Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, paying tribute to Philip Gould today, said:"Philip Gould was an exceptional man and his death is an exceptional loss."He was Labour to his core, and today, as the Labour Party, we mourn for one of our own.
The dear old Grauniad really didn’t quite get what was happening with the pensions dispute in Monday’s editorial, so it’s good that we got a serious response in to their confusion.
Contrary to what tread more
Today is the 94th anniversity of the Bolshevik (aka October) Revolution; the 132nd Birthday of a certain Lev Davidovich Bronstein (and some other bloke's birthday).
I thought I would mark the occasioread more
Most London City workers believe there is too great a gap between rich and poor in Britain and that traders, company bosses and stockbrokers are paid too much, a survey by a think-tank linked to St Paul's cathedral said on Monday.
Week 2 of my London Marathon training went pretty well. The timed sprints are ery tough, I'm not use to running at "maximum effort" ut understand that it is necessary. nbsp;Touch wood - no broken bones!
My Sunday orning programme oday was a 45 minute "run"...
Next Weekend is the start of he Writeidea free Reading festival taking place in Tower Hamlets (11-16 November). Check out details here. I was interested to read that the "match girls" threatened "Jack the Ripper"!
The Gilda O' Neill Memorial Lecture. Striking a Light: Looking for the Real...
Ireland will close its embassy to the Vatican, one of the Catholic country's oldest missions, as part of a cost-cutting programme prompted by the country's EU-IMF bailout.
UNISON members balloted over he future of the Local Government Pension Scheme have voted by over 76% in support of strike action. While the NHS scheme had an equally decisive 81% in favour.
Unless a deal can be reached co-ordinated strike action and protests to defend pensions will...
Today's blog post comes courtesy of Elizabeth Wainwright and looks at the huge problem of TB among Zambia's prison population. Continue reading →This morning I was travelling north along the M11 motorway from London to represent a UNISON member at an ppeal hearing. Just before the Stansted Airport junction I was in the overtaking lane, when the ear offside tyre of the car in front of me brust. The...
The UNISON ballot on strike action to protect pensions closes 10am on Thursday 3rd November.
So tomorrow is the last chance to vote. nbsp;If you haven't voted yet then please dig out the ballot paper you have left on the shelf, under the coffee table r n the kitchen drawer "for...
RESULTS supporter Aimee Hopkins is heading off to Uganda in January to work with the community of Bunambutye. Continue reading →
This picture is from the Newham Compass meeting held last week at East Thames Housing Association headquarters in Stratford, E15 on the key issue of "affordable housing".
East Thames Housing Association Chief Executive Officer, June Barnes, (right) spoke first and set the scene about the...
A second senior British cleric resigned on Monday over accusations that Church of England authorities were dithering in their handling of an anti-capitalism protest camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in central London.
Earlier this month I posted here that I was planning to run the London Marathon 2012 and was tarting to train sing this 24 week training rogramme. I plan to post each week on my training and hope to make it "on message" as much as possible.
This week's top run was...This is a picture of me addressing the recent SERTUC (South East Regional TUC) Council meeting.
(Yes, I must remember to stick my head up from my speech notes when speaking).
Motion 1 was about the "Response to Government Economic Policies". It was quite a good motion which I spoke in favour of...
Today I listened to Any Questions on Radio 4. There was a question about the outrageous 49% increase in the pay last year of the average FT100 director (about 10 minutes in).
Lib Dem Coalition minister Jeremy Browne
described the company remuneration committees who "set" the pay of such...
"London Hazards Asbestos Conference is taking place at The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, Westminster SW1P 3BU on Friday 18th November 2011 at 10am.
The conference is aimed at establishing and developing networks to support asbestos victims in Greater London. The conference will develop a...
On Tuesday Paralympian Anne Wafula-Strike, who was the first East African ever to compete in a wheelchair sprint at the Paralympic games, visited Parliament with RESULTS. Continue reading →
The Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral in London has resigned after a row among church and local authorities over whether to try to evict a 200-tent protest camp occupying the square outside.Last Saturday morning I went to the South East Regional Trade Union Council (SERTUC) meeting at Congress House. This was before the UNISON International Seminar.
The forthcoming ballot and likely strike action on Public service pensions was the key topic. The President of SERTUC Martin Gould...
Apologies this is a little late. This week is European Health and Safety week. The theme or 2011 s "Safe Maintenance".
You can download the SE poster here. Futher details here and here.
I've just applied for a place at the SERTUC health and safety...
The tireless campaigning, advocacy and energy of our much loved friend and activist, Winston Zulu, was yesterday recognised by the honour of President Sata granting him a posthumous Insigna of Recognition Award. Continue reading →
We are pleased to announce that the November RESULTS conference call will take place on Tuesday, 1st November 2011 at 8pm. Our guest speaker on the call will be Diarmaid McDonald, Coordinator of the Stop AIDS campaign. Continue reading →"UNISON is urging members to vote - and vote YES - in the ballot for industrial action to protect public sector pensions. This ballot closes on Thursday 3 November: Your last chance to vote for action to defend your pension is fast approaching.
We need a big Yes vote and a high turnout to send a..."Rip-off agency fees. Deposits lost unfairly. Rogue landlords evicting tenants with little notice and hiking rent with no warning. Smashed windows, faulty locks and broken fridges not being fixed for weeks or months. Rodent infestations. Damp and mouldy bathrooms being left to rot.
These are just...Picture of the Labour Plaistow North ward canvass team (and a couple of friends) on Saturday.
West Ham MP Lyn Brown and GLA member for City and East, John Biggs, were also on hand to speak to local residents about the importance of getting rid Tory London Mayor Johnson and electing Ken...
The seminar continued on Sunday morning with a presentation by Mairan Power (UNISON International officer) and Mark Beacon (ACTSA) on Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Malawi. It is pretty awful and depressing what is going on in all these countries. They all experience o different degrees...
This afternoon heard the sad news that Richard "Dickie" Fenn passed away yesterday. Dickie used to be the Emergency Liaison Officer for ower Hamlets Council. This wasn't a 9-5 office job. Over the years (or rather decades) Dickie and his team used to be on call 24/7 to...
Sat pm: Last presentation was by Nick Crook, UNISON International Officer, followed by a film on Labour Rights in Egypt.
Nick reported that this is a new area of work for UNISON. nbsp;We se to work on alestine and Iraq (and to a lesser extent Iran). o real mandate ..
Sat pm: Ruby Cox the Chair of UNISON Greater London International Committee (I am vice Chair) spoke next with abriela Queuedo, the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group Trade Union Officer (NSC).
Ruby spoke about ow she first became involved in international work in...
Sat pm: UNISON Northern Region Convenor, Clare Williams, together with local organiser, Patrick Kane gave the next related presentation on a project her region had helped set up in Columbia.
Firstly she explained "Why do we do it?" The global neoliberal economic model is responsible for causing...
Saturday and Day 2 of the 2011 UNISON International Seminar. I missed the morning session since I had to attend SERTUC Regional Council. I'll post on that later.
After lunch National officer Ravinder Gill gave an introduction to the UNISON International Development Fund (UIDF).The UIDF was...
Friday evening saw the start of the 2011 UNISON International Seminar at the UNISON centre in Euston, London. There are about 0 registered BIROS (jargin for Branch International Officers which use to puzzle me before I found out what it meant), Regional and National International...
Hat tip SERTUC: What affiliates and others are up to over Strike Ballots and the Day of Action N30. Some I have never come across before.
AEP
http://www.aep.org.uk/home
ASPECT Aspect and the Association of Educational Psychologists will be balloting members on options for dignified and lawful...