Vested interests speak out in favour of Con Dem NHS reforms

In a letter to yesterday’s Daily Telegraph a number GPs belonging to the pro-Commissioning NHS Alliance criticised the BMA for its stand against the Government’s Health Bill. The group say the BMA does not speak for the majority of General Practioners while ignoring the fact that NHS Alliance itself is an elite group representing some commissioners. The main thrust of the letter is that if the bill is derailed then there is a real threat to the future of the NHS. The only justification for the Bill presented by this group is the perception that clinical leadership will spearhead commissioning: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9045518/Clinical-leadership.html

LRD report confirms #N30 linked membership surge across all public sector unions

All trade unions are reporting big increases in the rate of recruitment during the final quarter of 2011. The surge in union membership because of the Pensions disputes - including in the private sector - is confirmed by research carried out by the independent Labour Research Depeartment (LRD).
http://www.lrd.org.uk/issue.php?pagid=1&issueid=1499

Counsel by Mourid Barghouti

Perplexed and not knowing what to do,
he summoned us
and we obeyed.
We stood under his marble balcony:

Speak out against injustice - Ed Miliband

In his statement to mark 2012 Holocaust Memorial Day, Labour leader Ed Miliband says that this year’s message - ’Speak Up and Speak Out’ - is one which we must all take to heart and commit to act upon. 'In order to ensure that the atrocities of the Holocaust and other genocides are not repeated in the future we must all recognise our individual duty to protect our communities and neighbourhoods by speaking out against injustice wherever and whenever we see it. Memorial Day provides us with the opportunity to remember this call to action while reflecting on those who have suffered, and to renew our determination to work together to ensure a better, safer and more just future for all.'
http://hmd.org.uk/

First They Came - Pastor Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller

Salford needs more Lads Clubs not an Elected Mayor

Last night’s results in the Salford Mayor referendum are alarming and should act as a wake-up call to trade unionists everywhere. Just 18.1% of the total eligible electorate voted in the referendum in Salford triggered by a petition from the right wing English Democrats Party (who claim they are not anti-anything but want a devolved English Parliament) http://www.socialistunity.com/english-democrats-party-all-rotten-apples-in-a-rancid-barrel/

Gloom, doom and more austerity dominates Davos World Economic Forum - but ITUC pushes for change in direction

World leaders’ gather in Davos this year knowing that disaster is still able to sweep them all away. Whilst the world's workers and their families suffer the global austerity measures - the political leaders and their big business masters still insist that cuts in welfare, in education and in health or the only way to preserve the system. But as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has conceded their strategy might be too late to save Greece. If that is the case the implications for the European Union, the Euro and the chances of any kind of recovery will appear even more distant and again the lives of people across the European economy will be devastated: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/25/davos-summit-growth-gloom-live

Prospects for Unions in the UK - a slow death or a renewed purpose?

In a week when the Tory right formally launched an advanced guard in its war against trade unions, the laughably named Trade Union Reform Coalition, the BBC has published an insightful on-line feature on the state of the UK trade union movement. Geraldine Healy, professor of employment relations at Queen Mary, University of London, says that the role of unions is of renewed importance during an era of austerity and widening inequality "At the moment there's a really strong sense of injustice in society and people are looking for different ways of reducing that level of injustice. Trade unions are one of the key ways of doing that,"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16609527

European Trade Union Day of Action - 29 February 2012

In the face of a worsening economic and social situation and the ever-tougher austerity measures being imposed by Europe's leaders as the only solution, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called for a European day of action on 29 February, the eve of the European Council. Trade unions will mobilise across Europe to have jobs and social justice placed at the heart of political priorities.

New TUC report - Facility Time for Union Reps: Separating fact from fiction

In an excellent riposte to the union bashing Tory right and their tabloid mouthpieces, Professor Gregor Gall has written a TUC report highlighting the value of workplace union representatives, featuring a number of case studies including Angela Rayner, UNISON local government branch secretary in Stockport, Greater Manchester: http://www.tuc.org.uk/tucfiles/206/FacilityTimeSeparatingFactfromFiction.pdf