day of action?

sounds like we may have a victory, but if not i'd imagine solidarity and a co-ordinated campaign are on the cards. even if we win, it might be worth considering an informational campaign, as this is unlikely to be an isolated incident.

(Reply to #16)
#19
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MT
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Apr 21 2011 08:25

great to hear that! OA have been receiving e-mails from the form Priama akcia prepared http://www.priamaakcia.sk/index.php?action=soliMail&soliMail_id=16 (anyone can use it anywhere in the world, you can switch between 4 languages) since yesterday noon. until SF say to deactivate it, anyone can keep sending!

oh, and really, next time at least 48 hours notice, less than 24 is a killer;)

#20
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Steven.
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Apr 21 2011 08:57

Yeah, hope this works out, nice one everyone

#21
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 24 2011 19:05

Thank you ever so much for the support! It sounds like the calls and emails everyone sent in caused a great deal of nuisance. Thanks for building the e-mailing tool Nadia & MT, sorry about the notice we've been a little over-stretched recently, in future we will make sure there is a lot more notice!

It looks like Office Angels are still trying to delay payment so we will continue the campaign and have requested support from the IWA. We're hoping to get an update out on the website soon. In the meantime here are some photos of our pickets:

First, Wimbledon

Second, Oxford Street

Third, Oxford Street

#22
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Jim Clarke's picture
Jim Clarke
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Apr 24 2011 19:14

Here's a photo of the fourth in Leeds yesterday. Report here.

As we've made a request for international support and we've had a picket outside London now would make sense to start pickets across the country.

#23
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Matt_efc
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Apr 24 2011 21:00

I know theres an office angels in Manchester, and I've been meaning to contact manchester SF for a while. Are there any members on here?

#24
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Yorkie Bar
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Apr 25 2011 06:43
Quote:
Here's a photo of the fourth in Leeds yesterday.

Big up the Leeds!

We're reprinting the appeal/leaflet in May's Resistance by the way. Is there a contact email or anything for other people who've got grievances to get in touch, or should we say to use the contact form on the solfed site?

#25
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fingers malone's picture
fingers malone
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Apr 25 2011 09:12

Any more pickets planned in London soon?

#26
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MT
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Apr 25 2011 09:19

It is interesting how many people here are able to talk day and night but basically no-one reacts to calls for solidarity. I may be wrong that people use their own emails instead of pre-prepared e-mail forms, but I can't escape the impression that libcom is in fact hardly a place to get people to action, even if it as simple as few clicks. Honestly, how many of you have supported campaigns against OTTO agency, Office Angels or USI-Rome? No need to answer here, it is rather a rhetorical question.

Or is it about "a protest e-mail or fax makes no sense" attitude? If so, it would be fine to split this debate later. If it is not, then I really don't understand why there is such a low/zero response from libcomers.

#27
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Sir Arthur Stre...
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Apr 25 2011 10:12

MT, how do you know how many of us sent an email or phone call?

I sent 5 emails btw, i would have phoned but didn't see the call out till late.

#28
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MT
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Apr 25 2011 10:20

As I said "I may be wrong that people use their own emails instead of pre-prepared e-mail forms". Obviously, I judge based upon the e-mail forms which are made to make things easier. But if people prefer sending protest e-mails from their own accounts I only can say - perfect!wink

#29
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Mike Harman
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Apr 25 2011 11:18

I sent two e-mails from my own account and made one phone call (although the phone rang off).

Quote:
Or is it about "a protest e-mail or fax makes no sense" attitude?

I do have this attitude for some things but it depends what it is - in this case I can't imagine it will take that much pressure to get Dan's wages paid, and the e-mail/phone/fax was combined with a physical picket.

#30
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MT
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Apr 25 2011 11:45

one note: my point was wider and related to OTTO and USI cases which are international. I feel the concrete international solidarity (not writing articles...) is very lacking on libcom and I think I am not the only one who has noticed this (perhaps because I am not from US or UK). although there is a lot of info on international matters, when it comes to showing a small act of solidarity... well...

#31
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Yorkie Bar
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Apr 25 2011 11:55
Quote:
is it about "a protest e-mail or fax makes no sense" attitude?

I got the impression that the aim here was to put pressure on them by harassing them with constant calls/emails rather than the principle that if enough people voice their support they are actually going to be won over. It's not really the same as, say, getting everyone to write to David Cameron and hoping he heeds the voice of the people a la 38 degrees.