UNISON marching for a future that works October 2012

UNISON Housing Association Branch and London Regional Banner are in the opening sequences. A great video of a great 2012 day.

Pictures from yesterday's TUC March #Oct20

I have posted pictures from yesterday's March on FaceBook. You can find link here.

TUC #Oct20 March for A Future that Works

Another fantastic Labour Movement march and rally for an alternative economic policy,” A Future that Works”. 150,000 in central London and many more in Glasgow and Belfast. The weather held out for us. It was mild and balmy with lots of sunshine. A colourful, lively, noisy but peaceful protest against the wrecking of our economy by this one trick Tory Coalition of economic illiterates. 

I was in the main UNISON component near the front of the march, going to and fro from my Housing Association branch banner to the London regional one. In picture collage below you see UNISON comrades, my local Labour MP Lyn Brown with West Ham CLP; Newham folk gathering at Stratford Station, UNISON Regional Convener Gloria Hanson, Deputy Convener Conroy Lawrence, Regional Publicity Officer Lynn Bentley and NEC member Kim Silver. See also Labour Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves.

We all booed Starbucks and Vodafone shops we passed by as being tax cheats and thieves.  

I heard that the selfish idiots who shamed our movement at the end of the march last year with their pointless yobbery tried to infiltrate our march this year wearing masks and were told in no uncertain terms by rank and file activists “Oi, take your masks off your cowardly b*****ds” and the 0.001%ers were “persuaded” to go forth and multiply elsewhere.

The Rally at Hyde Park was better organised than last year. Great speeches from Ed Miliband and Dave Prentice. Afterwards London region UNISON retired to the ‘spoons at Marble Arch to celebrate the March. The pub was packed out with marchers and you could not move around without finding people to argue and debate about putting the world to rights. Some made more sense than others but this is really why we were all there.

We did not march for marching sake but to make the case for an alternative economic policy. Austerity does not work. Our National debt is growing and our economy is still tanking. We need a different way to run our country.

(I'll post more pictures of the march on Facebook tomorrow).

Join us on 20 October

New video and call for pledge to join or support the TUC March this Saturday 20 October.

Labour Party & UNISON stall for TUC March Oct 20

Collage is from today's stall and leafleting session in Stratford High Street, Newham, East London. Members of the West Ham Labour Party and local trade unionists were encouraging the public to join the TUC March for "A Future that Works" on Saturday 20 October. There was a UNISON stall and also next door a stall with Unite Ford activists from Dagenham and the NUT.

We gave out 500 joint Newham Labour/trade union leaflets supporting the march and asking people to meet again outside Stratford Station at 10am on the 20th October for those who want to travel together to the march with local Labour Party, trade unionists and residents.

We had some interesting discussions at the stall. The reaction from people who realised what we were about was very positive. However, most people passed by politely refusing to accept a leaflet, badge or sticker. While I think that this type of activity is still very much worth while, we need to find another way to reach ordinary working people about "the message" in a busy sunny Saturday shopping centre.

The message is of course not only to go on the March if at all possible but also that Austerity is not working and we need an alternative economic policy. I tried chanting "What do we want, Keynesian, When do we want it, NOW" but it didn't really work apart from giving me a sore throat.

It was good for me as a UNISON NEC member to deal with enquires and comments, not only the good stuff from people wanting to join or thank the union for the help they have received but also those who want to complain about the way they felt they had been treated. Only two problems out of many compliments but things are simply so horrible out there at the workplace that we have to be humble at times that things can go wrong - as they will with a 1.3 million wide membership under attack.

Picture on top of collage is of "Battle of Cable Street" veteran Max Levitas who joined us last year as well to support the TUC March in March.

Middle is West Ham Labour Party members and Councillors supporting the TUC March. There was also a stall in Green Street today by East Ham CLP.

Bottom picture is Alan, Gavin and myself after we had returned the stall materials and table to the West Ham Labour Party HQ which has temporarily been taken over by the excellent "Newham Peoples Museum & Gallery".

Who also agreed to exhibit the UNISON Marching shoes placards as a symbol of modern day Newham peoples history. (hat tip picture Judith G).  

West Ham Labour Party Supports TUC March #Oct20

Just back from General Committee (GC) meeting of West Ham Labour Party. At which this motion was passed unanimously.

“West Ham Labour Party welcomes the call from the TUC to help organise a National March for A Future That Works on Saturday 20th October 2012.

We agree to work together to maximise the participation of Newham Residents, employees, Labour Party members and affiliates to this event as we did for the 26th March 2011 TUC march for the alternative.

We welcome the TUC publication “Austerity is Failing. We Need A Future That Works” and recognise the need to ensure that in the next General Election a government is elected that will implement an alternative economic policy, to deliver that Future that Works".

Newham trade unions and Labour Councillors have agreed to produce a joint leaflet and organise stalls in Stratford and Green Street to publicise the March. Also we will be organising a Newham meeting point for residents and Labour Party members who want to travel to the starting point and march together. Details to follow.

