On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.

On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.

On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.

It shouldn’t be too much to ask that hospital workers get the agreed NHS rates of pay. But here on site at Tameside General Hospital, there is a hidden workforce earning well below Agenda for Change rates of pay and on lower terms and conditions than other Trust staff. As Engie security guards we put ourselves in danger every day and work tirelessly to keep staff, patients and the public safe. During the pandemic, we have been on the front-line of the fight to keep our communities safe, whilst putting ourselves at significant personal risk. ONS figures show that male security guards have the highest risk of dying as a result of COVID-19 compared with other demographics. In spite of the vital job we do protecting patients and staff, we earn well below the NHS rates. Some of us are on the minimum wage. This is plainly unfair! We have been seeking to resolve this for some time, but to no avail. In February, Engie told us they would not agree to pay us NHS rates. In the absence of progress, we held a UNISON ballot of Engie security staff at Tameside General Hospital and voted unanimously to take strike action to fight for fair pay for all.  In May, Engie have agreed to pay the NHS rates from October 2020. This is a step in the right direction but we lodged our pay claim in December 2019- it's wrong that we should have to wait almost a year for the pay we are rightfully owed. What's more, Engie have only agreed to pay the correct rates if we agree to changes to our shift patterns which may result in pay cuts.  Given the current context, we have done everything we can to avoid taking industrial action. We have given Engie over six months to resolve this dispute. Given the lack of resolution and the potentially detrimental proposed changes to shift patterns, we have no other option- this really is an action of last resort. As a result, we served notice for a two day strike beginning at 7am on Monday 13 July. We hope that Engie see sense and get back around the negotiating table before 13 July. Tameside Hospital staff- please sign to support and consider leaving a comment.

As an island nation the UK relies on seafarers working on roll-on roll-off ferries to keep the economy going. From Dover and Hull alone, these workers move 11 million passengers and over 26m tonnes of road freight in a year. The taxpayer is subsidising the wages of furloughed P&O staff and P&O’s vital freight routes during the pandemic through an estimated £25m support. To date, the Government has refused to make this taxpayer support conditional on protection of key seafarer jobs and skills in struggling port communities where P&O’s operations have a huge economic influence. P&O Ferries, a company established by Royal Charter in 1840, state that they need £150m to continue operating. The company has furloughed over 1,400 staff, mainly UK seafarers but are now seeking to make 1,100 redundancies including 900 seafarers in Dover and Hull by the end of June. Parent company DP World paid out a £270m dividend on 29 April based on over £1bn profit made in 2019. DP World purchased P&O Ferries for £322m in February last year. Ferries remain one of the last areas of major employment for domestic seafarers and are the lifeline supply link between the UK economy and the rest of the world. Successive Government’s have failed to prevent UK seafarers from being replaced by cheaper foreign crews on ferries and other ships working from UK ports, to the extent that UK seafarers held under a quarter of over 67,000 jobs in 2019. P&O Ferries plans would cut 8% from the UK’s total number of Ratings, sending seafarer jobs and skills in struggling port communities into a potential death spiral as employers import Ratings from overseas on wages well below the National Living Wage of £8.72 per hour and on contracts that demand 12 hour days, 7 days a week for 6 months. There are serious maritime safety risks whenever seafarers are required to work exhausting contracts like this. Please support the RMT’s petition to save 1,100 jobs at P&O Ferries and help re-build Britain’s ferry industry.

We are firefighters in East Sussex who are extremely concerned about the proposed cuts to our fire service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, East Sussex Fire Authority are rushing through a consultation on further cuts to our service, including: ● Cutting 10 fire engines from across the county at Battle, Bexhill, Crowborough, Lewes, Newhaven, Rye, Uckfield, Seaford, Heathfield and Wadhurst fire stations; ● Cutting dedicated crews for high-reaching aerial fire appliances in Hastings, even after Grenfell; ● Cutting wholetime firefighter staffing levels across the county, particularly at fire stations in Lewes, Newhaven, Uckfield, Crowborough, Battle and Bexhill; ● Cutting on-call firefighter numbers across the county; ● Reducing night-time fire cover at The Ridge fire station; ● Introducing less family-friendly shift patterns As firefighters, we have a duty to tell you that these cuts are a clear and present danger to public safety. The plans proposed by East Sussex Fire Authority were also drawn up before the COVID-19 crisis, and do not take into account what fire and rescue services should look like into the future. We are currently taking on additional work to support our communities and emergency services, and cuts to our service will negatively impact our ability to keep the public safe. Our service is already under pressure due to years of austerity, which has seen 11,500 firefighter jobs cut across the UK, and 89 firefighter jobs cut in East Sussex. This pandemic has shown just how vital our fire service is – we cannot go back to an austerity model where our public services are the first in line for budget cuts. Public safety must be put first and our service needs investment, for now and for the future. Help us to put pressure on East Sussex Fire Authority to halt the consultation and stop cuts to our fire and rescue service. We are running out of time. Please send an email to the chair of the fire authority now.

