Proud To Serve The Public

Thousands forced to work part-time in North West because there are no full-time jobs

Matthew Finnegan — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:12:58 +0000

MORE than 150,000 men and women are working part-time in the North West – because they can’t find full-time work, according to a TUC survey.

The number has increased by 65 per cent in the last four years, as the number of full-time jobs has fallen.

The TUC findings – published ahead of the latest unemployment figures tomorrow – show that there are 62,000 men and 90,000 women doing part-time jobs in our region because they can’t find full-time work.

This new phenomenen – under-employment – is a direct result of the Coalition’s recession and the economy flat-lining.

The findings show that the rise in part-time employment has come about through necessity rather than choice, says the TUC.

The findings come ahead of the latest unemployment figures published tomorrow. Overall unemployment fell last month – but so too did the number of people in full-time work.

The North West TUC say that while part-time jobs may be better than no work at all, as a result people are having to take massive pay cuts, reduce their hours and trade down their skills to stay in work.

This is bad news for the family finances and the UK’s overall economic performance as people are not working as productively as they could.

Creating full-time, well-paid, skilled jobs is the only way out of the recession and building a future that works for the North West. That will raise people’s incomes and their spending power as well as helping them to work at their full potential.

North West TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said: “Any growth in employment is coming from part-time and temporary jobs – but most people want full-time work. But the jobs are simply not out there.

“Our hopes of growth and recovery rest on full-time, well-paid, skilled jobs. It is the only way for people to increase their income, get back to working to the best of their ability and paying their taxes. That’s the way to get the economy moving again

“Austerity is self-defeating.”

Thousands strike for fair pensions in North West

Matthew Finnegan — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:59:10 +0000

THOUSANDS of public sector workers were today on strike in the North West as part of a national stoppage over pension changes.

Union members say they are being “robbed” and will have to pay more and work longer for lower pensions.

Among the public sector workers taking part in the 24-hour strike are civil servants, NHS workers and lecturers.

Around 32,000 police officers, many from the North West, were also taking part in a protest march against cuts in London.

According to the Rail Maritime and Transport union, strike action in the North West included work being halted on Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships in port in Birkenhead. PCS said national museums such as the Tate Gallery were closed in Liverpool.

The Government is demanding substantially increased employee contributions, raising the retirement age and less generous career-average schemes.

Unions taking part are: the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest civil service trade union; Unite, representing NHS workers, Ministry of Defence firefighters and others; the University and College Union; the Immigration Services Union; Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance.

650 police officers cut from streets of Greater Manchester

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:36:30 +0000

SIX hundred front line police have been taken off the streets of Greater Manchester in the last two years.

Government spending cuts have reduced the number of officers from 8,148 in 2010, to 7,490 now.

Worst hit is the city’s Metropolitan police division, which covers Moss Side, Hulme and Rusholme, the University and parts of south Manchester, which has lost more than 100 police officers.

Salford has lost 89 front line officers and Bolton 82, while Tory Trafford has lost just 55 police – one of the smallest reductions in police numbers.

The cuts represent an 8.1 per cent reduction in total police numbers in the last two years.

Only one police division has grown – ‘central services’ where officers have been moved so they can be deployed across the whole of Greater Manchester.

GMP has been told by the Home Office to save £134million by 2015 – which means axing 3,000 jobs.

Division 2010 2012 Reduction %

Bolton 527 445 82 15.5

Bury 323 274 49 15.1

Metropolitan 541 439 102 18.8

North Manchester 734 613 121 16.4

Oldham 440 373 67 15.2

Rochdale 426 356 70 16.4

Salford 580 491 89 15.3

South Manchester 435 372 63 14.4

Stockport 477 396 81 16.9

Tameside 420 351 69 16.4

Trafford 411 356 55 13.3

Wigan 457 402 55 12

Central services 2256 2622 +366 +16

Total 8148 7490 658 8.1

Double dip recession is terrible blow to North West jobs, families and communities

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:54:47 +0000

Reacting to the announcement that the UK economy is now officially back in recession, North West TUC Secretary Alan Manning said today:

“The Coalition must turn away from its austerity programme immediately and instead promote policies which will create real growth, new jobs and boost consumer confidence.

