How We Can Keep the ‘r’ As Low As Possible?

by Les May

WHILST talking on Sky News about the rallies being held in London today the presenter managed to convey the impression, inadvertently I hope, that we should vary our behaviour in accordance with the ‘r’ number, the average number of people that a person infected with the virus causing Covid 19 will themselves go on to infect.

This is a classic case of ‘putting the cart before the horse’ because it is OUR behaviour which will influence the ‘r’ value.  It is what WE do which will determine whether the number of infections will continue to fall or grows exponentially.  Exponential growth will follow even if the ‘r’ number only just creeps above 1.0.

For example if the ‘r’ number is only very slightly higher at 1.01 over a period of two months 1,000 infected people will result in more than eleven thousand new infections, but if it is very slightly lower at 0.99 the number of new infections each week will decline. If you have difficulty in appreciating how small is the difference between these two numbers think of having 99p in your pocket and having £1.01p.  Smaller ‘r’ values will result in fewer new infections and a more rapid decline in the numbers.  In the north-west of England we are balanced on such a knife edge because the ‘r’ value is estimated to be about 1.01.

Based on an analysis of about 20,000 people in 9,000 households it is estimated that in the two week period 17-30^th May, one in one thousand people (0.1%) in the non-hospitalised population were infected with the virus and potentially able to infect others.   In the previous fourteen day period 3-16^th May the estimate was 0.25% of the population.  We can interpret these figures to mean that if we meet one thousand people we can expect at least one of them to be infectious. But there is a ‘gotcha’ in viewing it like this.  We do not know if the infected person will be the first, second…. person we meet, or if we are that one infected person.

Keeping the ‘r’ number below 1.0, and preferably well below this figure, is a job for us. It cannot be palmed off onto Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, Matt Hancock or anyone else, as someone who was billed as the shadow minister for health tried to imply in an interview with Sky News.

So what can we do to get and keep the reinfection rate below 1.0? Quite a lot if few are willing to make the effort. For the moment ‘making the effort’ means

not just sanitising hands and surfaces regularly, but also ensuring that we meet up with as few people as possible. That means anyone who we do not share a house with. If we are forced to come into contact with people we don’t live with then we can physically distance ourselves from them so that any spittle that comes from the mouth as they talk will not land on us and we can avoid eating, drinking or sharing utensils with them. Just in case we are the ‘one in a thousand’ who is infected and shedding virus particles we can wear a face covering. Even a home made mask will be effective in preventing your spittle reaching anyone nearby.  To steal a phrase I first heard used by the biologist Jared Diamond, we need to behave with ‘constructive paranoia’ in mind.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-to-make-cloth-face-covering.html

Step by step instructions for making a cloth face mask can be found here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-to-make-cloth-face-covering.html

The survey results for 17-30^th May, and earlier, can be found at:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/latest#number-of-people-in-england-who-had-covid-19

******************

Manchester ranks worst for child homelessness

  outside of London

One in 47 children in Manchester is in need of temporary accommodation, according to new figures released by Shelter.

An astonishing 2,725 children in Manchester were in need of temporary accommodation in 2019, ranking the city highest outside of London for child homelessness.

The number of children in temporary accommodation across the North West was up an astonishing 385% – the highest anywhere in the UK.

An estimated 6,523 children were made homeless in the North West last year, meaning 18 children became homeless every single day, or one child being made homeless every 18 minutes.

The Liberal Democrats have warned that both national and local government are condemning a generation of children to the streets.

Labour's Homeless Tax and Hardship Sanction

Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Manchester John Leech said:

“While Westminster is obsessed with pushing through a damaging Brexit, problems in Manchester are accelerating at a UK-high rate, and children in Manchester are paying the price.

"But it is the Tories’ complete lack of interest in tackling the national homeless crisis which is aptly coupled with Labour’s appalling Homeless Tax and Hardship Sanction which hit those already struggling even harder.

“This doesn't just highlight the gross incompetence and lack of priorities from local and national government, nor is it just a complete embarrassment, but it exposes the devastating, critical and consistent failure of a system that simply doesn’t care.

"The Lib Dems have a clear plan to end this crisis. Lib Dems will end wasteful spending, invest more money than ever before into preventing homelessness, tackling the cause, guarantee at least 100,000 social homes every year, scrap the Homeless Tax and finally put an end to the greatest injustice of our lifetime.

