Norther Ireland Committee backs Prentis

UNISON Northern Ireland Regional Committee yesterday also backed Dave Prentis' nomination as General Secretary.

Scotland backs Prentis again in GS election

UNISON's Scottish Region overwhelmingly voted to again nominate Dave Prentis for General Secetary at its meeting of branches from across the country in Glasgow today

North West region backs Dave Prentis in UNISON GS election‏

At a packed Mechanics Institute in Manchester (site of the first meeting of the TUC) UNISON largest region the North West Regional Council overwhelmingly endorsed the nomination of Dave Prentis for General Secretary.

Days like this by Anna Robinson‏

We’re running, head thrown back so we can see
how fast we are, faster than the clouds
(today’s windy) and faster than the police
whose cordon we broke through at Waterloo

Putting Irish Unity on the Agenda‏

Despite the current difficulties in the peace process around whether the DUP will agree proposals to implement the devolution of policing and justice powers, among other things, the huge gains of the Good Friday Agreement and its outworkings remains a hugely progressive development by any standards.

Race crime is a problem that will not go away‏

UNISON NEC member Mark Clifford this week addressed Cumbria Police in an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. He recounted his personal experience as a victim of racist attacks and made connections between attacks on minorities today with the systematic fascism of the 1930s and 1940s.

The privatised market is not meeting Britain's energy needs‏

The energy regulator OFGEM has cast doubt about the ability of the private sector to meet Britain’s energy needs and stated that ‘there is an increasing consensus that leaving the present system of market arrangements and other incentives unchanged is not an option’.

The Morning Star on 4 February 2010 commented that: ‘OFGEM has been forced to admit that privatisation has, in fact, destabilised the energy industry, energy security for the country has been compromised and domestic consumers face swingeing rises in their energy bills. The free market and unbridled competition have worked their magic on energy in the same way as on finance and banking and the whole house of cards is set to come tumbling down.’
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/86392

UNISON London Region AGM - ultra left routed‏

Mainstream centre left candidates romped home in London UNISON regional elections for the fifth year running. Gloria Hanson Regional Convenor, her running mate Conroy Lawrence and four colleague convenor team members trounced their ultra left challengers by a two to one majority as they out organised and outstripped a UNISON 'United Left' slate determined to regain control of the Greater London Region.

Edinburgh care tender 'disgrace' exposed. Were the figures fiddled for cheapest bidders?

UNISON's Edinburgh Branch will challenge the council tomorrow to come clean on a leaked independent report that exposes serious flaws in care tenders that led to the quality element in the lowest bids being boosted at the expense of higher cost contracts.

Wales could lose 10,000 local government jobs‏

UNISON's Steve Belcher says, "...we will be doing all we can to resist compulsory redundancies for our members" as Government figures show Wales could lose 10,000 public service jobs. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/01/28/10-000-council-jobs-in-wales-may-be-lost-91466-25702347/

UNISON mobilises community against cuts to children's services‏

Hundreds of UNISON members, parents and young people protested against over planned cuts to Bolton’s Children’s Services department at a town centre rally. http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/4882955.Demo_over_planned_jobs_cuts_t/

10 skills of organising - a response‏

Organising completely from 'scratch' is unlikely in the public services but the ideas and approach outlined here are relevant and transferable to building workplace strength in low density areas.

President Obama - can you please tell us 'why do you tolerate terrorists'?‏

Miss Machetera tells it like it is: http://machetera.wordpress.com/

Workers' Capital Grows in 2009 to $23.3 trillion, as pension fund assets reach 70% of World GDP‏

New research produced by Towers Watson shows the extent of the bounce back in value of assets held by the world’s largest pension funds. Towers Watson estimate the value of our assets to have reached $23.2 trillion in 2009, up 15% on 2008 the year in which the world’s economy was bought to the brink of collapse by the world’s largest banks.

Haiti's future must lie in its own hands‏

Ahead of tomorrow night’s concert for Haiti at Congress House in London, Natasha Hickman of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign compares the economic, social and political realities of Cuba and Haiti – separated by just 50 miles of Caribbean Sea.

Asbestos: A legal Update

This (late) post is about the UNISON London “Safety Network” meeting that took place in December. All London UNISON branch health & safety officers are invited to these lunchtime events which take place after the main meeting of the London Health & Safety committee.

Campaign to elect Dave Prentis – website launched‏

A website has been launched in support of the campaign by Dave Prentis for a democratic mandate to continue to lead UNISON as General Secretary: http://www.electdaveprentis.com/

Notts County Council - cuts in jobs and services can be avoided says UNISON‏

"Show your working" is the instruction of many a maths teacher to pupils who only show the final result in their calculations. Well, UNISON has done exactly that in its efforts to prevent job losses and protect front line services.

Turning the tide?‏

According to Corporate Europe Observatory the failings of privatisation have resulted in a new trend for taking utilites back into the public sector (yet to be reflected in the United Kingdom, of course). http://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/01/27/4342

Blaming Poverty On The Poor, by Josephine Dixon-Banks

Give us your deprived, your malleable muddled masses
hoping for a gentler taskmaster
Welcome to the multi-trillion dollar industry, Poverty
A.K.A, cheapest labor force

Democrat loss a political setback for union rights in US‏

The long running campaign of trade unions to secure labour reforms in the US has suffered a serious setback following the Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate election - which left the Democrats one short of the 60 seats required to prevent Republican filibustering of pro union legislation.

Health Workers under Attack‏

The recently leaked report from the Foundation Trust Network shows that UNISON's opposition to Foundation Trusts (FT) is justified. FT's are not subject to Government control, their top priority is finance. This report shows that once again it is public sector workers who are coming under attack to pay the price for a recession which was not caused by them.