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 Deganw…Read more…
Merry Christmas to one and all
Merry Christmas folks. Photo Wansted flats 2012. Read more…
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 …Read more…
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 …Read more…
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 Hou…Read more…
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. …Read more…
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 service…Read more…
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 thi…Read more…
Amazon-Free Challenge – Better Places to Shop
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Cake – The banker, the tabloid reader & an immigrant
This is so, so true. There are a number of versions of this anecdote and this is one of best I have seen.
Hat tip Cleveland Watkiss via Facebook “The System In A Nut-shell.#2014”. Read more…
Tom Petty – I Won’t Back Down
Today I was driving solo back to London from a difficult but I think constructive hearing in Cambridge and I heard this record for the first time in years on “Absolute Radio 1980s”. Turn volume up to maximum and sing-a-long time. This is a fantastic so…Read more…
UNION BUSTING BY UK PUBLIC SERVICES PROVIDERS
The motion below on Union Busting has been sent to by UNISON Housing Association branch to next year’s Greater London Regional Council AGM in February 2014. If it is passed it will also be considered as a regional motion for the National Delegate Confe…Read more…
Class Action and stopping the endless drip, drip of corporate fraud
A very good article by lawyer Katherine Dandy on Class Actions in Pension Insight. I have added this comment to the on-line site.
“You make a lot of sense Katherine. There is also a wider governance point that Trustees should consider.
It is n…Read more…
Newsletters and Christmas Cards for Ilford North
This afternoon West Hammers went to Ilford North to help deliver a Labour newsletter and Christmas cards from local candidate Wes Streeting.
In the newsletter there is a picture of Wes from 2010 when he was President of the National Union of Stu…Read more…
the poorest pay 47% of their income in tax (the richest pay 34%)
Check out post at TUC Touchstone: “Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: the poorest pay 47% of their income in tax (the richest pay 34%).
Why should the poorest pay the most and don’t let the Daily Mail continue to confuse income tax with all taxes…Read more…
UNISON LGPS Seminar 2014 – Time to govern YOUR money!
This was my welcome speech to the 120 UNISON reperesentatives who attended our National Local Government Pension Scheme seminar.
I chaired the meeting but stole most of this intro from the speech that our President, Lucia McKeever, was due to deliver….Read more…
A cooperative approach to public services
Hat tip Co-operative Councillors newsletter. “This short animation outlines a vision for a new approach to engaging with communities and delivering services to meet their needs and aspirations. It calls attention to the limitations of top-down, Whit…Read more…
International Human Rights Day
“The UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring to the attention ‘of the peoples of the world’ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.
This year’s slogan, Human Rights 365,…Read more…
Cllr Seyi Akiwowo speech on diversity & heritage to Newham Council
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Upshire Walk & Site of Boadicea End Game?
Off message but went for a great country walk on Sunday around Upshire in Essex.
Check out the free Essex Walks website.
I thought that I knew the area quite well but this 5.5 mile walk was different and apart from the distant buzz of the M25 …Read more…