The benefits of free school meals for Primary School pupils are many. Common sense and research shows, well fed children make greater progress in the classroom. Results go up, absence goes down. The benefits will outweigh costs, as they do in Finland, Estonia and Cuba for example. A 2022 analysis of UK costs and benefits by Pricewaterhouse Coopers is clear. (Commissioned by Impact on Urban Health.) Benefits include: - an increased cost saving to schools, increased lifetime earnings by children when they reach adulthood, which means a greater tax contribution. - increased savings on food costs to families and NHS savings, as obesity and ill health decrease. PwC estimated, the overall wider benefit for society by expanding free school meals between 2025 and 2045 would be a staggering £99.5bn. In his automated email response, Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely writes, he is: “pushing hard every day to [ensure] .... no one is left behind.” Between autumn 2018/19 and autumn 2022/23, the number of Isle of Wight children eligible for income-related free school meals increased from 2,452 to 4,008. We need to push harder. Free schools meals for all will help ensure far fewer young children on the Isle of Wight are left behind. This is why we urge you to sign this petition before the Week of Action 24-30 June. It is our chance to mobilise the Isle of Wight and dial up pressure on the Government and our MP to pass the Free School Meals for All Bill. You may also wish to sign the national petition at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-the-week-of-action/?source=emailshare&. On behalf of all primary children present and future, we thank you very much for reading and signing.

North Tyneside Council has decided to 'appoint a new preferred provider' for the Exchange building in North Shields. That means a private company will be taking over the space, and the Exchange theatre charity will be evicted by 17 April, putting live theatre in North Shields at risk, and depriving Equity members of local work. This is a purely commercial decision, and does not represent a real investment in the cultural value to the local community. This is a shocking failure of leadership by the Mayor and local council. We're demanding that Mayor Redfearn and North Tyneside Council ensure there is no sudden eviction and commit to keeping live theatre at the exchange by making this a condition of the lease agreement with the new operator. We want to ensure that the people of North Shields don't lose a live theatre venue in the heart of their community, and that it continues to provide good quality jobs for local Equity members, on Equity agreed contracts. Sign our petition to demand Mayor Redfearn and North Tyneside Council do the right thing and Save Live Theatre at the Exchange Theatre.

The government recently indicated it may raise the state pension age for millions of workers aged 44 to 52. Fearing massive defeat in the next general election, the government announced on Thursday 30 March it will delay this decision until the next Parliament. We must still drive home our message to Parliament: workers will not be made to pay for decades of politicians' bad choices. Older people deserve dignity, respect and financial security, now and in the future. The profits of the UK's largest companies are now 89 per cent higher than before the pandemic, but workers are not seeing our fair share. Our life expectancy is no longer rising, our NHS has been cut to the bone, our work doesn't pay, and our workplace pensions have been raided. We will not allow our State Pension to be raided too. Workers create the wealth in this society, and we demand a share of that wealth in our old age. 68 is too late! *** Join Unite in the fight for dignity in retirement. Join here: https://join.unitetheunion.org/ *** *** Join the National Pensioners Convention, the campaigning organisation for older people in the UK here: https://www.npcuk.org/join-the-npc *** *** Join the Scottish Pensioners Forum here: https://scottishpensioners.org.uk/ ***

The UK is in the midst of a “cost of greed crisis” as working people’s incomes fail to keep up with soaring inflation. It is no surprise that this has a negative effect on ordinary families who are struggling to pay basic household bills. In Glasgow over 24% - 152,000, people have said they are experiencing moderate to severe levels of food poverty. This is against the backdrop of companies such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda nearly doubling their combined profit to £3.2 billion in 2021 compared to 2019. Our two demands are: 1. End means-based ‘free’ school meals and provide school dinners for all children. 2. Eradicate school meal debt - WON!

