news analysis - the new extradition act
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
Under new European Arrest warrants, British citizens could be swiftly extradited to EU countries, where they may not get a fair trial. This measure is part of the Extradition Act, which came into force last January, itself a result of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam.
...[more]
child support - agency head resigns
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
The Head of the Child Support Agency, Doug Smith, has been forced to resign because of the continuing failure of the computer system to deliver child maintenance payments. His departure grabbed the headlines, but this hides real problems for poverty-stricken lone parents and tax-payers.
...[more]
health - cold weather kills
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
Last winter an estimated 21,500 people over 65 died in England and Wales as result of the cold, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics. Scottish deaths are calculated separately. This figure represents a slight decrease on the previous year although the death rate in the North West region rose despite the relatively mild winter.
...[more]
council housing - tenants step up fight
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
COUNCIL TENANTS vowed to step up their campaign in defence of council housing at a packed conference at Congress House, London, organised by the Defend Council Housing campaign on 29 October. The conference was also supported by the TUC.
...[more]
manufacture - dyson's reward
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
The once-British manufacturer Dyson Vacuums has announced dividend payments of £17 million to the family-owned company for the year 2003.
...[more]
union's vision for education
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
The country's biggest teaching union has set out its vision for education for the next five years and beyond. NUT General Secretary Steve Sinnott said it was time to remove the barriers, especially of social class and low income, that get in the way of giving every child the best chance. Bringing down the Barriers is based on thorough research and evidence and not only represents the voice of the NUT and other teachers, but is aimed at everyone with a stake in education, including parents and young people.
...[more]
eurofraud - investigative journalist raided
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
In March, Belgian police arrested German journalist Hans-Martin Tillack, a correspondent of the German weekly Stern, at the request of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). They seized all his computer disks and five years' worth of investigative files detailing his sources, and accused him of bribing EU officials to gain information about corruption in the EU. Tillack had run a series of reports about fraud and waste in the EU, including exposure of scandal at the EU's statistical agency, Eurostat, which saw millions of euros siphoned off into secret bank accounts.
...[more]
motor industry - rover to be shanghaied?
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
If MG Rover is going to ship production to China as all indicators suggest, they should have told their auditors, Deloitte & Touche, first. D&T's 2003 report on the accounts of MG Rover and the parent company Phoenix Venture Holdings, highlights the "uncertainty" of the proposed deal with China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). In fact the deal is far from completion, might not be on the financial scale hinted at by MG Rover, and may need statutory regulation.
...[more]
pension schemes dumped
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
Workers who have paid into pension schemes all their working lives have a right to expect a decent return during old age. But a comfortable retirement is under threat from companies and government alike. During the 1990s many large companies used the opportunity of a high stock market to keep profits up by robbing workers' pension funds. Now, with a low stock market they are abandoning their pension schemes altogether, investing the funds abroad or demanding higher contributions.
...[more]
poland - health for some?
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
A DOCUMENT on the EU's own website reveals that Rafal Nizankowski, Polish Undersecretary of State for Health, recently wrote the following to David Byrne at the European Commission's Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General.
...[more]
former ussr - the stench of capitalism
[WORKERS, DEC 2004]
Everyone knows how much better life is in the former Soviet Union since the collapse of socialism — don't they?
...[more]
the gambling bill
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The government is pushing its Gambling Bill through Parliament, and aims to make it law before next year's general election. The bill will open the floodgates and make Britain easy pickings for the world's casino operators — and reported cabinet splits over the bill are still only at the level of scale: a big expansion of casinos, or a massive one?
...[more]
european union - get me out of here
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
No wonder Pro-Constitution campaigners want to use "Celebrities, supermodels and sports stars", including David Beckham, to reach out to "younger people".(Daily Mirror, 16 October). A "senior government source" admitted, "The last thing we want in the campaign is politicians like Tony Blair, Charles Kennedy or Chris Patten sitting on a stage."
...[more]
university boycott grows
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
Since 20 September, the Association of University Teachers has been boycotting the University of Nottingham. The AUT called the boycott because Nottingham's Vice Chancellor is refusing to honour his commitment to negotiate a pay and grading settlement in line with that agreed between national university employers and the principal teaching unions, AUT and NATFHE. Many universities have honoured this agreement and begun to implement changes whilst others, particularly London Metropolitan University, are trying to sack staff and worsen their working conditions.
