The Union Advantage

#TUC14 On the eve of the annual Trades Union Congress in Liverpool, the TUC has today published The Union Advantage, a guide to how unions make work better and society fairer. The guide demonstrates the benefits of unions not only to individual workers but to employers and society as well. These include:
•55 per cent of unionised workplaces had pay rises in 2011, compared to just 35 per cent of non-unionised workplaces
•16 – 24 year-old union members earn, on average, 33 per cent more than non-union members of the same age
•Union members have 3.8 days more paid leave on average than non-union members
•Unionlearn improves Britain’s skills base and it supported 219,000 learners through apprenticeships, numeracy, literacy and other learning programmes in the year to March 2014
•Union health and safety reps save taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds each year by reducing lost time from occupational injuries and work-related illness, according to government research.

https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/TUC_UnionADV.pdf

Anatomy of Migration by Rani Drew

Older than time, migration is the story
of survival. Change and betterment,
desire and dreams put motion into feet.

The first stirrings begin in the brain. Reason
catalogues gains and losses, credits and
deficits. Movement becomes compelling.

New visions bring desires to the heart.
Collaborator of the brain, it fantasises
greener places on the other side of the globe.

Austerity wrecks lives - Manchester march and rally tomorrow

North West unions are organising a demonstration against austerity in Manchester tomorrow. Assemble Castlefield Arena (off Deansgate) at 11AM. Speakers include Dave Prentis and Christine Blower NUT General Secretary. UNISON Regional Convenor Angela Rayner called on branches and members to support the mobilisation saying 'we know that austerity has a tremendously negative impact on our public services, welfare state, jobs and wages. We need to demonstrate to show the current Government (and any future Government) that we’re not prepared to accept permanent austerity'
http://www.unisonnw.org/sat6sep/
http://www.unisonnw.org/we-need-to-break-the-chains-of-austerity/

Israel’s Crimes in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge – Extraordinary session of the Russell Tribunal

The Russell Tribunal completed its deliberations on 17 March 2013. The final report made a wide range of recommendations to address the unacceptable impact on Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli governmen's apartheid policies.

Following Israel’s aggressive war in Gaza in recent weeks the Tribunal has convened an extraordinary session to be held in Brussels on 24 and 25 September. This session will look into Israel’s Crimes (including War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and the Crime of Genocide) during the still ongoing “Operation Protective Edge” as well as third States complicity.

Two in five part-time jobs pay less than the living wage

Excellent research by the TUC highlights the prevalence of low pay across the UK, north and south, with women workers bearing the brunt of poverty pay: 'In West Lancashire for example, almost three-quarters (73.9 per cent) of women working part-time earn less than the living wage. West Somerset has the next highest proportion of low-paid, part-time female workers, where more than two-thirds of women earn less than the living wage'
http://www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/labour-market-and-economic-reports/labour-market/equality-issues/living-wage-out

Travel Tickets by Samih al-Qasim

On the day you kill me
You'll find in my pocket
Travel tickets
To peace,
To the fields and the rain,
To people's conscience.
Don't waste the tickets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samih_al-Qasim

Overcharging by private contractors – the great NHS rip off

The Independent has revealed that a company set up by Serco has overcharged NHS hospitals millions of pounds for diagnostic tests. Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee said: ’After a series of high profile failures, Government claims it has a grip on contracts with private companies to deliver our public services. Clearly it hasn’t. This is not just about ripping off the taxpayer, but about a failure to provide acceptable quality in a service that is vital for diagnosing what in many cases are serious or even life-threatening illnesses. It is also not the first time that serious concerns have been raised about Serco and its track record, including in other parts of the NHS where last year our Committee reported on substandard service and data manipulation in a contract to provide GP out-of-hours services’.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-overcharging-by-outsourcing-giant-serco-costs-nhs-millions-9695342.html

Government must share responsibility for repeated child protection failures

The Rotherham child abuse inquiry is the latest in a long line of investigations which have undermined public confidence in child protection services. Government ministers past and present waste no time in apportioning blame and calling for heads (of anyone but themselves) to roll. Local failings by social services and police are undeniable but the blame also lies with central Government – those politicians responsible for cutting funding of council and NHS services including essential outreach support for young people in particular; those politicians who have slashed social security benefits, those politicians driving a public service reform agenda based on competition rather than cooperation, those politicians responsible for inadequate regulation and standards.
     Professor Ray Jones wrote presciently on this subject last year: ‘What about the remit and responsibilities of government itself, and of politicians in Parliament, for child protection? How well have they been doing? Many might think that their contribution has not always been helpful..... Allocating blame and shame may not be the most constructive activity, and maybe social workers are not the most appropriate target anyway’
http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2013/jul/18/how-is-government-doing-on-child-protection

TTIP and the duplicity of the European elite

The Critical Thinking blog has published a useful update on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). EU denials that ‘standards on consumer protection, on the environment, on data protection and on food are not up for negotiation’ are blatant lies. So too are purported assurances that the NHS is excluded from the scope of the proposed Treaty:
http://freecriticalthinking.org/daily-pickings/1047-ttip-update-status-and-resistance

The Dead Angels by Rafael Alberti

Search, search for them:
In the insomnia of forgotten conduits
In gutters blocked by the muteness of litter.
Not far from the pools incapable of retaining a cloud,
A lost eye
A broken ring
Or a trampled star.
For I've seen them: