Tower Hamlets School Strike

Picture is from the Strike yesterday against the Tory-led government cuts by NUT and UNISON members in Tower Hamlets schools. 

I went to the picket line at Albert Jacob House in Bethnal Green and met up with these strikers on route to their rally in Whitechapel.

I understand that UNISON deputy General Secretary Keith Sonnat spoke at the rally (I had a clash so couldn't make) which was well attended.

Push for More Midwives!

UNISON midwives and nurses at Kingston Hospital, Surrey held a candlelight vigil tonight (30th March 2011) to protest at the shortage of midwives at the hospital and to oppose the loss of 500 nursing and medical posts at the hospital.

Nora Pearce UNISON Midwifery Convenor stated

" UNISON is campaigning against the national shortage of midwives. We will be campaigning with local mothers to ensure Kingston hospital gets the resources it needs to continue a high quality service to mothers"

Michael Walker UNISON London Nursing Officer states

"The national shortage of Nurses and Midwives is being exacerbated by increased attendance at A&E and higher birth rates than projected, The Government needs to act urgently to avoid a crisis" (press release)

Newham Labour Movement Family meet up for TUC March

This is a picture of local trade union and Labour Party members meeting up outside Stratford Station on Saturday morning to go on the TUC March.

East Ham MP Stephen Timms, Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales and about 50 Councillors, trade union activists and local residents marched together against these Tory led government cuts and for an alternative economic policy.

Many more from Newham of course marched with their trade unions and affiliates or with friends and families.   I was by then already with my UNISON branch and London region at Embankment. 

The joint leafleting beforehand across Newham by Party members and union activists helped contribute in a small but symbolic way to the success of the March.  It encouraged many ordinary Newham residents to attend who would not have gone otherwise and showed that the Labour movement family when working together can deliver.

Picture Ali G.

UNISON NEC Elections 2011: Community Service Group General

This morning I received a letter from UNISON headquarters telling me that I had been elected unopposed as a National Executive Council (NEC) member for UNISON Community Service Group - General seat. 

I must admit to being just a little disappointed that there will not be a full contest but this will free up my time to support other sensible left comrades who will be fighting contested seats.  Many thanks to all the branches with Community members who nominated me.  I am really proud to be one of the first two Community NEC members of UNISON. Congratulations to Isobel McVicar from Manchester City Branch who was also automatically elected.

I will take up this seat for two years after the UNISON National Delegate Conference in June. 

In the meanwhile my many good comrades in UNISON United left have sent me this YouTube video above to celebrate the occasion.  

 :)

Newham London Run 2011

Yesterday I was marching in central London, today I was running (very slowly) around the Olympic Park in Stratford, Newham.  So another day, another photo collage. This 10k run started outside the Railway Tavern Hotel (one of the best pubs in Newham by far) and was set off by Cllr Paul Brickell, the Newham Council Executive Member for Olympics and Public Affairs.

We ran through Westfield Stratford City and the 2012 Olympic site.  Then along the Greenway and finished in Stratford Park (which is in my ward, West Ham).  Nearly 4000 runners took part.

The run really brings to home the huge size of the Olympic park and the massive regeneration that is going on.  This is great news for Newham and East London.

Cllr Forhad Hussain was I think the only other Newham Councillor taking part (UNISON member of course) he was also on the March yesterday.  He ran with his twin brother Fokrul and was supported by his "Team Hussain" nephew supporters. 

It took me 1 hour 11 minutes which is pretty slow but 7 minutes better I think than last year.  Next year I will try and break the 1 hour (and maybe even run the marathon that I was supposed to have done this year).

All in all a great event and I would encourage everyone to take part next year.  I'll post all the pictures on Facebook when I get a chance.

(double click to bring up picture detail.)

The TUC March for an Alternative: The Condem Emperors have no clothes

  This photo college is from today's TUC march in central London. Some 250,000 protesters are estimated to have turned up. I marched alongside UNISON Housing Association branch and UNISON London region.

I felt the day was a great Labour movement family success. The trade unions had members there from all over the UK. Including many who have never marched before. 

The March was cheerful, colourful, noisy but determined.  In Newham local trade unions, Labour Party members, Councillors and the Mayor met up and marched together against this Tory led Government savage cuts to our public services.

It was a great day affected only a little by the antics of a tiny number of spoilt brat parasites who were up to their usual nonsense. I simply cannot repeat the language I heard by genuine working class trade union marchers about these Tory 5th columnists.

At the Rally in Hyde Park Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband and UNISON General secretary Dave Prentis spoke to a great reception.

