Author Archives: kevinlsmith64

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TUC Campaign Plan 2013: Five steps towards a future that works

TUC campaign to make case for radical economic reform
A jobs guarantee for young people, spreading the living wage across the public and private sectors, putting communities not profits at the heart of public services, and creating a stronger voice for workers in the management of companies are among the TUC’s five key campaign priorities in the run up to the general election, according to its campaign plan published on May 1st.

‘A Future That Works’ sets out five key priorities that will drive the work of the TUC over the next two years. The plan has been agreed by the General Council, which represents the TUC’s 53 affiliated unions who between them have almost six million members.

The campaign for jobs, growth and a new economy will mobilise resistance to austerity, with a series of events across the UK this summer, and will also provide a platform for advocates of pro-growth policies and new economic ideas. This will include an event with former US labour secretary and fierce critic of UK austerity, Robert Reich, who will deliver a lecture at the TUC on 21 May.

The TUC will work with and champion public and private sector employers who reach living wage agreements, as part of its campaign for fair pay and a living wage. The TUC itself became a living wage employer earlier this year.

Opposing the outsourcing and privatisation of public services will be the focus of good services and decent welfare. As well as the Save Our NHS campaign and the Action for Rail campaign to put the rail system back into public ownership, the TUC also plans to support parents and education unions against future attempts to allow state schools to be run for profit.

Having helped see off some of the government’s attacks on employment rights in the Beecroft report, the TUC will continue to press for respect and a voice at work for UK employees. The TUC aims to campaign to retain rights to paid holidays, a proper lunch break and reasonable hours at work that are under threat as the government attempts to repatriate powers back from the EU.

Finally, the TUC’s strong unions programme will train of a new generation of union reps to take the TUC campaign messages to non-unionised workers and workplaces and give a voice to a new generation of young employees.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘Margaret Thatcher’s legacy of deregulated capitalism and the cult of finance crashed dramatically in 2008. But the government is still peddling the same old busted model.

‘The government’s failed austerity drive means it could take another ten painful years just to get back to where we were before the recession.

‘Not only will the TUC and unions continue to be the backbone of Britain’s anti-austerity movement but we will also lead the call for new economic ideas.

‘We will champion and work with those who are helping to create a fairer economy – from paying a living wage to giving staff a bigger say in how their company is run.

‘As well as a decent wage, people deserve decent public services. Having overseen the fragmentation of the NHS, ministers now want to introduce the profit motive into Britain’s schools. The TUC will fight this privatisation drive, which we know the public doesn’t support.

‘The TUC is not alone in wanting radical economic and social change. That’s why we’ll be calling on communities and campaign groups nationwide to join our campaign for a new economic settlement that involves and works for the whole country.

‘The next election is likely to be fought over the economy and our living standards crisis. We want to see decent jobs, fair pay, good services and a stronger voice at work at the heart of the plan to deal with these big economic challenges.’

TUC Campaign Plan 2013: Five steps towards a future that works

TUC Campaign Plan 2013: Five steps towards a future that works

Download the plan (pdf format 5.2MB)

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Some ideas to fight the bedroom tax

The bedroom tax can be stopped by people and communities standing together. Many local groups have mushroomed all over the UK and are raising awareness, challenging social landlords and building solidarity within communities.

1) Set up a local campaign group – talk about the Government’s Bedroom Tax with your family, friends and neighbours – you don’t need many people to organise a first local campaign meeting. you can even get a few people together in your own front room or find out if there are free meeting spaces in a local community centre or library

2) Petition for no evictions – launch a public petition to the council and / or your local housing association demanding that rent arrears caused by the Bedroom tax won’t cause evictions

3) Raise Awareness – raise how unfair the Bedroom Tax is in your local media – the letters page of your local paper will be well read. Use Twitter and Facebook to spread the word. Creative protest actions are also good.

4) Build up a broad coalition of resistance – will your local churches, mosques, community organisations support your group. Contact your local anti-cuts group and Unite Community branches.

5) Lobby your local MPs and councillors – send them letters / emails, and pay them a visit at their monthly surgeries.

