UNISON has published a guide to government proposals on a new Local Government Pension Scheme.
While talks continue on protecting the rights of workers in the scheme - around two million people across a whole range of public services - the government has published a document called Where Next?, setting out options for a new look scheme from April 2008.
The document is the beginning of informal consultation - which will run until 28th September - on options for the new scheme, which include:
* updating the current scheme, with additional benefit improvements;
* a new final salary scheme with an improved accrual rate;
* a new scheme with pension based on a career-average rather than final salary;
* a new, hybrid arrangement based on a career-average core with a final salary option.
To help members and branches find their way round the government document, and prepare their responses to the consultation, the union has now issued a briefing on the options. This can be found online at http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/DCLG_new_scheme_proposals.pdf
The judicial review of the government's decision to scrap the 85-year rule via regulations changing the LGPS due to come into force in October, is scheduled to be heard on 18th and 19th September.
20 July 2006
Sign UNISON's Keep the NHS working petition
UNISON is campaigning against the cuts of over £100 million and 5000 jobs in the NHS in the East Midlands alone.
You can take part by visiting the Region's Keep the NHS Working webpage where you will find details of how you can get involved.
You can also download a newsletter (in pdf format) and petitions for each of the Counties in the East Midlands that you can distribute around your friends, family and workmates. To download The Nottinghamshire Deserves Better petition (in Word format) click here.
The cuts in the NHS do not just affect UNISON members in hospitals and PCTs, they affect us all as there will be less people to deliver services and provide patient care. This will reduce the speed and quality of the healthcare you, your friends and your family receive.
So, get involved! It's our NHS and we want to keep it!
You can take part by visiting the Region's Keep the NHS Working webpage where you will find details of how you can get involved.
You can also download a newsletter (in pdf format) and petitions for each of the Counties in the East Midlands that you can distribute around your friends, family and workmates. To download The Nottinghamshire Deserves Better petition (in Word format) click here.
The cuts in the NHS do not just affect UNISON members in hospitals and PCTs, they affect us all as there will be less people to deliver services and provide patient care. This will reduce the speed and quality of the healthcare you, your friends and your family receive.
So, get involved! It's our NHS and we want to keep it!
14 July 2006
Save Malak Ghorbany from stoning
We have received the following request for your help and support from Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum.
Dear friends,
Once again, another Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by the barbaric practice of public stoning. On June 28, 2006, a court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia sentenced Malak Ghorbany to death for committing "adultery." Under Iran's Penal Code, the term "adultery" is used to describe any intimate or sexual act between a man and a girl/woman who are not married. The crime of adultery is also used in cases where a girl is deemed to have committed "acts incompatible with chastity," which includes instances of rape. The punishment for "adultery" is death.
On the day of her punishment, the woman's hands are tied behind her back as she becomes covered from head to toe in winding sheets and is placed seated in a pit. The pit is then filled up to her chest with dirt and the dirt is tamped down. At that point, members of the community are invited to murder her by hurling rocks at her. However, to ensure that the condemned woman/girl receives the absolute maximum amount of pain and torture, the Iranian government has even mandated the size of the stones that are to be used in this barbaric act of public execution. By law, the stones must not be too small as to prevent ultimate death, nor must they be too large that they could cause the girl's death "too soon."
The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbany, and I have initiated a petition, directed to members of the United Nations, Amnesty International, the ruling clerics in Iran, and various other organizations and entities around the world to oppose Malak's barbaric sentence. I need you to help me save Malak's life, as we did with the 17 year old Nazanin, by signing this petition and raising as much awareness as possible to her case. Without significant international pressure and expressions of outrage at the atrocities committed by the Isalmic regime, Iranians will continue to be subjected to medieval practices that violate the most basic rights of humans.
I thank you for your support, friendship, and kindness, and I look forward to a day when no woman is abused, tortured, or murdered simply because of her gender.
Fondly,
Lily Mazahery
The direct link to the petition to Save Malak's Life is: http://www.petitiononline.com/Malak/petition.html
The website about her case is: http://savemalak.googlepages.com/home
Dear friends,
Once again, another Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by the barbaric practice of public stoning. On June 28, 2006, a court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia sentenced Malak Ghorbany to death for committing "adultery." Under Iran's Penal Code, the term "adultery" is used to describe any intimate or sexual act between a man and a girl/woman who are not married. The crime of adultery is also used in cases where a girl is deemed to have committed "acts incompatible with chastity," which includes instances of rape. The punishment for "adultery" is death.