"Only the Lib Dems will stop Brexit and build a brighter future where children in Manchester and beyond will always have a roof over their heads and a council with their best interests at heart, no matter what"

ENDS.

Banned on eve of branch elections

Evan Pritchard - centre  - with cloth cap

Was it fair to issue complaints just before election?

  ON Wednesday the 28th, March,  the Unite Greater Manchester Community Branch convened for its tri-annual AGM amid some consternation about the banning of two of its members.  I had just bought some hot cross buns from Booths near Media City and I thought I'd pop in to give my comradely greetings at the Community Branch meeting at the Unite Salford Quay's office. 

To my surprise, as I entered the canteen just as pandemonium erupted I was to learn during the various loud verbal altercations and banter about the suspension of two Community Branch members from the AGM.  In the commotion it became clear that on the eve of the AGM meeting that Mr. John Pearson and Mr. Chris McBride, had both been served with letters informing them that they were subject to a complaint of such magnitude that they were now under investigation, and consequently according to the union's disciplinary process under Rule 27  'should be suspended from holding any office or representing the Union in any capacity, pending the outcome of that investigation'.

Curiously they were served  with these orders, the very day before the two men were running for office at last night's AGM.  John Pearson was standing for election as chair against the present incumbent Evan Pritchard.  Last night, this ruling was interpreted as meaning that both Mr. Pearson and Mr. McBride were not allowed to attend the meeting, and thus their nominations for officer positions were not put to the branch meeting and Evan Pritchard was elected unopposed.

Why is such a heavy hand being employed to proceed with a complaint under Rule 27:4.?

Why were written notices only delivered on the very eve of the AGM?  When Rule 27:4 clearly states that
'A member shall be given written notice ...... of any such suspension as soon as is reasonably practicable.'

After all the North West Region Finance and General Purposes Committee that ruled on this complaint, met on Tuesday, 20 March 2018, and the notices to the suspending Pearson and McBride from holding office were only delivered on Tuesday, 27 March.  Oddly this was the day before the branch elections.

This is troubling coming as it does on the heels of another recent ruling by the Assistant Trade Union Certification Officer that in the case of McFadden v Unite: 'Breach of union rule decision'; where it was found that the union had acted beyond its powers in trying to legislate on the activities of individuals at a private event.  In the Pearson and McBride case under Rule 27:4 .1 'A member under disciplinary investigation may not attend: meetings of his/her own branch'.  This has been the case since the Unite Rule Book was been updated in 2015.

People of fair minds may wonder here if this additional sub-rule 27:4.1, might not be mis-applied, perhaps by people of vindictive or vexatious intent to invent complaints to ban others whom they might not take a shine to for whatever reason; political or personal?   

In the Pearson and McBride case under consideration here, one must wonder about the timing of the issuing of these notices on the brink of the elections for AGM positions for which they had been nominated for office. 

Unite's Rule 27 does not state that a member will be suspended from participating in branch elections, it merely says the 'Regional Committee may suspend a member under this rule from holding any office or representing the Union ...'.  This does not seem to prevent a member standing for office, because any complaint against the member may fail and the suspension could well be lifted.  Hence, one may ask why were Pearson and McBride prevented from standing for office at  last week's AGM of the Unite Greater Manchester Community Branch ? 

******

Unite Committee Bin's Blacklist Motion

ORCHESTRATED by the Chair, Sidney Graves, this month, the Local Authority Regional Sector Committee (Risc) of Unite the Union in the North West, binned a motion from the Bury Unite Commercial Branch calling for local Councils in Greater Manchester to halt the awarding of contracts to companies that have been implicated in blacklisting of trade unionists in the British building trade.  Sources close to  Unite have told Northern Voices that Mr. Graves is currently seeking a full-time paid  position in the union and 'does not want to ruffle any feathers'! Certainly throughout the meeting, the Chair made it clear that he had a pressing engagement and wanted to get away by 1.30pm. 

Representatives of Bury Unite at the Liverpool meeting expressed astonishment when the Risc meeting Chairman asked if anyone wanted to discuss the motion on blacklisting and this was met with the silence of the grave.  Shortly before the Chair put this to the meeting Nick Parnell, representing Unite at Manchester City Council, told the meeting that as a Councillor on Bury Council that he had already moved a motion on Bury MBC adopting an 'Ethical Procurement Policy' with regard to awarding contracts in April 2014.  The implication being that Bury Council didn't need another policy on the awarding of contracts to building companies, but he said there may be difficulties in getting Manchester City Council to agree; possibly because the central Manchester Council and figures like Councillor Kieran Quinn the leader of Tameside Labour Council, are already in bed with companies like Carillion through the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.   