“The Government’s austerity policies are simply not working. They are hitting working people in our region with more than 35,000 jobs destroyed in the public sector in the last year, thousands of young people thrown on the scrapheap and untold damage being done to local communities.

“It’s time to call a halt before the damage becomes irreversible and lasts for generations to come.

“No one can say that George Osborne was not warned about the impact of this Government’s ideological obsession with austerity and spending cuts.

“They chose this path deliberately – now it has led us into the economic mire. We must turn away from austerity, before our economy sinks even further.

“Our Region needs a future that works – with new jobs the top priority, helping get people back to work in the North West. That will increase consumer confidence, fuel spending power, encourage investment and create growth.

“We can pay for it through a fairer society, taxing bankers bonuses and financial transactions and ensuring that those who have the most make a much fairer contribution.”

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ”This is worse than expected. There has been no growth over the last year, and the economy is 0.5 per cent smaller than six months ago.

“Austerity isn’t working. The government should look across the Atlantic and follow President Obama’s alternative that has reduced unemployment and brought growth back to the USA.”

Regional lobby of Tory flagship over cuts

Matthew Finnegan — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:59:01 +0000

UNISON members in West Cheshire are taking industrial action over imposed new contracts on staff by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The new contracts considerably worsen the terms and conditions of staff at the council.

Low paid front-line workers, car users and staff who work evenings, weekends, shifts and nights, are particularly hard hit by the changes.

The flagship Tory Council is determined to create the template for other local councils to slash terms and conditions.

UNISON are organising a regional lobby of the council on Thursday when it meets to consider the cuts.

The union is calling for the largest possible turn-out from members and supporters who are urged to bring UNISON flags, banners, placards and vuvuzelas to send a clear message to the Tory Council from all UNISON members in the North West.

The full Council meeting will be held at the Council Chamber, Wyvern House, The Drumber, Winsford, CW7 1AH.

For more information and transport arrangements contact Judith Holt at the regional office @ j.holt@unison.co.uk or tel: 0161 661 6712

Pasty tax protesters take their ‘hands off’ message to George Osborne’s back yard in Warrington – photos

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:33:40 +0000

A determined campaigner spells out the message to Osborne from the Bakers Union

Chancellor George Osborne makes a surprise visit to Warrington, next door to his Tatton constituency, but decides to join campaigners against his pasty tax!

Members of the Bakers Union and Warrington Trades Council join the protest against Chancellor George Osborne's tax on pasties

Campaigners leaflet shoppers about the pasty tax outside Greggs in Warrington

Pasty tax campaigners spell out their message to George Osborne in Warrington

Photos of the TUC’s Pasty tax protest in Burnley, Lancs

Matthew Finnegan — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:36:15 +0000

George Osborne make a surprise visit to local Burnley baker Oddies - but brings them an unwelcome pasty tax message!

The boss of local East Lancashire bakery Oddies tells reporters about the impact of the 20 per cent VAT hike on pasties, while TUC East Lancs organiser James McKenna looks on

By George! Has Burnley bitten off more than it can chew with THREE Osbornes?

Union ‘pasty protests’ hit Coalition seats in North West

Matthew Finnegan — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:07:34 +0000

UNION campaigners are to stage ‘pasty protests’ outside bakeries in two Coalition-held seats in the North West over Chancellor George Osborne’s VAT rise.

They are backing bakery companies such as Greggs and the Poundbakery, as well as family firm Oddies, who have all been hit by the Coalition’s ‘pasty tax’.

Placard-carrying protesters, wearing George Osborne masks, will descend on Burnley and Warrington to hand out leaflets highlighting the VAT rise.

Burnley is currently held by Lib Dem MP Gordon Birtwistle, while David Mowat is the Conservative MP for Warrington South.