At the rally I was interviewed by a Spanish radio journalist. She asked me why was it so important to be on this March? Luckily for me we had a discussion on this while marching and I was able to pinch someone else's big idea.  I explained to the journalist that the main reason for marching today is that many people in this country had believed (wrongly) that the cuts are all necessary.  But by getting hundreds of thousands of people to come together and say "No they are not" will help change minds. People will realise that Emperor Cameron and Clegg - have no clothes.

(Click on picture to bring up detail and I will post more pictures from the march on FaceBook).

Update: UNISON TV Youtube on March - some members of my branch are in the background at around 1 min 24
Update: Photos from March here on Facebook.

It's tomorrow! Stand up for your Public Services and an Alternative Economic Policy

Get out and march tomorrow.  Newham Trade Unions and the local Labour Party are meeting up outside Stratford Station ticket barrier at 10.30am. But you can turn up as late as 2pm to Embankment to take part in the March. Check TUC latest tips here. 

UNISON health and safety seminar 2011: Judith Hackett on the cuts and charging for enforcement?

Today the national UNISON Health & Safety Seminar took place at the ICC in Birmingham. There were around 250 delegates from all over the UK and all parts of UNISON. Assistant General Secretary (and member of HSE Board) Liz Snape chaired the seminar. She told us that UNISON has 12,000 safety reps protecting members and although our work is often invisible and behind the scenes are role is absolutely vital. Our keynote speaker was Judith Hackett (left) who is the Chair of the Health & Safety Executive who was described as someone “who says it as it is”. This reminded me of the last time I had heard Judith speak.

Judith also thanked safety reps for the important work that they do. The core mission of the HSE is still to prevent death, serious injuries and work related ill-health. She believes that despite the cuts and recent Coalition reports and pronouncements they still fall with the broad HSE strategy that was started in 2008. Safety reps and managers need to lead in safety matters. Need Joint working such as the “Safe and Sound at work - do your bit” course. In which there is joint training with reps and management. Finding solutions together rather than being confrontational. .  

The Comprehensive Spending Review meant a 35% saving on public funding over the next 4 years. However, a bit of context. 35% cuts are the norm in the Department of Work & Pensions. So we are not being dealt with harsher than anyone else under this remit. She accepts that many of us think there should not be any cuts at all.

1/3 of their work is claimed back already from industry. The cuts apply to the rest. Moving the HSE headquarters from London to Bootle has saved money. 200 HSE staff left in a voluntary exist scheme recently. Rationalisation of estate and cuts in back office services will result in further savings. Recognise the importance of saving front line services as far as we can. Will not change in high risk industries but will look to modernise. Other services we will not change are reactive work including inspections and responses to complaints and reports. Reactive will remain unaffected but somewhere pain is inevitable. Numbers of inspections will have to be will have to be reduced in some areas. Have to target inspections with regard to risk. Compare other possible methods of interventions than individual premise inspections. In some workplaces, pro active inspections remain the best but in other sectors evidence points to effectiveness of other interventions. We will not take decisions in isolation, we will speak to stakeholders. We will learn as we go on. Over time a company or sector may improve performance and receive less attention or if they deteriorate they will receive more. 

On Monday the Minister said the clear intention is to take tough line with those who flout the law. See the idea of cost recovery from firms who do this. We can discuss what “low risk” is. However “low risk” does not mean no risk. In future we may have a supporting role rather than leading role in the production of guidance. Charging for HSE inspections. This is a fair deal. It should be welcomed by vast majority of employers since they claim they are complaint so they have nothing to worry about. It only penalises those who don’t comply. It brings a level playing field with costs. It is another form of enforcement. We may charge for some advice. But will not go back on our policy to make all information and guidance free to download from our web site. Our ideas need to develop and work out the detail and we need to consult. So context again: there is not a 35% reduction in everything we do. We already recover costs so it seems fair to extend this. It puts an increased onus on those who at fault. So they should be charged for the costs we bear to put their house in order.  

Summary. Foolish to deny times are tough. What is still constant is that we both share similar concerns and a “shared mission”. We won’t agree on everything but we all agree on this. Now we need your support and all of you to play your part. To be our eyes and ears. This is not where you want to be but despite the problems we all need to work together and do our bit.

In the Q&A she was asked is it sending the wrong message by saying office’s are “low risk” when many office workers suffer from high stress levels and asbestos is found in offices? She said again that low risk did not mean no risk. It is obvious that the level of risk in a corner shop will be different from that found in a Timber cutting yard.

I asked whether she was suggesting that safety reps should be taking the place of HSE inspectors and if she envisage a “beefed up” role for reps? If so this would maybe help change the governments mind about cutting inspections? She responded by repeating our importance as being their eyes and ears.  