...[more]
mining - the cutting edge
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
UK Coal is demonstrating British workers' technological genius and innovation at the Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire. A £20 million investment in one of the world's largest and most sophisticated coalface-cutting pieces of equipment is being installed.
...[more]
eu constitution - deep distrust
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
A recent ICM opinion poll finds that 59% of voters oppose the EU Constitution, with only 28% in favour. The most strongly opposed age-group is the 18-25 year-olds, who oppose it by 62% to 27%. The majority of the supporters of all the parliamentary parties oppose it: 57% of Labour supporters are against, with 31% in favour. Even 54% of Liberal Democrat supporters are against, with just 34% in favour.
...[more]
manufacture - glasgow factory victory
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The effectiveness of industrial action combined with public support was clearly shown last month by the favourable pay settlement at the Soapworks factory in Glasgow, which supplies goods to Superdrug and other retailers.
...[more]
military procurement - german lorries for army
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The Ministry of Defence has given a £1 billion order for 5,000 trucks, the biggest military vehicle contract for 25 years, to a German company. MAN ERF will carry out half of the order in Austria, half in Britain.
...[more]
new fight for motor jobs
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
Workers at Jaguar, Rover/MG Rover and Land Rover are facing up to another fight for jobs. Jaguar (owned by Ford) production at Coventry is under closure threat - 2000 jobs are at stake. Production would either be transferred to the Castle Bromwich site or directly to the US. All Jaguar sites in Britain are already on short time working. Land Rover (also owned by Ford) is seeing sales fall in the US. This is expected to lead to company proposals for a rationalisation of sites - closures and transfer of production, again possibly to the US since it remains the major market.
...[more]
nuclear energy - bailing out the privateers
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The saga of British Energy, Britain's privatised and bankrupt nuclear electricity industry, sees new twists and turns. Rebel shareholders trying to undermine the rescue deal agreed with the government are seeking an extraordinary shareholders' meeting.
...[more]
num - the spirit remains
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The membership of the National Union of Mineworkers has fallen to approximately 3,000 working members. Tens of thousands of miners have retired and many others have been forced out of the industry by pit closures.
...[more]
pfi - meltdown in west london
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The largest NHS Private Finance Initiative scheme in London, involving three hospitals, two of them specialist heart hospitals (The Royal Brompton and Harefield), plus Imperial College, is teetering on financial meltdown.
...[more]
region drive in trouble
[WORKERS, NOV 2004]
The government's attempt to break up Britain into European Union Regions, each with a regional assembly, is running into problems in the North East of England, where there will be a referendum on the issue on 4 November. Similar referenda in the North West and Yorkshire have been abandoned because of the strength of opposition, but the North East is considered to be a soft target because of the active collaboration of unions, particularly UNISON, and the Regional TUC.
...[more]
nhs - blood samples outsourced
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
The Department of Health has proposed to fly blood and urine samples for testing to India, with the results emailed back to Britain. The fact that they could pay Indian lab technicians £4,000 per annum and still make a profit over the air carriage, shows that "offshoring" is not just about call centres for utilities and banks.
...[more]
fire brigades union fights regionalisation
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
Plans to centralise Emergency Fire Controls by creating a single regional organisation are being fought by East Anglia Region of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The proposal originated with arch-regionaliser John Prescott's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Prescott wants to force local fire authorities to shut down the existing 49 national control rooms and create nine regional control centres. Huge regions like Scotland and the South West could be left with one centre each.
...[more]
germany - eu adds to economic woes
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
EU-imposed high interest rates are adding to Germany's woes. Capital investment is falling. Germany's public sector deficit was £28.8 billion for the first six months of 2004, equivalent to 4% of GDP. So for the fourth year running, Germany has breached the EU's Stability and Growth Pact (in reality a Stagnation Pact). Germany still makes the largest contributions to the EU. Volkswagen is aiming to cut its wage bill by 30% in the next seven years.
...[more]
analysis - holyrood's £millions
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
As the Queen opens the scandalously over-budget "Scottish Parliament" this month, separatists and EU-supported devolutionists are still trying to digest the news that support for the very idea of devolution has fallen to its lowest ever in Scotland.
