Lobby of Tower Hamlets Pension Committee over Clarion & Riverside breaking promises

This evening I went to make a submission to Tower Hamlets Council Pension Committee with a UNISON colleague, Julie. Both of us use to work for Tower Hamlets Council as housing officers. Julie worked in the Isle of Dogs and I worked in Bow.  In 2005 Julie and her colleagues were tupe transferred into what is now called Riverside Housing Group. 

I was tupe transferred  in 2007 into what is now called Clarion Housing Group. At the time of transfer all of us was promised by our new employers, that we could keep our entitlement to a Council Pension scheme. I am the only one left in Clarion who use to work in Tower Hamlets and Julie is only one of 5 left in Riverside from these transfers. Other Clarion UNISON members are in the London Merton fund, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Kent and Surrey.

Now, Clarion have decided to go back on its promises to around 60 of its staff and similar promises to keep a decent pension scheme for another 220 staff. They are planning to enforce this by "Fire & Rehire" dismissal process on 1 December 2023. 

Riverside have only just started a "consultation process" but it is clear from the paperwork I have seen that they boast they have got rid of similar pension promises before and no doubt they fully intend to do the same again.

We pointed out that if organisations break their promises to their staff, then Councils will be concerned that they will also break promises to residents, planning committees and strategic partners. 

We were allowed to make a short verbal submission and leave a briefing note. Many thanks to the Chair of the Committee, Cllr Kabir for allowing us to speak. Also to all the Councillors present, who make it clear their dissatisfaction with what is going on and that they have other serious concerns about Clarion and Riverside as landlords. 

In particular, Cllr Rachel Blake and Cllr Abdal Ullah, who pointed out that there are also long standing concerns about Clarion breaking past promises and they moved that Council officers should investigate this issue and the Committee should write to Clarion and Riverside. 

Julie made by far the most important submission by pointing out she had 37 years of service (I have only 30) to residents and she had been planning to retire in 3 years time. If this proposal goes ahead it will wreak her pension plans and due to her age she will have no time to make up the loss. 

The new normal? Tower Hamlets "blended" Pension Board meeting 7/6/21

This morning I cycled to Tower Hamlets Council's Town Hall to take part in a "blended" physical and virtual meeting of its Pension Board. 

I am a trade union appointed member of the board which "assists" the Council in the running of its billion pound plus staff pension fund. I have been a member of the Pension Board for the past 5 years and before that an observer on its Pension Panel/Committee since (around) 1996. 

So it was good to go back to Mulberry Place after such a long absence due to Covid and to see people again in real life but most Board members, officers and advisors still joined virtually. 

Interestingly I had forgotten/miscalculated how long it takes to get ready and then "commute" (cycle in this case) into physical meetings and arrived only just in time for the start. 

Also, the Board meeting overran (for good reasons since there was a lot of important business to discuss) and since I had not allowed for this and the commute home then this impacted badly on my back to back virtual meetings for the rest of the day. 

So today I was reminded of the efficiency of virtual meetings but also how nice it is to meet real people in real buildings. However, I need to organise my diary better if this "blend" is going to be the new normal. 

21 floor "walkabout" Brassett Point

On Friday I went on a "walkabout" with residents and Newham Housing officers from the top to the bottom of Brassett Point in my ward.

It is always encouraging when you see residents who actively care about their homes and their environment. They have collected a petition, which 90 out of the 120 flats have signed, calling for improvements in communal repairs and stopping anti-social behaviour.

A number of actions were agreed and there will be follow up inspection later in the year.

The sister block nearby, David Lee Point (see picture left who also sent a resident representative) will be next.

By coincidence it was good to meet up with former colleagues from Tower Hamlets Council. I used to work with Agnes, now a local resident, (2nd from right above) when she was a Homeless Officer and Bob, a local caretaker (not in picture) we met on the walkabout who used to work with me on the Ranwell East (Roman Road) estate.

The longstanding Leather Gardens TRA rep, Ted Nolan (1st on left), was there as ever, to keep things moving along and all of us in order.

The residents will be handing in their petition at the next full Council meeting and are planning to send in a delegation to speak at the meeting. They are also going to set up a Facebook page for the block.

Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust

On Saturday March 3rd it is the anniversity of the Bethnal Green tube disaster... "a crowd of people entered Bethnal Green tube station which was used at the time as an air-raid shelter. After the searchlights went on and an anti-aircraft battery a few hundred yards away in Victoria Park launched a salvo of a new type of anti-aircraft rockets the crowd surged forward. Someone tripped on the stairs causing many others to fall. 300 people were crushed into the stairwell within a few seconds, 173 of them died and over 90 were injured. The worst civilian disaster of the 2nd World War.

Full planning permission has now been granted by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for the Memorial to be built. Now all we need to do is raise the money".... " The Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust has been raising funds to bring a permanent memorial to the site, to honour those whose lives were devastated by the tragedy. 69 years to the day, Tower Hamlets councillors from all political parties will be uniting to take part in a sponsored 5k run in Victoria Park, hoping to raise at least £5,000 for the memorial.

