Postal workers: striking is the only option

This is from today’s Swindon Advertiser

POSTAL staff feel they have a moral obligation to strike even though they are frightened about the consequences of taking on Royal Mail bosses, says a union leader.

Chris Rye, branch secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), spoke last night only hours before 1,010 Swindon postal workers were set to strike.

He said workers from the Dorcan Mail Centre – including employees from the mail centre, logistics, delivery and handling departments – were striking for 24 hours from 4am today.

His comments came days after it was announced that the company was to recruit around 30,000 temporary employees in the lead up to Christmas – action the union calls “illegal and unethical”.

The Swindon strike will be followed by a 24-hour walkout of almost 700 employees in Wiltshire, from 4am on Friday.

CWU strike in Swindon

CWU pickets at the Dorcan Mail Centre in Swindon this morning. There was a larger group of workers present as well. As you can see Alan Crozier is very popular with staff. Though Peter Mandelson would probably run him close.

Why we should support the Postal Workers

This is a letter sent to the Swindon Advertiser

Why we should support the Postal Workers

The dispute that is currently taking place at Royal Mail is not the result of postal workers being bloody minded. They are defending their interests in the face of a bullying management which wants to manage by dictat and to break the power of the CWU.

Behind these dictatorial management methods, though, lies the process of ‘liberalisation’ of Postal Services introduced as a result of European Union legislation. Unfortunately the current government was so enthusiastic about liberalisation that it introduced it earlier than legislation required it to do.

Questions and Answers – Part 2

At the Council meeting last Thursday, in Public Question Time, I asked a number of questions in relation to the possible ballot of Council tenants on transfer to a Housing Association. (See the questions and answers at: http://swindontuc.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/balloting-tenants-questions-and-answers )

Asked if they agreed that tenants “have the right to hear the case for and against transfer before deciding whether transfer was in their best interests” the answer was evasive. It seems that tenants will have “a range of opportunities” to “engage in the process before voting takes place”. We can no doubt expect ‘engagement’ as practiced in the recent consultation: that is where officers meet tenants individually and public discussion is carefully avoided.During the recent consultation we are told that “tenants have been presented with a balanced case” and should the Council decided to proceed to a ballot, “that will continue to be the case.”

Tenants ballot not yet decided

This is a letter to the Swindon Advertiser in response to their report of last Thursday’s Council meeting.

The Adver report of last week’s Council meeting was deficient in one important respect. It gave the impression that a ballot of tenants on transfer of our housing to a Housing Association will take place in the autumn of 2010. Unfortunately the report did not explain the content of the resolution which voted through by the ruling Conservative group.

Tenants should be aware that the decision to ballot was “subect to” the government department confirming the writing off of Swindon’s existing housing debt and the “current arrangements” for transfer still being available. The Council will seek clarification as to whether or not this is the case.

Balloting Tenants – Questions and Answers

Below are some questions I raised during Public Question Time at the Swindon Council meeting yesterday, and the answers from the Lead Member for housing. You can judge for yourself whether the answers are satisfactory. I will comment on them in a later post.

NHS paying hig price for bungled hip replacements at private centres

People having hip replacements at private treatment centres brought in to cut waiting times are up to 20 times more likely to need painful and expensive repair work. Many operations are having to be redone in NHS hospitals, at great cost and with serious staffing implications for the health service.

A study by orthopaedic surgeons in Cardiff found that of 113 hip operations on patients sent from their NHS trust to Weston-super-Mare NHS Treatment Centre between 2004 and 2006, two thirds showed clear evidence of poor surgical technique, such as poor cementing of the hip.

Council Housing update

Why is Swindon Council rushing to ballot tenants when the government’s Housing Revenue consultation is not even finished?

In July the ruling Conservative group on Swindon Council decided to withdraw its resolution to ballot tenants for transfer of our Housing to a Housing Association, owing to the announcement of a government consultation on Housing Finance. The government intends to end the current Council Housing Subsidy system and has published draft proposals for what it calls a ‘self-financing’ system. The ruling group decided to assess the implications of the draft proposals for the town’s Council housing finances.

A debt to tenants – why ‘historic debt’ should be written off

As part of its proposal to introduce a new Housing Finance system the government is proposing a ‘one-off settlement’ of what it calls ‘historic housing debt’. Currently it is saying that this debt should rest on the shoulders of Council tenants who have benefited from Council house building and maintenance. They say it would be ‘unaffordable’ and ‘unfair’ to the general taxpayer to cancel this debt.

Proposals fall short but the door is opening: Reform of Council Housing Finance

This is the initial response of the Defend Council Housing campaign to the government’s consultation on reform of Council Housing Finance, published on July 21st. The consultation finishes on October 27th.

We said we would measure proposals in the government’s consultation on reform to council housing finance against our long-standing demands – and they fall short.

The consultation document explicitly promises “a level playing field between transfer and retention”. But the demand by tenants, trade unionists, councillors and MPs for a ‘level playing field’ with transfer does not mean levelling the field down to the poverty standards previously on offer for retained council housing.