UNISON will be holding a static lobby outside the Edinburgh City Chambers tomorrow (Tuesday 17th August) from 9.30am to coincide with the meeting of the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB) meeting taking place at 10am.
Although this meeting will not be making a final decision on care home closures, they will be planning to move forward with wider consultation on the issue, with the purpose of coming to a decision at a meeting in September.
It was UNISON’s quick actions that ensured the EIJB did not move forward with the proposed closures at their meeting on 22nd June 2021.
UNISON will be making a deputation to the meeting tomorrow and will be calling for:
the saving of our care homes;
meaningful engagement with the trade unions;
call for proper impact assessments; and
the need to have a wide-ranging meaningful public consultation.
UNISON want care homes to remain run by and for the public and not run by private companies for private profit.
If publicly owned and run care homes are not up to standard, then investment in adaptation, or the building of new care homes must be done to ensure that any demand can be met.
Staff in care home must be paid a decent wage, have access to developmental training and feel secure in their employment.
The lobby outside the City Chambers on Tuesday 17th August is only part of the union’s campaign to ‘Save Our Care Homes’ and UNISON plan to build to a bigger event for the September meeting.
You can sign UNISON’s petition here and click here for a link to a ready-made email to your MSP.
The Another Edinburgh is Possible campaign group is also urging the capital’s citizens to support the fight against care home closures:
‘Join the protest rally outside the City Chambers as the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board meets on Tuesday 17th August. It’s likely that the board will hold a special meeting in September to make the decision to close 5 out of the 9 local authority care homes in Edinburgh.
‘We want to build a campaign that is so strong that when that meeting takes place the board has no option but to drop its’ closure plans. Three Edinburgh City Councillors sit on the board. We’ve written to the leaders of all five party groups on the council demanding that their group takes a clear and unambiguous public position in opposition to the closures.’
Following a Freedom of Information request the Scottish Government has released the following submission from Forth Ports:
Wardie Bay was not included on the list of Scotland’s designated bathing waters when it was published on 1st July.
The Wardie Bay Beachwatch environmental group appealed the decision and received the following response from the Scottish Government’s Environmental Quality Unit last month:
Thank you for your letter to Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, about the application for Bathing Waters designation at Wardie Bay, Edinburgh. Bathing Waters fall under the remit of Mairi McAllan, Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, and I have been asked to reply.
The Bathing Waters Review Panel is multi-stakeholder group, chaired by SEPA, that considers and reviews the list of bathing waters, including new applications for designation and provides recommendations to Scottish Ministers. The Panel met on 8 December 2020 and made recommendations to the Minister for Wardie Bay bathing water designation application in May 2021.
The panel recognised numerous positive aspects of the Wardie Bay application and agreed that user number criteria was met in 2020 and seemed sustainable. However, Forth Ports provided a submission which mentioned swimmer safety in relation to offshore vessel/harbour activity, and this would have to be managed by clear beach management and bather information.
The relevant local authority, City of Edinburgh Council, indicated overall support in principle for the application. However, despite the Transport and Environment committee outcomes you mention in your letter, there are still on-going discussions at Committee level on their current roles and resource to perform beach management functions.
As beach management is a key criteria for designation, until such times as the City of Edinburgh Council concludes its deliberations on these matters, the Panel was unable to recommend designation.
Having considered the Panel’s advice on the circumstances at Wardie Bay, the Minister accepted the Panel’s recommendation that Wardie Bay is not designated as a bathing water at this time, noting that the outcome of the Council’s current deliberations on beach management will inform the Panel’s future recommendation regarding this location.
I hope you find this information helpful.
The group’s petition to have Wardie Bay included on the list of designated bathing waters remains live on Change.org – over 1730 people have signed so far.
The TUC is spearheading a #SickPayForAll campaign.
The union body says that as we move into winter, cases of coronavirus are surging rapidly. It adds that no one should be faced with both illness and the fear of being plunged into debt.
The TUC says however that 2 million people do not even qualify for sick pay.
Its petition demands the government scrap the minimum earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, increase the weekly level of sick pay to at least £330 per week, and give employers the resources to afford sick pay for their workers.
The TUC argues that even for those who do qualify, the current payment of £95.85 a week is not enough to pay the bills. Four in 10 workers would be forced into financial hardship.
“At a time of skyrocketing cases, fixing statutory sick pay can prevent the spread of the virus and ensure millions can get paid to quarantine safely at home,” the TUC #SickPayForAll petition notes.
It adds: “No one who self-isolates should worry about putting food on the table. No one should feel forced to go to work instead of recovering from the virus. Everyone has the right to decent sick pay.”
