I have known Jamie since he was a young activist in UNISON and lately, as a member of UNISON National Labour Link Committee, I have appreciated his officer support to us and also his enormous everyday cheerfulness and enthusiasm.
UNISON's loss is the Labour Party's gain.
I have no doubt he will be doing more than his bit as a Labour staffer to win the next general election.
It was great to see our former General Secretary, Dave Prentis here to thank and wish Jamie farewell.
She was one of the leaders of the successful strike over fines and working conditions in 1888 at the Bryant & May Match factory in Bow.
"Chapman and others involved in the strike have since been recognised as "pioneers of sex equality and fairness at work who left a lasting legacy on the trade union movement".[4]
It was great to meet in person and speak at long last to Sarah's great granddaughter, Sam Johnson and her husband Graham, who together with over relatives, supporters and local residents have formed the Charity "The Matchmaker Memorial". The Tower Hamlets Mayor, Lufter Rahman attended as did local Councillor, Asma Begum.
Sarah is buried in a privately owned cemetery in Manor Park Newham and I was able to speak to residents who had also come to support the campaign.
After some words of welcome and explanation by Sam we were treated to some songs by a wonderful singer (whose name I sadly missed) dressed in period costume. I particularly enjoyed :-
"The Matchgirls' Song"
We'll hang old Bryant on a sour apple tree...(see full wording in photo)
(to the tune of "John Brown's Body").
By coincidence, many years ago I used to occasionally work in the old Housing office (Lanfranc) that used to be on this site.
I shall look forward to the memorial headstone to Sarah being laid in the Manor Park cemetery as soon as is possible.
Yesterday morning I went to a consultation on a proposed LTN in my ward then taking advantage of a better weather forecast for Saturday compared to Sunday travelled with Gill by TFL trains to Rickmansworth. This circular 6.2 mile walk is listed in the book "More Great Chiltern Walks".
It was an amazing walk and I was astonished at the size and number of the lakes (former gravel pits). We had lunch first at the Park cafe then started the walk around Bury Lake but found recent heavy rain had meant that many footpaths were closed or impassable due to flooding. We both had gaters above our boots but this was serious "welly" territory and we had to alter our course. We had to go along the south side of Stockers Lake (a wonderful nature reserve - see main picture) rather than the north.
We passed a sign indicating that a camera had been placed overlooking a Gray Heron nest and you could check out the progress of the nesting and next month hopefully see the chicks. At the moment you can only see the parents taking turns to sitting and incubating the 3 eggs that have been laid. Check out https://www.fosl.org.uk/n for the live feed.
We kept being warned by walkers coming from the opposite direction that the path ahead was impassable without Wellies. We chanced our arm but found it was too deep to keep going. However, some local children living on boats moored at the nearby Grand Union Canal had built a bridge (of sorts) which we were able to cross and continue the walk along the canal.
We walked along the canal for a while then left it near a World War 2 Pill box and tried to walk around Springwell Lake. We got most of the way around but had to retreat when we found the path totally submerged. Time was now pressing so we took the short route back along the canal into park. We will come back another day to finish it (when it is not so wet!) but it was still a lovely walk and well recommended.
Stopped off at the Rickmansworth Spoons for a quick pint of Doombar then train back (about 1 hour 30 mins). More photos on walks around London Facebook page.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO FACE THE MUSIC ON YOUR OWN! Join UNISON, and we'll all be singing from the same hymn sheet".
https://join.unison.org.uk/
(#1 Normally, nor for any issue that began before this date as well - I use to work as a barman in a dodgy nightclub in Edinburgh many,many years ago and the DJ used to play this song every night as the last track)
Good luck to the many Labour candidates there who are standing for the GLA or winnable Parliament seats.
It took us about 1 hour to get to Grove Park (bus to Stratford since Lizzie line down, change Jubilee to London Bridge then over head to Grove Park). Route is 7.7 miles with extra 0.5 miles from station to start.
The walk was mostly going through London suburbia but there were a number of parks and greenways. Highlight was Beckenham Place Park which had ancient forests and trails, wide open spaces and is a wonderful green lung for London. I enjoyed there a tasty (but somewhat pricey) egg, bacon and tomato roll with coffee.
The weather was quite warm for the time of year (quite a few people in shorts and even tee-shirts) but it was overcast and we were lucky it didn't rain. The early spring blossom and flowers were marvellous and a reminder of the good things to come.
It is a fairly long section of the ring walk but mostly flat with some up and downs. Lots of noisy Ring-necked Parakeets and squabbling grey squirrels.
In another park Gill chatted to a family about their naughty dog, which refused to respond to their repeated calls to return to them, instead enjoying drinking out of a very muddy puddle. She afterwards recognised him as the actor, Paul Ready, from the sitcom "Motherland" (Kevin).
At the end of the walk in the historic Crystal Palace, the kids seem to enjoy the victorian statues of dinosaurs. Despite being on the "at risk" register of English Heritage they seemed to be in fairly good condition considering they are around 170 years old.
The walk finished at the station and we took a similar trip back and are looking forward to our next leg, Crystal Palace to Streatham.