Two years ago, another Manchester Council -  Salford City Council also Labour, was challenged with a Unite demo when despite assurances from Ian Stewart that it was against blacklisting when it awarded a contract to a company that had been affiliated to the Consulting Association, a body proved to have been facilitating a blacklist.   

Since the Bury motion was unceremoniously binned by the Unite Risc in Liverpool, Northern Voices has been approached by people in Camden in London, who claim that Ethical Procurement Policies against blacklisting have been adopted down there and that this hasn't stopped contracts being given to dodgy companies.  Furthermore, Northern Voices  has seen the Ethical Procurement policy adopted by the Labour controlled council Bury MBC, and  we feel that it is not fit for purpose.   

Bury Unite Commercial Branch has a particular interest in the under-hand nature of the blacklist and sly surveillance, because ten-years ago a Unite shop-steward at Bury Council and two other binmen were sacked following the use of a hand held camcorder by a council employee under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to spy of the workers.  The case did not go to Court and the Council ultimately settled out of Court following an expensive award to the shop-steward. 

But remember most of the councils in Greater Manchester that are guilty of being in bed with companies like Carillion are Labour Councils, and it may well be that Unite’s North West Local Authority Unite Risc sitting in Liverpool this month, may not have wanted this matter of Labour Councils awarding contracts to blacklisting companies airing as the election approaches in May.  Even the Blacklist Support Group is supposed to be looking forward to a Labour victory.  So the disgruntled members Bury Unite Commercial Branch should get their priorities right, calm down, and shut-up, until the great Labour leader Ed Miliband is ensconced in office in Downing Street.  And we can look forward to 5-years of a Labour Government.  Until then those who are blacklisted like the rest of us, will just have to wait for their salvation and the instalation of Labour Government under Ed Miliband.  Then perhaps all will be well, and even Mr Sidney Graves, the chairman of the North West Local Authority Risc may get his wish for some kind of stipend.

Difficulties in getting 'Boys on the Blacklist'?

A reader recently wrote: 
'I would really like to purchase a copy of this but I don't have a chequebook.  Is there another way that I could pay for a copy?'


She was asking about buying a copy of 'Boys on the Blacklist' published by Tameside TUC and partly funded by the North West TUC as part of its grants to Trade Union Councils.  Understandably, the TUC has issued a disclaimer until it has had time to peruse and scrutinise its contents to see if its contents and conclusions meet with the policies of the TUC. At present the person charged with this is at present out of the country, and we will await her decision with interest.  Meanwhile the regional secretary of Unite the Union in the North West has placed the book on the agenda of the Finance & General Purposes Committee for its consideration.


This book has been available for almost three weeks and the first print order has now almost sold out.  We hope to reprint the book in the coming weeks.  It is selling remarkably well among trade unionists across the country, and was available on the Unite Manchester train to London for the TUC March on the 18th, October.  On that occasion Steve Acheson, who has led the campaign against the blacklist in the Manchester for over a decade, was signing copies of the book.


At the moment because casual sales are doing so well we have resisted placing copies in bookshops in the North.  Copies were being sold on the Crocodile Protest by the GMB union at G-Mex today.  However, a few outlets have taken a few copies including Housemans, Freedom Bookshop in London, Hydra the Bristol Radical History community bookshop, and Bob Jones's Northern Herald Books in Bradford.  Housemans Bookshop was mentioned by Ian Kerr before the Scottish Affairs Select Committee as the outlet in London at which he used to buy left-wing publications for his purposes of collecting intelligence and information to fill his blacklist files at the now defunct Consulting Association, which was closed down by the Information Commissioner in February 2009.

North West TUC News:

News from the NWTUC 

22nd May 2014 
To hear more about the TUC in the North West you can:

Visit – www.tuc.org.uk

Follow us on Twitter - @NWTUC
If you would like anything included in future editions of News from the NWTUC, 

Please email Kara Stevens on
kstevens@tuc.org.uk

To view the TUC Campaign Plan, visit www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan

SAVE THE DATE – Anti Austerity Demonstration, 6th, September:
 
Following their emergency motion to this year’s North West TUC Annual Conference, Unison are in the early stages of planning for a March and Rally to take place in Manchester City Centre on Saturday 6th, September 2014. 
 The march is expected to pass through Manchester City Centre and culminate with a rally in Castlefield Basin. Unison will be updating the Regional Executive of progress at the next meeting and details will be circulated in due course. In the meantime, save the date in your diaries!