...[more]
unemployment - record number not working
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
No fewer than 7.9 million people in Britain are now "economically inactive". This is the highest figure ever recorded, and equates to 21.5% of people of working age (16-65). 2.1 million of them want work. The big rise in the numbers of newly "economically inactive" workers is not due to there being more carers, or more single mums - it is because more people of all ages are without work.
...[more]
civil servants in jobs fight
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
Civil servants across the country are balloting for a one-day strike on 5 November over a wave of planned redundancies. The Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) says that 100,000 job cuts are unreasonable, unnecessary and will damage public service.
...[more]
universities - nottingham attack on staff
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
Nottingham University is refusing to honour its commitment to negotiate a pay and grading settlement in line with the March 2004 national agreement between national university employers and the Association of University Teachers (AUT). Its latest offer introduces performance- related pay for staff, would lead to reductions in career earnings of nearly £9,000 over six years for some and for others would remove the entitlement to belong to the national university pension scheme.
...[more]
trade deficit - now we're importing oil!
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
For the first time since 1991, Britain has become a net importer of oil: the net deficit for July was £61 million. July's spend on oil from abroad, £694 million, was an all-time record.
...[more]
new threats to pensions
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
Within weeks of the Turner & Newall pension fund collapse, leaving over 40,000 workers and pensioners with no provision, and within days of the TUC warning the government of the crisis facing pensions, more threats to retirement rights have emerged.
...[more]
prison service - industrial workers strike
[WORKERS, OCT 2004]
A two-day strike by craft and manual workers including electricians, plumbers, plasterers, bricklayers and labourers hit the prison service at the end of August. This is the second stoppage this year by prison industrial workers over pay.
...[more]
news analysis - sewage in the thames
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Walking across London's Millennium Bridge in early August was a particularly unpleasant experience, as the River Thames was bright brown, with stinking sewage and dead fish floating right to the riverbanks. A million tons of sewage had been pumped into the river by Thames Water after a torrential downpour over London on 3 August, but even the use of the river as "safety valve" for the sewers did not prevent the flooding and pollution of low-lying areas near the Thames.
...[more]
airlines - ba staff win rise
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
BA baggage handlers and check-in staff have won an 8.5% pay increase over three years, plus £1,000 in three staged payments. The agreement includes a new sickness absence policy designed to cut the absence rate without penalising those who are sick.
...[more]
brazil - grim disappointments
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
The Brazilian Workers Party has now been in office in Latin America's largest country for nearly two years. Early high hopes of social democracy have foundered on the usual grim disappointments.
...[more]
going broke - bankruptcies at record rate
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Bankruptcies have reached an all-time high, according to the Department of Trade and Industry. Nearly 1,000 people a week are declared bankrupt. The personal debt mountain has reached £1 trillion for the first time, having doubled in only seven years.
...[more]
trade deficit - britain posts new record
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Yet again, Britain has posted a new record monthly trade deficit. June's figure was £5 billion, up from May's record £4.8 billion.
...[more]
diego garcia - high court overruled
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
The government has overruled a High Court judgement by using an Order in Council to legalise the continuing scandalous expulsion of the Diego Garcia islanders from their homes.
...[more]
contracting out - doctors' letters from india
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Unison, which represents over 10,000 medical secretaries, has called for a full review of the use of an Indian-based typing service, Omnimedical, which is being used by eight hospitals to type letters for consultants and medical staff.
...[more]
wall illegal, israel told
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
The International Court of Justice ruled on 9 July that Israel's 450-mile-long wall around Palestine was illegal and should come down, and that Israel should compensate the Palestinians for the hardship caused. The Court called on all countries to act against the project, and called on the UN Security Council to consider "further action" to halt construction.
...[more]
mining - kellingley dispute ends
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
The four-month dispute at Kellingley Colliery has come to an end. Kellingley miners have managed to maintain their working conditions which exclude nights and weekends, but the 180 miners transferring from the Selby complex will start working permanent nights.
