A Slaves Charter - Rights for Shares given the go ahead

As the Coalition Government continues to attack employment rights, the proposals on employee share ownership schemes have passed almost under the radar. Not a murmur in protest from much of the political elite and of course many will have been seduced by the guise of a ‘cooperative’ approach to ownership. In reality employees are being asked to trade a fur coat for a Primark nylon anorak:
http://www.dwf.co.uk/news/legal-updates/employee-shareholder-status-given-the-go-ahead-by-the-house-of-lords?utm_source=e_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=employer_shareholder_status_approved&utm_content=main_story
Anna Rose

Change by Andrzej Łyszkowicz

The improbability of change
hit him in the gut
with the impact of a bullet.

He stirred his coffee carefully,
looked at it,
poured it into the sink.

Never again will he
fool himself into believing.

http://www.therecusant.org.uk/#/andrzej-lyszkowicz-poems/4574536182

Resisting library closures

Yesterday UNISON convened a meeting of library workers from across the country to discuss cuts in public library services. Alan Wylie has blogged a report of the meeting and calls on union branches to ‘make links with local anti-cuts and campaign groups and of course local communities and service users to build coalitions of resistance to fight closures and 'hollowing out' of library services’:
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/
2013/04/unison-research-into-public-library-cuts.html.

Statutory Recognition – a CAC member for every application!

Despite UK union density being at a post-war low, in recent years there has been a sharp decline in applications under the statutory procedure for union recognition. The procedure has brought UK unions both challenges and opportunities write Sian Moore and Sonia McKay in a briefing published by LRD:

The Central Arbitration Committee currently has 49 members. In the past year there have been only 50 statutory recognition applications across the whole economy - 19 of which related to bargaining units of a single employer. Only one application was submitted by UNISON.

Does Community Organising fit with Party Politics?

An interesting exchange of views is published on the LabourList blog about the benefits and relevance of community organising in revitalising Labour Party organisation. Kevin Meagher cautions against its transformational potential and questions its compatibility with the bureaucratic routine of conventional party politics: ‘I am not arguing for the status quo, far from it. I am saying that party reform needs to be incremental and recognise the value and purpose of the existing structures’
http://labourlist.org/2013/04/sorry-arnie-labours-a-political-party-not-a-community-group/

A Worthless report from Policy Execrable

Some people are a bit brass necked and then there are some who would put a giraffe to shame. One such person is Sean Worth former number 10 policy advisor to Cameron and the former head of the Conservative Party policy unit. In the latest Worth-less report he has the gall to criticize the ‘vested interests’ of the top of trade unions as a reason for stalling public service reform.
http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/
publications/category/item/better-public-services-a-roadmap-for-revolution

UNISON Health Conference Preview

#uHealth2013 UNISON health activists are meeting in Glasgow today for the union's 2013 national health conference. Delegates gather at a pivotal time for the NHS as it struggles under the Con Dem government's onslaught of cuts and structural destruction. The scale of the government's attack is unprecedented and the NHS now stands on a precipice, which if unchecked will see the end of free universal health care in this country.

When the workers' inspiration through the union's blood shall run

'Millions of union members across the country need to realise that they can fight back, that they do have a collective strength and that they need to find the will to use it - because no one else will do it for them' writes UNISON's Joanne Kaye in a Morning Star article to mark the annual conference of the South West TUC. Reviewing the level of struggle against austerity, Joanne calls for geater unity of purpose by unions - rooted in mass membership activity rather than a reliance on leadership calls to action:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk
/news/content/view/full/131954

The myth that Britain is broke

The New Economic Foundation is undertaking an economic myth busting project via their blog. Today, the UK national debt is significantly lower than Japan’s (about 200% of GDP), and comparable to Germany’s (83%) and the US (80%). By international or historical standards, the national debt is not high. Read more at:
http://www.neweconomics.org/mythbusters-britain-is-broke

I Am Chavez by Mike Quille

I am Chavez
I am the Indian with the chicken and the maize
Cheap food for everyone