Picture collage from the packed “unions together” (TULO) fringe last Sunday at the Labour Party Conference. Speakers included Jo Stevens MP who spoke about “Workplace 2020” and Angie Rayner MP, who thanked Unison for her politics.
Labour le…Read more…
“Education not segregation” – West Ham Labour campaign day
No New Grammars day of action – 11am this Saturday, Forest Gate station
Hello – it’s nice to be back after our enforced break over the summer. At at the request of our old new leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, we’ll be kic…Read more…
#Lab16 “Axe the Housing Act” Fringe – 6pm Monday Holiday Inn
I will be at this fringe this evening. The Government will have to return to Parliament to pass regulations regarding the Act so it will be interesting to see what can still be done to oppose it.Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn wins: Now what.
I drove to Liverpool yesterday with two Labour Party colleagues. We were never going to get to the conference in time for the announcement of the leadership result but with smart phones we heard the result in real time. I think we talked politics for n…Read more…
“Brexit and the New Age of Uncertainty” – Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz speach to Newham Full Council 19th September 2016
“Brexit and the New Age of Uncertainty: Implications, challenges and opportunities for Newham, London and our country”
“Thank you Chair for allowing me the opportunity to address colleagues at today’s Full Council.
I’ll be talking about the implications of Brexit as I see it; and a…Read more…
Newham Triathlon 18 September 2016
Picture from Sunday, when fellow Newham Councillor, Terry Paul and myself completed a self organised Triathlon (using google maps) starting and ending in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London.
This was not a race and ther…Read more…
Victory for decency at work – Sports Direct will hold an independant review into its employment practices.
In what is also a victory for effective pension stewardship, “workhouse employer” Sports Direct agreed to hold an independent review into its awful working practices and governance.
See TUC press release below
“Trade Union Share Owners welcome Sport…Read more…
#HousingDay 2016 (A view)
Today is “#HousingDay 2016” a day that “celebrates positive impact of social housing on thousands of people across the UK. Stories by #ukhousing landlords, staff & #proudtenant”.
While I think this is a really good idea to challenge neg…Read more…
Prep for tomorrow’s Newham Triathlon OMG
Just getting things sorted for tomorrows self organised Olympic distance triathlon. Currently I am wondering why do I volunteer for such things!
I am meeting fellow Newham Councillor, Terry Paul, at the London Aquatic centre in Queen Elizabeth O…Read more…
Axe the Housing Act Summit: 22 October 2016
The Battle is not yet over. The Government needs to bring back to Parliament exactly how they intend to Act to operate so there is still lots of campaigning opportunities.
UNISON is also sponsoring this meeting. So many of our members and their famil…Read more…
Hackney Mayor Election 2016
Tonight I helped out in Lea Bridge ward, Hackney for the election campaign to select a new Executive Mayor for the Borough.
At the campaign headquarters, ward activists were really hospitable and appreciative to us for turning up and&n…Read more…
TUC Congress 2016: Day 2 Monday
My second collage of Twitter photos of the UNISON delegation (mostly) at this year’s TUC Congress getting stuck in and telling it as it is.
We started off with Gordon McKay, berating our mean employers for not knowing how to add up&nbs…Read more…
Speech on Housing Policy to TUC Congress
This is the text from my speech yesterday on the composite motion on Housing. “Congress, the housing crisis and the lack of affordable homes is blighting the lives of workers and their families across the nation. More and more people, particu…Read more…
TUC Congress 2016: Day 1
On Sunday I travelled down to Brighton as part of the 60 strong UNISON delegation to the 148th Trade Union Congress. This is the annual Conference or Parliament of the British Trade Union movement. Congress started for me with a delegation meeting at 3…Read more…
Abbey Gardens E15 – Harvest Festival & Classic Vegetable Show
CELEBRATE What will the Harvest be?
Saturday 17th September 2pm-5pm
A FREE EVENT FOR ALL AGES
Dear Friend,
Friends of Abbey Gardens will be holding our H…Read more…
Jeremy is going to win the Labour Leadership Contest: Get over it.
While one of the reasons why politics can be exciting is its unpredictability at times, there seems little doubt that Jeremy Corbyn will be announced the winner at the special conference on Saturday 24 September.
The latest YouGov poll predicts an ev…Read more…
La La Defined Benefit Pension Deficit calculations
I have long been very sceptical about the Daily Torygraph headlines about defined benefit (DB) pension schemes being “in massive deficit”, “gold plated” and/or “unaffordable”. Check out this paper below by Dennis Leech, Emeritus Professor of …Read more…
Cycle to Work Day: Wednesday 14 September 2016
This is a fantastic initiative by the London Cycling Campaign. My union work takes me across London and I find cycling often takes less time to get there than public transport or by car. There are also a number of relatively quiet and attractive …Read more…
“Sports Direct cannot be allowed to mark their own homework”
Check out the press release below from the TUC about rotten employer “Sports Direct” whose company AGM is tomorrow.
The BBC report here that Sports Direct are desperately trying to pretend that all is ok and they are going to change.
Such huma…Read more…
“Expensive exercise in futility’ Tory plans to evict tens of thousands over “Pay to Stay”
Hat tip to a hard hitting post in “Red Brick” seen below about the Tory plans to evict tens of thousands of working council and Housing Association tenants and their families.
This plan to means test all social tenants will cost millions to admi…Read more…