On the day of her punishment, the woman's hands are tied behind her back as she becomes covered from head to toe in winding sheets and is placed seated in a pit. The pit is then filled up to her chest with dirt and the dirt is tamped down. At that point, members of the community are invited to murder her by hurling rocks at her. However, to ensure that the condemned woman/girl receives the absolute maximum amount of pain and torture, the Iranian government has even mandated the size of the stones that are to be used in this barbaric act of public execution. By law, the stones must not be too small as to prevent ultimate death, nor must they be too large that they could cause the girl's death "too soon."
The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbany, and I have initiated a petition, directed to members of the United Nations, Amnesty International, the ruling clerics in Iran, and various other organizations and entities around the world to oppose Malak's barbaric sentence. I need you to help me save Malak's life, as we did with the 17 year old Nazanin, by signing this petition and raising as much awareness as possible to her case. Without significant international pressure and expressions of outrage at the atrocities committed by the Isalmic regime, Iranians will continue to be subjected to medieval practices that violate the most basic rights of humans.
I thank you for your support, friendship, and kindness, and I look forward to a day when no woman is abused, tortured, or murdered simply because of her gender.
Fondly,
Lily Mazahery
The direct link to the petition to Save Malak's Life is: http://www.petitiononline.com/Malak/petition.html
The website about her case is: http://savemalak.googlepages.com/home
07 July 2006
Statement on sickness absence from Councillor David Kirkham
The Cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday, July 10 includes a report from the Business Improvement Board. A draft of the Business Improvement Board’s annual report is included and this contains some statements made by the County Council in response to the Board’s findings on sickness absence. In particular, the response drafted by the Council included inaccurate references to the negotiation of reductions in sick pay and the tightening up of trigger levels.
I am pleased to say that the Council has reached an agreement with the trade unions to work jointly on examining ways of reducing sickness absence. This will include doing more work on looking at the underlying causes of absence. It will also look at how we as an organisation can provide better support to our employees, who we recognise do an excellent job in sometimes difficult circumstances. In the light of that agreement to work jointly, we have given a clear and absolute commitment that changes in sick pay and trigger levels are not on the agenda.
Reaching this agreement with the trade unions is a major step forward in our efforts to tackle absence management, which remains our top priority in terms of improving the Council’s performance and the health and wellbeing of our employees. It is therefore unfortunate that the Council’s response to the Business Improvement Board is misleading and I apologise for any confusion this may have caused.
It has also been drawn to my attention that a statement in the Board’s findings based on information provided by the County Council could imply that we do not believe that all absence is genuine. I wish to make it absolutely clear that this is not the case and does not reflect the Council’s approach. I regret that this information does not reflect the genuine concern we have about our employee’s welfare. I believe that our preferred way forward of working jointly with the trades unions, taking a more holistic approach that also considers and addresses the underlying causes of absence, provides a more sustainable way forward.
I am pleased to say that the Council has reached an agreement with the trade unions to work jointly on examining ways of reducing sickness absence. This will include doing more work on looking at the underlying causes of absence. It will also look at how we as an organisation can provide better support to our employees, who we recognise do an excellent job in sometimes difficult circumstances. In the light of that agreement to work jointly, we have given a clear and absolute commitment that changes in sick pay and trigger levels are not on the agenda.
Reaching this agreement with the trade unions is a major step forward in our efforts to tackle absence management, which remains our top priority in terms of improving the Council’s performance and the health and wellbeing of our employees. It is therefore unfortunate that the Council’s response to the Business Improvement Board is misleading and I apologise for any confusion this may have caused.
It has also been drawn to my attention that a statement in the Board’s findings based on information provided by the County Council could imply that we do not believe that all absence is genuine. I wish to make it absolutely clear that this is not the case and does not reflect the Council’s approach. I regret that this information does not reflect the genuine concern we have about our employee’s welfare. I believe that our preferred way forward of working jointly with the trades unions, taking a more holistic approach that also considers and addresses the underlying causes of absence, provides a more sustainable way forward.
06 July 2006
Samuel Morales and Raquel Castro - Colombia, Amnesty International Campaign
On 5 August 2004 trade union activists Samuel Morales and Raquel Castro were arrested by the Colombian army. In the same operation, three other trade unionists - Héctor Alirio Martínez, Leonel Goyeneche, and Jorge Prieto - were shot and killed.
