Bedroom Tax Conference Saturday 29th June

There have been many comparisons made between the Bedroom Tax and the Poll Tax. Most of these are misplaced. The bedroom tax is much, much, worse than the Poll Tax.  Unlike the Poll Tax it only affects the poor  - and is specifically designed to drive them from their homes.

It is, as the STUC put it, “unfair, immoral and frankly absurd policy that will do nothing to improve the housing crisis that exists in this country”. There are there are steps that Councils and the Scottish Government can take but frankly we can’t rely on them. So the finale of the Austerity Uncovered tour the STUC are calling a Anti Bedroom Tax Conference in Edinburgh this Saturday. Try and be there.

The Spirit of 45'

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a  time when Britain responded to crippling debts and chronic daily hardship with a decisive move to the left: nationalising industry, building council houses and creating brand new public services from scratch.

The fact that it’s hard to imagine now is exactly why Ken Loach has made ‘The Spirit of ’45’.
The film is at its most emotionally powerful when talking about the foundation of the NHS.
Harry Keen tells of when, as a junior GP, he visited a family on the day the NHS came into being. He had previously left some medicine for a child with a cough. I said, “How’s little Johnny?” And Johnny’s mother said, “Oh he’s fine.”

And I heard a lot of coughing and spluttering at the top of the stairs. I said, “He doesn’t sound terribly good, would you like me to go up and see him?” She said, “No, I’m sorry doctor, we can’t afford it.” And I said “Today, July the fifth, it will cost you nothing.” And I was able to go up, and I’ve never forgotten that moment in my life.

Later we hear about how the NHS is now being privatised in England.

 Extract of an article at:
www.redpepper.org.uk/days-of-hope-the-spirit-of-45
Spirit of 45
Film 4 at 9pm Tonight
www.film4.com/reviews/2013/the-spirit-of-45

Queen’s Speech

The Queen’s Speech sets out the UK Government’s legislative programme for the coming session. Most Bills do not apply to Scotland to any significant degree. This briefing covers the main points of interest.

Immigration Bill: This bill is designed to make it easier to deport people who do not have the right to stay in the UK, and to prevent immigrants accessing services to which they are not entitled. It covers Scotland and in addition to directly impacting on overseas members it will impact on public service staff who have to make the additional checks. This is more about political positioning post the UKIP electoral success in England last week.

Pension Bill: This will introduce a single-tier state-pension system, replacing the current basic state pension and earnings-related top-up from April 2016. The bill will also bring forward the increase in the retirement age to 67 by eight years, between 2026 and 2028. We have covered these changes in the Scottish Pensions Bulletin and it will involve increases in NI contributions for members and employers.

National Insurance Bill: The cost to small businesses of employing people will be cut through a £2,000 employment allowance. This may also help small voluntary organisations. It also aims to stop the use of offshore companies that are sometimes used by companies to avoid paying their National Insurance contributions.

Consumer Rights Bill: Will update consumer-protection laws (including Scotland) so they cover digital purchases such as downloaded music and e-books. Trading Standards will be granted new powers, such as being able to get a court to order a trader to pay compensation when consumer law is breached.

De-regulation Bill: A further attack on workers rights under the guise of reducing the amount of regulation with which businesses, individuals and public bodies have to comply. Measures include exempting from health-and-safety legislation people who are self-employed and whose work poses no risk of harm to other people, and removing the ability of  employment tribunals to make wider recommendations in successful discrimination cases. A Scottish Bill on de-regulation in devolved areas has recently been introduced in the Scottish Parliament.

Overall there is little in this programme to tackle the big issues facing Scotland or the UK. UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said: “It’s a typical Tory tactic to distract attention from the real problems we face by fostering a ‘blame immigrants’ culture, instead of tackling the huge divide between the rich and the poor. This government should face facts and accept that its policies are not working for the majority of people.”

Bleak 2013 for families warns UNISON

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is warning that after a hard year, families face a bleak 2013 across the UK as they struggle to cope with the on-going recession.

The union’s welfare fund has seen a massive rise in the number of applications for grants in 2012 that fund basic essentials such as school uniforms and heating bills. Applications for help with heating bills went up by a massive 388%, and calls for help with the cost of school uniforms by more than a quarter. In the past year, the charity has paid out more than £750,000 - a rise of 11% on the previous year.

Union organisers are increasingly reporting that public sector workers are being forced to rely on food banks to feed their families. The Trussell Trust, which runs the UK’s largest network of food banks, estimates that the number of people turning to them for help has risen by 100% in the past year.



Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“It’s not just the unemployed who are struggling; the number of working people in poverty is on the rise in Tory Britain. The Coalition Government is hitting working families and it is hitting them hard.

“Our welfare fund used to pay for wellbeing breaks, but the recession means that holidays are a thing of the past for low paid families. What people need now is help with the basics of life, such as food and fuel.

