The Scottish Government’s parentzone website has published data on the performance of school leavers. The Daily Record highlighted how these figures show a shocking class divide between the…Read more…
Newham Local Government Branch AGM 2015 – The threat to your pensions- “if it sounds too good to be true then…”
On Friday I was invited to speak at the annual general meeting of the Newham UNISON branch at the Town Hall in East Ham.
This was in my trade union capacity as the Chair of the London UNISON pension network. This is my wr…Read more…
Workers Rights in a Global Economy
Colleagues,
Ruskin College is an associate member of the Global Labour University (GLU) which is a network of universities, trade unions and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) delivering an MA programme similar to that run at Ruskin: http://w…Read more…
There are just three weeks left to register to vote
With everything pointing to the closest election in a generation, and some seats destined to be decided by just a handful of votes, all of us have the power to make a difference – so make sure you’re…Read more…
Stratford, Finchley & Ilford Labour Campaign Day and the more people see of Ed Miliband – the more they like him
Saturday was a busy campaigning day. In the morning I went to the Sarah Sackman’s headquarters in Finchley & Golders Green, to help deliver leaflets on behalf of “trade unions together” (TULO). This was a really well organised office with a fr…Read more…
“Broken Commitments, Vulnerable Workers” – Union busting by National Express continues
On Tuesday morning I attended another presentation by US transport union, the Teamsters, to pension funds on the anti-union practises by a National Express owned US company called Durham which runs schools buses.
The Chair of the Local Auth…Read more…
Priorities for UNISON members?
http://www.jonrogers1963.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/after-today-prioritise-motion-106-to.html?m=1
Regular readers of this blog (Sid and Doris SOC) will realise that I am not above linking back to an earlier post on this blog.
This is particularly the case when – moving on from this week’s Local…Read more…
Thank you, Good luck and Goodbye – to a Workers Champion
Picture from last night’s leaving dinner for my branch outreach worker, Andy Robertson (2nd on
right).
Andy is a former UNISON Housing activist in Leeds who left to become a mature student at university to study a HR (Human Relations – what we u…Read more…
Before you go to bed tonight remember to change your clock according to your political values…
Moving that the question be put
In the third of three posts this evening reflecting upon this week’s UNISON Special Local Government Conference I want to deal with the question of Conference delegates moving ” that the question be now put.” A fair bit of this went on on Tuesday, to the extent that the President (who was chairing…Read more…
Should a Conference overrule a ballot?
Among the questions I’ve been asked since the decision of Tuesday’s Special UNISON Local Government Service Group Conference to submit a pay claim for local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for this year, one worthy of particular consideration concerns the propriety of a…Read more…
After the Special Local Government Conference decision – who is saying what?
The decisions of UNISON’s Special Local Government Conference (crucially the decision to try to reopen pay negotiations in the National Joint Council (NJC) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland this year) have attracted a range of online comment.I am indebted to my fellow member of the National…Read more…
Labour Campaign Launch at Olympic Park
Yesterday morning Labour Leader Ed Miliband launched the Party campaign at the top of the Orbit.
Ed is pictured in the collage (top left) shaking the tiny hand of Juniper baby daughter of Newham Councillor, Farah Nazeer.
UNISON Assistant General Se…Read more…
East Ham and Ilford North Election fund raiser
After the Stratford By Election candidate selection and West Ham Labour General Committee some of us went to support this fund raiser.
It took place in the Royal Regency in Manor Park. Which is a magnificent former cinema restored as a plush fun…Read more…
Charlene McLean officially selected unanimously to fight the Stratford & Newtown by election
This is great news. Tonight local Mum Charlene McLean was selected by Stratford and New town Labour Party ward to be their candidate in the forthcoming by election.
This will take place at the same day as the general election.
I was the procedural …Read more…
Why Workers Won’t Unite: That is the question
In her review of two US books on the decline of unions in the States, Kim Philips Fein of NYU takes us through a hop, skip and a jump of US Union history and then dives into a complex seeming summary…Read more…
UNISON Special Local Government Conference 2015
I am not a member of the Local Government Service Group anymore (even though my pay and conditions like many UNISON Community members are still determined by the National Joint Council) so I was not there yesterday and don’t know how accurate this UNIS…Read more…
“Dear Pissed off Voter…why I am going to Vote”
The right to vote is so precious. People have suffered and died for this right. Politics in this country is far from perfect but if you don’t vote, then you betraying these democracy martyrs from the past and present and just giving the thumbs up …Read more…
Will conference words of unity translate to reality?
Calls for unity from both platform and floor were welcome after a sometimes bitter special local government conference in London on Tuesday – and unity is essential if anything positive is to come…Read more…
Letter in the Guardian: Austerity policies a disaster for majority
On Tuesday 24 March a letter which I was signatory to was published in the Guardian newspaper. You can read the letter below and see the full list of people who signed it. Austerity policies a…Read more…