Action 4 Equality Scotland

Friday, 19 April 2019

PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party

As explained in previous blog posts (see below) tickets for 'PayFest 2019' go on sale on Monday morning 22nd April 2019 on the following basis.

Tickets will go on sale online on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 April 2019 - and will be restricted to Claimants in the first instance
Tickets will be sold on a 'first come first served' basis and Claimants can order as many as they like, so long as they are for other colleagues and co-workers.
Each ticket purchased will need to be accompanied by a National Insurance number to ensure that they are being allocated to a Glasgow Claimant from A4ES, GMB, Unison or Unite.
Details of the online internet address will be shared in the run-up to 22 and 23 April - there will also be an A4ES helpline number to talk Claimants through any problems.
If any remain unsold by 5pm on Tuesday 23 April, these tickets will become available for Claimants' family members or friends to purchase.
The cost of tickets is £10 but the proceeds (@ £10,000) will be going towards the acquisition of a fitting and lasting tribute to the Claimants and their long fight for equal pay with Glasgow City Council

Here is the online address for Glasgow Claimants:

https://www.a4es.co.uk

The online address leads to a drop down menu which asks the following questions:

1) Number of tickets required - then click ‘GO’

2) National Insurance number (No Spaces) - then click ‘SUBMIT’

3) Your email address and delivery address with post code - then click ‘SUBMIT’

4) Payment details - the final step in the process is to pay via PayPal, debit card or credit card. When you click ‘BUY NOW’ you will be prompted for your card details or PayPal password. If you do not have or want a PayPal account, just click ‘No Thanks’ and proceed to Pay Now.

People will receive a receipt confirming payment, but tickets will not be sent out until nearer the time to avoid a clash with equal pay settlement letters which are due to be dispatched weekend of 11 May 2019.

An A4ES Helpline number is available - 0131 659 9958 - if anyone has difficulty with the online booking process.

PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party

'Be there or be square' is Stefan's message for PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's big equal pay party.

The ticketing arrangements are explained in the post below and more details will follow later this week.

ROLL UP - GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE PARTY

CLAIMANTS ONLY FIRST 48 HOURS FROM 22ND APRIL

Full details below

Stefan

PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party (15/04/19)

After considering all the options, the ticketing arrangements for PayFest 2019, Glasgow's big equal pay party, have been agreed as follows.

Tickets will go on sale online on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 April 2019 - and will be restricted to Claimants in the first instance

Tickets will be sold on a 'first come first served' basis and Claimants can order as many as they like, so long as they are for other colleagues and co-workers.

Each ticket purchased will need to be accompanied by a National Insurance number to ensure that they are being allocated to a Glasgow Claimant from A4ES, GMB, Unison or Unite.

Details of the online internet address will be shared in the run-up to 22 and 23 April - there will also be an A4ES helpline number to talk Claimants through any problems.

If any remain unsold by 5pm on Tuesday 23 April, these tickets will be become available for Claimants' family members of friends to purchase.

The cost of tickets is £10 but the proceeds (@ £10,000) will be going towards the acquisition of a fitting and lasting tribute to the Claimants and their long fight for equal pay with Glasgow City Council

The online address and helpline number will be published next week, but will not go 'live' until 10am on Monday 23rd April 2019.

PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party (08/04/19)

So here's the latest news about Glasgow's big equal pay party - PayFest 2019.

The live band performing on Saturday 6th July 2019 will be the sing along sensation 'Massaoke' who have played everywhere from the Glastonbury Festival to the Edinburgh Fringe - to Glasgow's George Square.

Massaoke play some of the best-known singalong anthems of all time and the words of their songs are projected onto a giant on-stage screen, so that audiences can join in the fun by dancing and singing their heads off.

More details on PayFest 2019 to follow soon including details of ticket sales - so watch this space.

PayFest 2019 - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party (03/04/19)

So the good news is that the tickets for 'PayFest 2019' - Glasgow's big equal pay party - have now arrived.

The plan is to sell 1,000 tickets at a cost of £10 each, but all the proceeds from ticket sales (@£10,000) will goes towards acquiring a fitting and lasting tribute to the Claimants and their long fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.

Action 4 Equality Scotland is meeting all the costs of PayFest 2019 which include the hire of The Barrowlands and all the other costs of what should be a fantastic, fun-filled evening on Saturday 6 July 2019.

Tickets will go on sale in April sometime (via A4ES) so that we can ensure tickets go directly to the Glasgow Claimants instead of being put on general release.

More details will follow soon.

Glasgow 'PayFest' - Playlist (15/03/19)

I get enquiries every day about the arrangements for 'PayFest' - Glasgow's big equal pay party which is taking place at The Barrowlands on Saturday 6 July 2019.