Journalists – whether they are staff or freelance – need to be valued and their livelihoods protected. Targeted measures aimed at supporting quality journalism and bolstering independent, diverse, ethically-produced content are urgently needed. Covid-19 has demonstrated just how important credible, trusted news and information is, and NUJ members will play a vital role in reflecting and shaping the recovery yet to come. But this is not and cannot be about the preservation of the status quo. Journalists are not seeking handouts or compensation for the industry – we are looking for investment in our future to transform the news industry, make it fit for our collective purpose and truly serve the public good. Pledge your support today for the NUJ's recovery plan to create a news industry reimagined. Download the full plan from the NUJ website - https://www.nuj.org.uk/documents/from-health-crisis-to-good-news/

Unite Hackney cab and taxi drivers are ready to do whatever it takes to help keep the country moving during the coronavirus crisis, but we are facing financial ruin without the same level of government support. The Prime Minister and his chancellor said that they would do ‘whatever it takes’. For taxi drivers it takes: • Wage support straight away. No delay, until June. • No means testing of Universal Credit or other benefits. • Suspending or reducing all taxi related running costs, including licence plate fees, monthly radio fees, rental fees and insurance payments for taxis not on the road. • Backing loan repayment holidays for private hire vehicles and moratoriums on marking down drivers’ credit files. • Emergency interim payments to keep the taxi on the road. • Reviewing the licensing regime and stop all payments for licences, with a three month temporary extension for those expected to renew in the next 12 months. We’re ready to help. With these financial support measures, Unite taxi and private hire driver members stand ready to support our emergency services. We’re fully licenced and DBS checked. Clean, safe and wheelchair accessible. Equipped with a glass partition separating driver from passenger. Support us and we can: • Transport patients to and from non-emergency appointments. • Deliver shopping for the elderly or transport them to and from supermarkets • Transport key workers to work and deliver medical supplies. Unite Hackney taxi and private hire drivers are ready to talk.

We fear that if you go through with this then teachers will leave and you will be unable to replace them with teachers of the same calibre. The long-term impact of this could be catastrophic, leading to a loss of reputation and educational standard. We care about this school for the sake of our kids and all those that will follow them. If we want to guarantee their future, we have to safeguard their teachers' retirement.

I'm Peter Moorhead, I have worked for social care provider AFG for over 20 years. In 2019, AFG care workers took strike action against our employer because we were not being paid the minimum wage for so-called "sleep in" shifts. As UNISON's convenor (lead representative) for AFG, I was involved in supporting our members in their fight for fair pay. AFG did not react positively to the strike action. Recently, I have been informed by AFG that they are going to make me redundant and scrap any provision for a UNISON convenor at the care provider. We feel that AFG have unfairly selected the UNISON Convenor position for redundancy and that in reality this is about AFG responding to last year's industrial dispute by trying to shut down any worker representation at the organisation. AFG did not enter into meaningful consultation and their decision potentially amounts to trade union victimisation. This is bigger than my job though. With over 750 UNISON members working for AFG across the North West, the removal of the position will severely impact on the industrial relation with AFG and also hamper the day to day needs of UNISON members. Please sign this petition calling on AFG to do the decent thing and reverse their decision to make me redundant. Thank you for your support, Peter Moorhead (UNISON Convenor- AFG)

15.3 The role of the FRS in statutory duty of flood response has been set in the Devolved Administrations, but not England. Recommendation 39 of the Pitt Review stated that: “the Government should urgently put in place a fully funded national capability for flood rescue with Fire and Rescue Authorities playing a leading role, underpinned as necessary by a statutory duty”. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/715483/mafp-review-2018-final-report.pdf Fire & rescue services are best placed to co-ordinate flood rescue operations but, if, budgets continue to be cut, there is a real danger that they will only be able to respond to emergencies where they have a statutory duty to do so.

The Central Plaza hotel in Carlisle City Centre had stood empty and neglected since 2004. The costs incurred in making the building safe are believed to be running at around £900,000 and the demolition costs are reputed to be in the region of £1.3 million. The Victoria Viaduct was closed for two months in 2018 as works to ensure that masonry would not fall from the top of the crumbling building were undertaken. The disruption of traffic and pedestrians led to the closure of nearby local business Carlisle Bed Centre. The City Council were to take further measures under the Building Act 1984 s78 Dangerous Buildings - Emergency Measures, to ensure that the abandoned property did not present an immediate danger to people in or around it as sections of the interior began to dangerously collapse again in October 2019. The City Council was forced to close off the Victoria Viaduct road again, causing significant traffic disruption into the City centre from the West, and demolition crews moved in to take down the building due to further collapse and safety concerns in December. As only the Treasury can profit from any subsequent sale of the land through the Crown Estate, we believe that the financial costs incurred should be picked up by the Exchequer and not the City Council and council tax payers of Carlisle.