Let's get Europe working again!

Dear friends,

I am campaigning to be your choice to join Labour's London MEP team, to fight the 2014 European elections.

Today, I am writing to ask you to vote Ivana Bartoletti #1 when you receive your MEP selection ballot at the end of May.

Europe is important for London, and Labour needs an MEP candidate with an ambitious, optimistic vision for Europe, and the ability to do something about it.

The Europe we see now is not the Europe we want. It is dominated by austerity policies with no grip on growth. I want to bring Labour values to Brussels to reform Europe, and make it work for Britain and ordinary people.

With Labour values, Europe can be the partner London needs, helping us achieve what we cannot achieve on our own. In a globalised world, we need to stand tall in Brussels if we want to stand tall in the world from Beijing to Washington.

I know the streets of Europe as well as I know the corridors of Brussels, and I can deliver for Labour  and for Londoners.

I have spent my life campaigning for the European left: on the doorstep for Labour, leading the Fabian Women's Network, and with Labour's sister parties in Europe for a decade. I know the progressive European movement at every level from being a government adviser in Italy to leading grassroots campaigns.

I am a working mum and NHS worker. I am proud to have made my career in the NHS counter fraud service, fighting abuse and waste while delivering on Labour's most cherished promise: that we are all in it together; that we are stronger together than we are apart.

We cannot accept the Tory story of Europe in decline. With change, a strategy for growth and jobs, and greater accountability, the EU can be the partner London needs to bring opportunities to every Londoner.

This is the spirit we need to change Britain, and Europe too.

I will continue to campaign relentlessly with you for more Labour councillors, more Labour MEPs and, come 2015, to get Ed Miliband into Downing Street.

Do get in touch if you would like more information about my campaign. You can email me at ivana4mep@ivanabartoletti.co.uk, or visit my website: www.ivanabartoletti.co.uk.

Please vote for me as #1 preference when you receive your ballot paper.

Thank you.

Ivana Bartoletti

ivana4mep@ivanabartoletti.co.uk
www.ivanabartoletti.co.uk
@IvanaBartoletti | #ivana4mep
www.facebook.com/ivana4mep

Willis Road: Street Party, West Ham, E15 Saturday 1 June 2013

Today after my Council surgery in Vicarage Lane Community Centre I went on a "door to door" street surgery with local ward activist Julianne, who is also one of the organisers of the Street Party in Willis Road on Saturday June 1st.  There was an elderly resident we came across who promised to bring copies of photographs from a street party 50 years ago!

Trots throw toys out of pram over pay consultation

UNISON is beginning a consultation process of its members subject to local government pay and conditions on the employers final offer of 1%. This is following a meeting of UNISON elected lay NJC representatives on Monday.

It’s not at all surprising that the middle class, self proclaimed revolutionary hero of Skidrow-on-Sea, has attacked those he doesn’t agree with as being in some way weasel worded.. timid...feeble...pathetic, inadequate failures (as well as being secret Tories).

The fact that he publically discloses the voting record of a private and confidential internal union meeting on our negotiating stance regarding this final pay offer from employers is probably far more significant.

The ultra left in UNISON not only think they are right and everybody else is wrong on everything but they can say and do anything they want regardless of the interests of our union or our members.

Amazing isn’t it that these people actually think that they can “unite the left” around them?

Now, I doubt that many people in that meeting are that bothered about the childish name calling nor am I criticising anyone at the actual NJC meeting. Since it was actually one of the better meetings I have ever attended, since it was a honest, largely fraternal and constructive debate between lay representatives, who agreed that we were all in a rotten situation but did not all agree on the best way forward. These things happen from time to time and this is what union democracy is suppose to be all about. I respect the reasoned arguments and opinions of those who on this occasion I did not agree with.

What really bothers me is the contempt that the Ultra left extremists outside that meeting since have shown for the Union and ordinary rank and file union members. Demanding that the union preempts the consultation by recommending rejection and strike action. They clearly consider members to be sheep, incapable of any free or rational thought, who must be told what to do and think by the “Great Leaders”. Workers are too thick to know what is good for them so they need to be led by the nose into yet another “glorious defeat”.

Since such an attitude is so essentially divisive and self defeating then you are forced to conclude that the Ultra left could not give a toss about tackling low pay but are throwing their toys out of the pram because they see yet another opportunity for strike chasing and revolution going out of the window.

There is actually a real opportunity for the union to fight back and organise around pay cuts by using it to build density in the workplace to increase our real bargaining power. We also need to talk with and not talk down, to our members about politics and economics. We need to persuade them without lecturing or sloganising, that there is a viable alternative economic policy to austerity.

