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Too old to be paid more
Following chancellor George Osborne announcing a so-called statutory “National Living Wage”, it has now been revealed that apprentices who are 25 and over may lose out on his promised wage hike…Read more…
Minority report
Two reports out today (Monday July 27) both point to the budget and austerity cuts to public services having a greater impact on black and ethnic minorities and women. Up to four million…Read more…
Andy Haldane: Shareholder primacy is bad for economic growth
Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s Chief Economist, has said that the UK’s shareholder model of corporate governance is holding back business investment and hurting economic growth. In a fascinating interview on Newsnight with Duncan Weldon (formerly TUC Senior Economist), he said that firms…Read more…
Young people’s debts have doubled in five years and are now highest of all age groups
In many ways today’s ONS figures on household indebtedness are unremarkable, given we are increasingly accustomed to figures showing high levels of household debt. By and large the debt burden is continuing to increase. One in five households report financial (i.e. non-mortgage) debts are a ‘heavy’…Read more…
Unite rep reinstated after anti-Blacklist protest
Trade union activists and members of the Blacklist Support Group protested outside the offices of Morgan Stanley in London today, in support of a sacked Unite activist.Read more…
End two-tier pay policy
Traffic wardens in Hackney, east London will take two days of strike action next week in a bid to get a proper sick pay policy provided by their private sector employer. The 30 employees,…Read more…
West Ham Votes for Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson
A little late but last Thursday West Ham CLP narrowly nominated, Jeremy Corbyn, as Labour leader ahead of Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper. Tom Watson, was nominated as Deputy leader beating Caroline Flint, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle and Be…Read more…
PRESS RELEASE: UNISON v Cspita over Barnet Contract
Employment Tribunal starts TODAY 27 July 2015
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Don’t you (forget about DB)
It is easy to overlook defined benefit (DB) pension schemes when so much of the talk in the pensions world is of cruises, conservatories and high-powered sports cars. But their central role in the retirement savings of millions of people and as a cruci…Read more…
Beware of Shapeshifters & Outsourcery: Protecting public services and the public purse – APSE seminar
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Freedom of Information – Threats and Excuses
Here is the recently published article I wrote for the new edition of the Scottish Left Review, on behalf of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland. I’ve tried to add helpful links into…Read more…
Cuba’s Public Health Repair and Maintenance Programme:
Ongoing maintenance to be prioritized The polyclinic Mario Muñoz Monroy in the Guanabo community of Havana, is one of 339 public health facilities recently renovated in the city, as part of a special…Read more…
Trading names: transatlantic beef about cheese & drugs
The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated between the EU and the US keeps throwing up new things to argue about. One of the most arcane is the debate over ‘geographical indications’ (GIs) – names like Vidalia onions from the US or Armagh Bramley…Read more…
Labour’s first majority government
Trade unionists belonging to one of Unite’s predecessor union’s were the bedrock of a radical post war Labour government that swept to power at the 1945 General Election exactly 70…Read more…
How the Government turns a severe and ongoing reduction in public investment spending into a ‘priority’ spend
In its newly issued document outlining the approach for the spending review 2015, the government makes some bold statements about public investment. In June the OECD criticised countries for focusing spending cuts on public investment, and in its previ…Read more…
Great Newham Run 2015
Off message-ish but last Sunday (19 July) I took part in the first Great Newham Run 10k in the Queen Elizabeth Park. I have also taken part in the Great North Run in Newcastle and the Great South Run in Portsmouth.
For I think the fifth year in a row…Read more…
Global teacher unions oppose neo-liberal trade & investment agreements
At this week’s Education International (EI) World Congress in Canada, education unions around the globe voted to oppose the new wave of trade and investment agreements that are being negotiated…Read more…
“Alternative Financing Proposals for the Newham Pension Fund”
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Baseline assessment: questions but not too many answers
Here’s a puzzle for you. Q. In order to carry out an accurate reception baseline assessment of primary schools, what is the minimum number of schools that should be included in each sample? A….Read more…