Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Battles against privatisation and cuts
Who knew
that new need not actually mean new?
It might mean refurbished or extended,
repurposed or pretended?
Who knew?
Who'd have thought it,
that forty need not actually mean forty?
That's rather naughty
It ought to, surely?
I'd have thought
Join us for Soteria in the Pub, our open mic event to raise awareness for compassionate alternatives in mental health, at The Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon (London EC1R 3BL).
Rebecca is a school refuser
The lessons confuse her
Miss knows her sister
is a substance misuser
It doesn't excuse her
She's labelled a shirker,
assigned to an overworked social work
a conflict defuser
But Becky's still a school refuser
Mason is a lesson bailer,
afraid of failure
He's looking paler, feeling frailer
Autumn falls and storm clouds brew
The post each day brings season's chill
The queue moves on a step or two
The last demand is overdue
It stands unopened on the sill
As autumn falls and storm clouds brew
They stand in file to give their due
A strung-out wait to pay their bill
The queue moves on a step or two
Jeremy Westlake
has the second best take
He's in charge of the cash
and makes sure he gets a big stash
Andrew Haines
carefully explains
That his £593,000 pay is not a perk -
He really is worth twenty of the people who do the actual work
---
*Chief Executive Officer of Network Rail
Pompous & Opulent
Prosperous & Ostentatious
Profiteering & On-the-take
Parsimonious & Obstinate
Penny-pinching & 'Orrible
Private & Obscene
Perfidious & Odious
Poisonous & Objectionable
Punishing & Oppressive
Petition & Organise
Protest & Outrage
Picket & Occupy
Public & Ownership.
The TUC's Disabled Members' Committee has made this statement: Accessible public transport is essential for disabled people to participate in society on an equal and independent basis. To be genuinely accessible, public transport must be adequately staffed by workers with decent standards of training, pay, conditions and security of employment.
… and why it matters today
By Janine Booth, published in RMT News.
The two biggest employers in the east London borough of Poplar one hundred years were the railways and the docks. Our forerunner unions had plenty of members there. Their jobs involved long hours and low pay, but they were unionised, so they were fighting for, and winning, improvements.