If we achieve this then we can deliver successful strike action on pay. This will not happen overnight nor will it happen at all if we treat our members as mere cannon fodder.  Or if we try and force them into taking action that they may not believe in at this stage just to satisfy the warped beliefs of a tiny, tiny minority.

This tiny minority really don’t want action to bring about a decent pay offer they just want strike after strike after strike to bring about the fantasy Trotsky idyl of permanent revolution (yes they actually believe in this load of old nonsense).

There are many members who are not activists but are incredible loyal to the union and if the union recommends action they will support it instinctively almost without question. They do so not just out of collective solidarity but because they trust the union to only promise something it can actually deliver. If we play games with that trust then the next time we ask them for support on something we can deliver on then the answer is going to be NO.

Pay 2p extra per teeshirt to save workers lives

Check out the TUC website Going to Work and the campaign it is running with LabourStart to make Garment factories in Bangladesh safe.

They point out that the people responsible for poverty wages and very poor safety standards are not consumers in the UK looking for bargain clothes but the global brands and retailers who set prices and therefore wage rates and safety standards.

If the £27 per month wages of these workers were to be doubled this would only cost an extra 2p per tee shirt sold in the UK. They would then not be so desperate for work regardless of conditions. Effective health and safety at work would cost even less. Especially if free trade unions were allowed in Bangladesh who could drive up safety standards.

All pension fund trustees should be scrutinising their fund managers about what they are doing to make sure that any investments they hold in any part of the garment supply chain (not just factories and shops but also finance, raw materials, construction, design, transport and insurances) act responsibly and make sure all workers are properly paid and safe. This is not just a matter affecting Bangladesh.

We have factories making Apple iPADS in China who treat their workers so badly that they have to put up suicide nets around high buildings.

Trustees own these assets on behalf of their beneficiaries and must take personal responsibility for what is done in their name and on their behalf. It is also a given in my book that investments in well managed companies that to not allow their supply chain workforce to be killed, do not employ child labour, do not bribe local officials nor destroy the environment - will produce superior long term returns for the pension fund.

A unique opportunity to make history

Hello it's Sanchia Alasia here. I am really privileged to be one of the European candidates for the 2014 elections for the London region. I wanted to email all the Labour party members in Newham to introduce myself to those who may not know me.

Im a Labour Party councillor in Barking and Dagenham and I defeated the London Regional Coordinator of the BNP, Robert Bailey to become the youngest woman on the council and achieved over 7% swing to Labour I now want to use my experience of defeating the BNP in Barking to kill off the far right across Europe.

If your wondering how I got your email address, the Labour party supplied it to me for the purposes of my campaign. I think it's really important that ordinary community activists get selected in campaigns like this and if elected I pledge to be a strong voice in Europe for you. I have a real chance of topping the ballot which will be sent out next month as my campaign will make international history if I am elected as I will be the first woman of African/Caribbean origin to ever sit in the European Parliament.

I have had had some press about my campaign please click the links below to read:

Barking and Dagenham Post
The Voice
OBV

If you would like to get involved in my campaign team or endorse me then email me here. You can read my campaign leaflet and find out a bit more about me here. Would you consider making a small donation to my campaign? Any amount no matter how small would be gratefully received. This can be done via my website.

If you have any questions then please get in touch or speak to me at the Newham Hustings on Tuesday the 28th May which will be held at the Community Centre in Vicarage Lane E15. As someone who lived in Newham for over 20 years in the Plaistow North ward and worked at Newham Hospital for a number of years as their equality and diversity lead it will be great to meet up with former comrades again.

Reply supporter to be listed as one of my supporters.

Reply phonebank to join one of my phonebank sessions at UNISON Headquarters in Eusron on 14, 21 and 29 May.

Finally we have a bye-election in Barking tomorrow, Thursday 9th May and we would appreciate any help that you could give us to help see of the BNP again. If you are available at any time tomorrow and would like to help get the vote out the “Campaign Office” will be at 171 Westrow Drive IG11 9BS – OPEN from 9am until close of polling.

Yours

Sanchia

Vote Sanchia Alasia #1
www.sanchiaalasia.com
@sanchia4europe #sanchia4mep sanchia4europe@yahoo.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/Sanchia4Labour

Coggeshall and Feering Walk 2013

Off message but the photo collage (click to bring up details) is from a superb 7.5 mile country walk on Sunday in Essex.

