The Equality and Human Rights Commission report ‘Close to Home’, published today, makes sober reading. Recent reports have all shown unacceptably poor and sinking standards for vulnerable people in care – in hospitals (Mid Staffs), in residential care (Southern Cross, Winterbourne), and now in domicilary care in their own homes (this EHRC report based on […]
Posts under ‘Public services’
Twenty-six unions preparing to strike
Nov 18th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Twenty-fivesix unions are now preparing to strike on November 30, RMT being the latest union to announce a ballot result. Full details of their balloting reslts are set out below.Only the Prisoners Officers Association who are balloting secure psychiatric workers employed in the health service, has not yet announced its ballot result – due on […]
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Fortnum 145: guilty of protesting sensibly
Nov 17th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.This morning 10 protesters have been found guilty of “aggravated trespass” at Fortnum & Masons. Laurie Penny commented “this is bloody ridiculous. I was there, it was a peaceful protest.” They were given a 6 month conditional discharge, with a£1000 cost order each, and one person got a £215 fine. This was for an action […]
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Oppose directly elected Mayors – bad for democracy and bad for Labour
Nov 17th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.It isn’t often that we agree with John Spellar, but we’re happy to say that we did yesterday when he came out at Progress against a directly elected Mayor for Birmingham, and what he called the “arcane constitutional debate” about the whole issue. Directly elected Mayors have already proved bad for democracy and bad for […]
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Hinchingbrooke hospital: lessons of Southern Cross
Nov 15th, 2011 by David Osler.Southern Cross became a FTSE 250 company on the back of the profits it made from looking after the elderly. Earlier this year it realised that it could no longer afford the rent on the care homes it once owned, but had sold off and leased back. Unlike most business models that don’t pan out, […]
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Slow-motion breakdown across our public services
Nov 15th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.The real Border Agency scandal is not whether Theresa May or Brodie Clark authorised the relaxation of checks on millions of visitors over the summer, but rather that job cuts and expenditure squeezes are cutting swathes through the immigration rules. In the last fortnight it has been disclosed (and one wonders how much else has […]
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Greece as whipping boy for ‘Troika’ bullies
Sep 24th, 2011 by Ann Pettifor.As mayhem breaks out on stock markets; as Eurozone banks freeze up; and as the global financial system approaches a frightening ‘danger zone,’ the champions of the globalised ‘free market’ and of the Euro are in search of a scapegoat. Instead of accepting that it is the broken banking system; the de-regulated financial Eurozone, and […]
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Labour Conference to agree Balls line on strikes
Sep 22nd, 2011 by Jon Lansman.There is little doubt that Labour Party conference will agree to back the line argued by Ed Balls on the public sector pension strikes – representing the union case as reasonable and pinning al the blame on the government for the threat of strike acton. The clear implication is that, if strikes happen because of […]
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Talks start to avert November strikes
Sep 21st, 2011 by Andy Newman.GMB will attend talks tomorrow with council leaders on the dispute about the future of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) which covers two million workers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These are the first talks since unions announced plans to ballot members for strike action if Government press ahead with changes to public […]
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Under attack by a feral ruling class
Sep 11th, 2011 by Newsdesk.Speaking ahead of this year’s Trades Union Congress, the leader of the country’s biggest union, Unite, warned that government’s continued attacks on working people – including the attacks on public sector pensions – will provoke unrest. Len McCluskey said we are”under attack by a government with no mandate and a feral ruling class that is being […]