I also had a rather depressing experience today at a trade union meeting, where the ultra left spent all their time slagging off Labour and not the Tories. They obviously want another 5 years (and longer) of Tory rule, since they believe it will bring about "the revolution". Yeah.
Labour is not perfect and I have never personally agreed with every one of their policies or statements. But the choice (in the main UK elections) is really about either the Tories or Labour. Full Stop.
The Ultra left would rather have the Tories in power than Labour to keep themselves "ideologically pure". They do not give a damn about working class people.
I am off with "West Hammers on Tour" tomorrow to support the Labour Candidate for Wellingborough, Gen Kitchen. Fingers crossed.
Picture is of the UNISON team that took legal action in 2017 which resulted in fees being quashed since they were found to prevent access to justice and discriminative. Hopefully these fees can be stopped as well.
There was a number of workshops, formal speeches and panel debates. It was informative and interesting. A great but rarely found combination in municipal politics!
Powerful speech by our deputy Labour Party leader, Angela Rayner, stressing that Labour will fund councils on the need of its residents not on the politics of its governing party. Unlike this Tory Government.
Former Council leader and now MP Jim McMahon pointed out that local government had lost 900,000 workers since 2010 due to cuts but central government had gained 900,000 workers. A massive centralisation of power and resources.
I asked a question of Shadow Social Care Minister, Andrew Gwynne about the role of local government in the future "fair pay" (sectorial bargaining) of the care sector by the Labour "New Deal for Working Families". All of the panel made reference to the importance of making sure that care workers get decent pay and conditions. Andrew made it clear that while "New Deal" was not part of his portfolio (I should have asked Angie) he is sure that local government will play an important role. Which makes sense to me.It was also an opportunity this weekend to share with the many unison members presence an early celebration of "Love Unions" week (starts tomorrow 12 Feb)
Mo asks why is local governemt beong treated so differently from other public service?
Central government does not have to balance its books every single year? Why can't budgets be managed and spread over the medium term?
There are lots of good questions, answers, ideas and comments. Looking forward to rest of conference.
Thank you to our keynote speakers, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting MP and Richard Angell, Terrence Higgins Trust for their superb speeches.
I gave the AGM finance report and as a Housing Associations Delegate moved our motion on "Peace and Justice for Palestine" which was overwhelmingly passed despite a couple of speaker who sadly wanted to attack the Labour Party more than the Israeli government.
"This course provides a basic knowledge to union reps around pensions.
Thu, 27 Jun 2024 09:30 - Thu, 11 Jul 2024 16:30 BST
The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, Tottenham Centre
High Road London N15 4RU
Pensions are an important trade union issue. The trade union movement has consistently argued that pensions should be equitable, fair, and provide a decent living standard in retirement. Over the past 10 years the landscape of pensions has brought many changes. This course cuts across of that to provide a basic knowledge to union reps to know what these changes are and the impact on them and their members. It is also an opportunity to think about how to organise in our workplaces around this issue.
How long is the course?
This course will be delivered over 3 Thursdays in a classroom.
How much is the course?
There are no course fees for union reps from TUC affiliated unions.
PLEASE NOTE: This course is for residents of England only. This course will be delivered by The College of Haringey, Enfield and NE London. Please be aware that funding restrictions in some areas may mean that a college cannot accept your application: if this is the case you will be notified which college to reapply to.
Please be aware, applications will cease to be available 2 weeks before the scheduled start date. If you wish to apply after this date, please contact jonathan.jeffries@conel.ac.uk.
*Please ensure that you have time off to attend this course and that you have notified the appropriate union branch official or officer that you intend to take the course.Over
See further details here but giving working people legal rights from day one of employment, getting rid of fire and rehire, sectorial pay bargaining as well as ending compulsory zero hour contracts is going to make a huge positive difference to so many workers and their families.
I have know Rachel for a number of years (and worked with her in the Labour Housing Group) and she will make a great MP.
The canvass went well but it was difficult to speak to people since there was many private flats that we could not get into and many properties appeared to be unoccupied. However, I spoke to one resident who was voting Labour for the first time ("90% likely") and wanted to get rid of this current government as soon as is possible.
The many "London Mews" we visited were amazing but I hate to think how much they would cost to live in. Despite the obvious wealth in this part of Westminster there is huge poverty and deprivation in other areas. More reasons why we need a Labour Government.
Marcela is the Labour Candidate for the South West London (Kingston, Richmond & Hounslow) seat in the Greater London Assembly Elections in May. The keynote speaker was of course, London Mayor Sadiq Khan aided by Kevin McGuire.
I have known Marcela for a number of years and she is a brilliant UNISON activist and able chair of one of the largest union branches in London. Under her chairship, Vol Org has been one of the fastest growing and best organised UNISON branches in the Country. I am sure she will make a great London Assembly member.
Check out events near you https://labourunions.org.uk/newdealweekend/ . Greater London UNISON Labour link activists will be at :-
Cities & Westminster - 2pm Saturday 3rd Feb. Meet at Marylebone Gardens, W1U 5JE
Uxbridge - 2pm Sunday 4 Feb. Meet West Drayton Station