  • Bournemouth East – Tobias Ellwood (Conservative) Email: tobias.ellwood.mp@parliament.uk – 01202 397047
  • Bournemouth West – Connor Burns (Conservative) Email: conor.burns.mp@parliament.uk – 020 7219 7021
  • Poole – Robert Syms (Conservative) Email: guyn@parliament.uk – 01292 718078
  • Christchurch – Christopher Chope OBE (Conservative) Email: office@christchurchconservatives.com – 01202 474949
  • Borough of Poole councillors contact details
  • Bournemouth Borough councillors contact details

6) Block evictions – by taking direct action. During the Poll Tax people stood together to physically stop bailiffs from evicting tenants. Build up a group of local residents that will become a human barrier and stop the bailiffs from evicting you or your neighbours. Set up a phone tree where people can quickly put the word out to bring out people when bailiffs arrive.

7) Do some research – build awareness of the law regarding bailiffs and monitor bailiffs to ensure they don’t use intimidating tactics.

For more information about local campaigning visit www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/communitymembership/

Click here for Unite Community ‘Stop the Bedroom Tax’ resources

say no to bt rsz

Unite_CommunityLogo_HiRes rsz

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Local trade unions mark Workers’ Memorial Day saying “We didn’t vote to die at work”

Press release from Bournemouth, Christchuch and Poole Trades Council

Trade unionists in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are calling on the public and employers to observe a minute’s silence at 12 noon on Sunday 28 April, as a way of remembering those who have died or been injured whilst at work. The call comes as as part of the TUC backed Workers’ Memorial Day.

To mark the event, the local TUC plans to stage a ceremony at the War Memorial in Bournemouth Central Gardens at midday on Sunday, accompanied by speeches and the laying of a wreath. The TUC has also written to the three local councils requesting that they fly their town hall flags at half-mast on the day as a mark of respect.

According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive, every single year over 8000 people die of cancers that are caused by their work, and another 4000 die from lung disease. In addition 800 people are killed on the roads while working and 8000 die from work-related heart problems. Last year a staggering 1.9m people also suffered an illness that was caused or made worse by their work. As a result, the UK comes 20th out of the 34 OECD countries when judged on its safety record. The TUC believes all these deaths and injuries could have been avoided if employers took the proper precautions.

Neil Duncan-Jordan, BCP TUC president said: “There is nothing more basic than having the right to go to work in the morning and return home again at the end of the day, but for a significant number of people work is a hazard to their health.
Workers expect proper protection when at work and it is essential that the government are not allowed to make further cuts to vital health and safety legislation. On Workers’ Memorial Day we will be remembering the dead, but pledging to continue the fight for the living. We certainly didn’t vote to die at work.”

Programme for Workers’ Memorial Day

11.45am Assemble War Memorial, Bournemouth Central Gardens

12noon Minute’s silence followed by the wreath laying and a brief speech

12.15pm Event ends

For more information, please email info@bcptuc.org

bcptuc-320949-5-5

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Construction sector has shrunk by 10 per cent since coalition took office, says TUC

Press release from TUC

Commenting on figures released on 25th April by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which show that the UK economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The Chancellor has set the economic bar so low that avoiding the UK’s first ever triple dip recession is considered good news.
”Today’s figures have taken us back to where we were six months ago, and not much further on from when the Chancellor started his austerity experiment.

“The economy is flat-lining, unemployment is growing and the much-needed rebalancing of the economy, away from financial services and the South East, has failed to materialise. It’s no surprise we face a housing shortage when the construction sector is now nearly 10 per cent smaller than when the Chancellor took office.
“The government’s economic policies are still failing on every measure that matters to people.”

TUC

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Benefits in Britain: Separating the facts from the fiction

Fiction: Welfare reforms are just about benefit cuts
Fact: Simply not true. The attack on our welfare state is hitting a whole range of services – privatising the NHS, winding up legal aid for people in debt and closing SureStart centres and libraries. All this will make life poorer for every community.

Fiction: There are families living on benefits where generations have never worked
Fact: Despite research from various organisations, no evidence has been found of families with three generations which had never worked. Less than 1% of families have two such generations which have never worked, although such families had wide ranging problems which made it both difficult for the parents or the children to find employment. Contrary to government claims about endemic worklessness, four in five people who claim JSA come off the benefit within six months.

Fiction: People believe that some 27% of the Welfare Budget is claimed as a result of fraud
Fact: The actual figure is 0.8 % whilst tax avoidance and evasion is estimated at anywhere from £30bn to £120bn.

