"Protect Our Pensions" - Tories latest attempt to destroy peoples futures

While driving today I listened to "Money Box" on Radio 4. The programme was about investing a windfall. Experts warned about all the financial rogues and con merchants out there who will rob people out of their money. It reminded of the motion below that my branch has sent to next year's UNISON London Regional Council AGM.

In a piece of blatant electioneering and extreme right wing ideology, Tory Chancellor George Osborne, is putting the retirement of millions in jeopardy. Unions have got to wake and warn our members about the threat to their futures.

"New Government provisions enabling pension fund members to cash in their pensions on retirement come into play from April 2015. These apply to all funded schemes – including the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

This Regional Council expresses deep concern regarding these proposals. Not only will members retiring be exposed to misguided enticement to cash in their hard earned savings early, thereby potentially jeopardising their future financial security – but a surfeit of members wishing to take advantage of these provisions could endanger the future stability of the scheme itself.

Regional Council is fully committed to ensuring our members get a fair deal in their retirement and supporting the LGPS. To this end we call on the NEC to organise a high profile member information campaign which explains the pros and cons of cashing in pension fund savings and where possible promotes the benefits of remaining in the LGPS once retired".

(This motion to be considered for NDC and if successful the wording to be changed according)

A walk to Deganwy Castle and our common history of savagery

This morning I went for a Boxing Day walk from Conwy to Deganwy Castle. Trying to work off some of the xmas excess and build an appetite for this evenings traditional cold meats, pickles and baked potatoes. 

I haven't been to the remains of Deganwy Castle before but was intrigued by this information board (below) on Conwy town walls.  To the left is what the site looks like now and below what it looked like before it was destroyed for a final time by the Welsh in 1263.

I started the walk at Conwy Quay then across the bridge and alongside the estuary until Deganwy village (passing the retirement home of the 5th officer of the Titanic). Crossed the railway line and then headed up hill until I come across a public footpath sign. Its fairly obvious which way to go. Just keep going up.

Little remains of the actual fortification but the bracing views from the top of both hills are superb. The site is also very evocative. Before its final destruction it had been a settlement and military base for around 1,000 years and been fiercely fought over many times. It had been destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions.

An account of a war between the Welsh and invading English from 1254 mentions the savage fighting that took place. The decapitated heads of the Welsh were kept at the castle as trophies. While the Welsh as a reprisal tore apart the bodies of their English prisoners and threw their limbs into the Conwy Estuary. Below the castle is a field called Maesdu (Black Meadow). Accounts differ but there was a massacre of either Vikings or English which left so many dead that the field appeared black with blood and corpses. Stories like this remind me that we should not be too smug in the UK about the modern day barbarity in Syria and Iraq.

Walked back to Conwy in light rain and wind. Check out an excellent audio tour of the site here and this Youtube video

Merry Christmas to one and all

Merry Christmas folks. Photo Wansted flats 2012. 

A Christmas walk "In the Valley of the Elwy"

"Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,
All the air things wear that build this world of Wales..." Gerard Manley Hopkins

Off message but today I went for a truly beautiful walk in the "Switzerland of North Wales" the Elwy Valley.

Walk 15 of Pathfinder guide "North Wales, Snowdon and Offa's Dyke" was only 5.5 miles but was pretty challenging in parts.

It was cold and windy with plenty of winter sunshine. Apart from some fell runners and their dogs we did not see a soul. I was born and bred in North Wales and cannot believe that I have not been walking here before. It was stunning.

There is even a West Ham connection since the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins whose poem "In the Valley of the Elwy" was born in Stratford.

Check out more pictures of walk on FaceBook

Merry Red Crimbo

This is my favourite Christmas video. I have stopped sending cards and instead have donated money to further world revolution (aka Children in Need).

Merry Crimbo to all my Labour Party and trade union comrades and here is hoping for a change of government next year.

Hat tip Stroppybird

Safety inspections are not optional – Governments should respect international law and protect workers (so should employers)

Hat tip TUC Risks. We need to stop our Government (and employers) ignoring international law and make them take responsibility for the safety of their workers.  UK Employees who work for anti-trade union employers such as Ealing based Catalyst Housing Association are in an even worse place, since if you work for an employer who refuses to recognise a trade union you don't have State or Safety rep workplace protection either.

"The UK government is breaking international rules requiring safety inspections of all workplaces, an International Labour Organisation (ILO) ruling indicates. In November, ILO issued is findings on a complaint by Dutch unions about their government’s failure to comply with a number of ILO conventions.

The unions believed cutbacks and reorganisation meant an effective inspectorate and related medical service no longer existed. Like the Netherlands, the UK has ratified and is required to abide by the ILO’s Labour Inspections convention. This states: “Workplaces shall be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions”.

Other parts of the convention lay down requirements for inspectors’ independence, training, access to advice, and provision of local offices. The ILO ruled the Dutch government was breaching the convention’s requirements because of its failings on the number and frequency of inspections, the support provided for inspectors and the system for notification of occupational diseases. The ILO also stressed the importance of unannounced inspections, noting the provisions applied to “all workplaces, particularly in enterprises that are not considered to be in high-risk sectors and in small enterprises.”

According to TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson, the majority of UK workplaces are exempt from unannounced inspections and the Health and Safety Executive’s medical service has been decimated. He concluded “many of the arguments used by the Dutch trade unionists apply equally or even more so in the UK, where the Coalition government has slashed inspections, while at the same time reducing the number of HSE offices and level of support available. The Dutch government has been told to put their house in order. We will be asking the UK government to do the same.”

TUC Stronger Unions blog.

ILO Governing Body report, 6 November 2014.

ILO Labour Inspections Convention, No.81.