Merseyside CSC Public Meeting on the Miami Five – 28th May


The Merseyside group of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign is holding its next meeting on Wednesday 28
th May, to discuss the case of the Miami Five. Tony Woodley, ex-general secretary of Unite, will be speaking having recently visited Ramón Labañino, one of the Five, in prison and met a number of the wives of the five.

Anyone with an interest is invited to attend. The meeting is being held at Jack Jones House, 2 Churchill Way, Liverpool, L3 8EF and commences at 7:30pm. If you require any more information about the meeting please contact Penny Anderson on 0151 334 9470 or on pena450@hotmail.com

The George Garrett Archive Project:

George Garrett, Merchant Seaman, writer, playwright and founder member of Liverpool’s Unity Theatre, was a radical activist who travelled the world and wrote a series of short stories, stage plays and documentary reports about poverty and struggle in the 1920’s and 30’s.

The Writing on the Wall festival (WOW) have an exhibition of his work on display in Liverpool Central Library, William Brown Street. There are two upcoming events to attend:

George Garrett – A stoker with a punch: A talk about the life and work of George Garrett:
Saturday 24th, May 2014, starting at 1pm. Liverpool Central Library.  Free Entry. 
This features a talk and a tour of the archive.

Two Tides by George Garrett: 

Wednesday 28th, May 2014, starting at 8pm. The Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, L1 9BG. Tickets £6/£4 concessions, call 0151 709 4988 or visit www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk

A rehearsed reading of Garrett’s first play, influenced by his hero, Eugene O’Neill.  
TUC Young Trade Union Leaders Weekend:
As part of the November 2014 TUC Young Workers Month, the TUC will be running its first ever Young Trade Union Leaders Weekend at Ruskin College, Oxford from

November 28th to 30th 2014.

The programme is aimed at young activists already in leadership positions at branch, sector, regional or national level within their unions.
The aim of the programme is to develop awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the trade union movement and the skills required to build strong and effective unions

The programme will cover the following key areas;

The key challenges faced by unions

Strategies and skills for union revitalisation

Effective campaigning

The programme will be run by senior TUC staff and will include contributions from senior officers from unions, partner organisations and academics.

The cost of the programme is £180 per person which covers two nights’ accommodation and meals at Ruskin College. All materials etc. are provided free of charge. This does not include the cost of travel to and from Ruskin College.

Participants will be expected to arrive at Ruskin College in time for the formal opening of the programme at 6.30pn on Friday November 28
th and stay until the close of the programme at approximately 3.00pm on Sunday November 30th, 2014.

Nomination for the programme are sought either directly from unions or individuals who meet the criteria above and are able to demonstrate that they have the support of their union at either a national or regional level.
Nominees/applicants must qualify as young members under the rules of their union. In cases where the nominees/applicants union does not have a rule defining a young member, then they should be aged 27 and under on November 28th, 2014.
 
To register or find out more, visit http://www.tuc.org.uk/events/tuc-young-trade-union-leaders-weekend

Union Poachers Turned Gamekeepers!

UNITE North West Regional Committee adopted a motion in November for the consideration of the union's National Executive expressing concern at the number of its former trade union officers who leave the union owing to their failure to 'uphold expected trade union pronciples'.  It notes also that 'without shame [they] take up prominent positions within a short space of time with companies that our union negotiates with'.

Furthermore, it seems, that 'many of these former full time officers end up with lucrative union pensions and extremely generous pay outs'.  This North West Committee of Unite the Union feels that Unite 'should not allow former officers to use the knowledge gained of our activists or organisation' to use while working for an employer directly opposed to the interests of our union.  This Committee feels that 'legal and binding clauses must be put in place to deter such practice happening in the future.' 

Of course, this observation of 'poachers becoming gamekeepers' is not unique in the British trade union movement.  In recent years we've become increasingly aware of well paid union bosses in the British building trade who fed information on trade union activists and militants to the illegal firm of blacklisters The Consulting Association.  Earlier this month George Tapp even tried to raise this matter at a meeting of the Greater Manchester County Association of Trade Union Councils but was ruled out of order.

