Thousands march in Glasgow sun to defend public services

Thousands of UNISON members, service users and community groups marched through Glasgow this morning to say ‘Stop the Cuts’ and ‘Public Works’ as the next stage in the campaign against public service cuts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8612903.stm and http://unison-scotland.blogspot.com/2010/04/bbc-news-unison-protest-over-public.html

Thousands at London rally in defence of the welfare state and public services‏

A colourful UNISON contingent joined thousands of protestors at today's National Pensioners Convention initiated London march and rally in defence of the welfare state and public services.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Thousands-Protest-In-London-In-Support-Of-Public-Services-And-Against-Funding-Cuts/Article/201004215598424?f=rss

THE View From The Sun.... We boldly go, so you don’t have to… ELECTION DAY 3

A total concentration today on one man, and for the first time its not Gordon Brown. Under the headline “What a Twit”, the internet activities of a Labour wanker of a candidate are covered in considerable detail.

Libraries are an election issue‏

Heather Wakefield, UNISON national secretary for local government, makes the case for public library provision in her Public Finance blog.
http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2010/04/after-the-elections-bring-them-to-book-by-heather-wakefield/

The Rhythm of Time by Bobby Sands‏

There’s an inner thing in every man,
Do you know this thing my friend?
It has withstood the blows of a million years,
And will do so to the end.

Don't buy settlement goods, says TUC

The TUC and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are today (Thursday) calling on consumers not to buy goods from illegal Israeli settlements.

IMPACT executive rejects Irish pay accord‏

The executive of public service union IMPACT has rejected the agreement on pay and reform reached between the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Government.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0408/pay.html

Tory Government Year Zero – 40,000 public sector jobs to go‏

Former axeman for the Labour Government, Sir Peter Gershon, who now advises the Conservative Party on ‘public sector efficiency’, has outlined proposals for a Tory onslaught on public service workers.

THE VIEW FROM THE SUN…..We boldly go so you don’t have to.

ELECTION DAY 2
Well after yesterday’s soft focus interview that was, the critical sense tells us, conducted by a blonde interviewer on a large dose of valium, where to we go? Straight to Star Fleet Command, that’s where...
Today’s target, is guess what? A POLICY? No. Don’t ask for too much.

Torygraph attacks the LGPS - No surprise there!‏

Once again the self appointed independent consultants and advisors line up to attack the LGPS as
unsustainable. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7553286/Taxpayers-facing-pensions-burden-as-local-government-deficits-hit-60bn.html

NHS preferred provider policy in spotlight as election approaches‏

The FT reports that ‘private sector hopes that a significant reorganisation of National Health Service services now under way would rapidly open up a £10bn market in NHS care have been dashed’.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/afd4f168-4014-11df-8d23-00144feabdc0.html?
Under a new NHS commissioning regime designed to create a purchaser/provider split, it is reported that none of the primary care trusts in England are putting district nursing and other community services out to competitive tender.

School Meals workers in Sheffield mobilise for pay equality‏

UNISON members working for Chartwells on Sheffield City Council contracts are escalating their campaign for pay equality with the council workforce.

The View from the Sun: Checking reality in an alternative universe

Ground control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown engines on
Check ignition and may god’s love be with you………..

Should a Labour Government manage capitalism or transform it?‏

Since his election to Parliament in 1987 Alan Simpson Labour MP for Nottingham South has been a trenchant critic of deregulation, euro-monetarism and war. Simpson is retiring as an MP and his final newspaper article, published in the Morning Star, is a tour-de-force analysis of the banking crisis, the role of the state and the potential for a ‘new, sustainable, industrial revolution’.

The Election is Now

After months of the phony war, the countdown to election day now begins. For those for whom defacing Tory election posters is not just a sport but a vocation in life, the season opens.

Defend our pensions - fight back on CBI executive's pay‏

The CBI has fired yet another shot in their war on our pensions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8604112.stm claiming once again that they are unaffordable. As everyone knows all of the public sector pensions have gone through a revision of costs and contributions over the last couple of years supported by trade unions, government and public sector employers.

FT promotes outsourcing to defeat public sector unions‏

An editorial in the FT reviews the industrial relations scene in Britain and notes that a reduction of 12% in Government departmental budgets by 2015 means that ‘conflict is inevitable’ with public sector trade unions.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64838478-40d6-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.html?

Labour 's belated embrace of the living wage‏

The Daily Mirror reports that a commitment to a living wage of £7.60 will form the ‘centrepiece of Labour's election manifesto’ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/04/05/wage-war-115875-22162834/

Tar Sands Video

Hi there, we've created a short video that we'd like to share about the Alberta Tar Sands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke4JBb_wMNs
Felix Gonzales

BP/Shell Tar Sands Campaign Hots Up - 4,000 activists contact pension funds‏

UNISON's national campaign to bring the oil giants BP and Shell to account is making real progress, particularly where pension fund members have requested the pension fund to vote for the two resolutions on the agenda at both companies' AGMs.

Where did all the strikes go?‏

A sobering fact is stated in an article in the current edition of the Economist.
Fewer days have been lost through strike action in the entire period 1990 to 2010 than were lost in a single year in 1984. http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15825744

Massacre at Sakiet by Andy Croft‏

After André Fougeron’s Massacre à Sakiet III

How well we know these careless faces -
The naked bodies in a heap,
The ecstasy of death’s embraces,
The young boy smiling in his sleep.