According to the armed forces, the trade unionists - who they allege were members of the National Liberation Army armed group - opened fire on the soldiers and were killed in combat. On 3 January 2005, charges of 'rebellion' (ie collaborating with armed opposition groups) were brought against Samuel and Raquel. Pre-trial court hearings began in the second half of 2005 to determine whether trials should go ahead.
Subsequent investigations have revealed that the three trade unionists were killed by troops out-of-combat. In July 2005 four soldiers and one civilian were charged with the killing. Samuel Morales, a former teacher, is regional president of the Colombian Trade Union Confederation (CUT) in Arauca, and a member of the Regional Human Rights Committee Joel Sierra, an independent organisation that denounces human rights abuses. Raquel Castro is a member of the Teachers' Association of Arauca (ASEDAR), whose leaders have been the target of raids and arbitrary detentions by the security forces, repeated death threats and killings by army-backed paramilitaries. On 19 August 2003 arrest warrants had been issued for the three trade unionists killed.
Amnesty International fears that Samuel and Raquel's arrest and charges and the killing of the three trade unionists are part of an ongoing joint paramilitary strategy to undermine the invaluable work carried out by trade unionists, human rights defenders and other social activists in Arauca. We are seriously concerned that Samuel and Raquel's legal rights may not be guaranteed and if released, may be at great risk. In September 2005, Samuel's family received death threats. Trade unionists and human rights defenders are repeatedly accused of being subversive or linked to guerrilla activity. Death threats and other human rights violations often follow such accusations.
Please write to the Colombian authorities calling on them to guarantee the legal rights of Samuel Morales and Raquel Castro.
To visit the Amnesty International webpage with more information and details of how you can send an e-mail of support: click here
According to the armed forces, the trade unionists - who they allege were members of the National Liberation Army armed group - opened fire on the soldiers and were killed in combat. On 3 January 2005, charges of 'rebellion' (ie collaborating with armed opposition groups) were brought against Samuel and Raquel. Pre-trial court hearings began in the second half of 2005 to determine whether trials should go ahead.
Subsequent investigations have revealed that the three trade unionists were killed by troops out-of-combat. In July 2005 four soldiers and one civilian were charged with the killing. Samuel Morales, a former teacher, is regional president of the Colombian Trade Union Confederation (CUT) in Arauca, and a member of the Regional Human Rights Committee Joel Sierra, an independent organisation that denounces human rights abuses. Raquel Castro is a member of the Teachers' Association of Arauca (ASEDAR), whose leaders have been the target of raids and arbitrary detentions by the security forces, repeated death threats and killings by army-backed paramilitaries. On 19 August 2003 arrest warrants had been issued for the three trade unionists killed.
Amnesty International fears that Samuel and Raquel's arrest and charges and the killing of the three trade unionists are part of an ongoing joint paramilitary strategy to undermine the invaluable work carried out by trade unionists, human rights defenders and other social activists in Arauca. We are seriously concerned that Samuel and Raquel's legal rights may not be guaranteed and if released, may be at great risk. In September 2005, Samuel's family received death threats. Trade unionists and human rights defenders are repeatedly accused of being subversive or linked to guerrilla activity. Death threats and other human rights violations often follow such accusations.
Please write to the Colombian authorities calling on them to guarantee the legal rights of Samuel Morales and Raquel Castro.
To visit the Amnesty International webpage with more information and details of how you can send an e-mail of support: click here
03 July 2006
ATTENTION - JOINT LGBT SOG MEETING
Attention all UNISON LGBT members In Nottinghamshire
Joint
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Meeting
Thursday 13th July
5.00-7.00pm
All members in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are welcome to come to this informal meeting with members from different branches across the County to give everyone a chance to get to meet other people as well as looking at conference procedure, motions etc.
Are you interested in attending the LGBT conference in November?
Then this meeting is definitely for you.
There will be refreshments and a buffet with very nice cakes to tempt you!
Please try and come if you can….
If you want any further details then contact me
Siobhan Ford
LGBT Officer
Notts County UNISON
0115 9810405
Siobhan.ford@nottscc.gov.uk
Joint
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Meeting
Thursday 13th July
5.00-7.00pm
All members in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are welcome to come to this informal meeting with members from different branches across the County to give everyone a chance to get to meet other people as well as looking at conference procedure, motions etc.
Are you interested in attending the LGBT conference in November?
Then this meeting is definitely for you.
There will be refreshments and a buffet with very nice cakes to tempt you!
Please try and come if you can….
If you want any further details then contact me
Siobhan Ford
LGBT Officer
Notts County UNISON
0115 9810405
Siobhan.ford@nottscc.gov.uk
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