...[more]
pension rights at risk
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Up to 40,000 pensioners at Turner and Newall, the asbestos giant, may lose some or all of their pension rights if the company winds up their scheme. The company, now owned by the US company Federal-Mogul, was a car parts firm that used to make asbestos. Workers from the firm, including British and South African claimants who now suffer from mesothelioma, had to fight to win compensation, although records from company archives showed management was aware of the deadly nature of asbestos from as early as 1942.
...[more]
nhs: paying for pfi — for ever?
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Stewards from UNISON at Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust recently asked for clarification of the private finance initiative costs for the forthcoming new PFI hospital. The private consortium will be paid £2.7 million every month for the first 30 years from public funds, which equates to £32.4 million per annum or £972 million over 30 years.
...[more]
ports - share price dips
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
Associated British Ports' share price dipped when congestion charges and compensation to customers were identified in the annual accounts. The costs and charges of over £1 million, arose from congestion at the Immingham coal terminal, where coal imports are being delivered so fast that lorry owners and freight trains cannot move the stuff quickly enough.
...[more]
two referendums scrapped
[WORKERS, SEPT 2004]
The government has decided to abandon regional referendums in Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West — two out of the three planned. This is a major defeat for the government and its postal voting policy. But the defeat is not about postal voting versus traditional polling booths. Nor is it about the substantial postal fraud and deception which occurred in the June elections.
...[more]
airlines - pilots call time
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
EUROPEAN UNION transport ministers have unexpectedly rejected their own proposal to extend cockpit hours from 12 to a maximum of 14 hours, and to reduce rest breaks and stopover periods The move came after a campaign spearheaded by Balpa, the British Airline Pilots Association.
...[more]
news analysis - north korea and US lies
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
Charles Pritchard, former US special envoy to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who recently resigned in protest against Bush administration policies there, has spoken out again. He says that North Korea will not test a bomb or missiles while there are talks, attended also by South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
...[more]
food - united york campaign
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
Workers at Nestlé Rowntree sweet factory in York have joined the campaign of Terry's chocolate factory workers in trying to keep the 250-year-old industry in the city.
...[more]
forensic science - first ever national strike
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
On 9 June forensic scientists in England and Wales, members of the Prospect and Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), took part in the first-ever national strike in the service, in response to a pay offer worth only 1.1%. Picket lines were mounted outside laboratories in Chorley in Lancashire, Wetherby in West Yorkshire, Birmingham, London, Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire and Chepstow in Monmouthshire.
...[more]
gambling - las vegas comes to britain
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
The government's latest big idea is to legalise US-style "super casinos" across Britain. Its proposals favour foreign companies like MGM Mirage, which owns half of Las Vegas' hotels and casinos, and South Africa's Sun International. A representative of the US gambling firm Las Vegas Sands — clearly an expert on what we need to rebuild Britain — said that the government's initiative would bring significant regeneration benefits.
...[more]
mail privatisation chaos
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
The Post Office may be back in the black financially, going from a £197 million loss in 2003 to a £220 million profit in March 2004, but the service is in turmoil and faces further chaos. For over 20 years until 2000, effectively the Royal Mail was the golden goose for successive governments. Always in profit, providing an effective, secure, twice daily delivery and collection service, let alone hundreds of millions of £s into the Treasury coffers. Since 2000, when the government moved towards implementing the EU directive to privatise the post, the system has started to collapse.
...[more]
mines under eu threat
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
Another EU directive, supposedly intended to reduce sulphur emissions and due to be in place by 2015, now directly threatens six out of the remaining eight deep mines left working in Britain. Nine thousand miners' jobs are at risk, and the effect will be to topple the whole British coal industry into bankruptcy and closure.
...[more]
pensions plan threatened
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
The finance industry is leading an assault on government proposals to fund a rescue package of £400 million to help the 60,000 workers whose pension entitlements have been destroyed by failed company pension schemes or outright fraud.
...[more]
railways - billions for profiteers
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
This year, the government is paying out £5.32 billion to the myriad companies involved in our railways. This is four times the amount that governments used to spend on British Rail.
...[more]
motor industry - rover heads for china
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
MG Rover has announced that it intends to build its new medium-sized car range in China. This is the car range that is said to herald the guarantee of MG Rover's long-term future. Alarm bells at Longbridge should be going at decibel levels.