“Parents say they dread the bill for school uniforms when the new school year begins – in some cases the cost runs to hundreds of pounds and they just can’t afford it.

“It is heartbreaking to read their applications where they spell out the struggles they face and how difficult things have become. The stress of the struggle to make ends meet is making many sick, they’ve lost working tax credits and it has pushed them over the edge. Some can’t even afford the weekly shop and have to rely on their family for help with groceries.

“The government needs to get real about the depth of the crisis. Until consumer spending picks up, our economy won’t grow and until people have money in their pockets and jobs they can rely on, they won’t spend.

“The Government urgently needs a plan for growth and jobs in 2013 – not simply to be ploughing ahead regardless with an economic plan that is not working.”

The union is calling on the government to help families in the New Year by ending the public sector pay freeze which has hit millions of workers for two years, and local government workers for three. A new plan to fuel growth and long term employment is urgently needed to get the UK back on the road to recovery said the union.

UNISON’s school uniforms grant

The number of applications to UNISON’s school uniforms grant scheme jumped by more than a quarter (27%) last year. This year, more than £30,000 was paid out to nearly 450 UNISON members who earn less than £18,000 and are struggling with the cost of their children’s school uniforms.

60% of those who applied said they faced a bill between £100 - £300 for their child’s school uniform.

76% said there was no other help available towards the cost.

71% were worried that their children would be disciplined because they do not have the right uniform.

73% said it was quite or very difficult to meet the cost of their child’s school uniform.

71% say they have to turn to their family as a result of rising living costs.

UNISON’s winter fuel allowance scheme

771 people have applied for help with their heating bills this year, compared to 158 people in 2011 – an increase of 388%.

Food Banks

According to the Trussell Trust, 128,687 people used food banks in 2011/2012, an increase of 100% on the last year.

STRIKE AGAINST CUTS IN PAY, JOBS, SERVICES AND PENSIONS

UNISON’s Scottish Council has voted unanimously to step-up its campaign to defend pay, jobs, services and pensions by organising co-ordinated strike action at its meeting held on Saturday 1st December.

The motion approved by the Council stated:

‘This meeting notes that the political parties in the Scottish Parliament and local councils are making the overall level of cuts in public spending asked of them by the UK Government.’

‘Much of the UK Government’s policy programme is a direct or indirect attack on jobs, wages, pensions and services which UNISON can never agree to. The UK Government’s wider austerity measures, attacks on welfare benefits and overall management of the economy represent further attacks on working people and the most vulnerable in our society.’

DEFEND JOBS, WAGES, PENSIONS AND SERVICES

‘The trade union movement must now step-up its campaign to defend jobs, wages, pensions and services by organising co-ordinated strike action across all sectors of the economy.’

ONE-DAY STRIKE ACROSS SCOTLAND

‘This meeting therefore agrees that UNISON Scotland immediately take the necessary steps to promote with all STUC affiliated trade unions and other professional organisations the need for a co-ordinated industrial action strategy beginning with a one-day strike across Scotland, and to co-ordinate the strike with any action by trade unions at a UK level as appropriate.

'If there's money to bail out the bankers, there's money for public services'

"If there is money available to bail out the bankers, there is money available for the NHS and our schools and to get young people back to work."

That was at the heart of the message that UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis gave the huge crowd gathered in Hyde Park for a rally after the London leg of the 20 October March for a Future that Works.

Stressing that the march was not an end in itself - "Today we march - tomorrow we march on" - he told the crowd: "We march for decent pay that people can live on."

Mr Prentis went on: "We march to defend the NHS. We march to defend our community services. We march for a future that works."

And to a huge cheer, he told the government: "Hands off our public services, they are not yours to destroy".

To the crowd, he said: "We're told there's no alternative - but there is. The government could have the guts to go back to the banks and say: 'You got us into this mess - you get us out of it'.

"We're not here today for the millionaires - we're here for the millions."

Mr Prentis had started off by saying that "David Cameron and Nick Clegg are forming a boy band called No Direction" to great laughter, but on a more serious note, he had pointed out that "inequality is at levels not seen since Victorian times".

And he was cheered as he paid tribute to UNISON members marching in Glasgow and Belfast, as well as London, and welcomed South African and French trade unionists marching with the union.

Incoming TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady told the crowd: "Thank you for marching today in your tens of thousands. Thank you for standing up against the tax dodgers, the greedy bankers and this government.

"At the Conservative conference, Cameron said he wanted to spread privilege. We know what he is spreading - and it doesn’t smell good!"

And she added that, when she becomes TUC general secretary next year: "I will fight as hard for our people as that lot fight for theirs. Stay strong: united we stand."



Current TUC general secretary Brendan Barber laid it on the line when he said at the conclusion of the rally: "Britain faces a choice - a future of despair or one of hope and recovery.

