London Marathon 2012 training: Week 2 - A Children's workhouse and London Welsh Chapel

Week 2 of my London Marathon training went pretty well.  The timed sprints are very tough, I'm not use to running at "maximum effort" but understand that it is necessary.  Touch wood - no broken bones! 

My Sunday morning programme today was a 45 minute "run" (not jog).  I went past last night's Newham Guy Fawkes Fireworks display on Wanstead Flats.  Across the road into Bush Wood.  Past the rear of the  Quaker Meeting House, which has the incongruous but understandable in the circumstances sign on its wall "No trespassers - keep out".  Next I ran past the Welsh Chapel near the Green Man roundabout in Leytonstone.  Incredibly there is a Welsh language service in the Baptist Chapel on the first Sunday of every month at 11am which I have been meaning for the past 20 years or so to attend.  One day...

Right next door to the Chapel is a large Tesco superstore.  What many people do not realise that this use to be a workhouse for children built by the Bethnal Green Poor Law Guardians.  It was a very big site and you must wonder how many thousands of children lived here and what their lives must have been like?  This report is pretty disturbing.

Under the Green Man  roundabout into Leyton flats then cross country behind Snaresbrook Crown Court before coming out at Eagle Lake.  Along Wanstead High Street, running the gauntlet of the Farmers Market and all those stalls cooking delicious smelling sizzling sausages and bacon butties.  Across George Green and then eventually back into Bush Wood and then along Wanstead Flats to home.  A good run.

Wrecker of the Week

The candidate for this week must be the NEC member for Brighton Pavillion who in this post on Tuesday did the Tories dirty work by telling lies and slagging off Newham Council and London UNISON Labour Link. 

It is a shame that he is wants to try and destroy unity over the Public Service Pensions and is too cowardly to have a go at people directly - but what else do you expect from these people?

Ultra left extremists of course consider that they are the chosen ones who have seen the light and therefore think us proles are just too thick to know what is good for us.

The selfishness and arrogance of such people is simply breathtaking.  I cannot understand such disloyalty? I can only conclude that they do not want national strike action to take place since they prefer that nothing is done so they can just continue in their comfort zone of constantly attacking the union.

The truth of the matter is that Newham Council passed a supportive motion unanimously in May over pensions and the reason why other London Councils are now passing similar motions is down (in part) to the work that UNISON Labour Link (regional and national) has done with London Councils. 

I do however enjoy the irony of someone who I am reliably told by local elected Labour Council comrades is considered a figure of ridicule complaining about anyone else not doing their bit.  I of course couldn't possibly comment.

Writeidea: East End literature and history event

Next Weekend is the start of the Writeidea free Reading festival taking place in Tower Hamlets (11-16 November). Check out details here. I was interested to read that the "match girls" threatened "Jack the Ripper"!

The Gilda O' Neill Memorial Lecture. Striking a Light: Looking for the Real Matchwomen - Friday 11 November 2011, 7pmThe story of the unexpectedly successful strike of 'matchgirls' against a powerful employer continues to exert a strong hold on the public...
David Rosenberg: Battle for the East End - Saturday 12 November 2011, 2pm75 anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street Throughout the 1930s, Oswald Mosley's blackshirts increased their campaign against the Jewish...
Matthew Parker: The Sugar Barons - Sunday 13 November 2011, 2pmFamily, Corruption, Empire and War in the West Indies 'The Sugar Barons' tells how the West Indies became by far the most valuable and important...
Is Class an Issue in Fiction? - Monday 14 November 2011, 7pmAlex Wheatle and William Nicholson in conversation. Alex Wheatle Alex Wheatle is an award winning British novelist, playwright and DJ who has...
Dreda Say Mitchell: Geezer Girls and Hit Girls - Tuesday 15 November 2011, 7pmWomen in crime fiction. Dreda Say Mitchell is an award winning crime novelist and all-round media personality. With her 'Geezer, Gangster and Hit...
I & I The Natural Mystics: Marley, Tosh and Wailer with Colin Grant - Wednesday 16 November 2011, 7pmStir it up! The Wailers are the undisputed kings of reggae and their music still has a massive influence across the world today. Bob Marley, Peter...
Total Sin: What Makes London Interesting? - Thursday 17 November, 7pmPanel discussion with Catharine Arnold, Paul Willetts and Jonathan Kemp. Paul Willetts Paul Willetts is the author of 'Members Only: The Life and...
33 Revolutions per Minute with Dorian Lynskey - Friday 18 November, 7pmA conversation with Dorian Lynskey on his book about protest songs in the twentieth century followed by live music from Tower of Dad. Dorian...
Michael Rosen's Storytime - Saturday 19 November, 2pmA workshop for children aged between 6 and 11 years. Michael Rosen Michael Rosen is a poet, scriptwriter, broadcaster and performer and has been...
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Exhibition - Saturday 12 - Saturday 19 November 2011An exhibition of letters and posters from the Robert Tressell family archives. Robert Tressell's 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' is one of...