Fiction: Those on benefits have made a lifestyle choice and are shirkers
Fact: 20.3 million families, (64%, of all families) are in receipt of some benefit, 8.7 million of them are pensioners. These benefits include Child benefits, Working / Child Tax Credits, unemployment, disability and sickness payments plus State Pensions. There are currently around 6.1 million people looking for full time work; this figure consists of 2.6M registered as unemployed; 1.3M “underemployed” adults who are in part-time work because they cannot find full-time work; 2.2M unemployed people who want work but have not actively sought it for six weeks. At the same time, there are only around 460,000 job vacancies. Contrary to government claims about endemic worklessness, four in five people who claim JSA come off the benefit within six months.

Fiction: More of the Welfare Budget is being spent on the jobless than on the needy
Fact: Since the global credit crunch crisis in 2007/8 and ongoing economic depression the percentage of welfare spending up has been pushed up. The biggest increases have been due to Pensions and Housing Benefits. The £54BN increase from 2001 to 2011 is mainly due to inflation linked benefits, such as Pensions, Housing Benefits. This period has also seen the introduction of many ‘in work’ benefits.

Of the 1,008,000 benefit claimants that have been out of work for three of the last four years, around 40 per cent have been claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA), a further 30 per cent are lone parents with children under seven claiming Income Support (IS) while the remaining 30 per cent are either claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or are in the process of being assessed. All ESA claimants are unable to work. Those on the work-related activity group are expected to be able to work eventually but are not-yet-fit-to-work.

Fiction: The benefit cap of £26,000 per annum will help reduce the overall Welfare Bill
Fact: The cap will only affect a small number of people with some 58,000 seeing their benefits reduced by 2014/5. Many more families are losing a range of benefits irrespective of the cap.

Fiction: The welfare reforms are targeted at the ‘shirkers’ not the ‘workers
Fact: There are 2.8 million workless families of working age. Due to welfare cuts, 2.5 million will face a reduction of £215 per annum. There are 14.2 million working families and 7 million of these will lose some £165 per year. There will be reductions in Child Benefit and Council Tax relief which will increase the costs of non- working families by £140 and working families by £132. So “they are all in it together. Workless and working poor alike.”

Fiction: Reducing the welfare bill and the ‘dependency culture’ will improve the growth rate of the country
Fact: There is no evidence to support this. What is needed is to target the State Support in such a way that it creates opportunities for training, improves mobility, provides adequate child care but above all we need to see a living wage and some degree of rent control if the housing benefit and the working Tax credit is to be controlled. The welfare bill has not increased as a result of a growing ‘welfare dependency’. The number of people on unemployment, lone parent and incapacity benefits is over a million less than in 1990.

Fiction: Too many people have too many children
Fact: In 2011 there were just 130 families in the UK with more than 10 children. Only 8% of benefit claimants have three or more children. The UK spends much less on unemployment that France or Germany and is at the same level as the EU average.

Fiction: Osborne claimed that there are families receiving more that £100,000 in benefits
Fact: There were no more than five families receiving such a sum. No doubt they are living in London with large families and disabilities.

Fiction: Benefits are too generous
Fact: Really? Could you live on £53 a week as Iain Duncan Smith is claiming he could if he had to? Then imagine handing back 14% of this because the government deems you have a “spare room”. Could you find the money to pay towards council tax and still afford to eat at the end of the week whilst at the same time paying all the utility bills etc? JSA Payments are £71.70 a week for single people (single person under 25 gets £56.25); £71 a week for lone parents over 18 (under 18s receive £56.25); £111.45 a week for couples aged over 18.

Fiction: Benefits are going up
Fact: They’re not. A 1% “uprating” cap is really a cut. Inflation is at least 2.7%. Essentials like food, fuel and transport are all up by at least that, in many cases far more. Benefits are quickly falling behind the cost of living.

Fiction: The bedroom tax won’t hit army families or foster carers
Fact: Yes it will. Perhaps most cruel of all, the tax will not apply to foster families who look after one kid. If you foster siblings, then tough. But these kids are often the hardest to place. Thanks to George Osborne and IDS, their chances just got worse. And even if your son or daughter is in barracks in Afghanistan, then don’t expect peace of mind as the government still has to come clean on plans for their bedroom.

