Why this expectant mum can’t sleep
02.03.10
A growing belly, worrying about what pram to buy and wondering about baby names... . As an expectant mum, there is already so much keeping me up at night.
Now, my sleepless nights are spent worrying over the extra challenges mums could face if the Conservative Party takes control at the general election. What will happen if they strip away the protections our government affords working families and mums-to-be like me?
This Mother's Day, Unions Together is giving me something constructive to think about during those sleepless nights - slogans that tell the Tories we're not going to give them the chance to destroy families' rights. We're collecting loads of ideas and will plaster the best slogan on one of those mobile billboards and drive right up to Tory headquarters with it.
Tell us your ideas for a slogan we can use to protect the rights of mums and working families. Contribute your ideas now:
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/yourslogan
As I prepare myself for motherhood, I know I face a host of life changes. But one change I will not accept is the Tories threatening my rights during pregnancy.
Right now our government protects the health and safety of workers who are pregnant, those who have recently given birth, and women who are breastfeeding. They make sure that if I need to go to an antenatal checkup during work time, I can't have my wages docked. Rights like these are guaranteed because of European law. Cameron has made it clear that he wants to pull Britain out of European social and employment guarantees like these.
Families are facing more burdens today than ever before. My baby will be born after the general election, and the worry of what a Tory government could mean for me and my new family is one burden too many. Let's send a message to Cameron that working families' rights matter, and let's make sure that voters know what the Tories really stand for.
Please take a few minutes and add your slogans to mine. I can't wait to see the ideas we come up with:
http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/yourslogan
I hope to soon be spending my sleepless nights worrying about baby names, not about what rights a Tory government might take away. That's why I'll be out campaigning, baby bump and all, to make sure the Tories don't get the chance.
Thanks for all your help,
Claire
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year?
05.01.10
I just wanted to share these with you – it’s a few photos we took in Conservative Central Office of all places!
Thousands of you signed our Christmas Card to David Cameron asking him to drop his callous threat to our right to fair holidays. And here’s what happened when we delivered Cameron’s special Christmas treat!
For some reason, Dave is yet to respond – so we’ll be escalating the campaign in the coming weeks and months. You can still add your name to our Christmas card here. It’s important that we act - because all of us deserve fair working rights – and Cameron presents the greatest to these for decades.
But for now – enjoy! And we’ll be in touch soon about where our campaign goes next.
Cameron’s Callous Christmas - your stories
21.12.09
Since we launched our campaign to stop David Cameron threatening all of our Christmases last week we've been overwhelmed by the response. Thousands of people have signed our Christmas card to David Cameron which demands that he drops his callous plans. And hundreds of you wrote in to us at TULO to tell us why you took action.
Here's just a few of the stories that have been sent in:
Billy, one of our members from Dunbartonshire said: "David Cameron should realise that terms and conditions should not be eroded especially now that wage rises have been virtually frozen.We might not have the money to spend on our families but we need the time. Time costs nothing."
Paul from Glasgow added "removing the holiday rights of ordinary working families just further proves that David Cameron and the Tories think on behalf of the "haves" as they have always done, whilst ordinary working families are due less".
John from Lancashire has also commented that, "working in the education sector, I am witnessing greater numbers of staff (both teaching & support) falling victim to work related stress. The importance of holidays & breaks cannot be over emphasised. Holidays are sometimes the only way to recapture some level of normallity in an increasingly pressurised world"
Labour have fought for, a will continue to fight for these rights. Its important that workers are treated fairly - and the Unions must take much credit for the real and genuine progress we've made in the past 12 years.
But your words are better than mine ever could be - so I want to wrap up this post with a final comment from Alan who speaks for many of us when saying: "Its simple. Christmas should be about being with loved ones"
Just makes you think what the Tories would be like in power doesn't it?
Giving my family hope
15.10.09
Up in Newcastle we have long been fighting for justice for pleural plaque sufferers, in particular for my dad.
He was diagnosed with pleural plaques a few years ago and it actually broke our hearts, after we found out the repercussions. We were horrified when the House of Lords decided that pleural plaques sufferers were not eligible for compensation because of its "lack of symptoms"... it scars the lungs! How can they say that it has no symptoms!? We were also horrified to find out that if you have pleural plaques, they won't give you life insurance... so there must be something wrong there.
We read in the evening chronicle that they were heading a campaign for justice so we eagerly jumped on board.
We decided to send petitions around everywhere we could. Peoples' reactions were generally good - they were disgusted to find out that people like my dad who have worked all of their lives are being forgotten. The unionstogether video gave my family hope that other people are campaigning for the same thing as us.
