Follwing a very actve campaign led by UNISON, Haringey Trades Council and the Ferderation of Residents Associations the BNP received a grand total of 27 votes (0.9% of votes cast) Thid was almost no better than they received in the GLA elections where they did not stand a candidate or actively campaign in the ward.
The seat was comfortably held by the Liberal Democrats although with Labours vote remaning almost unchanged from 2006 and the Lib Dems 500 down it may show some sign of a revivial for Labour in a seat they previously held.
While the BNP may have bene seen off on this ocassion we are not being complacent and will be continuing to work closely with other anti fascist groups to help in the next real battle keeping them out of the European Seats in London.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Monday, 29 September 2008
Swab & Carthy
Just back from an excellent gig from the legends that are Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick at Croydon Folok Club. The Club is held at Ruskin house which is owned on behalf of the trade union movement, nice venue excellent gig.
It was nice to see both in a small venue and having them play togehter is something of a rarity, added bonus was getting a C.D. signed by both. Dave Swarbrick is of course the man of legend who had his obituary published in advance of his death by one of the broadsheets and took for a period to selling signed copies!
Music was very much tradtional folk stripped down to the bones,cheery little ditties lol :) As Kate Rusby commented when I saw her at Cambridge " We are going to play ome songs about sailors and death" could have been quite apt for the songs last night. That said some very lively and enjoyable hornpipes and Carolans gave for a lively contrast and the slow ones were played beautifully.
Must admit I was surprised how quiet the audience was in terms of clapping along etc in comparison to many other folk gigs I have been to.
Still all all in a throughly enjoyable evening out and another one of the legendary folk acts to chalk off my list.
It was nice to see both in a small venue and having them play togehter is something of a rarity, added bonus was getting a C.D. signed by both. Dave Swarbrick is of course the man of legend who had his obituary published in advance of his death by one of the broadsheets and took for a period to selling signed copies!
Music was very much tradtional folk stripped down to the bones,cheery little ditties lol :) As Kate Rusby commented when I saw her at Cambridge " We are going to play ome songs about sailors and death" could have been quite apt for the songs last night. That said some very lively and enjoyable hornpipes and Carolans gave for a lively contrast and the slow ones were played beautifully.
Must admit I was surprised how quiet the audience was in terms of clapping along etc in comparison to many other folk gigs I have been to.
Still all all in a throughly enjoyable evening out and another one of the legendary folk acts to chalk off my list.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
STOP THE BNP PUBLIC MEETING
THURSDAY OCTOBER 2nd, 7.30pm
NO TO RACISM - YES TO COMMUNITY SOLIDARITY!
Speakers:Sean Fox(Branch Secretary Haringey UNISON), Local Residents
@ St Andrews Centre, Alexandra Pk Rd [nr Windermere Rd] N10
Bus 102/299 to the door + bus 43/134/234/184 nearby
Meeting called by Haringey Trades Union Council, Haringey UNISON
and the Haringey Federation of Residents Associations
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Stop the BNP in Haringey
I was shocked last week to find that the British National Party are standing a candidate in Council by election Haringey where I am UNISON Branch secretary. Haringey is one of the most diverse borough's in London having over 52 languages spoken and many prominent immigrant communities and religions.Despite extreme poverty in many parts of the borough I am proud that we had not had a sniff of the Fascists campaigning for their platform or racism, homophobia and religious bigotry in the Borough. The last major fascist activity was the National Front's march at Turnpike Lane in 1977
Having got over the anger I and other Trade Unionists and community activists decided to do something to stop this stain on democracy getting out of the sewer where it belongs, in Haringey. Tonight saw a diverse group of community activists come together to form The Haringey Anti Fascist Coalition to raise awareness of the BNP'S activities and the truth behind their lies. Alexandra Ward where the by election takes place has been a Liberal Democrat ward since 2002 having previuouslybeen Labour (as of course was much of Haringey for many years). While there is no clear evidence of fascist activitiy or support o the ground (in the GLA elections a grand total of 24 people voted BNP in the Ward) we are not complacent. One vote for the BNP is to many just as one seat is to many.
