Check out this article in the local government finance online site “Room 151”. Former auditor, Stephen Sheen, looks critically at the decision making process that resulted in Councils taking out LOBOs (Lender Option; Borrower Option) in the first place…Read more…
Fossils are go! as Labour hopefuls miss Osborne’s energy omnishambles
Business Green argues today that the government is pushing through without an effective response from Labour’s leadership hopefuls a new energy policy with renewables shoved to the margins. But across the Pond, Hillary Clinton’s pledge to install half a billion solar panels and generate enough…Read more…
All the fun of the Fest
Catch all the highlights from Saturday’s (July 26) Southampton Left Fest below
The post All the fun of the Fest appeared first on UNITElive.org.Read more…
TUC: Employers in denial about pregnancy discrimination:
New report shows many employers are in denial about pregnancy discrimination, says TUC Commenting on today’s (Friday) report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which shows that one in nine…Read more…
Just the tip of the iceberg?
‘Blacklisting’ in the construction industry must be investigated by the public inquiry into undercover policing in England and Wales, Unite said today (Tuesday, July 28). Unite said that there…Read more…
“Want work” levels and women’s labour market participation
Women Want Work is a new TUC briefing that argues that the official unemployment figures under-state the jobs shortage; in particular they minimise the number of women who aren’t in employment but ideally would like a paid job. This is because of the way unemployment is defined for the…Read more…
Left fest forward!
Saturday in Southampton (July 26) was a day of music, comedy, free food and, yes, politics. Hundreds of people from Hampshire and beyond poured into a packed church hall to enjoy the port…Read more…
US communication workers resist Verizon assault
39,000 workers on the East Coast set to strike on 1 August as contract expires without agreement.Read more…
Do schools really fail to prepare pupils for the world of work?
Anne Heavey is an Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Every week we see headlines decrying the crisis of skills teaching in our schools, the gist: our schools fail to prepare our children for the world…Read more…
A 1215-style fight for our rights
“Depressingly ideological and completely unnecessary” – one view the view of the Trade Union Bill rushed out by the Tory government. It wasn’t me who said that, nor any of my union colleagues…Read more…
What will the Tory Trade Union Bill mean for YOU?
Headlines on the new Trade Union Bill and subsequent blog postings have concentrated on the threat to strike action, through the new thresholds on ballots, and on the new laws regarding picketing and…Read more…
Stop the election, the ‘wrong’ candidate may win!
Democracy is all well and good but when the ‘wrong’ person is in danger of winning you have to draw the line somewhere. That staunch democrat, Labour MP John Mann has called on Harriet Harman to ‘halt the contest’. The election is apparently “out of the control” and at risk…Read more…
Revival in GDP quarterly growth figure disguises increased imbalances
GDP quarterly growth was back up to 0.7% in 2015 Q2 from 0.4% in Q1, and was in-line with market expectations. The main reasons for the revival in growth were a surge in energy extraction and use and a rebound in service activity. Acting in the opposite direction was the first fall in manufacturing…Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn sends message of solidarity to Barnet UNISON members
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Places available on TU courses coming up
Apply now via your branch for the following courses that still have places.
· Organising Stewards – Dundee – 25-26 August (part 1) and 13-15 October (part 2)
· Union Learning Reps (ULR) – Glasgow – 31 August – 2 September
· Developing Representation Skills – Edinburgh – 2-3 September
Applicants must have completed Organising Stewards and Further Representation Skills toRead more…
BREAKINGNEWS! Foxes & Trade Unionists are fighting back together
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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…