Coggeshall is a fascinating Old English wool town. The weather was lovely and warm for a British Bank holiday weekend!

Stopped off first at the 15th century St Peters Church which was rebuilt after being bombed and badly damaged during 1940.

The countryside was a little flat but green and beautiful. It was a walk dominated by gorgeous late spring blossom trees and bird songs.

Lunch was a Ploughman in the beer garden of the Bell Inn in Feering.

Best part of the walk was along the river Blackwater (centre picture) and its old water mills and meadows. Near end of walk was the National Trust medieval Grange barn (bottom right of collage)).  The monastery that it was built to serve is long gone thanks to Henry VIII but it is worth looking at because it is huge and gives you an idea how rich and powerful the monasteries use to be.

In the village there is a local Museum run by volunteers which is well worth visiting. Including accounts of the infamous Coggeshall gang who terrorised the locality by theft, violence and burglary in the 1830s.

Wikepedia says that the village use to be the butt of Essex wide jokes on how stupid they were? Interesting how cultures have to have such scape goats - as the English have with the Irish and Americans with the Polish or even shell suited Essex man and Essex women dancing around their handbags.

Why do we appear to have this need to be superior to others?

Association of Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT) Newsletter May 4th 2013

AMNT Summer Conference –
‘Where Now The Pension Promise?’ June 26th – at
21 Tothill Street, Westminster, SW1H 9LL

We wish to announce our first members’ conference which will be held as above at the premises of Towers Watson one of our sponsors. We hope that this conference will be a little different as we examine the latest in best practise and scheme evolution. It will include presentations from some AMNT Members about their schemes, information from our very own survey of members and thought provoking presentations from some external speakers.

There will also be some round table discussions where we will examine certain issues with our key sponsors. Our members are invited to attend the whole conference free of charge and our industry Friends will also be invited to attend the first parts of the event. There will be good opportunity to network in the breaks.

Mark your diaries now. Full details with agenda and registration details will be issued in a few days time. The outline time for the event is from 10am to 5.00pm.  We would still like to find one or two more interesting case studies from our members own experiences and schemes. If you have something that you think would be interesting for colleagues (and Friends) to hear about your scheme do please contact us now and we will do our best to find a presentation slot. Contact mail@amnt.org initially.

Workplace Pensions Event – Edgbaston – 8-9th May
Have you booked for this event through Engaged Investor or Pensions Insight? Both our co-chairs are on panels at the event:
Barry is part of the panel for ‘Driving DC to the next level’ 13:45 to 14:30 on Day 1
Janice is part of the Trustee Super Panel 15:45 to 16:30 at the end of Day 2
We hope to see many of you there.

Pension and Benefits Show – ExCel Centre – 12-13 June
The very best solutions to pension and employee benefit issues are only discovered when pensions management, benefits management, finance and HR work together. That’s why the NEW Pensions and Benefits Show, on the 12-13 June, will be the ‘must attend’ event of 2013.
Join over 1000 professionals in the Pensions, HR, Benefits and Finance industries, for 50+ conference sessions & workshops, 80+ exhibitors, unrivalled networking opportunities and FREE advice.

NEW FOR 2013 - Free advice and peer-to-peer networking in the P&B Clinic, one-on-one guidance, Partner Insight Lunches, Speed Connections, Ask an Expert Wall and the Boardroom Debate.
The AMNT will have a stand at this event and we invite as many as possible to come and visit us there. Entrance for Trustees is free of charge.
Go to www.pensionsandbenefitsshow.co.uk to find out more.

Are you based in the East Midlands?
Any of our members who are based in the East Midlands are invited to attend meetings of the NAPF East Midlands section. These meetings on topical pension matters are held about five times per year, at premises of members and usually on mid-week afternoons. That said, the very next meeting is a supper to be held at Leicester University on 13th June where the speaker is Phil Stone of the Richard III Society. For more info contact:
Tina.Lane@samworthbrothers.couk
Or Bob.Compton@arcbenefits.co.uk

Pensions Liberation
You are sure to have heard much about this in recent weeks but we didn’t realise it was quite so prevalent until one of our Committee members said that their scheme had 6 suspicious cases under review at the moment. So we have become keen to know how widespread this is and if your scheme has current issues with this we would like to hear more at mail@amnt.org
With this subject in mind our sponsor Sackers has issued a helpful brief:
http://www.sackers.com/documents/publications/alerts/alert_pension_liberation_what_trustees_need_to_know_18_april_2013.html
and there is also the material from the Regulator:
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/trustees/pension-liberation-fraud-trustees.aspx