North West TUC Call Upon Councils to Shun Blacklisters

LAST Saturday's North West TUC Conference at the Mechanics' Institute in Manchester called upon the TUC nationally to urge local Councils not to employ or award contracts to companies that have histories of involvement with the Consulting Association, a band of blacklister in the construction industry that were hitherto affiliated to this organisation run by the late Ian Kerr.  The motion put before the Conference was drafted by Tameside TUC and accepted by the Greater Manchester County Association of TUCs as a motion before being presented and voted through as a resolution by the delegates at the NW TUC Conference.

The decisions agreed were worded as follows:
i. To support demands for a full investigation/ public inquiry into blacklisting, both past and present, and into the intimate involvement of both the police and security services in these iniquitous practices.

ii. To draw up a list of local authorities who are awarding contracts to blacklisters like Carillion, and to try to get them to award publicly funded contracts to companies that are not among the 44 companies that were affiliated to the Consulting Association.

This motion was accepted by the Conference as being formerly moved and seconded without any debate, owing to lack of time for a full discussion.

Report on blacklisted Brickies in the North West

MORE than 20 people from Lancashire are on a blacklist of construction workers banned by some of Britain’s biggest builders, it can be revealed.

The Evening Post understands six people from Preston are on the list kept by a industry-funded firm, the Consulting Association, and was seized in 2009 by the Information Commissioner’s office.  There are a further four workers from Chorley, five from Lancaster and another seven from the rest of the county.

Coun Phil Crowe, member of Preston Council for Larches ward, said 'thousands' of construction workers across the country had been ‘blacklisted’ by major contractors and denied jobs on multi-million pound projects.  He told a meeting of the authority that “livelihoods and been crushed and reputations tarnished” by the process which he said saw members of trade unions placed on the list.  The Labour councillor told fellow councillors: 'The vast majority do not even know why they are being turned down for work and it is sickening to think public money is being used for blacklisting on projects like the Olympic Park.'

He then gave examples of workers from the North West construction workers which had been placed on the blacklist.  Coun Crowe said: 'It is like something out of Victorian times.'

Fellow Coun Mark Yates said blacklisting had been 'rife in the construction industry for decades.'

The council passed a notice of motion saying the blacklists had “disadvantages residents of Preston” and supported a campaign led by the GMB, Unite and UCATT unions to force firms involved in blacklisting to apologise.

The Information Commissioner has taken enforcement action against a number of construction companies based on the evidence recovered from the Consulting Association.

Are you one of the blacklisted workers? Tell us your story, telephone 01772 838162.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/business/builders-on-the-brickie-blacklist-1-5266158

Diary of a Chambermaid: Grooming Geriatrics

Is Colin Lambert Taking His Eye Off The Ball Again?

WHEN the report by the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board was published last month into the exploitation of children in Rochdale, a local MP Jim Dobbin said that owing to the shock of the Peter Connolly case, a toddler who died after suffering terrible abuse in London, social services in Rochdale 'took their eye off the ball' by concentrating on small children and neglecting the plight of vulnerable teenagers.  Mr Dobbin said:  'After the Baby P scandal social services across the country, including Rochdale, became too focused on younger children and younger families.'  At the time, Rochdale Council's leader, Colin Lambert, who works closely with Jim Dobbin in Heywood, Rochdale, seemed to echo these sentiments.  It sounded nice then as a comment to make to the media, but if we now start to focus on vulnerable teenagers might not adult care suffer?

Yesterday, it was announced in the Rochdale Observer that 'high-level talks have already begun between council leaders and Link4Life to thrash out how the new organisation [to outsource adult social care services] would work'.  Chris Jones in the Rochdale Observer (Wednesday 10th, Oct.) writes:  'Town hall chiefs want to out-source adult social care services as they bid to slash £45m from their budget over the next two years' and that 'their preferred partner is Link4Life - the organisation which currently runs Rochdale Leisure Centre and Touchstones Museum, but which has no background in adult care.'  Link4Life has already had a colourful and controversial history in the management of some of its operations in the town, particularly with regard to arts and heritage.

Sheila Downey, Rochdale council's director of adult care services, told the Rochdale Observer:  'This could be in partnership with an already existing social enterprise and we are working with Link4Life about a possible partnership.'  Ms. Downey added:  'If the council does decide to enter into a partnership with Link4Life there would be a distinct social care arm of the organisation, and staff already working in adult social care would continue to provide services.' 