London’s 2,000 Underground cleaners worked heroically throughout the pandemic and they deserve better than to be outsourced to a US company that holds down their pay, pays no sick pay and gives them no pension scheme, while it making more than £14 million in profit during the pandemic. Wherever Labour is in power it should be working to end the scourge of outsourcing, which creates low pay, two-tier workforces and reinforces inequality. The campaign to insource these cleaners has won support from across the labour movement including the TUC, the London Labour Regional Executive, the Labour Group in the London Assembly, 11 London Labour MPs, 9 London Labour peers and more than 200 London Labour Councillors. In April this year, the Mayor has promised to review this contract again. With your help we can persuade him to end the scourge of outsourcing on the Tube and commit to bring these cleaners in-house.

Everyone has the right to a safe environment at their place of work. Drivers who are lone, mobile workers, whose environment changes regularly and sometimes rapidly, should have the confidence to adapt and have the support of their employer in making those decisions

With the cost-of-living-crisis, Arrow XL drivers and their families are struggling to pay their rent, mortgages and general household bills on the poor wages they receive and instead of Arrow XL management negotiating, they have decided to attack its’ loyal workforce by sacking two of our members who were on strike. It's time for Arrow XL to enter into meaningful negotiations with their drivers and their union, Unite about their pay claim and they must re-instate the sacked workers with immediate effect.

These workers deserve a decent pay rise and the hugely profitable Amazon can afford to give it to them. They worked all through the pandemic, risking their lives keeping households stocked with essentials and dispensing goods that got us through the Covid restrictions. Amazon workers are expected to meet punishing targets day in, day out, and face intrusive monitoring of their performance. Many workers cannot keep up with the spiralling costs of food, energy and petrol. The latest insulting pay offer is the last straw. The company only want to give their workers an extra 35p an hour – nowhere near enough to cover the bills. In August 2022, protests broke out in Amazon sites across the UK. Amazon workers are standing up to these corporate bullies. These workers know that Amazon will try to stop them from coming together. But they’re not going to let that deter them. We need to stand up alongside them. We need to send a message to Amazon workers across the UK: we support you! Add your name and show Amazon workers that they have got our support all the way!

Schools Support staff are vital to the running of our Schools and the education our Children. We believe the success of our School and the education they provide will be badly affected by these proposals. School Support staff are some of the lowest paid staff in Schools and proposals to cut their wages in the middle of a cost of living crisis is harsh and wrong.

On 17 November, the government will announce in its autumn statement whether it will reinstate the state pension triple lock for 2023. The triple lock rules that the state pension must rise in line with whichever is highest of inflation, average earnings or 2.5%. The Prime Minister has previously refused to commit to reinstating the triple lock. For 2022, the triple lock was suspended meaning that the state pension rise of 3.1% in April was quickly overtaken by inflation which at that point was already at 11%. The cost of living crisis is really a cost of greed crisis. Profiteering energy companies are driving up energy bills and driving more people into poverty. Older people spend a larger proportion of their fixed income on energy bills, meaning more of Unite's retired members will be forced into an impossible choice - between heating or eating. We are calling on the Prime Minister to do the right thing by our retired members and reinstate the triple lock. *** Join Unite in the fight for dignity in retirement, through Retired Members Plus membership. Join here: https://join.unitetheunion.org/ *** *** You can also write to your MP using the National Pensioner Convention's (NPC) template letter, here: https://www.npcuk.org/post/write-to-your-mp-to-save-the-triple-lock ***

OCS staff at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust do the same job as their NHS colleagues but their terms and conditions are substantially worse. They don't get enhancements or overtime rates. Sign this letter now to send a message to the trust board that they deserve full parity with NHS staff.

Our bus services are broken. But they could be world-class. The Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor has the power to fix our buses by bringing them back into public control. Right now, private bus companies do what they like, dictating prices, routes, and timetables. You’ve seen the results: catastrophic cuts, skyrocketing fares, and buses that never turn up on time. It’s not just a bad deal for passengers — drivers are overworked and underpaid, leaving the bus companies struggling to run a reliable service as staff shortages bite. No wonder our drivers are sometimes forced to go on strike! Public control would mean affordable fares and more frequent buses. All with a smart ticket where daily spending is capped. And why not? It’s what they have in London! It would also put staff pay and conditions in public control, delivering a better deal for drivers and more reliable buses for you. Local politicians are there to represent YOU! Let them know you think buses should be in public control.