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  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    It pays not to pay your taxes

    Here’s a a little bit of interesting information I picked up yesterday from the AFL-CIO Blog I subscribe to – Of last year’s 100 highest-paid U.S. corporate chief executives, 25 took home more in CEO pay than their company paid in 2010 federal corporate income taxes, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies. The report also reveals that in addition to handing their CEOs big dollars, 20 of the 25 corporations in the study spent more on lobbying lawmakers than they paid in corporate taxes. Think there’s a connection?

    I wonder if  there is a think tank or reserach institute in the UK, or just someone with a little time on their hands, who would do the same study of the FTSE 100. Would we find much difference amonst our tax avoiding bosses particularly now the banks, doubtless after heavy lobbying, have been given the green light by their Tory friends to go on doing what they do so well – lining their own and their friends pockets at our expense?

    The AFL-CIO Blog can be linked to HERE, if your interested, and the Institute web pages can be found HERE

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    Posted on September 1st, 2011 by Tom Mellish filed under: Union campaigns

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Busy times ahead for trades union councils

    It is clear that the trades union council movement in recent years has gone from strength to strength with 168 registered trades union councils compared to only 127 in 2004, with 24 county associations playing a greater co-ordinating role than ever before. But it is not just numbers alone – it was in the campaigning work to make 26 March the success that it was where the grass roots activism of trades union councils came to the fore. And it is in the on-going campaigning against cuts and in defence of public service and the public sector that they continue to play a vital role working with local and national campaign groups to make sure that working people know and understand the truth about the government’s cuts and to get across the message that there is an alternative.

    This programme of work, based on discussions in workshops and debates at the 2011 trades union councils’ conference, is perhaps one of the most detailed that the Trades Union Councils Joint Consultative Committee (TUCJCC) has produced to date but it reflects the vital role that trades union councils and county associations can play across a wide range of economic, political and social arenas. It provides a framework for Trades Union Council action to build union organisation, form community alliances and raise the profile of the labour movement generally.

    The programme consists of five main areas of work – Cuts, Jobs and the Economy; All together for the NHS; Green Workplaces; Green Community, Community Organising – changing, developing and building the trades union council and the union movement – building the trade union council movement; Fighting Fascism and the Far Right.

    By getting involved in the recommended activities trades union councils are promoting the role of trade unions in the community and encourage more people to join the union  movement which is the prime raison d’être for all trades union councils and county associations.

    And talking about getting involved, isn’t it time you got your union branch affiliated to a local trades union council. With a programme of work like this can your union branch afford not to be connected to their local trades union council.

    A PDF version of the programme of work can be found here  – and you can look up your local trades union council contact details here

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    Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by Tom Mellish filed under: Unions in the community

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Conservatives failing to conserve British history

    I noticed in my recent edition of History Today a short article referring to a report by the British Academy, History for the Taking:Perspectives on material heritage, which shows that the government spending cuts and rushed legislation risk destroying Britain’s cultural heritage irreparably.

    Sir Barry Cunliffe, Britain’s leading archaeologist, writes in the report that:

    “cultural heritage is a finite and diminishing resource and there is a need for constant vigilance particularly at a time of economic constraint. When there are cuts to be made by national or local government, heritage is always the soft option, as we can see in the 32% cut in government support for English Heritage in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review, and the savage cuts currently being made in the number of conservation officers employed in local government. Loss of expertise on this scale will be devastating.

    It is even more  worrying coming at a time when the Localism Bill is proposing to diminish significantly the protection given to the settings of listed buildings and to conservation areas. One cannot help feeling that insufficient thought has been given to these matters: this is not surprising since the legislation is being rushed and consultation has been minimal.”

    He goes on to say:

    “Cultural heritage is too important and too subtle an issue to be left in the care of busy politicians unaided by sound academic guidance.”

    Just shows you what can happen if you leave your cultural inheritance to an IT expert and a lawyer, culture ministers Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaisey respectively.

    For a copy of the report go to the BA report’s web page

     

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    Posted on July 21st, 2011 by Tom Mellish filed under: Union campaigns

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Support your local TUC Unemployed Workers’ Centre

    Just received information about the new blog for Birmingham Unemployed Workers’ Centre at Sparkbrook – http://birminghamuwc.wordpress.com/ - which got me thinking that we don’t do enough to sing the praises of the centres which are doing a great job in difficult circumstances. And it’s going to get worse for them with greater demands on their services because of the cuts to benefits and services for the low paid, vulnerable workers and the unemployed and less resources to work with. Why? Because of the cuts to local authority funding. Find out what the Derbyshire Centres are doing by going to their web and reading the latest newsletter http://www.duwc.org.uk/ This is typical of what’s happening at centres these days.

