PCS members are having to take strike action to try and secure vital cost of living payments for all staff across National Museums Liverpool. Nobody wants to have to go on strike, but National Museums Liverpool (NML) are refusing to pay £1500 cost of living payment, and we are asking for your support and understanding that it is time to show the museums that it’s time they paid up! While museum bosses take home thousands of pounds a month, many of our lowest paid workers in this museum are choosing whether they should heat their homes or eat nutritious meals. That isn’t right. As people passionate about the culture, heritage, and story of this city and the fabulous collections we keep we deserve more than the basics for survival, we deserve to thrive, not merely survive. NML needs to find the money to pay its staff a fair wage, and to pay them the £1500 they are owed, and they deserve. Please show your support for the hard-working staff by writing to Sir David Henshaw, Chairman of the Board at National Museums Liverpool

London Underground employs hundreds of essential track workers on London’s iconic tube network through private contractors. These workers should be directly employed by London Underground, like other Tube maintenance workers, but instead London Underground has sub-contracted them through private companies who seek to make a profit from the contracts, meaning that the workers pay is kept low and they don’t get proper sick pay, pensions or holiday. Responding to a recent survey, 75% of these workers told RMT that they struggle to make ends meet, meaning that they sit by the phone waiting for work and feel obliged to accept any offers they get. The precariousness of their employment also means that they feel under pressure not to do anything that may jeopardise future work. Two thirds reported to us that they would be worried about reporting safety concerns for this reason. The private companies have made profits in excess of £30 million in the last five years. Now London Underground is re-tendering this work and will sign new contracts in March this year. RMT is concerned that it is looking to award to the cheapest bidder, which will lead to cuts in pay and hours for these workers. RMT is calling on the Mayor and the TfL Commissioner to bring these workers into direct employment with London Underground and, in the immediate term, confirm that there will be no detriment to staff and that all earnings and hours will be protected as part of the tendering. There must be no race to the bottom on the Tube.

Unite members working in catering for BaxterStorey at Drax Power Station are taking strike action in their fight for a pay rise, and they need your support. These workers, 95% of whom are women, are struggling to make ends meet. They are single mothers and grandmothers who are having to car share to save on fuel costs, work second jobs to pay their bills, and one member whose husband passed away in December has been unable to afford to pay for a funeral. The total value of a 50p per hour increase for all workers in the catering team would be just £15,314– this is peanuts for a company like Drax Power Station. The latest accounts for both companies show that Drax made £731 million in profits while BaxterStorey made £25 million in profits. Drax’s CEO Will Gardiner saw his pay package increase by £2.2 million to £5.4 million per year. Despite burning money like it’s old-growth forest when it comes to pay for executives, Drax are refusing to negotiate on the hourly rate for the workers who feed their employees. Instead, Drax have engaged in union-busting behaviour by banning the workers' Unite official from site, and preventing meetings from taking place between the workers and their union official.

High-quality, affordable childcare is critical to children’s development, especially the most vulnerable, and 0-3 years is where the biggest impact can be made on outcomes for children. Disadvantaged children benefit significantly from good quality preschool experiences, especially when they are educated with a mixture of children from different social and economic backgrounds - research has shown that this helps close the gap between them and their peers. This is particularly significant in Hackney, where there is a 43% child poverty rate, 10% higher than the London average. These cuts will hurt these children most and disadvantage minority groups. Closing these Children's Centre nurseries will result in the loss of 200 full-time, all-year, affordable childcare places to Hackney families. This is a 33% cut of subsidised nursery places in Hackney. The closures will disproportionately affect vulnerable children, lower-income families, women, single parents, and people of the Global Majority. Childcare costs are a driver of poverty and access to affordable childcare is essential for the wellbeing of working families. We want to protect the jobs of dedicated staff, many of whom also live in Hackney. We’re looking at over 40 staff (including support staff) over the two centres proposed for closure alone. Almost all staff are women and many are people of the Global Majority. We believe that more Children's Centre closures will follow as budgets are squeezed further and Hackney Council continue to make cuts to vital services. Children’s Centres provide vital support and services to local families and we must fight to keep them open! No Children’s Centre nursery closures! No cuts to affordable childcare!