Now this is a complicated business to organise, as everyone can well imagine, and as soon as I can share information on the blog I will do so.

In the meantime, let's have some suggestions for the PayFest playlist and here's great track from a Glasgow gal to get the evening going - 'Shout' by Lulu.

PayFest 2019 (26/02/19)

The arrangements for 'PayFest 2019' are still at the early planning stage, but the evening will be a celebration and a big 'Thank You' to Glasgow Claimants for their support and hard work during the long fight for equal pay.

Tickets for the event will go on sale at an affordable price and all the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards creating a suitable and lasting tribute to Glasgow's historic equal pay dispute.

Lots of people have already been in touch with their ideas and suggestions - more details will follow soon.

Glasgow 'PayFest' - Playlist (14/03/19)

I get enquiries every day about the arrangements for 'PayFest' - Glasgow's big equal pay party which is taking place at The Barrowlands on Saturday 6 July 2019.

Now this is a complicated business to organise, as everyone can well imagine, and as soon as I can share information on the blog I will do so.

In the meantime, let's have some suggestions for the PayFest playlist and here's one of my favourite tracks of all time - 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper.

PayFest 2019 (26/02/19)

Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party - PayFest 2019! (20/02/19)

First we had 'MayFest' then we had 'GayFest', but this summer we're going to have a real ball at 'PayFest 2019' - Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party.

Date - Saturday 06 July 2019

Time - 7.30 pm to 12 midnight

Venue - The Barrowlands, 244 Gallowgate, Glasgow, G4 0TT

Be there or be square - more details to follow, so watch this space!

Glasgow's Big Equal Pay Party - PayFest 2019! (20/02/19)

Credit Where Credit's Due

I was pleased to see that Nicola Sturgeon paid tribute to Glasgow's equal pay claimants at this year's Scottish TUC in Dundee.

But it's almost as if the politicians can't bring themselves to recognise the role played by Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) in the long fight for equal pay - or the contribution of the GMB and Unison during Glasgow's historic strike in support equal pay in October 2018.

https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17579834.nicola-sturgeon-pays-tribute-to-glasgows-equal-pay-women/?

Nicola Sturgeon pays tribute to Glasgow's equal pay women

By Maxine McArthur @MaxineMcArthur - Evening Times

Nicola Sturgeon pays tribute to Glasgow women who fought for equal pay

NICOLA Sturgeon has paid tribute to the women of Glasgow who fought for equal pay.

Speaking at the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the First Minister praised Glasgow City Council workers who stood up against gender inequality and won their case earlier this year.

She said: "I want to pay tribute to the courage, determination and persistence of women council workers in my home city of Glasgow.

"I'm delighted their cases have now been settled. They exemplify the fact that if you organise against injustice, you can win.

A4ES - Checking Your Details

In recent days there have been lots of enquiries to the A4ES office about the status of people's equal pay claims in Glasgow.

A4ES claimants can actually check these details themselves online and if anything needs updating, for example a change of address, this can be done on line as well.

The A4ES web site can be found at: www.a4es.co.uk

The procedure for A4ES clients to access the records system is explained below, but there is no need for anyone to contact the Glasgow Employment Tribunal office.

If any claimants have particular concerns, the best way to raise a query is by email to the A4ES office at:enquiries@action4equality.co.uk

A4ES - Checking Your Details

Lots of readers from Glasgow have been in touch recently to check on the status of their equal pay claims with Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) and/or to update their personal details on the A4ES records system.

You can now check things for yourself and update your personal details, as necessary, via the following link to the A4ES web site: www.a4es.co.uk

Click the button on the Home page. You will be prompted to enter your National insurance Number (NI No:) and Password (Please note that neither your NI No: or Password can include any spaces, in addition you Password is case sensitive so you will need to enter the correct capital and lower case letters.

If you do not know your password you can click the Forgotten Password link, this will prompt you for your NI No: Complete this field and select the Reset Password Button. You will then be sent an email with your password to the email address we have on record for you. (Please make sure to check your junk or spam emails if you have not received the email)

If your personal records need updating, you can either send us an email to: enquiries@action4equality.co.uk or you can select the edit button and advise of the amendments you wish to make.

Wingnuts Over Scotland - 'The Biter Bit'

Scotland's 'cybernuts' have been venting their spleen on social media since hearing that Stuart Campbell lost his defamation case against Kezia Dugdale, the Lothians MSP and former leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

The bottom line is that the judge was not impressed by the 'Wingnut-in-chief's' case and in Paragraph 97 of a lengthy written decision he rejected that the argument that 'Wee Stu' had been caused any real distress:

"Paragraph 97

When it comes to valuation of Mr Campbell's distress, I do not accept that he can hold others to a higher standard of respect than he is willing himself to adopt. He has chosen insult and condemnation as his style. He has received this in return. To use Mr Dunlop's analogy, having entered the political arena with a quiver of poisoned arrows, to receive an arrow in return might be seen as no more than collateral damage, not an unjust wound. I do not accept that he can dismiss the feelings of his opponents cheaply, but receive a high valuation of his own."