Saving are expected to be in the area of about £500,000, out of the £45m the Council hopes to save by April 2015.

But what of the risks involved?  As I write, Councillor Lambert is being threatened by Meadows Care, the biggest private care firm in Rochdale, which has instructed barristers and is considering issuing a writ against Councillor Lambert.  Colin Lambert has criticised independent private children's homes after the conviction of nine men for abusing young girls earlier in the year.  Meadows Care were not involved in the scandal and it has since lost several placements, it claims, as a result of Councillor Lambert's comments.  This legal threat comes as it was announced that Steve Garner, Rochdale's head of children's services, has resigned.

Now imagine, if you will, a situation in an Edwardian terrace-house context in the North of England rather similar to that portrayed by Octave Mirbeau in his book The Diary of a Chambermaid, only placed among the modern English working-class rather than in French high society.   In the French novel the Chambermaid, Mademoiselle Célestine works for a man who fetishizes her boots, and she later discovers the old man dead, with one of her boots stuffed in his mouth. Now in the North of England one mustn't expect such a sophisticated drama but consider the possibility of an elderly man who encourages young lasses from the local school to enjoy the comforts of his home while they tart themselves up in readiness for the youth club; perhaps the man is merely a voyeur who likes to be close to and to watch the young lasses dress and make themselves up. A decade may pass and the school girls grow up and are gradually replaced by other younger generations until the man himself becomes very old, weak and vulnerable. Yes, perhaps one of these girls is different from the others, senses some weakness in the old man and is able to turn the situation around; as Mademoiselle Célestine did in Octave Mirbeau's novel by becoming a bourgeois cafe hostess, who mistreats her servants in turn. Perhaps one of the girls will start to dominate the old man and gain control of his possessions so it becomes like a kind of geriatric grooming: are the politicians and civil servants, who run our towns so lacking in imagination that they cannot grasp that the tables can be turned so that we could end up with old vulnerable people being manipulated. In The Diary of a Chambermaid, Mademoiselle Célestine draws the conclusion which the reader is also invited to draw: 'However much riffraff are vile, they are never as vile as decent people'.

Councillor Lambert and other council bosses may well be playing with fire as they ponder the possibility of out-sourcing adult care to Link4Life.

North West TUC Conference Report:

For a future that works:

Trade Unions and the Environment

A NW TUC Conference 

Report & Recommendations

The NW TUC held a conference dedicated to Trade Unions and the Environment on 21^st July 2012 at the Savoy Hotel, Blackpool. The speakers included Chris Baugh, Assistant General Secretary PCS, Derek Wall, former principal speaker for the Green Party and Clara Paillard, Merseyside TUC Green Officer. The Conference attracted over 50 delegates, a third of them being Green Reps and half of them representing Trade Councils. The main unions represented were PCS, Unite, UNISON and UCU and NUT, RMT, UCATT and BFAWU also had representatives. Also present were members of the local community (Residents Action against Fylde Fracking), the Green Party, the University of Lancaster and Friends of the Earth.

The main plenary session explored the Trade Unions roles within the environmental agenda along three key messages:

•        Green Reps – the TUC Greening the Workplace initiative has encourage Trade Unions to appoint Green Reps in order to advance environmental awareness and negotiating in the workplace

•        Politics & Economy – the austerity agenda of the current government needs to be challenged using the idea that economic and environmental crisis can be resolved simultaneously by investing in jobs that will support a sustainable and just economy – an argument being put forward by the One Million Climate Jobs campaign.

•        Local Environmental struggles – the Trade Union movement need to act in support of local environmental campaigns in conjunction with environmental groups and the local community.

The plenary session was followed by workshops on four themes: fracking, food, transport and waste incineration. The rest of this note set out an outline of each theme and suggestions / recommendations made in each workshop

Fracking

The workshop introduced the issues raised by the controversial 'fracking' gas extraction technique which has recently caused earthquakes in Blackpool.  A presentation put together by the campaigning group Frack Off as well as the short film 'Fracking Hell' quick-started the discussion.

Suggestions & Recommendations:

•        Support a fringe meeting at TUC Congress in Brighton in September to highlight the anti-fracking motion and campaign.

•        Support to the anti-fracking campaign at national and local level, including the production of quality leaflets and support of events, including Camp Frack 2 in the Autumn.