Cutting £8.2m from schools will cause great harm to teaching, learning and wellbeing at a time when our teachers and support staff are, struggling to meet the needs of an ever growing number of pupils with Additional Support Needs, bearing the brunt on a daily basis of dysregulated pupil behaviour and suffering enormously from workload stress and low morale. Pupils that have an ASN need more to be invested in education, not less. But the same is also true of other pupils in their classes whose learning is also affected because teachers are so over-stretched as they struggle to attend to those with the greatest needs. Further cuts to Devolved School Management budgets will erode all kinds of provision. Some Head Teachers may be forced to cut numbers of Pupil Support Assistants, again affecting pupils who most need the support of these vital school workers. Others will cut per capita department budgets affecting which courses will be able to run or that basic essentials such as paper, pens, textbooks and vital resources will be increasingly unavailable. Schools cannot run on iPads alone. Already In some schools the amount of money available to spend per head is less than a pound a week and a great many teachers are buying pens, pencils and other resources for their pupils. The cost of these cuts to Edinburgh schools will be devastating, leading to increased stress and a decline in morale and wellbeing of teachers, support staff and senior leaders. Schools are constantly asked to look at how to raise attainment, how is it possible to do more with less.

These services are not just numbers on a balance sheet; they are invaluable lifelines for our community. They provide essential support to our most vulnerable citizens, from children and the elderly to those with disabilities or facing financial hardship. The proposed cuts would have devastating consequences. According to the Office for National Statistics, local government spending on services has already fallen by over 20% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2020-21 (source: National Audit Office). Further reductions would push our public services beyond breaking point.   We know that the Council are not investing in public services. They have increased the spending on private care home placements to £113 million - whilst nearly 50% of Derbyshire Council's OWN care home beds are empty! Moreover, bypassing the recognised trade unions (UNISON/ UNITE/ GMB) undermines the democratic process that should be at the heart of any changes in public service provision. The unions represent thousands of workers who dedicate their lives to serving our community - their voices must be heard. This is not just about preserving existing services; it's about protecting democracy, fairness, and social justice in Derbyshire.  We must stand together against these short-sighted cuts that prioritise profit over people.

Buses are the best used form of public transport and are vital for all ages. They enable people to lead fulfilling lives, connecting them with friends, family and the services they need. Unfortunately, due to austerity services have been severely degraded across England, with some places having no buses at all. Rising traffic has also taken its toll on services with buses caught in congestion, causing costs to rise. While the £2 bus fare cap has had a positive impact, some people can still find bus travel expensive. Information, bus shelters and ticketing are also all too often of poor quality and fragmented. This has led to many people being socially excluded with a lack of transport options. Others are being pushed into transport poverty. A radically different approach to bus services, acknowledging their wider benefits, including for the economy, would address these issues. They would create more inclusive, affordable and accessible (including for people with disabilities) services. They would help reduce motor traffic and pollution and help the UK meet its 2030 carbon target. So please consider adding your signature to the petition and help us get better bus services for everyone in England. This will give people better transport choices, reduce traffic and pollution and help us get to net-zero quickly enough.

Stand with BrewDog bar workers and demand they are paid fairly.

THERE IS NO U-TURN! Suffolk Council's u-turn announcement is nothing of the sort. Long-term stable funding for the 9 arts organisations currently supported by the Council is still facing a 100% cut. The Council's new announcement is for a one off pot of funding open to anyone, forcing arts organisations to compete against each other, for a smaller cake cut into many slices and causing uncertainty. The Council has confirmed that once this one-off pot has run out, they will still not fund any arts budget. ===== Equity members, local residents, arts and cultural organisations across East Anglia have raised serious concerns following a proposed £528,000 cut to arts and culture funding by Suffolk County Council. The nine organisations affected cover the whole county and include: Suffolk Artlink, the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, the Food Museum in Stowmarket and The Long Shop Museum in Leiston, New Wolsey Theatre, DanceEast and Eastern Angles in Ipswich, Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury and FirstLight Festival in Lowestoft. While these cuts represent a tiny fraction of the council's need to save £64.7 million, they will have a disproportionate impact on Suffolk residents who rely on the arts and culture for employment and the wider community engaged with the vital support provided by these organisations across the county. Companies like Eastern Angles and New Wolsey Theatre tour schools and special educational needs settings providing performances and workshops for children. Suffolk Artlink delivers services to diverse communities including children at risk and vulnerable adults, contributing to Suffolk County Council's strategic priorities. The Food Museum in Stowmarket, which has a national reputation for its community work, but now faces a 13% cut to its core funding. Together these organisations provide hundreds of jobs, support the local economy and provide thousands of hours of engagement for children and adults who need it in Suffolk. They do not deserve to lose access to culture. Sign our petition to oppose these 100% cuts now.