...[more]
russia - health workers sacked
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
Around 300,000 Russian doctors and health workers, half the health workforce, are expected to be sacked as part of the 'reform' and 'modernisation' of the Russian health service.
...[more]
universities - swansea closures
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
Richard Davies, vice-chancellor of Swansea University, is trying to close five of its departments: Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Development Studies and Chemistry. Students due to start their courses at the threatened departments this autumn received letters from Davies telling them that they would not be able to come and study at Swansea after all.
...[more]
underground - £455 million for consultants
[WORKERS, JULY 2004]
The part-privatisation of London Underground has resulted in a taxpayers' bill of £455 million. To hand over a national asset, paid for and financed over decades by the public, we have paid this vast sum of money in legal fees, consultancy charges, advisers' bills.
...[more]
fire brigades - united demand
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
Delegates at the annual conference of the Fire Brigades Union in May united behind a demand for employers to implement the June 2003 Pay Agreement or risk a total derailment of the "modernisation" process.
...[more]
france - last pit closes
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
La Houve, the last coal mine in France has been closed. 300 years of the French coalmining industry, employing over 300,000 miners at its peak, has ended.
...[more]
european court - national interest "illegal"
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
One year after the European Court of Justice ruled that the government's "golden share" scheme, whereby the government retained a controlling presence in privatised strategic industries, was illegal, the Department for Trade and Industry has quietly accepted the decision and rolled over.
...[more]
miners strike for investment
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
Kellingley Colliery at Pontefract now enters its third month of strike action as the miners respond to proposals to change shift patterns, lengthen the working day and introduce seven day working with weekly 24 hour stoppages. The miners were offered a bribe: accept the deal and 240 miners' jobs will be saved from the Selby complex which is to close in July.
...[more]
pensions - unions rally
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
June 19th will see a major rally and demonstration jointly sponsored by the Trades Union Congress and the Pensioners National Convention in central London. The rally and demonstration will come against a backcloth of the TUC issuing warnings that industrial action to defend pension schemes will occur.
...[more]
rail - rmt votes for action
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
RMT members at Network Rail have voted for industrial action over pensions, travel concessions and pay. The company has closed its final-salary pension scheme to new members and imposed an inferior scheme on new starters.
...[more]
asset stripping rover
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
Where is the "Phoenix" of Phoenix Venture Holdings going to fly off to next? The mythical bird arising from the flames and ruin of Rover and the Longbridge plant continues to be surrounded in mystery with answers which only beg further questions.
...[more]
steel shortage hits industry
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
The price of steel has risen approximately £200 a ton since December 2003, doubling in the last year and now at a 30-year high. Steel mills and steel suppliers across Britain and Europe are facing ever increasing steel shortages.
...[more]
higher education - improved offer accepted
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
University teachers are fighting for higher education by winning better pay and conditions: on a 52% turnout, they voted by 84.5% to 15.5% to accept the employers' improved pay offer. Students and the wider public have given massive support.
...[more]
obituary - des warren
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
Des Warren, a stalwart fighter for British building workers, and a man who suffered for his principles, died at the end of April. He was better known as one of the Shrewsbury Two, the other one being Ricky Tomlinson, who later found fame in acting.
...[more]
mining - colliery closed
[WORKERS, JUNE 2004]
Wistow Colliery, which holds the UK record for coal mined in one week — 200,743 tonnes in 1995 — is now shut. Part of the Selby Complex closed on Friday 14 May 2004, the colliery's record will never be surpassed as there will be no coal industry to challenge it.
...[more]
news analysis - teachers and the workload agreement
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
Just over a year ago teacher unions were united. Teachers' workload was unsustainable. The profession was struggling to recruit. Trained teachers were leaving in droves — unwilling to work unacceptable hours for inadequate pay. This crisis could no longer be denied by the government.
...[more]
manufacture - the cars keep on coming
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
For the past thirty years the debate in the vehicle manufacturing companies of Europe and worldwide has been about merger, cooperation and takeover. All the big vehicle manufacturers have been linked — Ford, Jaguar, Rover, Fiat, Renault, Citroen, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, Audi and so on.
...[more]
blood on the coal
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
Over 100,000 miners have been killed in the British mining industry between 1850 and 2004, according to recent research. It is impossible to quantify the number who have been injured, maimed or crippled, but it is estimated to run into hundreds of thousands, as is the number who have suffered and died from respiratory diseases.