She confirmed that the “Killer Asbestos” campaigns will continue and that she was not sure whether a reduction in RIDDOR reporting from 3 to 7 days was a good idea. But we need to review RIDDOR since there are a lot of problems with it such as under reporting. She dismissed the question that did the cuts mean that the HSE was now a toothless tiger by saying that the organisation has delivered amongst the best health & safety record in the world. Things are not perfect but you should not forget this. The safety system in the UK does not depend on the HSE alone. You do yourself a disservice if you think this. 

Andrew Lansley "tosser" Rap

This is just a little bit rude about our well beloved Tory Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.... But he is intent on destroying the NHS. 

Hat tip COHSE Union

In the final frame there is a superb quote about the NHS by Nye Bevan which I will not spoil by revealing. 
Instead this below is one of my favourite "Nye" quotations about the NHS.

. A free health service is pure Socialism .—Aneurin Bevan, In Place of Fear, p106

Update: you can buy the single online here from itunes!

"Osborne's 'no budge' budget" - A Titanic "full speed ahead" to the Iceberg

Below is Unison's response to today's awful, bodged and Titanic "full steam ahead to the iceberg" budget.

I wonder how many folk recognise the picture of the actor and remember or realise its significance? 

Not a lot according to last years General Election results. 

Why is it each generation eventually forgets not just how horrible the Tories are but that they are economic illiterates who think that mass unemployment is "a price worth paying".

" Osborne’s ‘no budge budget’ is a missed opportunity to right Tory economic wrongs, UNISON, the UK’s largest union, said today. By passing up the chance to scale back the savage public spending cuts, the Tories are condemning the economy to long-term low growth and high unemployment.

The union said that the Tory’s half-hearted attempts to tackle rising inequalities through a Learjet levy and action on tax loopholes, were token gestures, which would not restore fairness - spiralling out of control under the Tories.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said:

“Under the Tories our economy isn’t growing, but the dole queues are. The Government’s own Office of Budget Responsibility has downgraded the growth forecast by 0.9% since the Chancellor’s last budget. The carnage going on in the public sector was completely written out of the Chancellor’s budget.

“Osborne should have used this budget to right his economic wrongs. This no budge budget flies in the face of mounting evidence of the toll Tory cuts are taking on our economy and our society. The Chancellor is pinning his hopes on the private sector driving the recovery – but the evidence shows the private sector is not creating enough jobs to stop total unemployment from rising.

“Struggling families will be pleased that tax receipts have been used to stop fuel price rises. But with dole queues rising, and business and consumer confidence low, this is a warning to Osborne – he will not be able to rely on tax receipts to top up spending much longer.

“Osborne's over-hyped increase in tax allowances will in fact be worth less than £2.50 a week to the average basic rate taxpayer. This is more than cancelled out by the increase in VAT, which will cost the average family more than £3 a week, and other reductions in benefits, tax credits and services, which will cost families even more.

“This small tax giveaway will do nothing to help the 2.53 million people on the dole and struggling to find work. It is a drop in the ocean for millions of public sector workers hit by pay freezes. With inflation up to 5.5%, any benefit will swiftly be wiped out by higher prices.

“The Learjet levy is a token gesture. The mega-rich who can afford a private plane could pay a lot more towards our recovery. Instead, public sector workers are cutting back on food, vital healthcare such as dentists and prescriptions, and are still racking up high levels of personal debt. The poor, sick and vulnerable who did not gamble away our future are paying the price, as the public services they rely on disappear.”

On top of the VAT rise and cuts to tax credits, benefits and services that are hitting all workers, public sector workers are being hit by an increase in their pension contributions that will take more than £10 a week out of their disposable income, and a pay freeze that, with inflation running at 5.5%, will have the effect of reducing their real living standards by the equivalent of another £20 a week.

The union is calling for a change of direction and a budget for growth including a Robin Hood Tax. This tax on the banks would add £20 billion to the public purse – twenty times the measures the Chancellor announced today to close tax loopholes. Twenty billion would save local services from shut down, keep children’s nurseries open, stop hospital’s shedding jobs and save adult day centres from closure.

There is another way

- Andrew Lansley’s £3 billion* top-down reorganisation of the NHS could fund 600,000 hip operations, or fund full home care packages for 150,000 elderly or vulnerable people.

- Francis Maude’s “mutuals taskforce” has a £10 million price tag – these funds could keep more than 200 social, youth and community workers in their jobs for a year.

- And Gove’s Academies and Free Schools programme has £410 million of funding – which could restart around 20 of the vital school rebuilding projects he cancelled last year, giving disadvantaged children better schools, and creating valuable construction jobs.
(picture is from "Boys from the black stuff")