Fiction: Social tenants can downsize
Fact: Really, where? Councils sold their properties – and Osborne wants them to sell what’s left. Housing associations built for families. In Hull, there are 5,500 people told to chase 70 one-bedroom properties.

Fiction: Housing benefit is the problem
Fact: In fact it is rental costs. Private rents shot up by an average of £300 last year. No wonder 5 million people need housing benefits, but they don’t keep a penny. It all goes to landlords.

Fiction: It’s those teenage single mums
Fact: An easy target. Yet only 2% of single mums are teenagers. And most single mums, at least 59%, work.

Fiction: We’re doing this for the next generation
Fact: No you’re not. The government’s admitted at least 200,000 more children will be pushed deeper into poverty because of the welfare changes.
Sources:
Benefits in Britain separating the facts from the fiction
10 lies we’re told about welfare – Guardian
Work and Pensions Secretary guilty again of peddling benefit myths – TUC
‘True’ UK unemployment is 6.3m – TUC

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Urgent Appeal from Foodbank in Weymouth

The vicar of Littlemoor Church has issued a urgent appeal due to the Weymouth foodbank running short of supplies. People in Littlemoor, Westham, Portland are those who will be most affected by this shortage. The items that they are running short of are:

  • UHT/powdered milk
  • Breakfast cereal
  • Pasta and rice
  • Pasta sauce
  • Baked beans, tinned spaghetti etc
  • Tinned vegetables
  • Tinned fruit
  • Tinned and packet soup
  • Tinned fish (not meat)
  • Instant mash
  • Tinned or packet rice pudding/custard etc
  • BiscuitsTea/coffee/sugar
  • Toiletries and most importantly toilet roll

If you are able to donate any items or donations these will be gratefully received.

Food can be dropped at the Weymouth and Portland Food Bank at 18 The Esplanade, Weymouth, every Tuesday and Friday morning, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Call 07531 167465 for more information.

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Appealing against the Bedroom Tax

The Bedroom Tax, as part of the Welfare Reform Act came into force in April 2013. It reduces housing benefit by between 14% and 25% for those in social housing (council housing or housing association housing) if they are deemed to be ‘under occupying’. Plain and simple, the bedroom tax is an unjust attack on the poorest members of our communities.

‘Under occupying’ includes:

  • Having one more room for each single person or couple (even if the ‘extra’ room is a box room or for storing disability equipment)
  • Having more than one room for two children under 16 of the same gender
  • Having more than one room for two children under 10 of the same gender
  • Having a room for a foster child

The government claims that this change will encourage more efficient use of social housing. However the reality is not only are many people in need of their ‘extra’ rooms but there are not enough properties for those affected to move into. Across the country there are already 1 million people on council waiting lists for one bedroom properties. The vast majority of those who do ‘downsize’ will switch from social housing to the private rented sector which will inevitably lead to higher rent costs and local authorities paying out more in Housing Benefits. The solution to a lack of social housing is not to punish those who live in social housing but to build more council homes.

It has been estimated that nationwide, 660,000 people will be liable for additional rent costs and of those around 420,000 are disabled or carers. Many of their properties have been modified by social housing landlords to assist people in daily living. It is highly unlikely that people forced to move through financial difficulties, will find private landlords willing to spend out to modify properties.

All those affected should have already received Notices stating the amounts they are liable to pay. Any appeals against these decisions must be made within one month of the notices being sent. So in most cases, the deadline will be May 1st

Whilst it is unknown what proportion of appeals will be successful, it is strongly recommended that those affected exercise their democratic right to appeal, as the alternative is simply to pay up and fall further into poverty.

It is also strongly recommended that you apply for Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) from your local council.

If you decide to appeal, click here to access a good source of advice compiled by Initiative Factory

Whether people are affected or not, it is important we all campaign to put pressure on our local councils and housing associations to:

  • Publicly oppose the bedroom tax and join the campaign to have it abolished
  • Promise NOT to evict any tenants who fall into arrears as a direct result of these cuts
  • Start building thousands of new social rented homes

And with this mind, BPACC will soon be announcing details of protests at Bournemouth and Poole town halls.