Well said, Sheriff Ross - a case of 'the biter bit' if you ask me.

Wingnuts Over Scotland (01/08/17)

I enjoyed this article by Angela Haggerty in The Herald which highlights a potential court case, a defamation action, involving the Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and the chap who runs the 'Wingnuts Over Scotland' web site, Stuart Campbell.

Now I don't know 'Wee Stu', never met the man and I'm blocked from his Twitter account; nor can I tell you if there's an agreed definition of what constitutes homophobic behaviour these days.

But if it 'walks like a duck and quacks like a duck', personal experience has always taught me to use my own judgment.

In fact, I wrote about Mr Campbell's ugly attack on David Mundell at the time which was very ill-judged if you ask me, because it focused on the man's sexuality rather than his politics.

As I shared my thoughts on my blog I asked myself the following question: "What kind of person thinks it's OK to speak in this vile manner, what's wrong with the man?"

Many years ago an old friend of mine responded to a persistent heckler at a trade union conference with the immortal words: "The more I hear from you, the more I believe in birth control" - which was genuinely funny because it was not about the heckler's sexuality or the sexuality of the heckler's dad.

The same cannot be said, I'm afraid, of Mr Campbell's ill-fated attempt at 'humour' at the expense of David Mundell.

And what's not clear to me is why 'Wee Stu' is suing Labour's Kezia Dugdale, but not the cabinet minister David Mundell or his son Oliver who also appear to have condemned the nasty little tweet as 'homophobic', according to the Daily Record and Sunday Mail.

The thing about 'jokes' is they are supposed to be funny, but who knows how this decidedly unfunny episode will end up or who will have the last laugh via the courts.

I doubt it will be the independence movement though because as someone who voted Yes in 2014, I have to say that I think the bullying language of the 'Wingnut-in-chief' is way, way over the top.

If you ask me, he must be a terribly arrogant, self-righteous individual if he thinks this business is worthy of a court case.

Yet, the biggest laugh of all lies in the fact that the 'gobby' Mr Campbell appears not to have the courage of his own convictions because he's asking other people to pay his legal costs.

Now that is hilarious.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15442390.Angela_Haggerty__Is_court_action_the_best_way_to_challenge_views_we_disagree_with_/

Angela Haggerty: Is court action the best way to challenge views we disagree with?

By Angela Haggerty - The Sunday Herald

Angela Haggerty: Is court action the best way to challenge views we disagree with?

DEFAMATION cases can backfire spectacularly. We need only look at the Tommy Sheridan case. After Sheridan successfully sued the News of the World over allegations about his sex life, he was then convicted of perjury. The bitter back and forth between Sheridan and his former colleagues in the Scottish Socialist Party dragged his reputation through the mud, and halted what may otherwise have been an enduring ascendency for the party.

Today, a new defamation case is on the horizon. Pro-independence blogger Stuart Campbell, who operates the Wings Over Scotland website, is suing Scottish Labour leader, unionist and gay woman Kezia Dugdale for damages of £25,000 after she accused him of making homophobic remarks.

At the centre of the case is a Wings Over Scotland tweet aimed at Oliver Mundell, son of gay Scotland Secretary David Mundell, which read: “Oliver Mundell is the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner.”

Wingnuts Over Scotland (05/03/17)

Scotland's angriest 'Wingnut' is making the news headlines again after a particularly ugly Tweet at the expense of a gay cabinet minister, David Mundell.

The Sunday Mail reports that Stuart Campbell tried to laugh his remarks off by saying they were 'Toryphobic' which is nonsense, of course, because his comment was directed at the man's sexuality not his politics.

If you ask me, Campbell is to civic nationalism what Bernard Manning was to stand-up comedy - joyous he ain't.

Read the full report below in the link to The Daily Record/Sunday Mail.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/david-mundell-slams-indy-blogger-9963256

David Mundell slams Indy blogger Wings Over Scotland for 'homophobic' Tweet

Tory MSP Oliver Mundell, son of the openly gay cabinet secretary, also condemned the 'absolutely disgusting' comment.

BY KATRINE BUSSEY - The Sunday Mail/Daily Record

Scottish Secretary David Mundell has blasted the tweet (Photo: Getty)

The Scottish Secretary and his Tory MSP son have blasted a "homophobic" tweet from controversial pro-independence blogger Wings Over Scotland.