Our campaign kicks off with a public meeting in the Ward next Thursday to build anti fascist support as well as leafleting every house in the Ward in the lead up to the by election.
We are proud of Haringey's diverse make up and will not stand by while the BNP seek to undermine it in this way. After this by election we will be carefully monitoring BNP activity in the Borough and ensuring that we build maximum support for anti BNP work in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament.
Having got over the anger I and other Trade Unionists and community activists decided to do something to stop this stain on democracy getting out of the sewer where it belongs, in Haringey. Tonight saw a diverse group of community activists come together to form The Haringey Anti Fascist Coalition to raise awareness of the BNP'S activities and the truth behind their lies. Alexandra Ward where the by election takes place has been a Liberal Democrat ward since 2002 having previuouslybeen Labour (as of course was much of Haringey for many years). While there is no clear evidence of fascist activitiy or support o the ground (in the GLA elections a grand total of 24 people voted BNP in the Ward) we are not complacent. One vote for the BNP is to many just as one seat is to many.
Our campaign kicks off with a public meeting in the Ward next Thursday to build anti fascist support as well as leafleting every house in the Ward in the lead up to the by election.
We are proud of Haringey's diverse make up and will not stand by while the BNP seek to undermine it in this way. After this by election we will be carefully monitoring BNP activity in the Borough and ensuring that we build maximum support for anti BNP work in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Well It's over
After 10 games my club finally lost their first game in the Conference South losing 2-1 at Hayes &Yeading. With the result we were knocked off top spot and go down to 3rd H&Y taking our place at the top. Still its a great and now the real challenge is to recover from a first defeat by making progress in the F.A. Cup next week.
Ironically we get to go to the edge of our mortal enemies territory playing at Bedford Town which not only has an MK postcode but shares some sort of relationship with the parasites who stole our league place in an act of franchising six years ago. The best way of dealing with this is obviously to beat them out of site on the pitch and ignore any stupidity by fans and hangers on to wind us up.
Three wins separate AFC Wimbledon and a place in the 1st round proper of the f.a. cup for the first time and a potential big money tie against a league side. This year promotion would be an unexpected bonus but progress in both the F.A. Cup and the F.A. Trophy should be a strong possibility as we look to develop and strengthen the rebirth of Fan owned community football a matter of 2 miles from our spiritual home in SW19. Th
Despite this setback things look to be heading in the right direction as we enter the autumn at AFC Wimbledon
Ironically we get to go to the edge of our mortal enemies territory playing at Bedford Town which not only has an MK postcode but shares some sort of relationship with the parasites who stole our league place in an act of franchising six years ago. The best way of dealing with this is obviously to beat them out of site on the pitch and ignore any stupidity by fans and hangers on to wind us up.
Three wins separate AFC Wimbledon and a place in the 1st round proper of the f.a. cup for the first time and a potential big money tie against a league side. This year promotion would be an unexpected bonus but progress in both the F.A. Cup and the F.A. Trophy should be a strong possibility as we look to develop and strengthen the rebirth of Fan owned community football a matter of 2 miles from our spiritual home in SW19. Th
Despite this setback things look to be heading in the right direction as we enter the autumn at AFC Wimbledon
Browned Off?
This week see the latest attempt of Gordon Brown to start off his fightback and secure his position as Labour Leader. To some extent this saga is getting a bit like the Major "bastards" period and I can't help wondering if he might have been better off taking the Major route to resolving it of resigning and standing again.
Fact is the issue for the voters isn't his personality it's his policies and the climate we find ourselves in economically. Ironically his decision to finally do something about those who make money from betting on the failure of other companies is a welcome move to the left. However he must now take similar moves in other key policy areas. The fact is the move of Cameroon to the centre (whether real or imagined) has attracted that layer of voters who New Labour has historically courted. Meanwhile amongst other groups who have historically voted Labour for far longer there is a level of disillusionment at the failure to deliver real social democratic change.
