Day 2 in Oban and with the ongoing weather I discover why the label on my suit says 'dry clean only'!
The morning session featured the debate on UNISON's contemporary motion on public services and the CSR. It sets out an alternative economic strategy and puts Scottish Labour firmly on the side of the vast majority of Scots who oppose the Con-Dems ideological attack on public service provision.
The debate on reserved issues included a strong speech from our young member's delegate, Keiron Green. He outlined the impact on his school and the wider community in Moray of the planned air base closures. This was followed by the debate on Education with Pat Rowland highlighting the importance of nursery education. More action and less glossy documents was her message to the Scottish Government.
The afternoon session started with Iain Gray's speech. This was full of substance with the theme being that in tough times you have to make hard choices, but those choices will be driven by Scottish Labour values. Iain is often characterised as the grey man. Nothing of that today. It was a thoughtful speech with several important announcements, light on spin, strong on values and he showed that he can be passionate about what matters.
The day ended with the health debate kicked off by UNISON's Katrina Murray. There were good local examples of health and social care challenges from UNISON delegates including Morag Houston, Matt McLaughlin and Alan Cowan. The proposed National Care Service deserves serious consideration at a time when social care procurement is driving a race to the bottom in standards through privatisation. It was good to hear Iain Gray and Jackie Baillie both acknowledge this in their speeches.
There was a good buzz around the fringe. We had a lively discussion at our joint lunchtime event with APSE on how councils should respond to the financial situation. In the evening delegates were very positive about conference. At the trade union reception both Iain Gray and Ann McKechin's contributions showed a good grasp of the issues of concern to workers. Our Workplace Agenda features strongly in the policy programme agreed at conference this weekend.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Friday, 29 October 2010
Scottish Labour Conference
Day 1 at the Scottish Labour Party conference in a very wet and windy Oban.
The day started with a debate on justice policy. I got up to second a motion supporting Hugh Henry's Protection of Workers Bill. This was an opportunity to highlight our recent survey that revealed nearly 30,000 recorded violent incidents in Scotland's public sector. Effective legislation is part of the solution but the Scottish Government claims the Bill is not necessary because the common law provisions are working well. However, they can produce no evidence to support this claim and our experience is that the system is not protecting our members. Staff who serve the public are entitled to better protection from the justice system.
George McIrvine from our Police Committee made a thoughtful contribution on police cuts. He set out the roles Police Staffs undertake and highlighted the waste of deploying police officers in administrative roles. Extra police officers are useless if they are sitting behind a desk performing functions they are not qualified to do.
The keynote speech of the day was UK Leader Ed Milliband MP. Ed gave an excellent performance that set out a new direction for Labour under his leadership, a clear break from New Labour. Incidentally the New Labour brand name is being excised from Scottish Labour publications - not that the ideology ever really caught on here. More importantly he set out an alternative economic strategy to the Con-Dem coalition.
Iain Gray launched the Living Wage campaign with a commitment to a wage of at least £7.15 per hour across the public sector. He also understands the importance of using public sector procurement to achieve a living wage in the private sector as well. Less welcome was talk of pay freezes. We recognise that money will be tight next year but expecting low paid workers to meet the cost of the bankers folly does not meet any measure of fairness that I know of.
The local government debate began with CoSLA Labour Leader Jim McCabe dismissing the Concordat. He described the recent negotiations with John Swinney as deceitful. As usual Jim rarely misses his mark! Gray Allen from our Falkirk Branch made an entertaining contribution, giving a front line workers perspective of the Con-Dem attack on local services.
Our lunch time fringe meeting on climate change was well attended, despite the rain. Some excellent presentations and thoughtful contributions from the floor promoting the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland manifesto. Many of these proposals appear in the Scottish Labour policy programme and Iain Gray and Sarah Boyack both paid credit to the effectiveness of the SCCS lobby on the Climate Change Act.
The day started with a debate on justice policy. I got up to second a motion supporting Hugh Henry's Protection of Workers Bill. This was an opportunity to highlight our recent survey that revealed nearly 30,000 recorded violent incidents in Scotland's public sector. Effective legislation is part of the solution but the Scottish Government claims the Bill is not necessary because the common law provisions are working well. However, they can produce no evidence to support this claim and our experience is that the system is not protecting our members. Staff who serve the public are entitled to better protection from the justice system.
George McIrvine from our Police Committee made a thoughtful contribution on police cuts. He set out the roles Police Staffs undertake and highlighted the waste of deploying police officers in administrative roles. Extra police officers are useless if they are sitting behind a desk performing functions they are not qualified to do.
The keynote speech of the day was UK Leader Ed Milliband MP. Ed gave an excellent performance that set out a new direction for Labour under his leadership, a clear break from New Labour. Incidentally the New Labour brand name is being excised from Scottish Labour publications - not that the ideology ever really caught on here. More importantly he set out an alternative economic strategy to the Con-Dem coalition.
