Back in January 2012, just after the Tory-led government announced that public sector pay would be frozen and then rise by only 1% in the two years to 2015, which amounted to a significant pay cut in real terms, Labour’s Ed Balls (without prior consultation, we were informed at the time, with Ed Miliband) announced that […]
Posts under ‘Public services’
Respect to Owen Smith and Labour backing for public sector workers’ strike
Jul 8th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.
Support the 10 July strike
Jul 7th, 2014 by Owen Jones.This Thursday (10 July) the government is facing the largest public sector strike since 2010. Pay freezes and below-inflation pay rises have reduced public sector workers’ pay by 20% since the coalition came to power in 2010, public sector pensions have been attacked and public services have been slashed across the country. So members of the […]
Share:
Why won’t Ed Balls nationalise the railways?
Jul 7th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.If you were to glance at this headline, you might think Labour is tearing itself apart over rail renationalisation. It isn’t, but that the bulk of members and supporters think the rail should be taken back into public ownership reflects its popularity in the wider population. Pretty consistently, over half of the electorate would like to see this […]
Share:
July 10: What would Harold Wilson have done?
Jul 6th, 2014 by Andy Newman.Any major national strike while the Labour Party is in opposition poses a challenge for the party leader. Next Thursday, July 10th, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers will be on strike. The workers withdrawing their labour will include low paid cleaners, teaching assistants, carers, street cleaners, road sweepers and others. These essential workers have suffered […]
Share:
Why is Labour now fighting shy of nationalisation?
Jul 6th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is bizarre that the Labour Party, or at least Ed Balls, is now tying himself up in such contortions to avoid renationalisation of the railways at any cost when the polls constantly show 70-80% of the electorate, which must include a very large number of Tories, is demanding just that. Is the Labour Party, […]
Share:
Why GMB members will be striking in Academies on 10th July, but not UNISON
Jul 4th, 2014 by Andy Newman.Next Thursday’s strike on 10th July looks set to be well supported, based upon the feedback I am getting as a GMB branch secretary. People are at the end of their tether, facing rising living costs, and pay packets that have shrunk in real terms. Local authority pay has gone up only 1% since 2010 and in October […]
Share:
The Transatlantic trade deal: a project of the 1%
Jun 24th, 2014 by Nick Dearden.The EU/US trade deal (TTIP) is a vast power grab on behalf of the world’s biggest corporations, and there’s still time to stop it. In this new international order – or disorder – the economic, military, political and even moral leadership of the West is increasingly challenged” Michel Barnier, EU Commissioner, 12 June, on the […]
Share:
The political class won’t “reconnect” until markets are drastically reformed
Jun 19th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.‘Reconnecting’ is the buzz word for the political class. They all agree it’s necessary, but very few have any serious ideas about how it might be achieved, and through force of inertia they easily slip back into the old ways. What they don’t realise is that it’s more about their constituents feeling able to reconnect as […]
Share:
Support the French rail strikers
Jun 17th, 2014 by Tom Gill.The French rail strike – now in its sixth day — is a pain. Nobody likes seeing their train cancelled. High school exams are being disrupted too. But why are the railway workers on strike? They are protesting against the railway reforms of the Government of President Francois Hollande and PM Manuel Valls. The Government claims […]
Share:
The Coalition’s Last Stand
Jun 13th, 2014 by Grahame Morris.Dennis Skinner summed up the country’s mood when he declared the recent Queen’s speech to be the “Coalition’s last stand.” The Government set out their agenda for the next 12 months leading up to the general election. It was a missed opportunity, lacking the ideas, policy and ambition that is required to meet the challenges we face, […]
