By Mary Bousted Sir Michael Wilshaw should not be worried that Ofsted is unlikely to win any popularity contests. Teachers and school leaders set a low bar for the agency. They merely want the school…Read more…
Cross-party MPs say benefit delays cause hunger
A cross-party group of MPs have been conducting a wide ranging inquiry into hunger in the UK, and their report is out today.Read more…
Austerity – Just Say No!
‘Even if the government/OBR forecasts for the scale of the cuts prove to be unworkable they amount to a plan for permanent austerity, of ever deeper cuts. They are also a Tory trap for Labour, which…Read more…
“You Cannot Pick & Mix Which Human Rights to Respect” National Express LAPFF14
The President of the USA Teamsters Union, James Hoffa, sent a video message to the LAPFF conference to thank them for our support in their campaign to stop the North American arm of British company National Express’s union busting.
Teamster Louis Mali…Read more…
The 23 Enigma – three stories
I’m a Discordian – which means nothing other than I think religion is a joke, so I claim membership of a joke religion. One of the articles of faith, in a religion that believes nothing, is that there’s something going on with the number 23. Or maybe there isn’t, or maybe there…Read more…
Cherie Blair CBE QC “how better business practice can drive both market & social returns” LAPFF14
Picture of Guest Speaker at LAPFF conference, Cherie Blair, with the youngest member of the Newham Council Pension Committee (and possibly in the entire UK?) Cllr Seyi Akiwowo.
Cherie spoke about how when she started to practise law, human rights was …Read more…
Engagement Panel at LAPFF14
The next item at the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) conference was a panel on “engagement” with Cllr Kieran Quinn GMPF, Chair Sir Merrick Cockell, Cllr Richard Greening LBI and Cllr Cameron Rose LPF.
Investor engagement is probably …Read more…
LAPFF Conference 2014: Public Funds & Public Purpose
Yesterday I came back from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) conference. I will post more on the conference later on.
It was I think the best attended LAPFF conference I have been to which reflects the huge changes and chellenges that the…Read more…
Modern Slavery Bill: take action on Monday
The TUC is working with a range of corporate accountability and anti-slavery campaign groups and NGOs, including the Ethical Trading Initiative, to strengthen the Modern Slavery Bill, which is now…Read more…
Lima Diary 2: Groundhog day for ‘just transition’ at #COP20
The #1 objective of the ITUC delegation here in Lima is to ensure the UN honours its commitment to a Just Transition in the negotiating text now in draft form. The UN first made this decision five years ago this month in Cancun. Back then, the 16th ann…Read more…
EU investment plan – accelerating with the brakes on
One thing the ETUC has been repeating ad nauseam since the crisis is the need for a European investment plan to drive growth and jobs. Almost everyone seems to have come round to agreeing with us recently including the new President of the European Com…Read more…
PSI names every single health worker killed by Ebola …
We were shown this powerful video at the UNISON National Executive meeting this week. The meeting also sent our support to the 1000 NHS workers who have volunteered to go to West Africa to fight Ebola. Many of whom will of course be UNISON members.
“O…Read more…
Interserve members at Waterloo Strike Action….picket line and demonstration…
Members from Interserve at Waterloo on strike today, fighting against racism and bullying.
A good picket line and leaflet campaign outside of Waterloo station, with myself being spoke to by a…Read more…
Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: Jobseekeer’s Allowance costs 0.3% of GDP
Why does George Osborne emphasise the government’s benefit cuts? As The Economist noted after the Conservative Party conference, even when his cuts are a comparatively small element of his plans, he still talks them up. Mr Osborne is a notoriously ‘political’ Chancellor, and he knows that polls…Read more…
Acas Early Conciliation – The First Six Months
5 December 2014
By Prof Nicole Busby from the Law School, University of Strathclyde
As Acas publishes statistics on the first six months of compulsory Early Conciliation, Nicole Busby analyses…Read more…
Why do the Tories love the financial services industry? Follow the money…
“The latest figures from the Electoral Commission reveal that in the last quarter, hedge funds gave the Tories £1.34 million in donations, bringing the overall total to £51.1 million. These are, of course, the same hedge funds which were given a tax cut worth £145 million by George Osborne in…Read more…
Funding for minimum wage enforcement to increase by £3m
There was a promise to increase minimum wage enforcement funding by £3 million next year hidden away in the detail of the autumn statement. “The National Minimum Wage (NMW) provides important protection for low earners. To improve its enforcement, Autumn Statement announces that the…Read more…
Unions hail good news on marriage equality in the Channel Islands
Last week, the chief minister in the island of Jersey reported that legislation for same sex marriage would be introduced shortly in the States of Jersey with a view to it being brought into effect…Read more…
OBR set out scale of tax losses from low pay growth
Yesterday’s OBR report sets out the impacts that low wage work is having for tax revenues, suggesting that the £17bn shortfall we assessed that low earnings have created to date (as set out in IPPR analysis for the TUC last week) is likely to be even larger. Firstly, the OBR point to various…Read more…
Think solidarity. Act locally. (Support Lambeth UCU)
This morning I supported a picket line of striking UCU members at Lambeth College and was, this lunchtime, one of the speakers at their strike rally.
Today is the first of a series of planned strikes by UCU members at the College, continuing an earlier series of strikes in opposition to the…Read more…