    Not only are centres places to get advice on a wide range of welfare and employment issues but they are campaigning bodies with their roots in the trades union movement. Isn’t it time your union or union branch got involved with the TUC Unemployed Workers’ Centres? TUCUWCs are at the centre of their communities and know the real effects of this government’s attack on working people and the unemployed. TUCUWCs put unions in touch with the community. You can find out more about the centres and where your local centre is by going to the TUC web pages on TUCUWCs

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    Posted on December 17th, 2010 by Tom Mellish filed under: Unions in the community

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Who gives Atos?

    Well we know this ConDem government doesn’t nor, it seems, does the company, Atos Origin UK, that the ConDems have contracted to assess people applying for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

    Derbyshire TUC Unemployed Workers Centres (DUWC) have just published their 2010 Annual Report which includes the following three case studies which seem to gainsay Atos’s protestations that they are not paid by results – getting people off ESA and the benefits budget down. But as the following stories show they get it wrong while causing pain, worry and grief to those they deny ESA.

    TUC Unemployed Workers Centres are doing a brilliant job helping the unemployed, low paid and vulnerable workers. To find out more about the work of the centres and how you and your trade union can support or get involved with your local centre go to www.tuc.org.uk/extras/Hands_Up_for_UWCs.pdf 

    If you have more such Atos stories please send them to me at the TUC marking the envelope ‘Atos Stories’

    Here are  John Watkins, Gary Hollingworth and Sue Hutchings stories.

    John Watkins was working as a lorry driver but developed acute tennis elbow through repetitive driving so that by January 2009 his right arm movement was severely restricted. As a result he had to stop work because he could no longer drive. John is right handed and after an operation in April 2009 had his whole right arm from his shoulder to his fingers put in a cast. John was called to an assessment where the medical found him fit for work. He did not score any points (a person needs 15 points to be judged incapable of work). John’s consultant had advised him not to use his arm, yet the Atos Origin Ltd medical said he was capable of using both arms to lift bulky objects. At a tribunal the decision was overturned and it was accepted that John could not lift using both arms or use a pen effectively. He was then entitled to the extra £25.50 per week, which was then backdated. John will need further surgery in December. He is incensed at his treatment and says: “I encourage people not to be put off pursuing their claim. They should seek advice and appeal if they feel that they have been unjustly treated, as I undoubtedly was.

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    Posted on November 5th, 2010 by Tom Mellish filed under: Union news

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Cuts campaign news from the South West

    Just received this excellent anti-cuts campaign newsletter special from Yeovil and District Trades Union Council. As well as advertising the Taunton and District Trades Union Council Defend Public Services march on 6 November it also gives a snap-shot of how the cuts are affecting the region and what local unions, trades union councils and community groups are doing to protect their way of life from the ConDem cuts. Have a look at Yeovil’s website for a PDF version by clicking here www.yeoviltuc.org.uk/newsletter/YTUCNewsletter14.pdf .  Hope it inspires.

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    Posted on November 2nd, 2010 by Tom Mellish filed under: Union campaigns

  • Tom Mellish Tom Mellish

    Beggars Belief!

    Just received this press release from Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council – an excellent idea I thought I would share with you. Could go nationwide?

    “BEGGING BANKERS ON STREETS OF CHESTERFIELD

    Begging Bankers will be out in force on Chesterfield Market Place this Saturday 30th October at 11.00am.  A group of campaigners from ‘Coalition Against the Cuts’ will be staging a protest against the Government’s decision to cut public spending by slashing jobs and taking money from the poor.  The campaigners, backed by Chesterfield & District TUC, will be dressed as fat cat bankers with cigars and bottles of champagne.

    ‘They will not be begging for your spare change’ said James Eaden President of Chesterfield TUC, ‘They have already had that and much, much more.  Our fat cat bankers will now be asking for your jobs and services’

    The Coalition Against the Cuts is linking together local trade unions with community groups and the many who will be affected by service cuts and changers to higher education funding.

    ‘Our bit of street theatre has a serious message’ James Eaden went on to say, ‘the budget deficit was caused by the bailing out of the banks and now they want me and you to pay for their binge’.

    After Chesterfield the begging bankers will be appearing in towns throughout north Derbyshire. ”

    You can contact James Eaden at jeaden@tesco.net

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    Posted on October 29th, 2010 by Tom Mellish filed under: Unions in the community