...[more]
energy - cost of eu requirements
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
New environmental requirements by the European Union to reduce carbon emissions or pay others who can do so through 'carbon trading' will put up the cost of manufacturing. This will particularly affect costs for high energy users such as steel, cement, brick and many other materials manufacturers.
...[more]
employment - manufacturing jobs fall
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
Recent figures have shown a further fall in manufacturing employment — down 100,000 over the past year. A key reason for this lies in the poor investment record of British companies. It is far easier to invest in short-term low-pay service sector jobs than to take a long view to rebuild Britain's manufacturing base.
...[more]
nursery nurses - taking stock
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
After nearly two months on all-out strike representatives of Scottish nursery nurses met on 20 April to take stock of the situation. In 12 of the 32 authorities branches have made local agreements with their employers. The agreements differ from employer to employer and, although they improve current pay and conditions, they are not close to the pay claim.
...[more]
contracting out - the gravy train
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
This government is good for some. It is the biggest single buyer of management consultants' services. Their income from the public sector doubled last year to £1.3 billion. Ministers spend public money to hire private outside "experts" to tell public sector workers how to do their jobs.
...[more]
safety at stake
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
Ambulance workers in particular and health workers in general do not have a monopoly in saving lives, and the more people trained to do cardiac resuscitation the better.
...[more]
food - terry's moves out
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
The decision by Terry's of York, famed confectioner and chocolate maker for over 250 years, to abandon production in its home city of York, has brought swift opposition from the GMB, and has to be opposed throughout the country. The decision of the real owners, US Kraft Foods, associated with the Swiss Suchard Company, to stop production and flee abroad must be met with a consumer boycott.
...[more]
youth workers decide
[WORKERS, MAY 2004]
The Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU) will be holding its annual conference in the city of Derry between 29 April and 2 May, the first time it has been held in a venue outside mainland Britain.
...[more]
news analysis - independence and the bbc
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
A new Director General of the BBC is about to be appointed, and we expect to learn who it will be early in April. The way this vacancy arose shows the need to defend those qualities of the BBC which earn it the hatred and contempt of governments such as that of Blair.
...[more]
budget day blues
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
Gordon Brown announced civil service job and funding cuts in his budget statement on 17 March. In return he wants to use the savings for front line services. Unions representing the workers affected were not impressed.
...[more]
britain - another record deficit
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
Britain's deficit in the trade of goods for January was a new record, at £5.6 billion. Exports dropped by £1.44 billion, 9%, and imports rose.
...[more]
power prices rise, without end
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
Electricity prices are to rise by a minimum of £5 per man, woman and child year on year, without an end date. The price increase is to pay for the maintenance of the national grid. To stand still in maintenance terms will cost over £350 million for central London alone.
...[more]
india - striking against strike ban
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
Over 50 million workers in India supported a one-day general strike on 24 February, called by five trade union federations and congresses.
...[more]
mining - a delivery for the government
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
FOUR Yorkshire miners delivered sacks of coal to the Department of Trade and Industry in a symbolic protest over the government's indifference to the demise of the coal industry.
...[more]
nursing home - stay of execution
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
THE UNISON campaign to keep the St. Andrews Nurses' Home in Newham, London, open (see February WORKERS) has resulted in a partial stay of execution. The home will remain open for a further three months, the nurses will not be evicted during their exams and staff will be relocated.
...[more]
nursery nurses walk out
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
5,000 UNISON nursery nurses in the 32 Scottish local authorities have been on all-out strike since 1 March, fighting to obtain proper pay recognition for their skills and role in children's education and development. WORKERS interviewed Margaret Ferris and Les McCulloch, two stewards who visited the Midlands to raise support for their strike.
...[more]
mg rover - payoffs, promises and debts
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
Four men, the Phoenix Consortium, who bought MG Rover for £10 from BMW in 2000 , 'saving' over 6,500 jobs in the West Midlands, are revealed through the company accounts to have received over £31 million in salaries, share options and bonuses from the network of companies associated with Phoenix.
...[more]
security - kidnapped by the state
[WORKERS, APRIL 2004]
The government is holding 14 people in Belmarsh and other high-security prisons solely on 'evidence' obtained under duress from those held illegally in the US camps at Guantanamo Bay.