I just hope that my dad will last until my wedding day so he can walk me down the aisle in three years time. It’s terrifying to think that someone so close to you is going to be taken away by something which they can’t be blamed for. I hope that we shall get a ruling soon, as it would benefit so many people like my dad who deserve to be compensated for what they have to endure.
If you can please sign any petitions online, and send an email to Alistair Darling and Peter Mandelson, that would be great. The evening chronicle has been campaigning for justice for a while now and its a breath of fresh air to know that it is a nationwide thing, rather than just a regional thing.
Thank you for giving my family hope, especially my dad.
Vicky x
10 reasons to fear the Tories…
12.10.09
1.If you, your partner or family member work in the public sector, you have every right to be alarmed. Tory plans to slash worker pensions will mean that you won't just be worse off under the term of the next Tory government, you would be worse off for the rest of your life.
2.The legal right to join a Trade Union only came into British law in 1999. The same is true of the right to form new unions (union recognition) and the right to be represented in a grievance or disciplinary at work by your union – even in non-union firms. Cameron voted against all these decent laws, and is tight lipped on their future.
3.The Tories won't dare abolish Labour's minimum wage. But like the Republicans in America, when in government, they won't increase it. Under the Tories, the minimum wage will wither, and the very poorest working people will continue to get poorer.
4.Tory plans for party political funding are frightening. The Cameron plan is for wealthy individuals to be able to give £50,000 per year. Unions and other organisations would also be stuck on the same limit as individuals – so the result would be that all major political parties would be dominated by wealthy individuals. Scary stuff, and barely reported.
5.The Tories brag that they will end national pay bargaining in the education system. They want every head teacher to decide pay levels for their teachers. In every school this will create a massive distraction from the business of educating our children. Strife and confrontation is inevitable. Parents and Teachers are right to be worried that this approach will be detrimental to the education of our children.
6.The Tories are thrilled about the recession. It has given them the political excuse they need to move towards their ideological aim of “smaller government”, i.e cut public services. Cuts in recession cause depression – an historical fact. The Tories are prepared to risk a depression to meet their ideological zeal to reduce the size of the public sector. The fact that the private sector has just failed....spectacularly – is lost on them.
7.One of the big beneficiaries of the inheritance tax cuts they promise would be the Camerons themselves. Imagine the newspapers if Labour introduced a law that netted Gordon Brown's wife a fortune !
8.Most of the Shadow Cabinet went to the same school together.
9.Tories want us to trust them run our schools and our hospitals. But the overwhelming majority of Tory politicians send their kids to private schools and barely use the NHS! It's common-sense to have people in charge of public services who actually use them.
10.The Tories are RIGHT to say Britain is in a mess. Casino capitalism is to blame. The worst Casino Capitalists – the ones that brought down Halifax / Bank of Scotland, are the same “Hedge Fund Managers” that are members of Cameron's exclusive “diners club” and are the Tories biggest donors. Yes Labour should have done more to properly regulate the capitalist spivs and speculators. But only a centre-left, Social Democratic vision can rebuild Britain and prevent this mess from happening again. That will require a Labour Party that is in tune with it's traditional values. But to turn to the Tories now – the very same people who went to posh schools with the big bonus City Bankers – would be to reward the villains of the recession.
Free-market Tories are part of the credit crunch problem – they are not the solution.
Britain is sleepwalking towards a Tory Government – WAKE UP !!
The case for universal free healthy school meals
05.10.09
Conference, Mary Turner, GMB. Proud to be moving the contemporary issue on school meals.
I want to start by thanking everyone, especially in the CLP's who have supported this crucial issue. I also want to congratulate our Labour government for being the champions of children and families and for taking the bold step of piloting healthy free school meals in Newham and Durham and extending the provision In Wolverhampton. Conference now is the time to go all the way. Be bold!
Since 1980 when the Tories scrapped Free school meals and opened up the school meal service to a constant diet if pizza's, hot dogs and burgers we have been warning that this would damage our children's health. Now our children are suffering record levels of diabetes and obesity. We've campaigned passionately about this because it's so important for our children's education and well being.
It's a fact that well fed and nourished children are healthier and healthy children behave and learn better. Compare a well balanced, nutritional hot school meal with burgers from a chip van or, as we sometimes see, just a chocolate bar, or just a packet of crisps. Or the child who says they have no lunch at all. Often, a school lunch is the only decent meal a child gets. Too often, it's the only meal at all. The current free school meals system is good. However it's historical link, as a safety net for poorer families only, has led to almost one third of a million of children, who are entitled to them, don't claim them. It's the children who lose out first. It's the family that suffers. It's the country that loses in the long run.