On 4 October, posters appeared on the front window of Tesco on Leith Walk, exposing how Tesco sells industrial meat linked to forest destruction.
The same posters were placed on more than 30 Tesco stores across the UK earlier this month, from Falmouth to Aberdeen.
The posters were accompanied by a letter from Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven, to make sure that the new Global CEO Ken Murphy gets the message that customers want Tesco to drop forest destroyers from their supply chains and reduce the amount of meat they sell by at least half – starting from phasing out industrial meat.
Anke Bremer from Tollcross said: “I found it impossible to simply walk past this heartbreaking image of the Amazon burning to clear land for the production of industrial meat. The message to Tesco’s new CEO Ken Murphy couldn’t be clearer. Tesco must drop forest destroyers altogether and stop selling industrial meat.”
This year, the fire season in the Amazon has kicked off with worrying intensity, with the highest number recorded in August since 2007. Many fires which are destroying the Amazon and other forests are started deliberately to clear land to graze cattle or grow soya.
Protecting the Amazon is essential in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, protect the homes of indigenous people and wildlife, and reduce the risk of future pandemics.
Tesco promised to end its part in deforestation for commodities such as soya by 2020, but in 2018 it quietly changed that goal to 2025 and still has not published a credible plan to show how this will be achieved.
Much of the chicken and pork on its shelves is fed on Brazilian soya, and produced by companies owned by JBS, the world’s biggest meat packing company, which has been repeatedly linked to deforestation in the Amazon, as well as human rights violations.
Tesco has recently made an announcement that it will increase its sales of plant-based food, which shows it is feeling the pressure – but this doesn’t go far enough.
In order to truly tackle its impact on forests, Tesco must reduce its overall meat and dairy footprint and stop doing business with companies owned by Amazon destroyers.
Natalie Louw continued: “The Amazon may be 5000 miles away, but the products in my local Tesco – the very meat we eat with friends and family – are fuelling rainforest destruction.
“This summer, I started cutting my meat consumption because I can’t in good conscience keep eating food that contributes to forest destruction and to the climate crisis.
“Please join me in eating less meat, and sign our petition to supermarket chains and fast food companies on cutting forest destroyers from their supply chains.’’
We have been working hard to help generate support for this important cause for both recreational users and marine life. We would love if you could please read, sign and share our petition, which achieved 1,000 signatures in its first four days.
Please support our campaign film
#WardieBay4BathingWater
We are also making a film, working with videographer, Carlos Hernan. We would like to pay him a professional fee for supporting us in these difficult times. Please click here for information.
Almost200,000 people have signed a Electoral Reform Society petition calling for the unelected House of Lords to be overhauled.
The Prime Minister is set to pack the House of Lords with yet more unelected peers. And discontent is growing.
As the Mirror reported this week, anger is rising at Boris Johnson’s plan to stuff the chamber with appointees.
There is concern across the spectrum. The Conservative-leaning Spectator points out: “It is no credit to British democracy that we have the second largest legislative chamber in the world. The only one larger than the 792-strong House of Lords is the 2,980-member Chinese National People’s Congress.
“In the coming days the House of Lords will grow even bigger as the Prime Minister announces another batch of peerages. We can expect a bad-tempered reaction if, as expected, a slew of Brexit campaigners such as Ian Botham are included while former speaker John Bercow is left out.”
The magazine cites ERS research showing that: “It is genuine participation that matters, and in this some have a lamentable record. The Electoral Reform Society found that in the 2016/17 session, 115 peers failed to speak in a single debate — and yet they claimed £1.3 million in expenses between them.”
Even the Lords themselves are getting restless. The PM’s peers list will reverse years of attempts to check numbers, according to the Lord Speaker, as we revealed this week.
Voters are not happy about the bloated and unelected state of the House of Lords.
Nearly 200,000 have signed a petition calling for an overhaul – for it to be scrapped and replaced with a proportionally-elected second chamber that is fit for purpose: rather than a private member’s club for the PM’s pals.
Sign it here – and let’s get this to 200,000 signatures.
Commenting on the 36 new appointments to the House of Lords, Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the UK’s leading democracy campaign group the ERS said:
“Based on the average claim of a peer, the 36 new peers are likely to cost around £1.1m a year in expenses from the taxpayer [2].
“By appointing a host of ex-MPs, party loyalists and his own brother, the PM is inviting total derision. That he can get away with it shows what a private member’s club this house is.
“The Lords was already the largest second chamber in the world. There are now over 800 unelected peers, voting on our laws for life.