...[more]
news analysis - union mergers
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (33,000 members) is to merge with the Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (12,000 members). Although the unions have healthy bank accounts, the merger reflects the decimation of manufacturing industry.
...[more]
strike date set for universities
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
The 47,000 members of the Association of University Teachers have voted by two to one for industrial action over their pay, after employers suddenly called off last-ditch talks over pay and conditions.
...[more]
eu enlargement - britain's open borders
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
From 1 May, immigrants from the ten new EU members — Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta — will all be allowed to work in Britain. Every other EU member except Ireland is imposing controls, which funnels would-be migrants towards Britain.
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energy - the end of british coal?
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
The Institution of Civil Engineers has predicted that government energy policy will close coal production in Britain by 2016. It says only one nuclear power station will be operational by 2020 and that the target of 10% energy production from renewables such as wind or wave power by 2020 will not be achieved.
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youth workers vote to fight
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
YOUTH AND COMMUNITY workers have voted overwhelmingly to take part in industrial action up to and including strikes. Members of the Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU) gave a clear message to the employers that they were no longer prepared to be treated as the poor relations in the education sector.
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education - pile 'em high, teach 'em cheap
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
A new government blueprint for "streamlining" the public sector (cutting jobs) has proposed that support staff could enable teachers to teach very large classes. £2.2 billion could be saved, suggests Sir Peter Gershon's review, by moving Department for Education and Skills civil servants into schools as classroom assistants, so that "good teachers are able to teach very large classes".
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GDP - fishy statistics
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
The government claims we have a booming economy with an ever increasing Gross Domestic Product. With manufacturing contracting every year, many will wonder how the figures add up.
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motor industry - strike at landrover
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
The 24-hour strike at the Ford Land Rover plant in Solihull at the end of January was the first stoppage there since 1988. The strike, following on from an overtime ban and work to rule, saw a picket line of several hundred strikers. So much for the "6 pickets only" anti-union law!
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mining - lifeline for hatfield
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
Hatfield, the privatised colliery near Doncaster owned by Coalpower, and last pit of the Richard Budge empire, has been given a slender lifeline by the government. Hatfield was the come-back pit of Richard Budge after he was removed from the company of his own name in a recent boardroom battle.
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civil service - widespread industrial action
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
Workers in central government pressed ahead with strike action last month. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is in dispute with several departments over low pay.
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prospect heads for trouble
[WORKERS, MARCH 2004]
Prospect, the union representing a range of engineers, scientists and managers, is moving towards action on a number of fronts.
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news analysis - the eurozone that isn't working
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
A European Commission report presented to the European Parliament on 21 January 2004 illustrates how misguided trade unions would be to continue to look to the Eurozone for jobs. The EU had promised to become "the most competitive, knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010", and the euro was supposed to be the key.
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shipbuilding - appledore talks stalled
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
Appledore, the North Devon ship builders and the last remaining British owned yard in England, which collapsed in September 2003, looks to remain closed.
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camden tenants win victory for council housing
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
Council house tenants and leaseholders in the London Borough of Camden have voted overwhelmingly to keep 33,000 homes under public control. A decisive 77% NO to takeover by an independent housing corporation called an "Arms-Length Management Organisation" (Almo) has shattered the government's dream of offloading its housing responsibilities onto profiteers.
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civil servants vote to walk out
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
In the face of firm resistance from the government, civil servants have voted for walkouts over pay. Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will strike on 29 and 30 January. Their union believes that below-inflation pay offers can be improved.
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from farce to fiasco
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
The dispute by public service workers in UNISON, the TGWU and the GMB over the London Weighting Allowance moved from farce to fiasco last month as the employers walked out and tried to 'suspend' the Greater London Provincial Council. This is the joint negotiating forum, which cannot be 'suspended' by one party acting unilaterally.
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security - guns in the air
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
Bush would like to see armed guards (or air marshals as he prefers to call them) on all foreign planes entering American air-space. The British government is one of only a few to agree with this stance.
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made in britain? - you'll never know
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
The European Commission is proposing to re-label origins of all produce in Europe. By substituting "Made in the EU" for labels of origin -- such as "Made in Britain" (or another country) the EU Commissioners are trying to push through further integration.