Sources:
Appeal Letter – Initiative Factory
What is the ‘bedroom tax’? – Hands off our Homes

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April 1st 2013 – A dark day for the Welfare State

April 1st 2013 will go down as a dark day in the history of the Welfare State, not only and very depressingly, did the Health and Social Care Act become law but yet another avalanche of benefit cuts were brought into effect. This is despite the prolonged and persistent lobbying and protests by disability groups calling for the govt to assess the impact of its benefit cuts along with the UK’s leading experts on social policy and the welfare state urging the government to reconsider. And, staggeringly, at the same time, those with an income of over £150,000 per annum will see their tax rate reduced from 50% to 45%. Anyone who believed the Government’s rhetoric that “those with the broadest shoulders should carry the greatest burden” could be forgiven for thinking that all this an April Fools prank.

This week also saw the conviction of 3 people for the manslaughter of 6 children. The death of any child is a tragic and emotive issue, the judge described the act as “outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person” yet George Osborne and his fellow government ministers seem hell bent on using this tragedy to justify their policies of welfare reform / cuts. We have seen both the government and the media suggest and imply that the perpetuators of this evil crime are “a vile product of Welfare UK”.

George Osborne has questioned why the Welfare State subsidises such people with the underlying suggestion that “living off benefits” somehow turns a person into an abhorrent scumbag. That suggestion is in itself abhorrent. The fact is the small percentage of evil people that commit such atrocities come from all walks of life, are both rich and poor, employed and unemployed. We are led to believe there is a massive problem with people who have never worked having multitudes of children to boost their benefits. However this is simply untrue. Only 4% of families with a parent on Jobseeker’s Allowance have more than two children and only 1.5 per cent of those on benefits have never worked. The extreme cases as highlighted by the court case are even rarer; out of the 1.35 million households where one of the adults is claiming out of work benefit, only 190 of those families have 10 or more children.

The question should be turned back on George Osborne and we should ask why the government does not put all its efforts into catching those who defraud the system. Official figures show that 0.8% of benefit spending is due to fraud. So why are the 99.2% in receipt of assistance from the State being portrayed in some parts of the media – with full knowledge and acceptance of the government – as “scroungers and skivers”. Good people, who through no fault of their own require support, are being demonised and scapegoated whilst it is highly probable that a minuscule minority continue to defraud the system. The government should of course go after those who commit fraud and while they are it, they should also close down the loopholes that allow corporate giants and individuals to avoid paying tax which is estimated by some to be around £25 billion a year and by others to be £70 billion while some state it to be closer to £100 billion. Whatever the exact figure is, it is blatantly clear that there are alternatives to hammering those who have the least.

We all need to ask ourselves the kind of society we want to live within. The Welfare State should be considered as an insurance scheme which was set up without incentives to make a profit. All who can contribute, do so at a progressive rate and it is something that is there for all of us whenever we need it. Public services run along the same lines (or rather most used to before the influx of outsourcing!). Make no mistake it is highly unlikely that anyone in this country has not been reliant upon or received the benefits both offer; from Child benefits to the NHS; libraries to refuse collection; education to state pensions. Are we prepared to throw all this away so a small minority can prosper?

Click here to sign the WOW petition from the Site of the resistance to the War on Welfare
“We call for a Cumulative Impact Assessment of Welfare Reform, and a New Deal for sick & disabled people based on their needs, abilities and ambitions”

first the came corder

This week we have also learnt that the government are coming after the National Minimum Wage. In 2008, a senior Tory source said: “The minimum wage won’t be scrapped but it will be allowed to wither on the vine. A series of smaller, more affordable increases will mean it will just melt away.” This seems to becoming to fruition with government ministers hinting that the national minimum wage could be held back from rising due to difficult economic circumstances.

Click here to sign the petition to protect the minimum wage.
”We believe that the minimum wage should be protected from being cut or frozen. The poorest paid should not be paying the price for this Government’s failed austerity economics. We call on the Government to stop their changes to the Low Pay Commission’s terms of reference, and protect the lowest-paid workers from these pay cuts.”

In one way or another we are all being affected by the savage policies of austerity, directly or indirectly. Of course the natural tendency is to fight your own corner but now, more than ever before, we must all come together in solidarity to oppose all the cuts irrespective of whether we are directly affected, which groups we belong to or individual political beliefs. We must organise and resist in whatever way we can. Online, offline, inform, educate, write to your MP, petition, leaflet, take direct action, partake in civil disobedience, strike and occupy. This is not only a metaphorical life and death struggle; people are dying as a direct result of the actions of this government. Resist, resist and then resist some more.