T.W. Left Unity Meeting: 12th January 2012. WHAT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH?

“Who Benefits”

Introduced by:

Helen Dane Claimants union and

Alisdair Cameron Launchpad disability

With discussion in small groups

Thurs.10th Nov. 7pm

St. John’s Church hall, Grainger St. N/c

Tea and coffee

twleftunity@gmail.com

T.W. Left Unity Planning and Organising Meeting: 27.10.11

You are invited to the next organising/planning meeting this

Thursday,on 27th Oct. at our usual place, St. John’s Church Hall, Grainger St.N/C, 7-9pm

We will be reviewing the decisions/suggestions made at the last main meeting,as well as the presentation from Rick, from our discussions to review several meetings about “whats to be done”, as well as finalising speakers etc for next meeting below:

“WHOSE BENEFIT?”

intro by Norman Jamieson NEPA-on pensions, and additional speakers on claimants group and disability.

WHOSE BENEFIT? T.W. Left Unity public Meeting: Thursday, 10th Novemver, 7pm.

Intro by:

Norman Jamieson NEPA-on pensions, and additional speakers on
claimants group and disability.

Thurs. 10th Nov. 7pm

St John’s Church Hall, Grainger St,
Newcastle.

Tea and coffee provided.

Picket

Wednesday 19th October
Tommy Clarke
Walkergate Medical Centre
Benfield Road 7:30 am

Friday 21st October
@ Newcastle Labour Club
Public Organising Meeting
UNITE Central Branch
JIB Dispute Rank & File
Speaker: Michael Dooley UCATT
No to 35% Pay cut

What’s Left of Legal Aid? The Real Danger of Disempowerment. T.W. Left Unity: 13th Oct, 7pm.

The government is planning to make some £350 million in cuts to legal aid, including £50 million from social welfare law. Some of the most savage cuts are to be criminal law. But who will be most affected by the cuts? How will it effect class actions against corporate malpractice? What do the cuts to welfare law mean? Will it really restrict the poor’s access to justice?

Speaker: Brian Mark and Cris McCurley.

Thurs, 13th Oct, 7pm.
St John’s Church Hall,
Grainger Street,
Newcastle.

SUPPORT OUR WORKERS! Mon, 26th September.

The purpose of this message is for us to get as big a turnout as possible in the Newcastle Labour Club this coming Monday the 26th at 7pm. Its possible that Bill Green and or the Union will attempt to take over this dispute. Given the history of disputes led by the leadership of the union this would be the kiss of death – I think, and I would welcome a correction, its fair to say that there has NEVER been a single victory, in say the last 8 years or so, in any dispute that has been led by the Union leadership.

So if the leadership take control of this dispute we’re fucked and we
may as well go home and give in to the bosses.

Also this dispute is not JUST about Tyneside. If you know ANY
construction worker in the North East get them to turn up at the
Newcastle Labour Club.

We need contact details of construction workers in Hartlepool and
Teeside generally. The union is not showing any signs of going to give
us these contact lists. So we have to collect them ourselves. There
was a good construction branch in Hartlepool with a very good secretary and chair. Anybody know how to contact them? If you do please contact him, pass on my email address or that of Jimmy Warne.

We MUST spread and escalate this dispute. The bosses are already
escalating the dispute by reducing hourly rates and threatening
sackings if you don’t do as you are told. If they can do this why not
us, but however the dispute is spread or escalated we must put
pressure on the union officials to do as WE want.

Ray Smith

Electricians/Sparks Protest in Newcastle against 35% wage cuts

www.youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f4g_J4M1D8

On Wednesday the 21st of September Sparks from the north-east went out to protest against the proposed cut to wages.

Teaching staff on strike in protest at school’s academy plans, Thursday, 22 September 2011: EDUCATION

Staff at a Newcastle school carried out the first of three strikes today in protest against plans to turn it into an academy.

Members of the NUT, NASUWT and ATL at Kenton School started their
co-ordinated industrial action at 8am.

Teachers fear that if the school becomes an academy, the headteacher and governors will be allowed to set pay and conditions which could see the dismantling of nationally-agreed pay and conditions for staff.

Ian Grayson, of the NUT, said: “We have seen that across the country terms and conditions in academies have been changed for the worse.

“There would be the potential for teachers’ terms and conditions to be
changed.”

