Tuesday 14th July 2015

[LadyCentauria]

Perfect - absolutely perfect - from Steve Bell.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... an-cartoon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mwahahaha!!!

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... kes-labour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Tories launch biggest crackdown on trade unions for 30 years

[HindleA]

The biggest crackdown on trade union rights for 30 years will be unveiled on Wednesday, including new plans to criminalise picketing, permit employers to hire strike-breaking agency staff and choke off the flow of union funds to the Labour party.

[HindleA]

And the press release


https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new- ... ing-people" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

Beyond satire safequarding working people by residualising their fundamental rights.

[LadyCentauria]

@HindleA: I can't remember his name but the Deputy General Secretary of the TUC was very good on the Daily Politics, earlier. He was up against Rifkind and more than held his own, I thought. I'm just beyond aghast at how this Government is ripping up and trampling upon all the hard won rights and institutions of this country! JoCo pointed out that, in Thatcher's day, hundreds of thousand of working-days were 'lost' to strikes each year but had declined year-on-year, and that, in the past year, fewer than 300 working-days were 'lost', and asked did this not show that the current rules on strike-ballots and strike-actions were working extremely well so why change them?

The TUC chap said that, if the Govt. wanted to properly reform union-law they should give back the ability to use electronic-voting in workplaces, enable the unions to use modern technologies for secure 'digital' forms of voting for the wider membership – and some other things that also struck me as sensible but I can't remember but worker representation was probably one of them.

Of course, modernising and improving the unions is not what this lot in power are after, at all. They want to stamp down what's left of the unions and to make it all but impossible for people to exercise their Human Right to withdraw their labour - or even to campaign, short of striking, to improve conditions in their workplaces. That poor apprentice lad who got dragged into a lathe – because he was told they had to clean the works with emery paper whilst the machine was running at 2400 rpm and had no safety guards - died because of shoddy workplace practices and a complete disregard for Health & Safety Regulations on the part of his bosses. Long years ago that sort of accident was common. Bad enough that we still have the occasional instance of it. It was a combination of strong unions and (some) decent employers shaming the rest into compliance and forcing Governments into action that reduced the levels of industrial disablement and death. I fear for all our futures.

[LadyCentauria]

BTW: Meant to post an hour ago but the New Horizons spacecraft has survived its 'close encounter' with Pluto and sent a positive 'health status' signal. Data and images expected later, which should be utterly spectacular – the approach images were pretty bloody amazing in their detail (not that scientists are sure what that detail signifies) but the ones NH took at closest-approach are expected to have ten times the definition of the last ones! I love space-exploration