I know some will argue we cannot win from the left but what exactly does that mean these days? For me a government that allowed Councils to build houses, a government that ended privatisation in public services and funded them so that public sectors were not penalised twice for inflation would be popular. A government that continued and accelerated withdrawal from Iraq and began to work an exist strategy for Afghanistan could equally become more popular.
Its time to re-enthuse our traditional supporters not to move ever to the right and onto Tory ground on public services, immigration and other such areas. After all at some point simply saying the Tories are going to be worse will not enthuse our core support to vote. The gap is clearly made more real by the Lib Dems tack to the right and there is space for a mainstream socialist party to benefit advancing policies of redistribution and public ownership is not some sort of Communist manifesto (or as some would view it "Trot dogma") Its common sense its popular and it might just dig Labour out of its hole. Constantly polls show so called "left wing" ideas are popular and this has never been trested to any great extent by Labour. I discount the 1983 election manifesto since cearly it was delivered at a time when the party was riven by the split caused by the SDP. Even then more people voted Labour than did in 2001.
Sadly those who appear currently to be trying to bring about a change seem to think we need to put in a "Cameroon lite" rather than change the policies. Could Milliband be the answer or would he simply deliver more of the same and go further? Those such as my own local M.P. Siobhan MCDonagh (who has voted for every right wing measure brought in since 1997) obviously live in the belief that the answer so more and furhter moves the "new labour" policies not a real break with them. Question is if this is the agenda what is the purpose of winning in any case since in reality that is what Cameroon will deliver? Surely the level of defeatism hoas not reached the stage where such M.P's beleive the answer is to win again and deliver Tory "lite" policies for them?
I want Labour to win the next election but an auction of right wing ideas with the Tories will not do it.
Fact is the issue for the voters isn't his personality it's his policies and the climate we find ourselves in economically. Ironically his decision to finally do something about those who make money from betting on the failure of other companies is a welcome move to the left. However he must now take similar moves in other key policy areas. The fact is the move of Cameroon to the centre (whether real or imagined) has attracted that layer of voters who New Labour has historically courted. Meanwhile amongst other groups who have historically voted Labour for far longer there is a level of disillusionment at the failure to deliver real social democratic change.
I know some will argue we cannot win from the left but what exactly does that mean these days? For me a government that allowed Councils to build houses, a government that ended privatisation in public services and funded them so that public sectors were not penalised twice for inflation would be popular. A government that continued and accelerated withdrawal from Iraq and began to work an exist strategy for Afghanistan could equally become more popular.
Its time to re-enthuse our traditional supporters not to move ever to the right and onto Tory ground on public services, immigration and other such areas. After all at some point simply saying the Tories are going to be worse will not enthuse our core support to vote. The gap is clearly made more real by the Lib Dems tack to the right and there is space for a mainstream socialist party to benefit advancing policies of redistribution and public ownership is not some sort of Communist manifesto (or as some would view it "Trot dogma") Its common sense its popular and it might just dig Labour out of its hole. Constantly polls show so called "left wing" ideas are popular and this has never been trested to any great extent by Labour. I discount the 1983 election manifesto since cearly it was delivered at a time when the party was riven by the split caused by the SDP. Even then more people voted Labour than did in 2001.
Sadly those who appear currently to be trying to bring about a change seem to think we need to put in a "Cameroon lite" rather than change the policies. Could Milliband be the answer or would he simply deliver more of the same and go further? Those such as my own local M.P. Siobhan MCDonagh (who has voted for every right wing measure brought in since 1997) obviously live in the belief that the answer so more and furhter moves the "new labour" policies not a real break with them. Question is if this is the agenda what is the purpose of winning in any case since in reality that is what Cameroon will deliver? Surely the level of defeatism hoas not reached the stage where such M.P's beleive the answer is to win again and deliver Tory "lite" policies for them?