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rail - disputes in the north
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
Metro workers in northern England have been involved in two separate disputes. In Manchester one union is seeking recognition for drivers. In Newcastle workers want a shorter working week.
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mining - more jobs at a price
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
Only one deep mine exists in what was the North Yorkshire coalfield - Kellingley, the 'Big K'. Only 550 miners remain - a reduction of 75% during the last 20 years. Between 137 and 240 jobs are to be created at Kellingley for men from the closing Selby complex.
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nursing - action call on shortage
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
UNISON has called for international action to address the global shortage of nurses. The Department of Health has drawn up a code of practice intending to prevent the stripping of nurses and other health professionals from so-called third world countries by NHS Trusts in the UK. But the reality is that Britain has recruited over 35,000 Filipino nurses and stripped Zimbabwe, South Africa and West Africa of skilled and trainee nurses.
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samsung cuts and runs
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
SAMSUNG, the Korean electronic manufacturer, intends closing its state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Billingham, Middlesbrough and to ship production to China and perhaps Eastern Europe.
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youth workers - crunch time over pay
[WORKERS, FEBRUARY 2004]
The Community and Youth Workers Union is holding a national ballot of members on terms and conditions. Members must decide between industrial action short of a strike or strike action in furtherance of their claim.
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news analysis - brown's statement
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
The chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced his pre-budget report in the run up to Christmas. It looked very festive -- all magic and sparkle. On closer inspection Labour's public finance plans are as bare as a Christmas tree without needles.
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imperialism - in search of new bases
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
The US Pentagon has commenced a series of informal discussions in Japan, South Korea and Germany with a view to re-positioning US bases and military reserves away from those established after the Second World War. This is being defined as overhauling the US global 'footprint'.
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nhs - losing blood
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
Stocks of blood held by the National Blood Transfusion NHS Trust are in decline and have been since early 2003.
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coal under the cosh
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
The expected £60 million subsidy for coal has been cut to £52 million by the government. There is a drip-feed of pennies to just keep coal on the life support machine. Again the funds are EU bribes, not to save the industry but supposedly for new developments. No strategic plan, no consolidating what already exists, just hand to mouth resuscitation.
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eu - lower and lower
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
All British Government departments will be ordered by the EU to consider using 'reverse auctions' on all projects worth more than £100,000. In these internet auctions tenderers are pitted against each other on the internet to encourage them to cut prices until all but one of them can go no lower. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) believes up to 25% can be cut from current prices by this method.
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germany - who's the greatest?
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
A recent poll in Germany for the greatest German has thrown up a top three of (1) Adenauer, Chancellor post-Second World War, architect of the European Union and all-round toady for the USA. Closely followed by (2) Luther, Protestant reformer. Thirdly, Karl Marx, Communist.
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new peace plan
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
On 1 December, Palestinian and Israeli representatives formally launched the Geneva Accord, a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East. It looks to the withdrawal of the Israeli army from most of the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state.
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iraq: oil-rich, petrol-poor
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
DESPITE SITTING on the world's second largest oil reserves, occupied Iraq now finds itself having to impose petrol rationing.
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manufacture - record loss for rover
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
MG Rover, owned by Phoenix Venture Holdings, recorded a £95 million loss in 2002. The T&GWU and Amicus trade unions are expressing further concerns over the financial stability of the group and the financial arrangements associated with its directors.
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spying on workers - database of activists
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
A private agency, run by an Evelyn Le Chene, has inherited the mantle of the collapsed Economic League. The Economic League existed throughout most of the 20th century, funded by various employers' organisations to spy and blacklist trade unionists, Communists and others deemed to be the enemies of capitalism.
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steel - grim future
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
The National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee has presented Corus, the Anglo-Dutch inheritors of British Steel, with plans to save steel production on Teesside and Llanwern.
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united states - built on sand
[WORKERS, JANUARY 2004]
Analysis of the economic record of George Bush demonstrates how US power is built on sand. Government statistics show that an estimated 43 million people have no health care insurance. Nearly 35 million people -- 1 in 8 of the population -- are deemed to live below the poverty line. Over 13 million of these are children.
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