Both are strong supporters of the pasty tax on hot food which was imposed after Mr Osborne cut taxes for the rich.

The protests, which are being supported by the Bakers Union, are part of the North West TUC’s campaign to promote alternatives to the Coalition’s austerity measures.

The TUC local organiser in East Lancashire, James McKenna said: “It’s unfair for the Government to increase VAT on hot food.

“It especially hits Burnley people on low incomes, because they spend more of their hard-earned money at the local bakers.

“And its bad news for local businesses like Oddie’s, Greggs and the Poundbakery, who will now have to pay out more tax to the Chancellor.

“We will be in Burnley at lunchtime on Monday to rally opposition to the pasty tax and put the alternative – a tax on bankers bonuses, a crackdown on tax avoidance, and VAT on posh schools like Eton, rather than ‘bread and butter’ items like food.”

The pasty tax protest will then switch to Warrington on Wednesday, where lunchtime campaigners will gather outside Greggs in the Mall, in the town’s Golden Square.

NW TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said:”We hope these protests will bring home to Coalition MPs the impact of their unfair policies on working people.

Tributes to 10 who have died at work in Lancashire

Matthew Finnegan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:00:09 +0000

TRIBUTES will be paid to the 10 workers who have died at work in Lancashire during a special ceremony to mark Workers Memorial Day later this month.

Union organisers are also asking local people to nominate the ‘forgotten Lancashire victims’ of work-related deaths for a special mention at the ceremony.

The 10 who died in the last year include three men who fell from heights in separate incidents while at work in Lancashire; a 32-year-old man who was trapped when a trench collapsed on a construction site in Morecambe; a 45-year-old man who died after he was hit by a reversing vehicle and a 51-year-old man who was killed after coming into contact with machinery, both in Preston; and a 26-year-old man who was crushed by machinery in Wyre.

Special mention will also be made of the 84-year-old woman who died and the 88 people injured in the Grayrigg crash in Cumbria for which Network Rail was fined £4million last week.

They will be remembered at the memorial event, organised by local trade unions, at Preston Flag Market on Saturday April 28th, which will be followed by wreath-laying at the Corn Exchange.

Organiser Janet Newsham said: “These are the ten deaths at work in Lancashire recorded by the Health and Safety Executive for 2010-2011.

“They exclude most road deaths, although many people died at work on our roads; off-shore deaths, including air or sea incidents and those people serving in the armed forces; as well as those who died at work from heart attacks and strokes.

“The death toll at work is enormous – and many go largely unreported. That’s why we are asking people to also nominate the ‘forgotten victims’ of Lancashire.”

North West TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said: “Workers Memorial Day remembers those who have paid with their lives and their health for their work.

“The death toll in Lancashire gives the lie to the tabloid myths about ‘health and safety’. These are real people, who are real victims.

“Workers’ Memorial Day gives us the opportunity to highlight the preventable nature of most workplace accidents and ill health and to promote campaigns and union organisation in the fight for improvements in workplace safety.

“Over 12, 000 deaths each year are also estimated to have been caused by past exposure at work – primarily exposure to chemicals and dusts.

“But this is a massive underestimate of the actual work-related deaths which are up to 50,0000, including asbestos-related diseases. That’s why our slogan for the day is ‘Remember the dead – Fight for the living’.”

Workers Memorial Day Event – Lancashire

Saturday, 28th April, 2012

11.45p.m. – 1.00p.m.

at Preston Flag Market

with songs, puppet theatre and speakers, followed by the laying of wreaths, at the Corn Exchange, in memory of those killed, injured or made ill at work.

If you know of anyone who special mention should be made of at the event, please contact Janet Newsham tel: 07709 287 217

Another 32,000 people to lose their jobs in North West, says IPPR

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:31:57 +0000

ANOTHER 32,000 more people in the North West will lose their jobs before the end of the summer, according to new analysis by the think tank IPPR.

Our Region will be the worst hit of any place in the country – and its going to get even worse.