Hat Chris Weavers and the Tower Hamlets Labour Party e-newsletter.

UNISON Votes for Strike Action on November 30

UNISON members balloted over the future of the Local Government Pension Scheme have voted by over 76% in support of strike action.  While the NHS scheme had an equally decisive 81% in favour.

Unless a deal can be reached co-ordinated strike action and protests to defend pensions will take place on Wednesday 30 November 2011. 20 different unions will be taking part.

This evening elected UNISON lay officials (Service Group Executives: SGE) members including myself met at the UNISON Centre in Kings Cross, London. We had a presentation on the ballot result and also the new "principles" that the Government put forward yesterday.   These principles were not an offer and still assumed a 50% hike in pension contributions which could result in the schemes collapsing. All the SGEs then met separately and voted to agree to the strike call. 

Picture are members of the Community & Voluntary SGE with our General Secretary Dave Prentis after our unanimous vote to agree to Strike action.

One is the Loneliest Number (together is usually best)

This morning I was travelling north along the M11 motorway from London to represent a UNISON member at an appeal hearing.  Just before the Stansted Airport junction I was in the overtaking lane, when the rear offside tyre of the car in front of me brust.  The car immediately began to snake from side to side and I started to think in Anglo-Saxon while slamming on the brake pedal.  The car in front began to spin out of control but luckily for me (and everyone else) it span into the middle lane while I went past, coming a halt facing the wrong way. 

Thankfully there was no-one else in the middle lane at the time and incredibly everyone else was able to stop without crashing.  A number of cars pulled into the emergency lane while other drivers got out of their cars to see what they could do to help.  With hindsight this was probably not the wisest thing to do on a busy motorway but there was an urge to assist and do your bit.

I went to the car with the blown tyre and was able to help the driver out who was in shock and very distressed but otherwise appeared to be okay. Somebody else took her away and comforted her while I managed to drive her car to the emergency lane.  Other drivers took out high visibility jackets and made sure the traffic remained stationary while we recovered the other vehicles.  In a brief exchange the strangers on the M11 made sure that everyone was all right, that the AA was on the way to deal with the shredded tyre, then we all said slightly embarrassed goodbyes and continued on our separate journeys.

My point (homily?) is that until the accident we were all individuals in our self contained metallic worlds totally divorced from others.  Yet after the accident people instinctively rallied together in the common good and were able to deal quickly and effectively with a potentially dangerous situation in a collective manner.  No-one was forced to stop and help.  Nor did we get angry motorists beeping thier horns or refusing to stop. If we had all acted as selfish individuals then the outcome could have been very different.

I remember Tony Benn talking powerfully about a similar experience on a broken down train. It also reminded me of this UNISON promo video and why I believe in the union (and a Labour movement).

Last chance to vote to protect your pension

The UNISON ballot on strike action to protect pensions closes 10am on Thursday 3rd November.

So tomorrow is the last chance to vote.  If you haven't voted yet then please dig out the ballot paper you have left on the shelf, under the coffee table or in the kitchen drawer "for later".

Put an "X" in the "YES" box put it in the post paid envelope and make sure you get it into a letter box in the morning.  Nuf said.

(picture of Housing Association members in Surrey supporting the Strike Ballot)

Secure affordable homes for all: A policy for the next Government

This picture is from the Newham Compass meeting held last week at East Thames Housing Association headquarters in Stratford, E15 on the key issue of "affordable housing".

East Thames Housing Association Chief Executive Officer, June Barnes, (right) spoke first and set the scene about the horrendous housing shortage. She thinks that the new affordable rent model may well result in 170,000 new homes nationally but is risky to housing associations and a "one-off" that cannot be repeated. 

Next (on the left) is the Chair of Carpenters Estate Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), Eddie Benn. Eddie talked about the history of the TMO and what they had achieved as a resident led organisation and the future difficulties they face.

Finally, Labour London Assembly member Nicky Gavron (middle of picture) talked about the failure of Tory Mayor Johnson to deliver on his housing promises and the threat to hundreds of thousands of  Londoners by savage  cuts in grants, allowances, benefits and security of tenure. The vulnerable and the working poor will be "cleansed" out of most of London. 

I enjoyed this event but will agree with the remarks of one of those who also attended "...Speakers were excellent although I did leave feeling dispirited listening to able people applying their ingenuity to squeezing the best policies they could from the current situation while knowing all the time they would be woefully inadequate".

The meeting was chaired by Newham Compass, Christopher Owens (rear of picture).  The next event possibly will to invite one of the authors of "The Spirit Level". 