I want Labour to win the next election but an auction of right wing ideas with the Tories will not do it.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
If
I heard this poem at a leaving do which I rather liked. The author did also give a fulsome apology to Kipling for nicking his masterpiece as a basis:) It might broadly be seen as an ode to the crap Trade Union reps put up with on a daily basis and the destruction of individual styles and thoughts by the endless targets, reviews performance indicators etc that the public sector works under. Welcome to the world of (?) If you recognise the description is it your borough or just one similar ;)
If you can get your managers from British Gas
And Care not what others think
If you can trust yourself when all others doubt
And find new depths in which to sink
If you can turn to an agency at 50 pounds an hour
To hire someone to tickle your balls and stroke your hair
And to do this in an office with glass walls
And act like its completely normal to have them there
If you can talk to the union as if you were their friend
And conduct mock consultations on matters long since decided
If you treat the truth as something for you to bend
And act like its god by whom your guided
If you can start a restructure before the fallout from the last one has touched the ground
And delete jobs at will as if they were numbers not persons
If you can save a measly pound by any means
And really not notice that staff morale worsens
If you think its ok to know virtually nothing of the field in which you work
And never bother to learn
If you can act like everyone else is berserk
For expressing even the slightest concern
If you can lie with a smile and sneer for a living
And demand intrusive monitoring of the sick
If you can forget that Christmas is a time for giving
And favour those who will suck your..toes
If you can worship at the alter of Performance Indicators
And Parrot Jargon that you pretend to understand
If you insist on the terminology of business
And not that of a service offering a helping hand
If there are problems that you can't hide
But you never once feel shame
If you can take all these things in your stride
And Simply find someone else to blame
If you can do these things and hold your head up high
And Act like its a barrel of fun
And never pause to wonder why
You'll be the boss my son.
If you can get your managers from British Gas
And Care not what others think
If you can trust yourself when all others doubt
And find new depths in which to sink
If you can turn to an agency at 50 pounds an hour
To hire someone to tickle your balls and stroke your hair
And to do this in an office with glass walls
And act like its completely normal to have them there
If you can talk to the union as if you were their friend
And conduct mock consultations on matters long since decided
If you treat the truth as something for you to bend
And act like its god by whom your guided
If you can start a restructure before the fallout from the last one has touched the ground
And delete jobs at will as if they were numbers not persons
If you can save a measly pound by any means
And really not notice that staff morale worsens
If you think its ok to know virtually nothing of the field in which you work
And never bother to learn
If you can act like everyone else is berserk
For expressing even the slightest concern
If you can lie with a smile and sneer for a living
And demand intrusive monitoring of the sick
If you can forget that Christmas is a time for giving
And favour those who will suck your..toes
If you can worship at the alter of Performance Indicators
And Parrot Jargon that you pretend to understand
If you insist on the terminology of business
And not that of a service offering a helping hand
If there are problems that you can't hide
But you never once feel shame
If you can take all these things in your stride
And Simply find someone else to blame
If you can do these things and hold your head up high
And Act like its a barrel of fun
And never pause to wonder why
You'll be the boss my son.
Monday, 30 June 2008
Strike On 16th-17th JUly
July 16th-17th will see local government workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action in support of our pay claim. I am under no illusions that we do so reluctantly but we must now deliver an effective strike. The arithmetic for the average LG Worker is simple 2.45% wont pay the bills it wont pay for the rising price of food (having gone to the supermarket this afternoon it was a shock how much things have gone up since this time last year) it wont pay for the rising electricity gas and water prices and if you drive one it wont pay for the petrol (or diesel in the car.
So Strike we must and strike we shall : Its time for our Labour Government to recognise that the pay limit is an artificial and blunt tool in combat ting inflation. Ordinary people know what causes inflation and it sure as hell isn't the wages of the local government (or public sector in general) workforce. The vast majority of public services worker are women and a large majority work part time delivering services to the most vulnerable, it was not an easy decision to strike for may of these people but they recognise the need to do so now.
In my own Branch we shall be attempting to ensure those who are striking have access to our
hardship fund to help alleviate the financial difficulties caused by taking action.