With more than 30,000 jobs already lost from public services in the Region since the Coalition came to power, the IPPR analysis of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts shows there is worse to come.

IPPR analysis shows that nationally, 50,000 more men and more 50,000 women will become unemployed this year, with 100,000 public sector jobs lost.

Another 41,000 young people, aged under 25, will join the ranks of the unemployed this summer. This will take the total to the highest since records began in 1992.

An extra 7,000 people aged over 50 will become unemployed nationally.

Kayte Lawton, IPPR Senior Research Fellow, said: “The personal tragedy of the slow economic recovery is the way unemployment will continue to rise over the next year.

This has been the longest recession and the slowest recovery that Britain has ever experienced.

“The risk is that high unemployment becomes a permanent feature of the UK economy, as it did in the 1980s. People who have been out of work for more than a year face being scarred by the experience and without help, may never work again.”

Unemployment will not ‘peak’ until at least September and if unemployment rises again this month, as the OBR predicts, it will be the tenth month in a row. The UK’s unemployment rate (8.4 per cent) is the worst for 17 years, since 1995 but the OBR’s latest forecast show that it will rise further to 8.7 per cent.

IPPR North analysis, shows that around the country unemployment will rise this year:

an extra 32,000 people will be unemployed in the North West

an extra 28,000 people will be unemployed in London

an extra 11,000 people will be unemployed in Yorkshire & Humberside

an extra 11,000 people will be unemployed in the East of England

an extra 9,000 people will be unemployed in the North East

an extra 8,000 people will be unemployed in Scotland

an extra 7,000 people will be unemployed in Wales

an extra 3,000 people will be unemployed in the South East

an extra 2,000 people will be unemployed in the East Midlands

All in it together?: Strike ballot over low pay, as bosses get rich

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:32:21 +0000

MEMBERS of PCS in Lancashire who administer the NHS pension scheme are about to ballot for strike action over their poor wages.

Pay starts for the staff at just £12,500 per annum – while their bosses pocket between £300,000 and £1.3million a year.

Xafinity, the private company that employs the staff, has imposed a pay deal that works out at about £9 a week for the average employee.

The firm delayed for three months before paying, and say they will not talk about salaries again until 2013.

PCS is asking for a minimum wage on the contract of £15.500.

The workers, who are based in Fleetwood on the Lancashire coast, voted by more than 90% to reject the Xafinity deal.

The postal vote required to make a strike lawful will start on Tuesday, 10 April.

PCS members working on a Ministry of Defence contract for private contractors Babcock recently improved an imposed pay offer after threatening to strike.

North West workers face wage cuts of 17 per cent through Coalition’s ‘local pay’ plans

Matthew Finnegan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:35:56 +0000

WORKERS in the North West could suffer wage cuts of up to 17 per cent under the Government’s plans to introduce regional pay rates in the public sector, according to a new study.

Research by jobs website Adzuna.co.uk found that the North, the West Country and the Midlands will be hardest hit, especially cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Belfast and Cardiff.

Tens of thousands of staff in government departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Department for Transport could see their pay cut by up to £5,000 a year if regional wage rates are brought in, said the report.

Allowances paid to some public sector workers in inner London could also be cut, to come into line with lower private sector payments, according to the research.

Doug Monro, of Adzuna, said: “Workers will always be paid a premium where demand outstrips supply, but the changes could well affect the prosperity of the regions and lead to even more migration into an overcrowded London.”

Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: “This is more evidence of the excruciating impact of local pay on some of the most economically depressed areas of the country.

“The Government should think again before introducing crude cuts that will starve local businesses of much-needed income, and add to the number of boarded-up shops in the high street.

“Public service workers are already suffering from a pay freeze despite the rising cost of basic necessities such as food and fuel. Local pay is expensive to implement and makes no economic sense.”

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “It won’t just be public sector workers outside of London and the South East that lose out if the Government’s ill-thought out proposals for local pay go ahead.

“Local economies, already reeling from the impact of thousands of public sector job losses and a lack of consumer spending because of the government-imposed public sector pay freeze, would be dealt a further blow if public servants’ pay is held back.

