UK public sector workers strike

10/05/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
The UK is set for a major strike today, May 9, 2012. Around 20,000 off duty police officers will join the protest by marching through London. Yes, they will not kettled, will they?

The protest is about the government attacks on public sector pensions and job cuts. Police officers are not allowed to strike so the march by off duty officers is all they can do to show their anger. UK police force numbers have been cut and the Coalition plans to replace these skilled professionals with "part-time police" A type of second class officer, that of course is much cheaper.

Public Sector pensions though are at the heart of the issue. Workers are facing much higher contributions for a pension that will pay less and not be payable until much later in life. Government pensions will of course not be affected in quite the same way. No surprise there then.

Yesterday's Queen's speech in the UK made it plain that the proposed reform to pensions is to go ahead as planned. In a speech which did nothing to provide any growth for the UK it was revealed that the retirement age in the UK would rise faster than previously anticipated.

Around 400,000 workers are expected to strike today and this will include, airports, jobcentres, tax offices, colleges, driving test centres, museums and military sites. Disruptions are expected. Today's strike could also affect flights, for example, tomorrow if a backlog is left from today. Check before travelling.

The UK Coalition will be keeping their fingers crossed that further disruption will not go ahead and hit the Queen's Jubilee nor the London 2012 Olympics. However the point of a strike is inconvenience, so watch this space. The UK government are in no mood to negotiate let alone cave in to demands so furtther action is likely.

Tags: UK public sector strike, UK pension reform strike, UK austerity, UK job cuts, economy in UK
Add Comment
 

Job cuts for 1,700 disabled UK workers

07/03/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Remploy has operated in the UK since shortly after World War Two. It gave people of a warling age the chance to be employed in a suitable working environment. It offered employment to a wide range of worker from an equally wide range of age groups. Now this looks set to change.

Remploy is government funded. As we all know the UK Coalition government are not looking at  an unlimited supply of money but the situation is not as dire as we are often led to believe. It is more about priorities and where the government want the money to go. In the last few weeks David Cameron has been considering a tax break for working women to be able to employ house cleaners. The fact that he was even considering such a tax break shows how out of touch he is and similarly shows that there is money to play with when wanted.

Currently Remploy have 54 factories across the UK. According to today's report 36 of these will be closed. This will mean the loss of 1,700 posts. Compulsory redundancies will be made.

At a time when the UK government are effectively cutting disability payments this news is yet another blow to a vulnerable section of society. At the moment Remploy is the second largest employer of people with disabilities in the UK. 

Money has already been wasted on a government commissioned review . According to the Minister responsible there will be policy changes which will result in better opportunities. It does however sound like it will be more "privatisation" by this sham of a government. 

The opportunities will be in  "proven employment programmes" . According to the Minister these will be much better and will benefit more people. She said, "The Government will reduce its current subsidy to Remploy from the beginning of the new financial year so that we cease funding factories which make significant losses year after year and restrict funding to those factories which might have a prospect of a viable future without Government subsidy." She went on to say,  "the £320m budget for disability employment" has been protected. 

Remploy has said that it will consider all alternatives but has not ruled out compulsory redundancies. It is expected that three-quarters of Remploy's 2,700 employees will lose their jobs.

Opinion: Yet again we have bad news brought about by the UK government's will to privatise whatever they can get their hands on. One has to wonder who will be at the helm of the companies set to replace Remploy? That is left to your imagination but it is not a hard one to guess. If it is a case that Remploy needs updating, then update it. Scrapping a place of employment that has been so important for so many years is nonsense. Setting up the alternatives will cost more than they could be worth.
Add Comment
 

UK unemployment figures increase to 2.67million

15/02/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
UK unemployment figures were released today, February 15, 2012, and yet aagin they make for grim reading. They figures show an increase for the eigth month in a row. The total is now a massive 2.67 million. 

Jobless figures in the UK in the 21st Century are never plain and simple. What is? There are some exclusions so in fact the total will be much higher.

In the three months up to December 2011 ONS, the Office for National Statistics, showed the number of people out of work had increased by 48,000. Whilst some job losses may be ex[plained away as seasonal the promise of Christmas increases work available by way of temporary Christmas jobs.

The number of people claiming JSA, Job Seeker's Allowance or unemployment benefit, rose in January for the eleventh month in a row. January saw a rise in JSA claimants of 6,900. January also experienced the highest increase in women claiming JSA. The increase left the total of women in the UK claiming JSA at 531,700, which is its highest level since 1995. 

1995 was two years before a New Labour era began in 1997. The Tories were in power in 1995 and they are again albeit this time with their Coalition buddies the Liberal Democrats. These days the Tories blame most ills on the previous Labour government but they could harldy do that back in 1995. After all the UK had endured a Tory government for many years.

Three years ago unemployment levels in the UK passed the two million mark. It is obvious that global woes have played a part and any political party would struggle with the economy. It is about priorities though and for that you can blame the government.

Since that time there has been a never ending upward trend. Youth unemployment in the UK is currently very high. With more job cuts on the cards yet people being told they must work longer before retiring the situation cannot improve.  The coalition seems unable to comprehend that people being forced to work longer before retirement added to job cuts means an ever increasing number of people out of work. That is an ever increasing number of people out of pocket, demoralised, caring not one jot for UK society and more. Get the picture Mr Cameron?

In an attempt at positive spin some pundits have said that the 48,000 increase was less than predicted. Well it is a good job that it was. However a senior economist has stressed things in the UK will get much worse before they improve. John Philipott said,  "The problem for 2012 is that most analysts, including ourselves, expect the economy to grow very slowly at best and that will inevitably lead to rising unemployment".  

With the UK coalition planning to cut benefit.payments you have to assume that it is cheaper to make people work until they are older than try and address unemployment. That is bonkers is my opinion. Unless they are hoping to make people work until they drop? In that case it will save on paying a pension I suppose!
1 Comment