Please donate HERE to support this important cause – and feel free to join in the run or come along to cheer us across the finishing line! The run will start at 2pm on Saturday 3 March 2012.

For more information contact either:

Cllr Amy Whitelock – amy.whitelock@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Cllr Carlo Gibbs – carlo.gibbs@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Cllr Lesley Pavitt – lesley.pavitt@towerhamlets.gov.uk

For more information about the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust visit: www.stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org"

  

(I use to work in the Tower Hamlets LG UNISON office in nearby York Hall and would go up and down those same steps most days of the week. This is a good cause to support).

Josh Peck New Labour Group Leader of Tower Hamlets Council

Cllr Josh Peck has tonight been elected as the leader of the Tower Hamlets Labour Group.

Congratulations!

I first met Josh during the 2005 General Election.  He now I think holds one of the most difficult municipal political roles in the UK - bar none. 

Good luck Josh! 

I don't know yet who was elected to other positions...

Dilip Sardar: The first Bengali Tower Hamlets Council employee?

 On Friday evening I went to a UNISON reunion with former colleagues who use to work in the Malmesbury Housing office in Bow, East London. We were all pleased to see Dilip (left) who retired from the Council 7 years ago.

Dilip joined the then Bethnal Green Council on 16 January 1962.  He started work in the Stores department of the depot in Digby Street, E2.  His manager at that time was not known by his job title but by his former military rank as "Major".   In 1965 Bethnal Green, Stepney and Poplar councils were merged to form "Tower Hamlets".

Dilip thinks in 1962 he may have been the first Tower Hamlets Council employee of Bengali origin.  Even though bearing in mind the strong trading links between Bengal and the Docks there was probably others who worked for the predecessor councils.  Dilip is a Hindu Bengali from outside Calcutta while most Bengali's in Tower Hamlets are Muslims who have roots in Bangladesh.

I first worked with Dilip as an Estate Officer in Malmesbury in the early 1990's together with our former manager, the shy and retiring, Derek Barclay (top right) and the hero of the hour Caretaking team leader, Montrose Matty (bottom right).  We reminisced about the good old days when there use to regular weekly team and community building meetings every Friday afternoon in various local public bars. 


Malmesbury was the last big estate (800 units) to be built by Tower Hamlets Council in the early 1980's.  We were based in a former fish and chip shop in Heylyn Square, E3.

The estate office also managed George Lansbury House (which was built near his former home) and the Minnie Lansbury Memorial Clock on Electric House.  The famous Match Womens strike of 1888 also took place within the Estate boundaries.

A good night was had by all.

End of an era retirement Do

On the way home tonight I stopped off at a traditional Tower Hamlets “leaving do” which was being held to celebrate the retirement from the Council of Richard “Dickie” Fenn after 40 years of service to the local community.

Dickie was the team leader of the Emergency Call Out service who would turn out rain or shine, day or night, 7 days a week to deal with the aftermath of fire, floods, storms and all the other borough disasters.

The IRA probably posed the greatest challenge due to the widespread destruction following the Dockland bombings in 1996 when his team had to board up smashed windows to some 500 council residential properties. As a housing officer you knew you could simply reply on Dickie and his team to turn out and deal effectively with practically any emergency you could throw at them. He was an example of the "old school" council worker at its very best.

Dickie started off as a caretaker in the GLC during 1969 and was then transferred to Tower Hamlets Council following its demise.

The “Do” was held at the Calder Wharf Community Centre on the Isle of Dogs. It is probably one of the best located community resources in East London, right on the banks of the Thames overlooking Greenwich Naval college. The sunset was stunning!

There was a good turnout of people to join Dickie and his family and help them celebrate his retirement. People who I haven’t seen for years. Of course there was also a free bar and buffet. I have no doubt that the celebrations are still going on now (its only 22.25).

During the semi formal presentations there was some fond traditional teasing of Dickie by his manager comparing 1969 with today – for example Dickie’s alleged career long reluctance to pay into the Tea club since he considered this to be part of his GLC Green book terms and conditions - and that when he was employed as a GLC housing caretaker, his wife had to be interviewed as well as him to make sure that she was “suitable”.

There is one story that was not mentioned that I remember that sums up the man best and an era that has now long gone.

In the 1980’s he was a Head caretaker in Bow and he went to visit a property that had been allocated to a new member of his residential caretaking team. As he entered the flat he found the Caretaker’s pregnant wife with two young toddlers in tears at the state of the flat which was damp, mouldy and totally unfit - which should never had been let to anyone – never mind one of his caretakers. Dickie looked around the home and told the wife to pack up since he was moving them. He then arranged for the family to be moved and stormed off to senior managers and successfully demanded a new and decent home that same very day.

The actual caretaker himself wasn’t aware what had happened until he went home that night to find his old home empty.

(I forgot my camera but others were taking pics so I will try and get a photo)