Takeover Code
Are you aware of a new code coming into play from 20th May. Our Sponsor Towers Watson has issued a briefing note:
http://links.mkt304.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDg4OTQzOQS2&r=NTE2NDkxMjUwOTQS1&j=MTUwNTgwNjM2S0&mt=1&rt=0

Small Pots / Short Service Refunds
And another hot topic. You might find the TW briefing note on this subject helpful also:
http://links.mkt304.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDg5MDc2OAS2&r=NTE2ODIyNjY0NjUS1&j=MTUwNjE5MzgzS0&mt=1&rt=0

Want to Benchmark Your Scheme?
CEM Benchmarking, one of our Friends provides analyses for about 300 of the largest DB schemes around the world every year – looking in particular at investment costs and their reasonableness in relation to scheme size and asset mix. Last year they presented to an AMNT meeting and were well received.
They are now commencing the analysis of 2012 data and they invite our members to participate (not necessarily just large schemes). They produce two levels of report – a base level is provided free for all participants and a deeper study is provided for those paying a fee. Last year one or two AMNT members did follow up and their schemes made use of the service.
If you have an interest please contact directly:
John Simmonds at JohnS@cembenchmarking.com

Conference – Investment Issues for Maturing Pension Funds 9 July 2013 Le Meridien, Piccadilly
Our Friends SPS have offered us a small number of complimentary places to the above. After looking at the latest thinking on Liability Driven Investment Strategies and Identifying Liability Surrogates, the conference will move on to look at the wider de-risking alternatives including interest rate, longevity hedging and tail risk hedging before reviewing more definitive strategies such as buy-ins, buy-outs and other options.

Sponsors are: AXA Investment Managers, Capula Investment Management, Legal & General Investment Management, Rothesay Life and Russell Investments.

If you would like to attend please contact us initially at mail@amnt.org

Together - Vote Labour on Thursday

May Day March & Rally London 2013

This lunchtime I went on the traditional London May Day march from Clerkenwell to Trafalgar Square.

It was a cheerful, noisy and very colourful event. The lovely blue (not Tory of course) skies and sunshine helped. Lots of red flags trade union banners, music and political chanting.

A little strange perhaps to see so many banners with smiling pictures of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao in the West End of London but no one seemed to mind.

You bump into a number of Labour movement people during the march you know but haven't seen for ages.  You meet new people who you happen to be marching alongside and can have some good political conversations but usually it's a discussion about the weather.

I helped carry our UNISON Housing Association branch banner and the UNISON Greater London Regional banner. Normally due to political elections it is difficult to attend the March but this year there are no elections in London tomorrow.

Centre of picture college is UNISON London Regional Convener Gloria Hanson speaking to the rally at Trafalgar Square. Below is the excellent and well received speech she made.

"My name is Gloria Hanson and I’m very proud to be here today sending you solidarity and unity from UNISON Greater London Region.

May day has been celebrated in London since the 1880’s and if the Tories have their way that’s what we’ll be returning to:-

•     before the NHS when healthcare was based on wealth not need,

•     when only the rich received an education & a decent standard of living

•     when there was no minimum wage, no holiday or sick pay, no health & safety and no rights at all for workers

•     when the poor and needy had nothing to look forward to except the workhouse

This Tory led Government came into power determined to pick up where Margaret Thatcher left off but after 3 years in office its clear it is going to be much worse, with an austerity agenda slashing our public services and the welfare state in a way she could only dream off.

Millions of jobs in the public sector lost, unemployment reaching record levels, our NHS and many of our schools and essential public services effectively privatised or sold off to the highest bidder. 

Our pay has been frozen as the cost of living soars, our employment & equality rights under threat and cuts to housing & other benefits will be devastating for all – especially in London. Our most vulnerable citizens are being made to bear the brunt of a financial problem that was not of their making.

Our parents and grandparents fought long and hard to establish our public services and many of the rights we take for granted today.  We cannot allow them to ride roughshod over them, whilst giving tax breaks to their rich friends. We must stand together as workers and trade unionists to defend them.

As we celebrate May Day here today we must remember that unity is strength, and when we stand together with one voice we WILL be heard".

"Rising unemployement and recession is a price we had to pay to keep inflation down but that is a price well worth paying"

Tories: Norman Lamont in 1991 explaining that rising unemployment and recession is a price well worth paying to keep down inflation.

Did the unemployed agree? No doubt the wealthy did....

Can everyone remember this is what the Tories are really, really like and vote Labour on Thursday?

Hat tip Captain Swing