UNISON 2010 Health Conference - Preview‏

Responding to the Challenges - Defending the NHS
UNISON, the largest Health union, meets from 19-21 April for the annual Conference which comes at a critical time for public sector workers.

The Doctor and The Minister by Hugh MacDiarmid‏

What, said the doctor,
Little children at work
In factories and coalmines From daybreak to murk
I cannot see, he said,
With his notable charm
Seven days a week of this Can do them any harm
- Of course it crooks their backbones
And spoils their eyes
And whitens their blood
But it's all right otherwise:
And the minister agreed Keeps them from mischief he said.

Hugh MacDiarmid
http://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?showdoc=220;doctype=review

Northern TUC speaks up for public services

Unions North, The Northern TUC magazine shows the positive role of regional TUCs as it covers the 'Speak Up for Public Services' campaign launched last month by high profile union leaders, the Hope Not Hate campaign and union learning initiatives across the region. Click the link for more http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/about/learn-3336-f0.cfm

The View From the Sun…….Election day 8

No signs of policy life here today. Anticipation of the Great Leaders debate is everything. The entire election is seen to hinge on who blinks first, or who sweats the most, or breaks down in tears.

The View from the Sun. We boldly go so you don’t have to….ELECTION DAY 5-7

Watching the election coverage on this far way planet, there seems to be a pattern emerging. Don’t bother with facts, and certainty not with policies. There will definitely be no Tory policies. Concentrate on personalities, and above all keep it minimal. In todays 68 page paper, two are devoted to the election campaign, and at least a third of that space is devoted to photos. Those pages are relegated to further back in the paper to make way for the woes and tragedy of Celtic FC, a priority many UNISONActive (not me ed) readers would agree with.

Cameron's "toy-town democracy"‏

“Cameron says: give people the right to veto council tax rises. How about people having a right to veto public services – their services, paid for by their money – being outsourced to the high-cost, low-quality private sector? (For a useful source on the damaging sources of outsourcing see UNISON's Positively Public campaign.) How about people being able to veto rises in their gas and electricity bills when companies are making massive super-profits?” says Hilary Wainwright, co-editor of Red Pepper, in a blistering critique of David Cameron’s “toy-town democracy”.
From the Guardian’s Comment is free General Election coverage:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/14/david-cameron-big-society-conservatives

Tories target employment rights and access to justice‏

Unelected Tory grandee Lord Hunt has published a prospectus for Tory reform of employment rights – much of which was trailed last year in the Conservative Green paper ‘cutting the burden of red tape on business.’
http://unisonactive.blogspot.com/2009/10/uk-big-business-on-de-regulation-roll.html

Defend public sector workers in Jersey

The island of Jersey has one of the highest per-capita GDPs in the world - but that isn't stopping the government there from imposing an arbitrary pay freeze on public sector workers whose right to strike is heavily restricted. Unions there have called a demonstration and rally on Saturday 24 April, and the TUC is calling on British trade unionists to support their campaign by emailing Jersey's Chief Minister. http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-17838-f0.cfm

BP under pressure from global public sector pension funds‏ - a response‏

Colin Meech, UNISON's National Officer for the union's Capital Stewardship Programme, highlights the significance of our action at BP's AGM today...you can view the AGM live on the company's webcast starting at 11.30am here - http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.docategoryId=9032414&contentId=7059464

USA Rio Tinto miners bring fight for jobs and families to London

Miners locked out of Rio Tinto’s site in Boron, California for refusing to give in to demands by the company that could threaten their ability to work and support their families are highlighting their plight as shareholders attend the global mining giant’s AGM at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London today.