•        Support to the anti-fracking activists trialled after occupying the Banks fracking site

•        Encourage all Trade Unions to adopt anti-fracking policies and support the One Million Climate Jobs strategy as an alternative.

•        Call our Trades Council to demand “Frack-free zones” in their locality and support the One Million Climate Jobs strategy as an alternative.

•        Lobby for a ban of Fracking (not only on the grounds of safety but also on the grounds that gas is not a carbon free energy source) along with positive campaigning in support of the expansion of renewable energies and policies.

For more information visit: -

http://stopfyldefracking.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/frackoffuk

Food

A presentation outlined the number of issues related to food and climate change along the entire production chain (agriculture, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal) as the food industry is responsible for up to 20% of UK CO2 emissions. 40% of world’s agricultural land is degraded because of poor farming practices and the use of chemicals and GM food may constitute a threat to the environment and people’s health. Food processing involves the use of many chemicals, has generated many food scandals and is an industry where workers are often exploited. Food transport and import /export generate mass of CO2 emissions and refrigeration contribute to green house gas emissions. Obesity and malnutrition are two side of unbalanced food consumption across the world while 30% of UK food is wasted.

Suggestions & Recommendations:

•        Existing campaigns supported by Trade Unions and campaigning group to be investigated and summarised in a report (Bakers’ Union, Farmers’ Union, USDAW, Education unions, Unite Community Branches, War on Want, COOPs, Incredible Edible, Food Future, Organic Farmers Association) and a round table to be organised by the NWTUC inviting the different stakeholders.

•        NWTUC to support the creation of a resource booklet for Green Reps on the topic of food (including case studies on the “life cycle” of specific products on the model of The Story of Stuff) and consider funding initiatives led by Green Reps / Trades Councils.

•        Work to be done on alternative policies around the theme of “food democracy / right to healthy food”, including coops, urban gardens, community schemes (ie. on composting, anaerobic digestion, tool hire), land reform & reclaim public land projects.

•        Investigate how a campaign against supermarkets can be supported

Waste incineration

HAGATI (Halton Action Group Against the Incinerator) explained their 5-years campaign to oppose the construction of an incinerator by multinational Ineos Chlor that will burn 820,000 tons of waste per annum with all electricity produced going to the company. A ‘gate fee’ of £100 is charged to local authorities (such as Greater Manchester) tight up in 25-years contract, out of which 60p goes to Runcorn Council. Health concerns are numerous about the effects of micro-particles, mercury and dioxins and the process will detract from recycling as the waste needs to be rich in plastic to be energy-efficient.

Suggestions & Recommendations:

•        Awareness raising – NWTUC to support the production of a quality leaflet explaining the issues arising from waste incineration

•        Contracts & Contractors – NWTUC to encourage unions/green reps to identify workplaces’ waste contractors and to request information from City Councils about their waste contractors, contract renewal timescales and methods of waste management.

•        Lobby – Lobby City Councils not to enter long-term contracts with incinerators / Lobby Parliament for incinerators to be submitted to the Carbon Tax

•        Local groups – Encourage Trades Councils to establish links with local anti-incineration groups and support their campaigns.

For more information and resources, see:

http://ukwin.org.uk/oppose-incineration

www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/dirty_truths.pdf

www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/changing_climate.pdf

Transport

This workshop was closely linked with the Action for Rail campaign led by ASLEF / RMT. Kevin Morrison, RMT Exec for NW introduced the workshop and highlighted that the government's McNulty report called for job cuts, service cuts and allowing rail firms to raise fares as much as they like.  Buses nationally have suffered from 28% reduction income.  So while public transport is vital for dealing with climate change it is being threatened by the coalition government's cuts.

Suggestions & Recommendations:

•        Challenge closures – through the use of Quality impact assessment (particularly on grounds of disability access) and Freedom of Information Act to gain information to stop closures.

•        Free public transport – suggestion of running surveys to show that free public transport might save money by reducing pollution and congestion.  

•        Linking with other campaign – such as Cycle Use groups and the Campaign for Better Transport (http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/)

•        Action & Democracy - The importance of democratic and active trade unions was stressed by many participants and the RMT was seen as an inspiring example in this regard.  In a wide ranging discussion ideas from fighting the sale of Britain's roads to the idea of guerilla fly posting of timetables were also mentioned.