This is a strike we simply must win for the good of ourselves but also for the future of the public sector. Year on year pay cuts mean entry to the public sector becomes an ever less attractive proposition for new workers entering the labour market. If this accelerates the recruitment shortages will not be limited to specialisms like Social work and planning. Already people Can earn more working in Tescoes than they can looking after the most vulnerable through homecare or residential care this cannot go on .
We must be prepared to fight for a decent standard of living and recongise that sometiems a short term sacrifice is necessary to secure a longer term gain. This is exactly what resulted from the LGPS dispute in 2006, the National Pay dispute in 2002 and in my own borough a local dispute in 1999 agaisnt savage attacks on terms and conditions
So Strike we must and strike we shall : Its time for our Labour Government to recognise that the pay limit is an artificial and blunt tool in combat ting inflation. Ordinary people know what causes inflation and it sure as hell isn't the wages of the local government (or public sector in general) workforce. The vast majority of public services worker are women and a large majority work part time delivering services to the most vulnerable, it was not an easy decision to strike for may of these people but they recognise the need to do so now.
In my own Branch we shall be attempting to ensure those who are striking have access to our
hardship fund to help alleviate the financial difficulties caused by taking action.
This is a strike we simply must win for the good of ourselves but also for the future of the public sector. Year on year pay cuts mean entry to the public sector becomes an ever less attractive proposition for new workers entering the labour market. If this accelerates the recruitment shortages will not be limited to specialisms like Social work and planning. Already people Can earn more working in Tescoes than they can looking after the most vulnerable through homecare or residential care this cannot go on .
We must be prepared to fight for a decent standard of living and recongise that sometiems a short term sacrifice is necessary to secure a longer term gain. This is exactly what resulted from the LGPS dispute in 2006, the National Pay dispute in 2002 and in my own borough a local dispute in 1999 agaisnt savage attacks on terms and conditions
Monday, 14 April 2008
SHROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTT
Might seem an odd title for an item. It refers to Robin Shroot an excellent young player for Wimbledon who scored a hat-trick in our 4-1 demolition of play off rivals Ashford Town Middlesex on Saturday. To cap an excellent weekend for young Robin he then scored a goal at Womble Stadium no less yesterday. Why were Wimbledon at Wembley you might ask? (if you care) the answer being we were invited to play Corinthian Casuals who were granted a friendly by the Football Association in return for allowing one of the lounges to be named after them! I am sure they will remember their visit to Wembley since they were trounced 8-1 by the Dons. It was a rather good weekend all in all :) At 8-0 up with 20 to go we were pondering what the record margin of victory at Wembley was (it was 9-0 England V Luxembourg) and the creation of another trivia quizz question involving Wimbledon ( who hold the unique record of having a player score 4 goals with his head in a Cup Final at Wembley trivia buffs look up Eddie Reynolds sometime)
Wembley as you might well expect is a victim of rip off Britain where a portion of fish and chips (one mate of mine who had it could not be more specific about the type of fish either !) is £8.00 and a pint of beer is £3.50 a programme coming in at a bargain £5.00. How I miss playing in the top flight so much !
Now onto cheering Folkestone tonight (they are playing our most likely rivals for 2nd place) before easing back to Wimbledon on Saturday in their last home league game of the season against Harlow Town.
Meanwhile is a small non city about 70 miles north the cuckoo's in the nest who stole our league place were denied promotion for at least another week :) Of course the inevitable will probably happen this week but it would be most satisfying if they failed to win the 4th Division (that's its real name oh franny fans) and if they failed to beat our record points total 25 years ago of 98 points. If they want to see the trophy they are most welcome to pop down to its rightful home in the London Borough of Merton at Morden Library. Now just a matter of getting the Club a ground a mile or two north of our current location so we are in the Borough again (or of course persuading the Councils to change their boundaries :) )
Wembley as you might well expect is a victim of rip off Britain where a portion of fish and chips (one mate of mine who had it could not be more specific about the type of fish either !) is £8.00 and a pint of beer is £3.50 a programme coming in at a bargain £5.00. How I miss playing in the top flight so much !