“Setting pay nationally makes sense for the public sector and many large private firms opt for this approach too. They know that negotiating local pay can be incredibly complicated, time-consuming and expensive.

“It’s not public sector pay rates that are stopping private companies from taking on staff. The real reason is that with our economy stagnating most businesses don’t feel confident enough to invest and take on staff and won’t do so until the UK’s wider economic prospects improve.”

Unemployment rising fastest in North West

Matthew Finnegan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:53:07 +0000

Unemployment in the North West increased by 16,000 in the three months to January, the highest rise of all the English regions.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a total of 317,000 people were unemployed between November 2011 and January 2012.

Across the region, 9.3% of the population is unemployed – a 5.3% rise during the period. This is the highest increase of all nine regions in England.

The unemployment rate nationally has increased to a near 17-year high after another rise in the jobless total to almost 2.7 million.

Public sector employment fell by 37,000 in the final quarter of 2011 to just under six million, while the numbers employed in private firms increased by 45,000 to 23 million.

Youth unemployment increased by 16,000 to reach 1.04 million, a jobless rate of 22.5%.

The unemployment rate is now 8.4%, up by 0.1% from the previous quarter, the highest for 17 years.

Chorley march to defend the NHS

Matthew Finnegan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:32:27 +0000

“Our NHS is not for sale”, TUC chief tells North West conference

Matthew Finnegan — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:40:43 +0000

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber today issued a ‘hands-off’ warning to the Government over the future of our National Health Service.

And he accused Prime Minister David Cameron of “deceiving” the British people with his pre-election promise of ’no top-down reorganisation’ of the NHS.

Speaking at the Annual Conference of the North West TUC in Liverpool, Mr Barber pledged that saving our health service was a key priority for the trade union movement.

He said the Government’s driving philosophy was simple: “more competition, more privatisation, less state provision. “

“Before the election the Prime Minister said that the NHS would be safe in his hands, that there would be no more top-down reorganisations.

“He deceived the electorate – the Health and Social Care Bill represents the biggest upheaval in the history of the NHS.

“This is a Bill that is wrong for patients, wrong for staff, and wrong for Britain.

“Nobody voted for these reforms, nobody wants them, and nobody supports them.

“The only beneficiaries will be management consultants, private healthcare firms and big business.

“There will be a postcode lottery of care, NHS patients could be pushed to the back of the queue by those with fatter cheque books, and private firms will cherry pick the most lucrative work – leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab for everything else.”

Mr Barber said it was vital to keep the pressure up on the Coalition.

He said: “We can make progress. The arguments are on our side, the overwhelming majority of NHS professionals are on our side, and most importantly of all, the British people are on our side.

“So let the message go out loud and clear – our NHS is not for sale.”

Earlier Mr Barber described the political and economic climate as “the most difficult since the dark days of the 1980s.”

“History could be repeating itself. Almost three million people are without work, we’re seeing cuts of unprecedented scale and speed, the NHS and education system broken up and sold off to the highest bidder, workplace rights such as protection from unfair dismissal attacked, and young people growing up without the hope of decent work or a chance to study at university.”

The Coalition was a reckless, ideological government and its policies are having a devastating effect on the lives of millions of people. Liverpool – a city still scarred by the experience of the 1980s – is now being hit by public sector job losses, cuts to services, and rising unemployment, with a claimant rate of almost nine per cent in the Liverpool Walton and Bootle constituencies.

“Ordinary workers are paying the price for a crisis caused by rich bankers in the City of London – people who are now paying themselves billions in bonuses.

“We must build a fairer economy and a brighter future for all by continuing to fight the cuts in our workplaces, our communities, and our towns and cities.

“With public sector jobs losses now predicted to reach over 700,000 and public servants facing yet more pay misery, worse is set to come.

“We must resist the tide of social and economic destruction being unleashed by this government.