Iain Gray launched the Living Wage campaign with a commitment to a wage of at least £7.15 per hour across the public sector. He also understands the importance of using public sector procurement to achieve a living wage in the private sector as well. Less welcome was talk of pay freezes. We recognise that money will be tight next year but expecting low paid workers to meet the cost of the bankers folly does not meet any measure of fairness that I know of.
The local government debate began with CoSLA Labour Leader Jim McCabe dismissing the Concordat. He described the recent negotiations with John Swinney as deceitful. As usual Jim rarely misses his mark! Gray Allen from our Falkirk Branch made an entertaining contribution, giving a front line workers perspective of the Con-Dem attack on local services.
Our lunch time fringe meeting on climate change was well attended, despite the rain. Some excellent presentations and thoughtful contributions from the floor promoting the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland manifesto. Many of these proposals appear in the Scottish Labour policy programme and Iain Gray and Sarah Boyack both paid credit to the effectiveness of the SCCS lobby on the Climate Change Act.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Corporate greed
More evidence of corporate greed this morning in the latest IDS survey of top bosses pay.
The report shows basic pay for FTSE 100 chief executives rose by 3.6 per cent in the year to June. But that was topped up with bonuses, share awards and performance-related payments. Blue-chip bosses enjoyed average bonuses of more than £700,000, up 34 per cent on the previous year, bringing the average total remuneration package to £4.9million. They already earn more than 200 times the average wage.
These are the very same people who write letters to the press urging cuts in public spending and the consequential pay freezes and increases in pension contributions for the low paid. The one thing these bosses do really well is hypocrisy!
I am often asked in media interviews what our members reaction is to likely pay freezes next year. Our members recognise that money will be very tight but they get really angry when the bankers who got us into this mess are preparing to pay themselves bonuses of up to £7bn. That's twice the likely cut in total public expenditure in Scotland over the next four years.
With fair taxation and clamping down on tax avoidance we could more than wipe out the deficit.
All in this together? I think not!
The report shows basic pay for FTSE 100 chief executives rose by 3.6 per cent in the year to June. But that was topped up with bonuses, share awards and performance-related payments. Blue-chip bosses enjoyed average bonuses of more than £700,000, up 34 per cent on the previous year, bringing the average total remuneration package to £4.9million. They already earn more than 200 times the average wage.
These are the very same people who write letters to the press urging cuts in public spending and the consequential pay freezes and increases in pension contributions for the low paid. The one thing these bosses do really well is hypocrisy!
I am often asked in media interviews what our members reaction is to likely pay freezes next year. Our members recognise that money will be very tight but they get really angry when the bankers who got us into this mess are preparing to pay themselves bonuses of up to £7bn. That's twice the likely cut in total public expenditure in Scotland over the next four years.
With fair taxation and clamping down on tax avoidance we could more than wipe out the deficit.
All in this together? I think not!
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
National Inspection Day
Today is National Inspection Day, part of the European Health and Safety Week, when all Safety Representatives are asked to inspect their workplaces. UNISON Scotland has over 4000 Safety Representatives, so that should be a lot of inspection activity leading to safer workplaces.
The TUC has published a handy quick guide to inspections and a poster.
This year's campaign day is all the more important due to the the report produced by Lord Young attacking the very basis of workplace safety. We did not vote to die at work and this report will not reduce workplace illness, injury or death. Nearly 1,500 workers are killed in work-related incidents, up to 50,000 more due to work-related illness, and millions suffer ill-health at work every year. Proportionally more in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
Far from health and safety being a burden on business, it is a positive bonus to employers as the best fully understand. The real burden of poor health and safety in terms of injury, illness and death is massive and is borne mainly by workers, their families and the state in benefits and health care costs. There are far too few inspections and they are likely to get fewer with 35% cuts announced for the HSE in the UK spending review.
The report is clearly an ideological, unevidenced attack on workers conditions and far from being about ‘Common Sense’ it aims to dismantle universal protection for all workers’ health, safety and welfare. The real impact of the UK government's plans are to cut health and safety protection and leave bad employers free to injure workers, make them ill, and kill them without
remedy.
The TUC has published a handy quick guide to inspections and a poster.
This year's campaign day is all the more important due to the the report produced by Lord Young attacking the very basis of workplace safety. We did not vote to die at work and this report will not reduce workplace illness, injury or death. Nearly 1,500 workers are killed in work-related incidents, up to 50,000 more due to work-related illness, and millions suffer ill-health at work every year. Proportionally more in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
Far from health and safety being a burden on business, it is a positive bonus to employers as the best fully understand. The real burden of poor health and safety in terms of injury, illness and death is massive and is borne mainly by workers, their families and the state in benefits and health care costs. There are far too few inspections and they are likely to get fewer with 35% cuts announced for the HSE in the UK spending review.