Now onto cheering Folkestone tonight (they are playing our most likely rivals for 2nd place) before easing back to Wimbledon on Saturday in their last home league game of the season against Harlow Town.
Meanwhile is a small non city about 70 miles north the cuckoo's in the nest who stole our league place were denied promotion for at least another week :) Of course the inevitable will probably happen this week but it would be most satisfying if they failed to win the 4th Division (that's its real name oh franny fans) and if they failed to beat our record points total 25 years ago of 98 points. If they want to see the trophy they are most welcome to pop down to its rightful home in the London Borough of Merton at Morden Library. Now just a matter of getting the Club a ground a mile or two north of our current location so we are in the Borough again (or of course persuading the Councils to change their boundaries :) )
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Politics & Sport Collide
In a bizarre fashion on Good Friday my two major interests collided.
I was attending an AFC Wimbledon game only to find myself confronted by leafletters from the new Left List (this being the non Galloway part of Respect) The reason for this unexpected event was that the former Chairman of AFC Wimbledon Kris Stewart is standing as GLA candidate in our local seat (Merton &wandsworth)
Kris is a good personal friend of mine and we share many political beliefs unfortunately we differ markedly on how best to deliver them. it could broadly be summed up by him saying I am wrong to work within the Labour Party and me saying he is wrong not do so. Ironic as on many things you could barely put a fagpaper between our beliefs.
Anyway I mention for two reasons
1) It was interesting to see how the Left List see events such as sporting events to be a place for politics to be discussed and promoted. This is something which in my Irish background is entirely normal but which I have rarely seen over here. Clearly having 2500 people in one place and being able t relate our belief to their beliefs is a potential gainer.
In fact I wonder if there are possibilities to link the Unite Against Fascims Campaign to football matches (baring in mind the Kick Racism out of football work) Clearly there are many people in attendance at sporting events. Historically this has been an area where far right and openly fascist groups have attempted to organise sadly. There are many working class people in attendance at matches particulalry atthe non prawn sandwich sky leagues! who could be persuaded of the need to vote and at the same time it could serve as a defence against the BNP and their acolytes attempts to recruit. (This is something I have never personally seen at our matches but which I have heard tell of at other clubs, I also sadly remember the National Front being present at grounds i nthe early 1980's)
2) It was equally interesting to see the reaction of some who were given leaflets. This ranged from bemusement to anger that they felt they had been duped by those handing them out. Equally others recognised the validity of these attempts to gain political loyalty by goign to a sporting event.Personally I have absolutely no problem with politics and sport colliding in this way!
Oh and we lost naturally to a team who were 2nd bottom and had hardly won all season!
The life of a club run by the fans and owned by them is sadly not always plain sailing. Of course there is also the irony of our club curently co-operating with "NUTS Tv" of a sport documentary a channel which sadly is more interested in portraying women as objects of desire than the fienr poitns of fan ownership!
I was attending an AFC Wimbledon game only to find myself confronted by leafletters from the new Left List (this being the non Galloway part of Respect) The reason for this unexpected event was that the former Chairman of AFC Wimbledon Kris Stewart is standing as GLA candidate in our local seat (Merton &wandsworth)
Kris is a good personal friend of mine and we share many political beliefs unfortunately we differ markedly on how best to deliver them. it could broadly be summed up by him saying I am wrong to work within the Labour Party and me saying he is wrong not do so. Ironic as on many things you could barely put a fagpaper between our beliefs.
Anyway I mention for two reasons
1) It was interesting to see how the Left List see events such as sporting events to be a place for politics to be discussed and promoted. This is something which in my Irish background is entirely normal but which I have rarely seen over here. Clearly having 2500 people in one place and being able t relate our belief to their beliefs is a potential gainer.