“Is packing the Lords with party loyalists really a priority, as a pandemic rages across the world? This move is an absolute insult to voters. This is making a mockery of democracy.
“Today marks a nail in the coffin for the idea that the Lords is some kind of independent chamber of experts. It is a house of cronies and party loyalists – we need to see it scrapped and replaced with a fair-elected chamber that’s fit for a democracy.”
Among the new Peers are Theresa May’s husband Philip – for political service (!), Boris Johnson’s brother Joseph and former Tory party leader in Scotland Ruth Davidson.
THE HOUSE of LORDS SPEAKER IS REVOLTING!
Lord Fowler (above, second left) comments following the government’s announcement of 36 new members of the House of Lords on Friday 31 July:
Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, said: “This list of new Peers marks a lost opportunity to reduce numbers in the House of Lords. The result will be that the House will soon be nearly 830 strong – almost 200 greater than the House of Commons.
“That is a massive policy u-turn.
It was only two years ago that the then Prime Minister, Mrs May, pledged herself to a policy of “restraint” in the number of new appointments. It was the first time that any Prime Minister had made such a pledge.
“This followed a report by a special Lord Speaker’s committee chaired by Lord (Terry) Burns proposing that numbers should be reduced to 600. This was debated by the Lords itself with over 90 speakers, commanding overwhelming support.
“The big opportunity was for the present Government to take forward this movement for reform. I emphasise that this is not a matter of personalities. It is a question of numbers and the abandonment of an established policy to reduce the size of the House.
“It is also a vast pity that the list has been announced within the first few days of the summer recess when neither House is sitting, and the Government cannot be challenged in Parliament.”
Our noble Lords and Ladies receive ‘allowances’ of £323 PER DAY just for turning up – nice ‘work’ if you can get it!
Even during the pandemic, when the House of Lords isn’t sitting, our hard-working peers are trousering £162 per day when they participate in debates or vote from the comfort of home – no matter how minimal their contribution may be.
By way of comparison, a single person under 25 on Universal Credit will receive a standard payment of £342.72p PER MONTH.
Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw has launched a petition on the Scottish Parliament website that calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to launch a consultation on implementing legislation already in place to ban most large shops from opening on New Year’s Day.
Sign the petition at: www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/newyearsday
The Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading Act (Scotland) Act 2007 prohibits trading in most large shops on Christmas Day and gave powers to the Scottish Government to stop the opening of those shops on New Year’s Day as well, which has never been enacted.
An extensive Usdaw survey of over 1,000 Scottish retail staff, found that:
98% say that stores should be shut on New Year’s Day
Three quarters feel they spend too little time with friends and family over New Year.
Only 4% are happy to work on New Year’s Day or 2 January.
The full survey results can be viewed at: www.usdaw.org.uk/NYDSurvey
Stewart Forrest, Usdaw’s Scottish Divisional Officer, said: “Usdaw’s survey clearly demonstrates the strength of feeling among our members, so we are calling on them, along with all shopworkers and the public, to support this petition for a decent break at New Year after the busy Christmas period.
“Retail staff work incredibly hard all year round, but it is particularly busy and stressful throughout December. So they deserve to be able to spend time with family and friends, only 4% of Scottish retail workers are happy to work on New Year’s Day.”
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary, said: “Hogmanay and New Year is a special holiday in Scotland, but this is not reflected in the experience of many retail workers.
“Under the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Act 2007, Scottish Ministers may, by statutory instrument, ban large shops from opening on New Year’s Day, subject to consultation.
“On behalf of Scotland’s retail workers, we are urging the Scottish Government to open that consultation and for MSPs to listen to shopworkers concerns about their work/life balance.”
What shopworkers say:
You’re tired from working and don’t really relax or enjoy the limited time you get with them. Then you start all over again working New Year’s Day too!!!
If, like myself, you have to work Boxing Day and New Year’s Day – it should be paid at least time and half.
As a store manager I have had to work Christmas and New Year. A lot of hard work goes into the weeks leading up. By Christmas Day you are exhausted and then back to work on Boxing Day. This year I also have to work New Year’s Eve, New Years Day and on the second.
I am not happy working till 1930 on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. By 4pm our store was fairly empty.
Finishing times on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay are creeping up later, which has a severe impact on family life for retail workers.
Thank you all so much for all the support you’ve offered since news broke that Pilton Community Health Project will be forced to close in March next year as a result of disinvestment from The City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian.
Please sign and widely share our petition to help #SavePCHP!
We believe that the decision taken by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board to close the project is unfair to people in our community. In our petition, we ask that the City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian secure project funding for one year to enable us to find new ways of sustaining the life-changing work that we do in our community.