The report is clearly an ideological, unevidenced attack on workers conditions and far from being about ‘Common Sense’ it aims to dismantle universal protection for all workers’ health, safety and welfare. The real impact of the UK government's plans are to cut health and safety protection and leave bad employers free to injure workers, make them ill, and kill them without
remedy.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Better Way Demo
Excellent turn out on Saturday for the Better Way demonstration and rally in Edinburgh. We may not have the resources of the big business lobby but we do have the people. Thousands of people from trade unions, faith and community organisations marching along Princes Street to shout that there is an alternative to cuts and economic misery.
There was a particularly strong turnout from UNISON branches. Members came from all over Scotland, many having an early start to get there. Events like this are important milestones in the campaign and they are valuable in building solidarity. That's our real strength and we are going to need all of that strength in the months ahead.
There was a particularly strong turnout from UNISON branches. Members came from all over Scotland, many having an early start to get there. Events like this are important milestones in the campaign and they are valuable in building solidarity. That's our real strength and we are going to need all of that strength in the months ahead.
Friday, 22 October 2010
Assaults on Staff
I was speaking at our health and safety seminar today. An annual gathering of safety representatives to update them on current developments and to agree priorities for the coming year.
We used the seminar to launch our annual survey of violence at work in Scotland. Sadly the survey revealed an increase of over 3000 assaults when compared with last year, with more than 28,000 assaults on staff recorded for the year 2009-10.
Any act of violence on a member of staff going about their business of providing vital public services is completely unacceptable. To have over 28,000 in a year is shocking, especially when these are just the recorded incidents. This shows that many employers, particularly in local government, have to do more to protect their staff. Where rigorous monitoring and active preventative measures are in place, this has resulted in improvements for the health and safety of our members. But some employers are clearly failing to monitor violent assaults effectively, and as a result are failing to do enough to protect their staff.
We had one council who couldn't find their figures and others that could only produce long lists of incidents that they clearly haven't analysed. The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives published guidelines in February titled “Managing Occupational Violence in the Workplace”. Not enough councils have reviewed their policies to reflect that guidance.
These figures also emphasise the need for the Protection of Workers (Scotland) Bill introduced by Hugh Henry MSP.
We used the seminar to launch our annual survey of violence at work in Scotland. Sadly the survey revealed an increase of over 3000 assaults when compared with last year, with more than 28,000 assaults on staff recorded for the year 2009-10.
Any act of violence on a member of staff going about their business of providing vital public services is completely unacceptable. To have over 28,000 in a year is shocking, especially when these are just the recorded incidents. This shows that many employers, particularly in local government, have to do more to protect their staff. Where rigorous monitoring and active preventative measures are in place, this has resulted in improvements for the health and safety of our members. But some employers are clearly failing to monitor violent assaults effectively, and as a result are failing to do enough to protect their staff.
We had one council who couldn't find their figures and others that could only produce long lists of incidents that they clearly haven't analysed. The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives published guidelines in February titled “Managing Occupational Violence in the Workplace”. Not enough councils have reviewed their policies to reflect that guidance.
These figures also emphasise the need for the Protection of Workers (Scotland) Bill introduced by Hugh Henry MSP.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Stiglitz on defict reduction
In light of the CSR I would recommend reading Joseph Stiglitz's comment piece in the Guardian earler this week. Probably the most credible economist in the world saying that the UK economy needs a stimulus, not the deficit reduction slash and burn we got yesterday.
The concluding para of this piece says it all:
"Britain is embarking on a highly risky experiment. More likely than not, it will add one more data point to the well- established result that austerity in the midst of a downturn lowers GDP and increases unemployment, and excessive austerity can have long-lasting effects. If Britain were wealthier, or if the prospects of success were greater, it might be a risk worth taking. But it is a gamble with almost no potential upside. Austerity is a gamble which Britain can ill afford."
The Nobel prize winning economist has agreed to join the Scottish Government's Council of Economic Advisors. He is a massive improvement on the current Chair of that group Sir George Mathewson, arguably one of the authors of the banking collapse, and certainly a man with little credibility left.
The concluding para of this piece says it all:
"Britain is embarking on a highly risky experiment. More likely than not, it will add one more data point to the well- established result that austerity in the midst of a downturn lowers GDP and increases unemployment, and excessive austerity can have long-lasting effects. If Britain were wealthier, or if the prospects of success were greater, it might be a risk worth taking. But it is a gamble with almost no potential upside. Austerity is a gamble which Britain can ill afford."
The Nobel prize winning economist has agreed to join the Scottish Government's Council of Economic Advisors. He is a massive improvement on the current Chair of that group Sir George Mathewson, arguably one of the authors of the banking collapse, and certainly a man with little credibility left.
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