London Marathon Training 2012 Week 1: "Coventriert" & Getting fit can damage your health

Earlier this month I posted here that I was planning to run the London Marathon 2012 and was starting to train using this 24 week training programme.  I plan to post each week on my training and hope to make it "on message" as much as possible. 

This week's top run was around Coventry City centre (on route to a brief visit to Wales) and the old and new Cathedral (see picture).  Germans bombers destroyed  much of the city during the Second World War.  Especially in the infamous attack on November 14 1940.  "The raid destroyed or damaged about 60,000 buildings...and is known to have killed 568 civilians. The raid reached such a new level of destruction that Joseph Goebbels later used the term Coventriert ("Coventrated") when describing similar levels of destruction of other enemy towns".  The Cathedral is well worth a visit.

The worse was along Llandudno beach the following day when Mrs Grayee, who was running with me, slipped on a concrete ramp and broke her wrist so badly that she needed a metal plate to be surgically fitted.  Many thanks to Glan Clwyd hospital for the initial care and Newham University hospital for further treatment.  She is now on the mend. You do wonder if getting fit is worth it?

Then this morning I went for a run around Wanstead Park.  The autumnal colour of the trees is simply beautiful. I ran for the first time a 45 minute "Fartiek" session.  You do a a self selected combination of fast sprints, medium runs and slow jogs.  I think it is fair to say I did far more of the latter than the former. Yet I had a huge sense of achievement and well being at the end.

SERTUC Regional Council motion: Response to Government Economic Policies

This is a picture of me addressing the recent SERTUC (South East Regional TUC) Council meeting.

(Yes, I must remember to stick my head up from my speech notes when speaking).

Motion 1 was about the "Response to Government Economic Policies". It was quite a good motion which I spoke in favour of but I felt that it needed to be emphasised what November 30 should really be about.

"President, Council....Winning the Ballot with a big majority and a big turnout then making strike action on November 30th a success, is indeed the 1st important counter attack against this Government's policies.

But as a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme for 20 years and currently facing a bleak pension future. If we win the ballot then the strike action on November 30 is first and foremost an industrial issue. It is an industrial dispute around the fundamental threat to a basic term and condition for all workers. The right to a safe and secure future in retirement.

And we must continue to remind the public that this is a last resort industrial dispute brought about by the abject failure by this Government to negotiate.

The focus on November 30 should be the picket line. Winning the dispute with effective pickets on every single town hall and public building. Leafleting the public, talking to them about our cause, supporting hospital workers at their lunch time protests, then maximising turnout at rallies and lobbies.

Also as someone who now works for a private organisation that does not offer its new employees a safe and secure defined benefit pension. As part of this fight back we must never forget the 2/3 of employers in the private sector that do not pay a penny towards the pensions of their staff nor the horrific figure that 50% of all private sector workers have no pension provision whatsoever.

However, despite the impression given by the Daily Hates and the Tax Evaders Alliance, don’t forget that as well as the 6 million in public service pension schemes that there are still 2.4 million private sector workers who are still accruing service in private defined benefit schemes. They know if the public service defined benefit schemes collapse - so will theirs.

Council, the message to all workers, public and private sector, must be quite clear, that on 30 November we will be striking to defend safe and secure pensions for all".

Remuneration Committee "Racket"

Today I listened to Any Questions on Radio 4. There was a question about the outrageous 49% increase in the pay last year of the average FT100 director (about 10 minutes in).

Lib Dem Coalition minister Jeremy Browne
described the company remuneration committees who "set" the pay of such executives as being "a cartel... a real Racket". Tory MP David Davies also cheerfully admitted that it was all a big fiddle and stitch up. While Labour MP Rachel Reeves pointed out that it was not as if these bosses had added any value to these companies in the last year.

Despite accurately describing such pay arrangements as being akin to organised crime Browne failed to offer any solutions. Davies suggested allowing getting company AGM's to vote on individual executive pay rather than the whole executive package en bloc. This would be useful but is not going to change things.

As the TUC points out here why shouldn't there be elected employee representatives on these remuneration committees who would bring "directors a much-needed sense of reality". This seems to work in many of our European competitors such as Germany? Why in the UK is this seen as being some form of unBritish devil worship? This is the sort of dare I say radical but necessary change that Labour should pursue. It is good that Ed is on board.

Over the years I've banged about the subject here, here, here (last year's increase was 55%!), here ... (and elsewhere). Check out Tom's latest post as well.

By coincidence I have just submitted a branch motion on applying the principles of the "The Spirit Level" to company pay differentials.

Picture: Typical FT100 Remuneration Committee at work. The Chair of the Board is asking the committee if they are going to increase his pay...or sleep with the fishes. Well, something like that.