When Oliver, the MSP for Dumfriesshire, addressed the Tory conference on Friday, the blog tweeted: "Oliver Mundell is the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner."

David Mundell became the first openly gay Conservative Cabinet secretary when he came out in January 2015.

The Scottish Secretary reacted to the comment, saying: "This sort of behaviour has to be called out. We're not going to face down homophobia unless we call out people who practice it."

His son, who was elected to the Scottish Parliament last May, branded the Wings Over Scotland comment "absolutely disgusting and unacceptable".

But the blogger later insisted that the tweet was "Toryphobic" rather than homophobic.

The Conservative MP also reacted on Twitter, saying: "@NicolaSturgeon asks 'What kind of country do we want to live in?' My answer: not one where homophobia is acceptable."

Wings Over Scotland is run by Stuart Campbell

'WIngnuts' Over Scotland (30/04/16)

I see that 'Wingnuts' Over Scotland's been in the news again with both The Herald and Daily Record reporting on the oafish antics of the angry wee Wingnut-in-chief, the not very reverend Stuart Campbell.

The Herald

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14456179.Anger_as_pro_independence_blogger_blames_Liverpool_fans_for_Hillsborough_disaster/?ref=ar

Anger as pro-independence blogger blames Liverpool fans for Hillsborough disaster

By Brian McLaughlin - The Herald

A PROMINENT blogger has come under fire for blaming Liverpool fans for the Hillsborough disaster despite an inquest vindicating them.

Stuart Campbell, the popular blogger who runs the pro-Independence website Wings over Scotland, faced demands to apologise after he stood by his views that Liverpool supporters were partly to blame for the 1989 tragedy.

On Tuesday, jurors in the Hillsborough inquest concluded that the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the disaster were unlawfully killed.

The Daily Record

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/wings-over-scotland-blogger-slammed-7845782#ilw2pWad1fMLrdWe.97

Wings Over Scotland blogger slammed for blaming Liverpool fans for Hillsborough tragedy

BY RECORD REPORTER

PRO-INDEPENDENCE writer Stuart Campbell refuses to backtrack on his twisted claims view despite a court ruling the supporters were blameless and were unlawfully killed.

Wings Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell blames Liverpool fans for Hillsborough tragedy

A CONTROVERSIAL pro-independence blogger came under fire yesterday over comments made about the disaster.

Stuart Campbell, who runs Wings Over Scotland, was previously criticised for claiming Liverpool fanswere partly at fault over the deaths of the victims.

In 2012, the blogger insisted that “every single solitary person who died at Hillsborough was killed by Liverpool fans”.

But when asked on Twitter about the verdict yesterday, he said: “My thoughts are that anyone trolling for a reaction on it can go and get f***ed.”

Asked if his views had changed since 2012, he said: “No” and vowed to block those “trolling” him.

'Wingnuts' Over Scotland (14/03/16)

I learned the other day that I have been blocked from the Twitter feed of 'Wings Over Scotland' which I take as something of a backhanded compliment, I have to say.

Because this blocking business arose after I criticised as 'juvenile and sexist' an image that was being promoted by 'Wings' (and some his online chums) to mock and ridicule JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books.

Now the chap behind 'Wings' goes by the name of Rev Stuart Campbell who is not a real reverend, by the way, and lives in middle-England despite being a fervent Scottish nationalist.

But the Rev had the brass neck to say that I 'disrespected' him (as if he was deserving of my respect in the first place) during our Twitter exchange which focused on whether the image was crude and stereotypical.

Needless to say Wings and his Twitter pals thought differently, like naughty schoolboys at the back of the class with their name calling and personal abuse, although I could well imagine the uproar if Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had been portrayed in a similarly unpleasant light.

If you ask me, the Rev must suffer from 'wee man' syndrome which is familiar to folk in the west of Scotland; the symptoms normally affect vertically challenged males who are highly sensitive to criticism or ridicule while being in a permanently 'gobby' and angry state themselves.

In other words, they love to dish it out but they don't like it one little bit if others stand up to their boorish male behaviour.

From my short exposure to these Twitter loons I would rebrand them as 'Wingnuts' Over Scotland because their intolerant and oafish behaviour is a poor advert for Scottish independence which is presumably why Yes Scotland decided to disown Wings during the 2014 referendum campaign.

Or as Frankie Boyle remarked on Twitter recently:

"Can't help feeling that this persuading people to vote for Independence by telling them to go fuck themselves tactic has a few flaws."

Now that is funny, thoughtful and perceptive, and so much more important, politically speaking, than the angry, finger-jabbing invective that is often found on Twitter.