“Whether it’s in our workplaces or our communities we’ve got to campaign, organise and mobilise against austerity. We need to build alliances with those organisations that share our aims, reach out to workers whether they belong to a union or not, and encourage as many people as possible to get involved.

“But we must also win the intellectual battle for Britain’s future. A key part of the challenge is getting our case across persuasively to the British public. Austerity means high unemployment, stagnant wages and falling living standards.

“The evidence shows austerity begets more austerity. Destroying growth, jobs and tax revenues, is completely self defeating.

“Instead of all this pain for no gain, we need to give ordinary working people a sense of hope about their prospects. We need to develop, enhance and publicise our case for a different strategy based on growth, jobs and tax justice. It’s only through building a fairer, stronger economy – providing decent work and decent wages for all – that we’ll be able to deal with our debts in the long term.”

“Shameful” decision to sack 260 Remploy workers in North West

Matthew Finnegan — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:01:47 +0000

MORE than 260 Remploy staff in the North West are to lose their jobs in shock compulsory redundancies.

The North West TUC today condemned the Government’s decision to close the Remploy factories as “shameful” and said disabled people and the most vulnerable were paying the price for the Government’s incompetence.

The jobs are to go in Barrow, Birkenhead, Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Preston and Wigan. Worst hit is Oldham where 107 disabled people will be sacked. Another 78 jobs at factories in Burnley, Blackburn and Heywood are now also threatened.

North West TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said: “Disabled people are now paying the price for the Government’s failure to properly support these Remploy factories and help make them a sustainable part of a growing economy.

“These factories enabled disabled people to play their full part in society – and make a proper and valuable contribution to our economy.

“The Government have smuggled out this shameful decision to shut down the factories in a cowardly manner through a written statement, without having the courage to make a proper ministerial statement to the House of Commons.

“It is a couldn’t-care-less Government, obsessed with cost cutting without a thought for the impact on the most vulnerable people in our communities.”

The job losses are part of more than 1700 Remploy redundancies nationwide.

Scenes from the Save Our NHS rally, Albert Square, Manchester

Matthew Finnegan — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:58:33 +0000

My fears for future of NHS, by star of TV’s Emmerdale

Matthew Finnegan — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:22:20 +0000

Actor Chris Bisson has spoken of his fears that the NHS will be privatised if the government’s Health and Social Care Bill goes ahead.

Chris, who plays Jai Sharma in TV’s Emmerdale, is so concerned about the future of the service that he will be hosting the “Save the NHS” rally in Manchester on Saturday.

Chris, who was born in Wythenshawe, said: “All my family and friends have been treated on the NHS and it’s something that I feel really passionate about.

“Whatever the government say, they are going to allow profit-making private companies to come in to the NHS who will obviously want to make money out of the service.

“That can only mean that costs will spiral higher so that, in a few years time, the government will be telling us we can’t afford the NHS anymore. That prospect really worries me.

“Privatising the NHS is bad – simple as that.”

Chris, who has starred in Coronation Street, as well as the cult series ‘Shameless’, believes that public satisfaction with the NHS is now at an all-time high.

He said: “I’ve been in and out of hospital over the years for minor ops and I’ve had to see my GP occasionally and the service I have had has always been absolutely first class. I have been really impressed – and I don’t want to see that service now undermined by unnecessary changes.

“The government are spending a fortune on making GPs commission health services, when most family doctors are against it! That £3.45 billion would be far better spent on creating jobs for people when everyone is struggling in the middle of a recession.

“I fundamentally disagree with what the government are trying to do – and they are wasting huge sums of money on it, when the country can’t afford it.”

Chris will be introducing Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd and UNISON Health Committee Chair Debbie Turner at Saturday’s UNISON/North West TUC rally, which is expected to attract thousands of protesters.

The next day, Chris, who has helped raise thousands of pounds in charity for NHS hospitals, will be taking part in a Zip Slide charity event for Manchester’s Christie Hospital, which is a cause close to his heart.

Like Man Utd star Rio Ferdinand, he has already been using the social network Twitter to encourage more people to sign the petition demanding a Commons debate on Andrew Lansley’s bill.