That's why we must have free healthy school meals for all. And those authorities that are trialing universal free school meals are loving it. It is socially right. It's popular with parents. It's a doorstep winner. Just the right sort of policy for operation fightback. Our critics will ask about the cost. I don't see a cost. I see an investment in our children's health and education because that's the difference between us and the Tories. The Tories, who looked at the pilot in Newham, said free school meals for all was great for kids and families. It clearly led to a better diet, happier and more content children in the class room, improved learning and better behaviour but then went on to say they wouldn't support it, because it costs money. So an old story, Tories put children after their wallets and the Lib Dems are of the same view. They scrapped the successful free school meals that Labour had introduced in Hull.
Exactly what price do the Tories and the Lib Dems put on the health of our children? Because in our party, the Labour Party, we care about our children's future and where we can do something to help we step in investing in the health of our children today brings massive dividends for the future of our nation.
Conference please support universal free healthy school meals.
Your support for justice
24.09.09
Since we launched our video about Plaques at TUC Congress last week, we've been incredibly moved by the responses we've received. This is clearly an issue that has really touched people, and the support the campaign has had has been incredible.
These are just a fraction of the messages of support that you have sent:
"The basic human rights for compensation is therefore a reasonable request to help support the comfort and final moments of our loved ones... My message of support comes from the heart, I truly hope for change. I truly hope for comfort to Pleural Plaques victims... I will be doing what I can to spread the message for support in my workplace..." Michael
"Good luck. You truly deserve justice and fair treatment for yourselves and your families." Kerry
"You should not have to suffer illness through working your whole life. I hope the law is changed." Elizabeth
Justice
02.09.09
Over the past few weeks, our campaign about Pleural Plaques has been going from strength to strength. Literally thousands of people have signed our petition calling for justice for people living with Plaques.
The backing for the campaign so far has been overwhelming, and we have been touched by the messages of support we have been sent.
You can add your voice to our campaign now.
These are just a handful of the messages we have received since the campaign began:
"I am appalled at what the Law Lords have done, if you have been injured by any means whilst in employment then you should be entitled to appropriate compensation for damages." Kevin Richards
"It is wrong that people through no fault of their own are denied compensation from employers when they contract this disease from doing their job. Bring back the compensation!" Jacqueline Wilkinson
"As a person who lost her grandad to a work related injury, I know we have to do all we can to protect the rights of current employees and compensate those whose lives have been blighted by industrial injuries and health compromising conditions. Keep fighting." Diane Green
"My father in law had this in his lungs due to working with asbestos and subsequently died of related lung disease just as he had retired. He worked hard all his life and his widowed wife was entitled to no compensation and has to struggle on a pathetic pension....... this is outrageous and should be turned around to compensate the people and families who have had to or currently endure this condition." Angela Southworth
Not in my name
14.07.09
Today, the two BNP MEPs who were elected last month take their seats in the European Parliament. In the run-up to those June elections, thousands of trade union members campaigned up and down the country to try to turn out votes to stop the BNP and their politics of hate getting a voice in Europe.
Hope not hate have run an amazing campaign to get people active in their communities in getting people out to vote on polling day, and in exposing the BNP's extremist politics.
Watch their 'not in my name' video now - it's an incredible testament to the how strongly so many people feel that the BNP do not speak for Britain.
Labour's MEPs have also spoken up strongly about today. Glenis Willmott MEP, Labour's Leader in Europe, said: "60 years ago we fought against the fascists together. Today, two UK fascists are taking their seats in this Parliament for the first time. Today is a sad day for Britain and we will not let matters rest."
Watch the 'not in my name' video now, and sign up up to the Hope not hate website if you haven't already.
You are invited
15.06.09
Streatham CLP have been working on putting together a discussion meeting, to bring together local trade unionists and Party members.
The Missing Link - the Labour Party & the Trade Unions - a discussion
Wednesday 24 June 2009
7:30 pm
The Assembly Hall, Lambeth Town Hall, Acre Lane SW2 1RW
- organised by -
Streatham Constituency Labour Party in association with the GMB Union.
- speakers include -
Chuka Umunna
Streatham CLP Parliamentary Candidate
Paul Kenny
General Secretary GMB
Tony Berwick
Lambeth TUC Chair
refreshments provided - all welcome
- supported by -
the Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation
the Lambeth Trades Union Council
UNITE 1/1148 Branch
