Bored with Maude? Strike back on 30 November!

Bungling Cabinet Office Minister and Con Dem lead pensions negotiator Francis Maude MP yesterday took advantage of an easy ride with sycophantic BBC journalist Andrew Marr to issue an ultimatum that strike action later this month could threaten the "real prospect" of a deal over public sector pension reform http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15810074

LGBT members mobilise for action on 30 November

UNISON's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) members meeting at our conference in Glasgow have shown our commitment and resolve to fight for equality and to stick up for LGBT workers and the services we provide and rely on. In a historic moment the conference was addressed for the first time by an out gay woman Vice President of UNISON Maureen Le Marinel.

Stop cutting women out!

'Hey, Hey, Mister, Mister, Get your cuts off my sister' was the message loud and clear from yesterday's women's march against austerity which included a vocal contingent of UNISON members.The event was organised by the Fawcett Society in response to the government's cuts which will put the clock back on the advances which women have made towards equality since the 1950's: http://www.demotix.com/news/932387/women-march-london-against-turning-back-equality

Over and Under by Harriet Zinnes

Over and under,
beyond, of course.
Beneath is not disclosure.
Above is vision.
There is an arc.
There is a triangle.
There is a square,
even a rectangle,
and then the great mystery:
people people who swarm the earth,
disconsolate, searching, weeping,
occasionally loving,
more often in battle, in hunger and disease.

http://www.fieralingue.it/corner.php?pa=printpage&pid=281

‘Don't Turn Back Time' on womens equality

Thousands of women will march in London today in support of a Fawcett Society day of action - protesting at the impact of Con Dem economic policies on womens equality. The march starts 12 noon at Victoria Embankment and UNISON national secretary Heather Wakefield will be among the speakers at the 1330PM rally in King Charles Street:  http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/
index.asp?PageID=1247
The Fawcett Society says that:
-Female unemployment is rising as jobs are cut in public services
-The benefits and services women rely on more are being slashed
-Women on low incomes are becoming poorer
-The pay gap looks set to widen
-Women’s access to vital support services is being undermined
-Increasing numbers of women are being forced to give up work as cuts to childcare support means their jobs no longer cover the family’s care costs
The government’s approach to cutting the deficit is turning back time on women’s equality. This can’t go on.

Short of luck on Short Street by Chris Hardy

1
In a little room at the top of the stairs

I was taken to see my grandfather.

Only his head was visible

framed by thin white hair,

a white beard flared over the sheet.

The head croaked like a worn-out frog

Can our Pension Funds reform Capitalism? Yes they can...

Pension funds can change the face of modern capitalism if their investment and governance structures are fundamentally redesigned. Rotman International Centre for Pensions Management's director Keith Ambachtsheer told guests at the FairPensions annual lecture - held at Parliament last Tuesday night - that pension funds were "inter-generational investors" who could revolutionise the economic system.http://www.professionalpensions.com/professional-pensions/news/2125463/fairpensions-annual-lecture-drivers-performance-schemes

Greek people rally against neo-liberal consensus

A massive rally is expected today in Athens as thousands of students and workers will join together to oppose austerity measures and commemorate the 1973 student uprising which brought down the US backed military junta. Almost 40 years on, there is a stark crisis of political representation in Greece with the banker led ‘unity’ government winning a vote of confidence in the Greek parliament yesterday by 255 votes to 38 – final proof that the ‘socialists’ of PASOK lie prostrate before the altar of neo-liberalism:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15767924

Pensions at the Women’s STUC

Following another set of positive ballot results for action on November 30th, the STUC Women’s Conference debated a composite on public sector pensions on Tuesday. The debate highlighted the usual issues of working longer, paying more and getting less but recognised the particular effects that the changes would have on women as public sector workers.

30 November will test Ed Miliband's 'irresponsible, predatory capitalism' theory

The TUC co-ordinated day of action in defence of pensions which takes place a fortnight today will pose a bigger test for the Labour leader than the Con Dems writes Kevin Maguire in today’s Mirror:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/opinion/2011/11/16/ed-miliband-needs-to-strike-a-blow-not-a-pose-over-industrial-action-115875-23564592/