Chris said: “More than 160,000 people have signed that petition and there should have been a debate once we got more than 100,000 signatures. But for some reason, the government don’t seem to want to discuss it any more.

“They told us that the whole point of their consultation exercise was to listen to people’s views.

“Well the surgeons, GPs, anaesthetists and nurses and lots of other organisations all say the bill is fundamentally flawed – yet the government are not listening to them.

“They seem intent on imposing it on the very people who will be responsible for implementing all the changes – and that’s a terrible starting point for the future of our NHS.

“We need to keep up the pressure so that the government understand how precious the NHS is to all of us.”

The Coalition’s NHS changes? “They are Shameless” says TV’s Chris

Matthew Finnegan — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:48:18 +0000

SHAMELESS – that’s the verdict of TV actor Chris Bisson on the Coalition’s NHS changes.

The star of the cult TV show, as well as soap operas Coronation Street and Emmerdale, will be the guest speaker at Saturday’s “Save the NHS” rally in Manchester.

Chris, who was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, is a strong supporter of our National Health Service and is passionately opposed to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s changes.

He will be joined at the rally by Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, MP for Leigh, Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd and Debbie Turner, Chair of the North West UNISON Health Committee.

The rally starts at 11am in Albert Square, Manchester when thousands of demonstrators are expected to show their opposition to the government’s NHS Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

NW TUC Regional Secretary Alan Manning said: “No one wants this Bill – not even David Cameron, it now seems.

“But the Prime Minister won’t drop the bill because it would be too embarrassing for his pride. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself – and the damage he is doing to our NHS.

“The NHS deserves better than this – it is still not too late for Cameron to listen to doctors, nurses, trade unions and patients and stop turning our NHS into a marketplace and privatising health services.

“We hope people from all over the North West – patients and staff – will turn out in their thousands on Saturday to show their opposition to the Government’s changes and demonstrate their support for our NHS.”

Paul Foley, UNISON North West Head of Health said: “This is a crucial time for the future of the NHS.

“The Government’s hugely unpopular NHS bill has returned to the House of Lords. We are calling on the people of Greater Manchester to show their support for our NHS by rallying in Albert Square on Saturday at 11am.

“Let’s give a clear message to the coalition that they must drop this destructive bill.”

North West TUC calls for all trade unionists to support Manchester Rally to Save Our NHS

Matthew Finnegan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:35:39 +0000

THE North West TUC is officially supporting a Save Our NHS Rally in Manchester against the Coalition’s Health and Social Care Bill.

We are appealing for a massive show of opposition to the Bill in Manchester on Saturday March 3rd.

And we are urging all one million trade union members in the North West to support the campaign to Drop the Bill.

The Government have rubbished the views of the people working in the NHS, who care for the British public.

Healthcare professionals have been accused of being self-serving, of seeking revenge over pensions and of not understanding the reforms.

Coalition Ministers have even indulged in astonishing anti-trade union rhetoric when organisations like the BMA have called for the withdrawal of the bill.

They are a centuries old professional body which has made a brave stand against a bill that they believe will be detrimental to patient care. The Prime Minster and the Health Secretary might not value their views, but the general public do – and so do the voters.

The list of medical and royal colleges, unions, other health bodies, patient groups and charities which oppose the bill is growing daily, the latest being 150 members of the Royal College of Paediatricians who are concerned about the damage these reforms will do to health of children.

The people who work day in day out in the NHS are being ignored by this Government.

Only the public are listening.

This week MPs will have the chance to vote for the publication of the Department of Health’s Risk Register.

This document assesses the potential risks of the Government’s NHS plans. So far MPs and Peers have not seen it, despite the Information Commissioner ruling that it should be published.

Up to now 75 MPs including 13 Lib Dem MPs, have signed an Early Day Motion 2659 calling for its immediate publication.

Please lobby your MP NOW – and make sure they demand publication too.

And support the Manchester rally on March 3rd – to Save our NHS.