If William Hague, a Palestinian worker, the ILO and an IMF official agree on something, there’s a fair chance it might be right. All conclude that the Israeli blockade of Gaza is strangling the economy and jobs and must be lifted immediately.
Under Israeli restrictions only 72 of 4,000 commodities are allowed in, and only then, at a dismal trickle. The export trade is non-existent and concrete and raw materials are banned. The result: construction used to employ a quarter of the Gazan workforce, now it’s less than one percent. Without the means to repair bombed schools, hospitals and houses, Gaza looks like a permanent war zone. Read more »
Ed Balls is absolutely right when he lambasts Governments in other parts of Europe for cutting public spending, and it is a pity that that part of his article has been swept aside in the coverage by the other element of his argument, that too many workers from Eastern Europe were allowed to work in Britain, where he is wrong. Read more »
Too good not to share. San Francisco LGBT activist group Pride At Work staged this Lady Gaga inspired flashmob to support workers in dispute at the Westin St Francis Hotel, where a boycott has been called for the lucrative Pride week hotel trade. Sadly we’re not going to SF Pride, but if we did, we’d know now not to get caught in a bad hotel.
Today is May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, a commemoration of the struggle for decent working hours in the 19th Century, when American trades unionists gained rights to an eight hour day in many industries – a key victory for secure and decent work worldwide.
121 years on from the first May Day celebrations, we find we’re standing at a crossroads for the world of work in Europe, one where there is a real risk of taking the path back toward 1889. Read more »
The G20 labour ministers, meeting in Washington earlier this week, have come up with a decent list of recommendations to get the world back to work, and strengthen our fragile economic recovery. Yet with treasuries and the IMF sharpening their budget cutting knives, will these recommendations just hang in the air like so much volcanic ash? Read more »
Deemed irrelevant prior to the financial crisis, the IMF was given enormous powers by the G20 to resolve it. But in light of statements it made earlier this week, trade unions are wondering whether world leaders have put a fox in charge of the hen house.
At the end of April, the IMF will give an interim report to G20 Finance Ministers on their efforts to build “strong, sustainable and balanced growth” and outline options on how the Banks should help pay for the mess they got us in. In a worrying omen of what their conclusions might be John Lipsky, the second in charge at the IMF, said earlier this week, that to drive growth, “…liberalization of goods and labor markets and the removal of tax distortions… should be pursued vigorously”. As the global trade union movement’s statement of priorities for the meeting makes clear, the world is crying out for millions of green and decent jobs, not the cutting of taxes and slashing of workers’ rights. Read more »
This week the Marmot Review, the Department of Health’s Strategic Review of Health Inequalities, was published. Its remit was to “focus on the social determinants of health and in particular, the way they influence health inequalities”. A review that starts with quote from Pablo Neruda seems unlikely to be limited in its scope, and the Marmot Review does not disappoint, taking a forensic and brutally honest look at the reality of the social causes of ill health.
The review identifies six policy recommendations, which reflect a life course perspective, recognising that disadvatage starts before birth and accumulates throughout life. All are important, in particular Policy Objective C, which calls for the creation of “fair employment and good work for all” in recognition of the reality that:
Work is good – and unemployment bad – for physical and mental health, but the quality of work matters. Getting people off benefits and into low paid, insecure and health-damaging work is not a desirable option
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary John Monks told Nicholas Sarkozy’s ‘New World, New Capitalism’ conference yesterday that
“we have done better that we did in the 1930s. But …the global economy is very fragile and in many countries problems will get worse before they get better.”
He said that there should be no return to business as usual, that young people needed a European jobs guarantee, and that Governments should not abandon their crisis interventions until growth was well-established. The financial sector still needs major surgery, including a financial transactions tax. His speech is brief, but pretty much says it all.
Last week, the Prime Minister, and before him, the Home Secretary, made major speeches on immigration. They both claimed to understand ‘the problem’ and be ready to address it. They gave the impression that this is a really new debate, and that they were ready, at last, to take action. Today the Director of the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) hit back in the Financial Times (on a page you have to pay to view, ironically enough) so I thought a TUC comment might provide some balance. However, mostly, we agree with the ASI: immigration policy is too tough already and is set to get worse, whichever party policy you read. Read more »
The Better Regulation Executive have published a new report, which lists the multiple benefits that regulation has for the UK economy. In a refreshing change from the usual anti-regulation rhetoric of the UK business lobby, this report concludes that:
Regulation has an important role to play in Britain’s economic growth and prosperity. It protects our environment and the health and opportunities of our citizens. Well designed and implemented regulation helps support innovation and has other beneficial outcomes….For example, competitive markets create benefits like extra trade and reduced prices. Regulation means cleaner air and water, safer workplaces and food as well as the safety net created by the minimum wage.
What a shame the Government hasn’t been able to apply these principles to recent policy on employment rights.
A quick hat-tip to Left Foot Forward for this piece on the massive fare rises for London public transport announced by Boris Johnson last week. The bus fare rises in particular mean that it will be the poorest who will feel the most severe impact of the change. LFF will be investigating further this week, as I’m sure will Dave Hill on his London blog.
I imagine other Touchstone contributors will want to comment on this announcement. But just to say quickly here what a truly terrible decision it is. Read more »