"Our choice is clear: we want a future that works. Cuts, privatisation and attacks on employment rights are the road to nowhere.



"Tens of thousands are still walking along Piccadilly and coming into the park. Tens of thousands have marched in Glasgow and Belfast - all with a united message to this government: 'Austerity isn't working'."

To huge cheers, Ed Miliband said that Labour would "tax the bankers' bonuses" and "end the privatisation in the NHS".

The Labour leader added: "One nation is a country where we give hope to our young people ... A country with a future that works."

There were no cheers, though, when he said there would still be "hard choices" under a future Labour government.

In Glasgow, people gathered to hear UNISON Scotland secretary Mike Kirby speaking at the rally.

"Ordinary people are being asked to pay too high a price," he declared. "Key public services are under attack and politicians need to be told that 'enough is enough'.

"Trade union members, their families and friends know that the drastic spending cuts and attacks on benefits are hurting them and are hurting the most vulnerable people in society."

And in Belfast too, UNISON members were at the heart of the march and rally organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

UNISON response to Taxpayers' Alliance pensions nonsense

"Financially illiterate drivel aimed at advancing a political agenda to make pensioners poorer" says public services union
UNISON, Scotland largest union in Scotland’s public services, is today calling on the so-called Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA), to get its facts straight after the shady right-wing, low-tax pressure group attacked local government pensions. Again.
Payments into the Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland last year were £299.944 million MORE than being paid out to pensioners. This inconvenient fact is ignored by the self styled think tank - who likewise seem not to have noticed a connection between the cuts in council workforce that that they have been urging and decline in local government workers paying in to the pension schemes
The tax dodgers' alliance report points out the LGPS like is maturing with an increasing number of pensioners. What they fail to mention is that this is the case with almost all pension funds in the UK.
Similarly unmentioned are;
· That the pension funds enjoy an enormous income from investment – and so aren’t entirely reliant on contributions from members and employers
· That a recent (2011) actuarial valuation of the Local Government Pension Scheme Scotland was very positive
· The LGPS Scotland is currently taking in almost £300 million per year more than it is paying out.
· Even in the event that the scheme was felt to be under pressure - a cost sharing agreement is in place.
· Just 5p in every £1 paid in council tax goes towards pensions. Councils get only 25% of their revenue from council tax, 75% comes from other sources, including business rates and local government grants.
· The numbers in the tax Dodgers Alliance report would only begin to make sense if everyone in local government decided to retire on the same day - a social, political and actuarial absurdity.
Mike Kirby, UNISON Scottish Secretary, said:
"This right-wing pressure group never lets facts get in the way of attacking public services and the people that deliver them. This is financially illiterate drivel. The TPA are simply out of touch with reality.
Pensions for local government are an affordable way of people saving for their retirement - and the results of that are modest enough the average pensions for council workers in Scotland is just £4,000 a year, dropping to just £2,800 for women.
We need to bring private sector pensions up to a decent level, not pull public sector pensions down - two thirds of employees do not get a single penny in contributions from their employers towards their pensions. The government's plans for auto-enrolment will not go far enough to keep people off means tested benefits.”

UNISON members need a reason to vote Labour

Responding to the Labour party’s suggestions that public service workers should accept more pay freezes and pay cuts, UNISON’s General Secretary Dave Prentis said:

“Our members needed hope and a reason to vote Labour. They have been snatched away. In the past year Labour has struggled to get its message across to show that there is an alternative to the Coalition’s savage cuts in our public services and the attack on the living standards of millions of ordinary working people.

“We were told by Ed Miliband to be patient, to prepare for the the long haul and that their economic plans needed to be cautious. And we hoped that, as the economy worsened, Labour’s voice would get louder, more forceful and that Ed Miliband would step up and speak out against the tearing apart of communities and families as they face insecurity and uncertainty.

“But at a time when our members needed him most, he panicked and fell into the trap, ditching overnight a policy that challenged the Coalition. He has decided to embrace a Tory pay policy that hits millions of public service workers, particularly low paid women - care workers, hospital cleaners and dinner ladies, who have already had two years of pay freezes and job losses.

“Ed Miliband’s naivety is breathtaking and his ill-thought-through comments will have unintended consequences. At a time when hard working families are struggling to make ends meet, the very party which they look to to stand by them, has chosen instead to play cheap politics with their lives.”

PENSION BALLOT SOON

UNISON's Head of Health, Christine McAnea said “This week our health service activists met and voted to finalise negotiations with the employers on the outstanding issues in the Heads of Agreement.”

www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B5773.pdf

But if negotiations should break down at any point, or if our members vote to reject the offer, our live ballot means we can still take strike action".

“This decision is an important stepping stone to a final agreement. Talks will now enter a final stage, due to conclude in the next few weeks.”

“We will then consult our health service members in a ballot. Pensions are such an important issue to our members and their families, it is only right that they get the final say on their future.”