Concluding Comments

The Conference concluded with a commitment for the recommendations to be presented to the NWTUC Council / Executive for consideration and to consider the possibility of an annual conference on the Environment. A group photograph was taken at the front of the Hotel (see below).

Kathleen Ferrier: The Real Voice of the North

TO commemorate the centennial of the birth of the North of England contralto from Blackburn, Kathleen Ferrier, EMI has released her complete recordings on a three-disk set:  including a display of her artistry through the works of Gluck, Bach, Handel and Mahler.  At the same time Decca is releasing a new film of Kathleen Ferrier, directed by Diane Perelszteji, and narrated by by Charlotte Rampling.  The film looks at the life of the lass from Blackburn, Lancashire, who died of cancer in 1953 at the age of 41, and includes a companion CD of unreleased live recordings, including Brahms lieder.

Vivien Schweitzer in last Friday's Herald Tribune wrote:  'From humble beginnings as telephone operator near Blackburn, England, Ferrier became one of Britain's most beloved singers, her rich and haunting voice providing solace to a war-torn nation.'  What seems to have been the key to Kathleen's success is explained by Ms. Schweitzer thus:  'Ferrier's voice was remarkable not only for its unusually low range and striking timbre, but also for the expressive, yearning qualities that often reduced audiences and colleagues to tears.'  In the film, Nathalie Stuzman says that Ferrier 'had the deepest voice imaginable for a woman (combining) the colour of a chest voice, usually found in male voices, with the clarity of a female voice.'

Kathleen Ferrier married Albert Wilson in 1935, at the age of 23, and left her job.  The marriage was not successful, and it effectively ended when Albert joined the army in 1940; they divorced in 1947, but remained on good terms.  It seems Ferrier drank beer and smoked, and is reported to had a boisterous personality, a rowdy sense of humour and quick wit.  She never remarried but had a long-term companion in Rick Davis, a Liverpool antiques dealer.

She found out that she had breast cancer in 1951 and had a mastectomy.  Her international career extended from 1946 to 1953, when she died.  She made her New York début in 1948 singing Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' at Carnegie Hall with Bruno Walter.  Walter himself once said that the two greatest musical experiences of his life were knowing the contralto Kathleen Ferrier and Mahler.  Vivien Schweitzer writes:  'She would probably have entered Wagnerian terrain had she lived longer.'  As it was Ferrier took the role of Orfeo with the conductor John Barbirolli at the Royal Opera House, in English, and during rehearsals she had had daily treatment in hospital; the premiere, in February 1953, was a success, but during the second performance, the femur in her left leg fractured while she was on stage - the cancer had spread to her bones -  she remained standing, and finished the performance with the audience not aware of what had happened.  After that Ferrier was put in hospital and never walked again.  She died a few months later.

Balfour Beatty Back Out of Bid to Slash Pay

AFTER construction giant Balfour Beatty lost its bid to block a strike by Unite workers, it pulled out of a scheme involving several building companies to dilute wages through forcing workers to sign a new contract. The union UNITE had been targeting Balfour Beatty with the threat of strike action and a recent ballot had shown a 2-to-1 majority for industrial action against the new contract proposals. Other companies such as Shepherd Engineering, Matthew Hall and N.G. Bailey Building Services are considering their position.

Ray Smith, Secretary of the Newcastle Central Branch of UNITE told the Newcastle Journal, last Saturday, that: 'This is fantastic news ... Balfour Beatty is the biggest company and I think the others will cave in.' Balfour Beatty was one of seven firms accused of seeking to tear up long-standing agreements and impose semi-skilled grades. UNITE has said that the new terms would result in pay cuts of up to 30% and poorer terms and conditions for key construction staff.

A meeting has been called by UNITE's General Secretary, Len McCluskey, for today, but some militants fear that the union bosses may settle for something not much better that the bent deal the building bosses had on offer in the first place. Nationally electricians and other workers by organising a series of weekly actions, have been resisting the controversial contract that the core building companies had been trying to force them to accept.

Now some trade unionists in the North East and North West fear that some dodgy deal will be cooked-up between the union bosses and big building companies. There are some good reasons for concern and distrust among building workers because there has long been stories, backed-up recently by information gathered by the Information Commissioner's Office, that some paid union officers - formerly in Amicus - may have been actively encouraging firms to implement a blacklist against members of of other unions in order to gain advantages for their own members..