However, headteacher David Pearmain claimed in a letter to parents that there was “no threat whatsoever” to staff pay and conditions.

“Our governors made a promise and assurance before there was any question of industrial action, that if at any time in the future they were to talk about change in pay and conditions it would only be to improve them above the national standard,” he said.

Staff will carry out two more strikes at Kenton – one of the country’s
biggest secondary schools – on September 27 and 29.

Economic Notes: Cutting through the Tory Rubbish

Economic Notes. 14.9.11
(Cutting through the Tory Rubbish)

‘Growth’ versus ‘Deficit Cuts’.

A personal view by Bejay.

Economics is a powerful weapon often politically misused by politicians to keep people in their place and do them terrible harm – as our George is doing. Economic arguments affects our jobs and our share of the country’s wealth. It is important to know and use the alternative economic argument. The deficit is a good example. The deficit is the cornerstone argument for the cuts. If the deficit argument falls, then so does the big stick which is used to frighten, beat and cut us.

How do you, as a non-economist, reason against the cuts?
The economic debate is often summarised as ‘Growth versus Cuts.’ To understand it you need to know a little bit history.

John Maynard Keynes (b.5.6.1883 – d.21.4.1946) is recognised as the greatest economist in the 20th century. This is because of his work on recovering from world depressions. His major work is based on the great depression of the 1930s. Keynes’ work has been built on by many Nobel prize winning economists, such as, Paul Krugman (2008), Joseph Stiglitz (2001), Peter Diamond (2010). Keynes’s emphasis is on the state stimulating growth in a depression. Cuts do not increase employment. They, unnecessarily, decrease employment and delay the start of recovery.

The Keynesian thrust is that to get out of a depression the state itself has to create work to get out of unemployment. Examples may be: building roads, hospitals, and factories so that workers receive money which they can spend, say, in local shops. These shops will then spend the money to their suppliers. This is known as the multiplier effect – increasing the circulation of money – ‘kick starting the economy.’

The recessions of 1980/81 and 1990/91 (Thatcher and Major) showed that the longer Keynesian measures were delayed, the longer the recession lasted.

The difficulty of Keynes’ proven approach is that it is counter intuitive. The reflex action of many people is to cut money to get out of national debt – not spend their way out. It is particularly counter intuitive if you are a right winger, ideologically committed to reducing the size of central and local government or reducing spending on the poor. Hence, George Osborne’s one horse ‘deficit’ cutting approach.

Currently even the word ‘Keynesian’ seems to be banned, leaving only the scary ‘deficit’ approach. However in the last couple of weeks Keynesianism seems to be sneaking back in as the scary deficit approach is seen increasingly not to work.

What is the scary deficit? There are a number of definitions. The deficit is better known as the ‘debt-to-GDP ratio.’ This broadly means the ratio of national debt a country has compared to the country’s total wealth earned in a year. The total wealth earned in a year is known as, ‘Gross Domestic Product’ (GDP).

Is the ‘debt-to-GDP ratio’ important? Not half as important as George would like you to think – check the historic figures. Currently The UK debt-to-GDP ratio is about 52% (2010 figure). In 1950 it was 193% and no depression. In 1992-93 it was about 34%*. In 1997 the debt-to-GDP ratio handed to New Labour by the Tories was about 43%*. This was reduced by Brown in 2006/7 to about 36%! Yes, he reduced it! Then the bankers blew everything up and by 2010 the debt-to-GDP ratio became about 52%.

Should we be so scared of the deficit ratio that we not use Keynes’ well proved methods? No! The UK with about 52% is still regarded as the 4th best place in the world to do business. And Japan who is above us in that league has a higher ‘debt-to-GDP ratio of 170%!** George is using the deficit ratio to falsely scare us into accepting his ideological changes to our society. Push the stimulus argument.

Four economists worth listening to:

Danny Blanchflower – the easiest read. A Keynesian and former member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-blanchflower.
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner 2008. A blog on the New York Times site: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize winner 2001. He has a blog: http://www.josephstiglitz.com .
Peter Diamond, Nobel prize winner 2010 – nominated by Obama to work for the American Federal Reserve, but stopped by the Republicans because they said Diamond didn’t know enough economics! No blog but worth reading on Wikipedia.
References:
*William Keegan, The Observer, 22.5.2011 and http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk for 2010 figures.
** Guardian website and CIA Fact book.