A Christmas Carol by the High Court

Scene:
Any solicitor’s office in the country (except the Strand).
Solicitor:
So, Ms Peasant you have been sacked because you are pregnant and you have come in for a free interview.  Typical of your sort if I may say so.
Client: 
It’s so unfair.  I want to bring a claim.  You do no win no fee don’t you?
Solicitor: 
WE do. The State doesn’t.  Tribunal fees are £1,200.00 win or lose.
Client: 
I haven’t got that sort of money!  I am unemployed.  I’ve been sacked.
Solicitor: 
Come, come now.  I am an employment lawyer.  I know the minimum wage is £6.50 an hour.  Easy to remember; it is one hundredth of what I charge – 200 hours work and you have the fee, unless we need to appeal.  Cut out the foreign holidays. Sack the nanny – she won’t be able to afford the fee to sue you.  My little joke!
Client:  
My Mum looks after the children.  We only just got by when I was working.
Solicitor: 
There I can help you.  You need to prioritise your spending.  The High Court has said so.  Eat your existing children – Swift said that and he was a clever man, but you peasants don’t read you just watch Sky.
Client: 
We don’t have Sky.  Murdoch is nearly as right wing as the High Court.
Solicitor: 
Go down the library and read Swift.
Client: 
They’ve closed the library.
Solicitor:  
Have an abortion.  Save you money and I might be able to get your job back.
Client: 
I don’t want an abortion.  Anyway they’ve closed the clinic.
Solicitor:
Find a rich man.
Client: 
I am married.  My husband was sacked for complaining about my treatment at work.
Solicitor: 
Oh then he has a claim as well then.  Another £1,200.00 mind.
Client:  
I’ve had enough!
Solicitor: 
I advise on the law; I don’t make it.  I want to read to you what the High Court said:
“The question many potential claimants have to ask themselves is how to prioritise their spending; what priority should they give to paying fees in a possible legal claim as against many competing and pressing demands on their finances?”
It goes on a bit but basically do you want to bring a claim or eat and feed and clothe your children?
Client: 
But no-one should have to make that choice in Britain in 2014.
Solicitor:  
That’s where you are wrong.  The court said:
“The question is not whether it is difficult for someone to be able to pay – there must be many claimants in that position – it is whether it is virtually impossible and excessively difficult for them to do so”.
Client:  
That’s wicked.
Solicitor: 
That’s the High Court. Lord Justice Elias is paid £198,674.00 and Mr Justice Foskett £174,481.00 so they know all about having to count the pennies.
Client:
Surely Labour will change all this.
Solicitor: 
Nope.
Client:  
I think I will vote for the Fascists then.
Solicitor:
They tried that in Germany. Didn’t do them much good. Nice rallies mind.
Client leaves.  Solicitor hums the Horst Wessel.  There is a muffled explosion.  The local court is in ruins.

Hat tip Daniel Barnett and Kerry Underwood

(My lesson number one - if you are in work and want justice at work, join a Union  http://www.tuc.org.uk/about-tuc/union-finder)

Worried about paying your winter fuel bill? UNISON is "there for you"

I am very proud of  "There for you" (UNISON welfare) and the work it does for our members who are in financial hardship but we should never forget that often this hardship is caused by low pay, insecure employment and our rip off financial services.

"There for you" will allow our low paid members to apply for a one off fuel grant of £40.  To those of you on a decent wage, £40 may not seem a lot, but if you are on a poverty wage, it may make the difference for being cold or warm on winter nights for you and your kids.

It is shameful that we have such a ultra right wing economic system that relies on welfare to provide for the basic needs of those in work who provide public services.

Roll on May 7 2015. The only alternative to a Labour Government is another 5 years of Tories. The choice is clear.

Cllr Peter Brayshaw

I was saddened to hear yesterday of the sudden death of Camden Councillor, Peter Brayshaw. Peter was Chair of Camden Pension Fund and a keen member of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF). I had spoken to him only a few  weeks ago at this years LAPFF Conference.

Peter was softly spoken, polite, intelligent, principled with great political values. 

The picture is from last year's LAPFF conference when Peter made a marvelous tribute regarding the life and times of Nelson Mandela and the role that UK Councils had played in bringing about the end of Apartheid. Peter had been a lifelong supporter of the liberation of Southern Africa and was currently vice chair of ACTSA.

In fact as a young student he spent 3 weeks in Brixton prison on remand for protesting against the white supremacist government in Rhodesia.

Check out tributes in local newspaper, Anti Apartheid and ACTSA.

Amazon-Free Challenge - Better Places to Shop

The Amazon-Free Challenge kicks off today, and over 12,000 have now signed up to ditch Amazon this Christmas! [1] It's not too late to join in too - you can add your name here. If you’re used to shopping at Amazon, we recognise it might be tough at first. Even if you’re an Amazon-Free veteran, it’s also hard to find the time to discover better options.

But it’s going to be ok! We’ve put together a quick guide for other places you could get your prezzies this Christmas:

Check out and share the 'Better than Amazon' Shopping guide here

With our friends at Ethical Consumer we’ve done some research and ranked retailers according to how they treat their workers, and whether they are likely to be dodging tax.

This is by no means an exhaustive list - but hopefully it’s enough to get your started, and give a flavour of what’s out there :). We’ve done our best to provide a mix of super ethical options and some big names that might be regarded as better than Amazon. In some cases, your best bet could be to use your local independent shops, or go for second hand options.

Today is ‘Cyber Monday’ - supposedly the biggest online shopping day of the year. Let’s use it instead to build a movement away from Amazon and companies who don’t play fair. Please check out the guide, and let us know if you have any other Amazon-Free favourites by commenting at the bottom of the page, or dropping us an email:

Get your Amazon-Free Shopping guide here

Love,

Amazon Anonymous x

[1] From the Guardian today: Amazon Christmas boycott campaign gathers weight