I'll post further on the GC later. 

Newham Council supports TUC March and calls for alternative economic policy

On Monday evening Newham Council supported unanimously a motion to support the TUC anti-austerity March on Saturday October 20th and for the next Labour Government to deliver an
alternative economic policy for a future that works.

I moved the motion and below is the speech I gave. This was not a call for a return to the days of the loony left but to rebalance our economy and bring about growth and jobs. 

"Council, next month on Saturday 20 October, the Trade Union Congress has organised national marches and rallies in central London and Glasgow against the failure of this Tory led coalition government to deal with the current economic crisis and get our country on the road to recovery.

This motion calls on the Council to support the March and to encourage local residents, Labour Party members and trade union affiliates to attend and take part. As we did for last year’s TUC March  where over 400,000 people took part in a demonstration in London. 

 

This included a proud contingent from Newham who gathered beforehand outside Stratford station and went together behind our local Labour Party banners, our Labour Mayor, our Labour Councillors and labour trade union affiliates.

 

While our marching and demonstrating peacefully against the misery of this Government’s policies is vital and important, marching is not just an end in itself. It is an act of solidarity and a symbol of our opposition to this cabinet of millionaires and their attempt to make the poor and vulnerable pay for the greed and thievery of the rich. 

Let us never ever forget, that it wasn’t over paid lollipop ladies, nurses or town hall cleaners who brought about this recession. It was corrupt bankers and financiers who had long argued that the market alone knew best, deregulation worked and the so-called “invisible hand” would keep us safe and prosperous.

This turned out to be at best wrong and at worse a deceit. We need to learn from this experience. That is why the motion also calls on us to make sure that we not only do our bit by marching on October 20th but also advancing the arguments for change to our economy.  

Not only for a Plan B but for the next Labour Government to adopt the kind of policies that think it is economic illiteracy to pay building workers to stay at home on the dole while we have a massive housing shortage. It is economic madness that the wealthy who tend to save not spend get tax cuts while the working poor who will spend lose benefits.

An economy where people are in work, making things, selling things, paying taxes and earning money that they will then spend into the local economy and create more demand for jobs and services.

It is not as if this hasn’t been done before.  In 1948 we had to recover from 6 years of total war and had truly massive levels of debt, far, far higher than today yet we were still able to pay for a huge house building programmes, create the welfare state and the NHS.

 

Council, we need an alternative economic programme. We need to not only firefight this current recession with a programme to get people back into work. We also need to think about where we want our society to go?

Do we want to move towards an American model of an increasingly polarised society with an ever smaller number of super rich and huge numbers of desperate poor, or do we move towards a society that prides itself at its levels of income equality. A more equal and fairer society that all the evidence shows benefits the wealthy as well as the poor.

Council, this year is the 120th anniversary of the first ever elected Labour MP, Keir Hardie, in our own borough. Let us not only celebrate this historic advance of working class people into the mother of all Parliaments and let us show solitary with the ideals of Keir on October 20th by marching but also let us so “get” that October 20th is also about politics and economics.

 

There is a battle of ideas raging out there that the left lost in the past but which we now must win.  Council, we desperately need an economic Future that Works.  Council support the motion, I move."

"A Future that Works" TUC flyer March 20 October 2012

Check out this TUC resource for downloading and ordering flyer's and posters for the March in London on Saturday 20 October 2012. Scotland will also have its own anti-Austerity March and Rally.

UNISON NDC 12: What to do if your employer wants to close your pension scheme?

This picture is of me supporting the call for the TUC demo on October 20th was in the Friday morning edition of "London Calling" which is our regional conference new sheet. Next to it was this article I had written about:-  

"What to do if your employer wants to close your pension scheme?"

Tomorrow’s debate on the future of the traditional public sector pension scheme will be very important. But we must also remember the current threat to UNISON members in the Community and Private sectors.

Some employers have started consulting our members who work in Charities and housing association about getting rid of their pension schemes held with the Pension Trust and the Social Housing Pension fund. While the contractor Sodexo (which provides many privatised town hall and hospital services) is at this moment trying to close one of its defined benefit schemes.

If you are aware of any attempt to close your pension scheme you must get in touch with your branch ASAP. Do not believe the misinformation being put out about by some employers about how their pension fund deficits means they have no choice but to close. This is rubbish! In nearly all cases such “deficits” are completely artificial. Its "funny money". As everyone knows due to the recession the stock market is depressed and government bonds (which are used to measure such deficits) are at a 200 year historic low.

Most importantly, if you close your pension scheme it does not mean you get rid of the deficit. It is still there and could make things even worse since a closed pension fund has to sell its long term investments to raise cash to pay out existing pensions. 

I am writing a guide on what trustees and members should do if their employer tries to close your pension scheme. This should be out soon.

If the new look LGPS 2014 is accepted I hope it could become a model and beacon for all pensions schemes and lead to a rebirth of guaranteed defined benefit schemes - especially for the 60% of private sector workers who get no pension whatsoever from their employer".