UNISON Cymru/Wales stands up for fair pay in local government

#njcpay2014 UNISON branches across England, Northern Ireland and Wales are gearing up for next Tuesday's (4 February) day of protest in support of fair pay in local government. First out of the blocks yesterday were UNISON local government activists in Wales who lobbied a meeting of the Welsh employers in Builth Wells. The union's head of local government in Wales Dominic Macaskill said: "local government workers cannot be expected to and cannot afford to continue to subsidise local government services. Enough is enough, it is time they are paid fairly and we are calling on the WLGA to recognise this and support our pay claim."
http://www.unison.org.uk/news/articles/unison-lobbies-welsh-lga-over-local-government-poverty-pay

You can’t tackle poverty in Wales without a living wage

The Jury is still out on Gordon Brown but during his tenure as Chancellor poverty amongst those families without work in Wales began to fall to similar levels to those in working but low income households. Top up benefits will never be the answer to all ills but they provided a necessary band-aid on child poverty issues amongst workless families: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-19828167
Now we see the starkest of cuts in Welsh Local Government with a new WLGA report that warns of continuing decline in funding possibly until 2021.

90% vote to back New LGPS for England & Wales

UNISON members across England and Wales have voted 90.2% in favour of accepting the proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Key Facts About LGPS 2014 Proposals and LGPS Members

Following the decision at last month’s Local Government Service Group Conference, UNISON England and Wales branches and regions are conducting a widespread consultation with members over the LGPS 2014 proposals. This will inform the national union’s recommendation in the postal ballot of members which is due to start on 31 July (ending 24 August). Key facts to be taken into account in the consultation are:

A home grown alternative to NHS privatisation

Professor Colin Leys, writing in Red Pepper, identifies that powerful evidence against privatisation exists on our own doorstep – namely, the fact that in Scotland and Wales the NHS is working well as a publicly provided and managed system, based on planning and democratic accountability: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/healthy-alternatives/

Election Analysis - Trapdoors and golden gateways

Many council election results in England are yet to declare but the emerging picture is that Labour can’t afford to be complacent. So far there have been some Liberal Democrat scalps claimed in places like Hull and Sheffield, with losses to knock the Liberal Democrats off overall control in places like Stockport and Bristol.

Defiant union mobilisation greets Con Dems in Cardiff

UNISON Wales was the largest contingent among the thousands taking part in the Wales TUC march through Cardiff on Saturday against the vicious ConDem cuts. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12651950  This was the largest trade union demonstration in Cardiff for a generation and with the tens of trade union and protest banners and hundreds of fluttering union flags certainly the most colourful and vibrant.

UNISON Wales Organising Against the Cuts‏

UNISON is leading the way in building a broad labour movement led, but community focused, anti cuts campaign in Wales. Since November 2010, following the adoption of a Rhondda Cynon Taff emergency motion at UNISON’s Wales Council meeting, UNISON has been driving forward a bargaining and organising strategy to defend members against cuts to our services, jobs, pay and conditions.

Wales unites to fight Con Dem cuts‏

A Wales TUC special conference was held on Friday and united around its opposition to the Con Dem government cuts - declaring that the coalition has ‘no mandate from Wales and no mandate for their cuts’.

Cuts phoney war ends in Wales‏

The phoney war ended in Wales yesterday as the Assembly’s draft budget was announced by Labour’s Finance Minister Jane Hutt. The budget predicted a fall of 10% in real-terms spending over three years with the main axe falling on capital spending with a 40% cut, in effect halting investment in schools, hospitals, roads and rail. http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/businessandeconomy/2010/101117budget/?lang=en

Welsh Labour: anti-privatisation & 'proud to be different'‏

Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones yesterday told Labour’s conference of his pride in governing differently in Wales: Aneurin Bevan once told this conference that 'the language of priorities is the religion of socialism'… well, we have always spoken the language of priorities in Cardiff Bay. And that's why we will seek to protect the people's priorities in frontline public services from the ravages of Con Dem excesses.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-11415244