When she entered
And set down her empty bags on my tabletops
I felt caught out in my
Missed deeds.
The evening news dripped bloodily from the screen
And the bed stood encircled
Aside in the…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…
Forget Farage, Support Unions And Fight Back: Russell Brand The Trews (E210)
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Workers in Queensferry and East Kilbride face uncertain Christmas
IBM workers who deliver ScottishPower’s outsourced £20m IT services, face an uncertain Christmas after being told that they face further restructuring. Staff are worried that this may mean further job losses.
IT staff maintain customer services systems and infrastructure which engineers rely on when tackling power cuts.
Staff say more restructuring will further disrupt customer serviceRead more…
Misleading claims of four per cent earnings growth
It is of limited relevance to the population as a whole that some people are lucky enough to be enjoying stable employment with rises in earnings of four per cent. The figure on earnings growth for employees in full-time work for over a year issued by …Read more…
Time to take action on pensions
There are some big changes to our pensions next year. The Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme changes next April and the UK government is allowing transfers out as a lump sum. In addition, new…Read more…
We need an open dialogue about what ‘evidence’ is
Tucked away in the ‘evidence check’ documents in the Select Committee webforum is something I have always suspected might be the case. The evidence government uses to develop policies is sometimes no…Read more…
Today is #flexiworkday. Here’s why we should support flexible working
It isn’t always possible to stick to traditional 9-to-5 working hours – childcare, caring for friends and family, and looking after your own personal health can clash with rigid, fixed hours. In these circumstances, having a bit of flexibility in how, when and where you work can make a big…Read more…
UK Shale Gas: A trade union view
The Spectator magazine recently held an energy event called The UK Domestic Energy Landscape: Fixing Britain’s Energy Market, hosted at the offices of the law firm Eversheds. Carbon Brief reported that it “was best summed up” by one of their partners Marcus Trinick who said: “There is no such…Read more…
Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: the poorest pay 47 per cent of their income in tax (the richest pay 34 per cent)
(Warning: long post.) In his Autumn Statement speech the Chancellor claimed to be a modern day Robin Hood: In fact, the net contribution [to austerity] of the richest 20% will be larger than the remaining 80% put together – proving we are all in this together. This is similar to an argument you…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…
Lima blog #5: People at work on the frontline of change
Here at #COP20 in Lima, the UN’s current negotiating text ignores the realities of the world of work. Inexplicably, the UN has omitted previously agreed text on securing a Just Transition to a low carbon world. Today, the ITUC backed by trade unions from around the globe are calling a press…Read more…
UNISON lambasts council ‘bully-boy’ tactics as councillors threaten closure of mental health charity
UNISON has issued an urgent call to councillors to cease plans to cut a charity’s funding by 40 per cent without any prior consultation.
Councillors are expected to make their decision at a council meeting today (Thursday) based on a report that remains unseen by Glasgow Association for Mental Health.
The charity was notified late Tuesday evening that commissioners want to hold an urgentRead more…
A welfare state for corporations not the people
An extensive article and research by Kevin Farnsworth on the Renewal website examines the extent to which UK public policy is skewed in favour of private companies – placing business tax cuts,…Read more…
Why 40,000 lost council jobs may only be the tip of the iceberg
More than 40,000 jobs in Scottish local government are at risk over the next five years if austerity economics continue.
Today’s ‘The National’ newspaper carries a story quoting my estimate of the…Read more…
Cops on the Corporate Campus
STUDENTS occupying a building at Warwick University vowed on Monday that they would not leave quietly without a change of attitude from the authorities. They want apologies from the university and…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…
Not missing Amazon this Christmas
Like tens of thousands of others, I’m avoiding Amazon for Christmas with Amazon Anonymous. I got an email from them today, asking me to write to Amazon Customer services with my reasons. Here they…Read more…
e NEWS 10 December 2014
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What is TUPE?
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