In fact I wonder if there are possibilities to link the Unite Against Fascims Campaign to football matches (baring in mind the Kick Racism out of football work) Clearly there are many people in attendance at sporting events. Historically this has been an area where far right and openly fascist groups have attempted to organise sadly. There are many working class people in attendance at matches particulalry atthe non prawn sandwich sky leagues! who could be persuaded of the need to vote and at the same time it could serve as a defence against the BNP and their acolytes attempts to recruit. (This is something I have never personally seen at our matches but which I have heard tell of at other clubs, I also sadly remember the National Front being present at grounds i nthe early 1980's)
2) It was equally interesting to see the reaction of some who were given leaflets. This ranged from bemusement to anger that they felt they had been duped by those handing them out. Equally others recognised the validity of these attempts to gain political loyalty by goign to a sporting event.Personally I have absolutely no problem with politics and sport colliding in this way!
Oh and we lost naturally to a team who were 2nd bottom and had hardly won all season!
The life of a club run by the fans and owned by them is sadly not always plain sailing. Of course there is also the irony of our club curently co-operating with "NUTS Tv" of a sport documentary a channel which sadly is more interested in portraying women as objects of desire than the fienr poitns of fan ownership!
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Cuts Cuts and More cuts
It seems after a couple of years of stability in comparison to other Boroughs Haringey has caught the cuts bug. Fr the first time since 2000 we have received a "Section 188 Notice" The Formal notice an Employer is required ot serve when it is proposed to have more than 20 redundancies. Well when I say served that would be a bit of an exaggeration we actually got a rather limited and disorganised letter from the Employers with a list of posts lacking most of the important information we need. The notice was so jumbled that we have had to request additional information in order to identity those at risk.
As ever the Council has money to pay for new logoes, rebranding etc but not for vital services such as Care , Outreach libraries Services and the Wardens service The total number of staff potentially facing redundancy is in excess of 70. However it appears the position may be worse as we have already identified additional posts not included on the notice.
We will be working with the local community to oppose these attacks on the most vulnerable in our society.We will also be supporting those members effected and seeking to protect as many jobs as possible by way of redeployment
As ever the Council has money to pay for new logoes, rebranding etc but not for vital services such as Care , Outreach libraries Services and the Wardens service The total number of staff potentially facing redundancy is in excess of 70. However it appears the position may be worse as we have already identified additional posts not included on the notice.
We will be working with the local community to oppose these attacks on the most vulnerable in our society.We will also be supporting those members effected and seeking to protect as many jobs as possible by way of redeployment
Victory Not yet Quite Complete-The Childrens Centres
It seems we may have defeated the Council's move towards privatisation of the Childrens Centres. (Something which they are now naturally denying was ever their intent): Apparently their report was badly phrased when it instructed Officers to begin a procurement exercise for an alternative provider! This actually meant; according to fast backpedalling Councillors when faced with united parental staff and union opposition that they would consider whether "added value" could be given by exploring partnerships with the voluntary and community sector.
Any hows the long and the short is three of the five Centres are to be considered for devolving to Schools through service level agreements.This has its own dangers but is infinitely preferable to privatisation, we shall be working closely to protect our members interests and that of the users of these Centres. A fourth is to be considered for the same treatment or for a dreaded partnership (the acceptable P word). The fifth in the most deprived ward in the borough is due to become a 0-90 Centre (sounds marvellous doesn't it) but nobody including Senior Officers or Councillors seem able to tell us what that means yet!
We have however been given an absolute guarantee that none of these arrangements will require the transfer of staff out of the Council which is a victory of sorts. We shall be continuing to work with Parents against Privatisation to hold the council accountable for its actions
Any hows the long and the short is three of the five Centres are to be considered for devolving to Schools through service level agreements.This has its own dangers but is infinitely preferable to privatisation, we shall be working closely to protect our members interests and that of the users of these Centres. A fourth is to be considered for the same treatment or for a dreaded partnership (the acceptable P word). The fifth in the most deprived ward in the borough is due to become a 0-90 Centre (sounds marvellous doesn't it) but nobody including Senior Officers or Councillors seem able to tell us what that means yet!
We have however been given an absolute guarantee that none of these arrangements will require the transfer of staff out of the Council which is a victory of sorts. We shall be continuing to work with Parents against Privatisation to hold the council accountable for its actions
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