David John-Newman, ENO Chorus Member and Workplace Representative for Equity: “For years, my colleagues in the ENO chorus have dedicated their professional lives to bringing the best and most accessible opera to the widest and most diverse audiences possible. We are truly excited about an additional ENO base being located in Manchester but heartbroken there are no concrete plans to take the performing workforce there and share great ENO experiences with audiences in the North West. In addition, ENO are reducing the chorus contract to just six months and offering a wage which will be unsustainable for work in central London. “On a personal level I am devastated to think that, being born in Manchester and having had to come to London to fulfil my dream of being an opera singer, the chance for me to go back and inspire other Mancunians to consider working in the performing arts is lost because of these ill thought out plans. The government’s ambition to “Level Up” will in fact lead to less opportunity to access opera unless you are of means. We don’t want to have to ballot for industrial action, all we want is a ‘Fair wage on Stage’.”

1. Local Economy: Encouraging cycling in areas designated as pedestrian zones can draw more tourists and boost foot traffic. The local economy benefits from the increased frequency with which cyclists pause and spend money at nearby cafes, stores, and other establishments. 2. Environment: Promoting cycling lessens the need for motor cars, which lowers emissions, enhances air quality, and eases traffic congestion in urban areas. This has a good impact on the region's overall environmental sustainability. 3. Health and Well-Being: Cycling encourages physical activity and provides a convenient, low-impact workout. Cycling promotes better lifestyles among locals and tourists by being integrated into pedestrianised zones, which may save healthcare expenditures and enhance public health overall. 4. Accessibility and Connectivity: As a cost-effective and environmentally responsible form of transportation, cycling may improve accessibility. It can more efficiently connect various areas of the city centre, facilitating people's movement around and access to a range of services. 5. Involvement with the Community: By encouraging active mobility, integrating cycling into pedestrianised zones promotes community participation. It encourages diversity by drawing people from a variety of backgrounds to socialise and participate in urban life. 6. Hospitality Economy: Some restaurants rely on courier services for as much as 40% of their revenue, highlighting the critical role they play in the industry. However, the absence of a well-planned and integrated cycling network hinders our city’s ability to meet the demands of a 21st century economy by implementing a modern cycle network that promotes efficiency for services and deliveries and empowers couriers. These considerations inevitably and unnecessarily impact service quality and speed, further restricting customers' access to restaurants listed on these platforms by narrowing the delivery radius. 7. The Crucial Role of Couriers in Assisting Vulnerable Communities: Couriers are essential to York's vulnerable populations. During the pandemic and beyond they serve as a critical life line to necessary groceries and medications in addition to delivering hot meals. Collaborating with prominent retailers like Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Co-op, Asda, BP, M&S, and McColls, couriers guarantee the accessibility of essentials to the vulnerable, shielding, and disabled without jeopardising their safety. Acknowledging the humanitarian nature of their work emphasises how critical it is to address the particular difficulties that couriers encounter in the existing system. 8. Life Quality and Rights of Local Couriers: The very nature of courier work demands effective and efficient routes, this frequently leads to results in fixed penalty notices and performance related issues for law-abiding couriers. Protecting the rights and welfare of local couriers is a commitment to maintaining the principles of a caring and vibrant community as well as an issue of economic justice. Local couriers are engaged members of the community who do more than simply deliver packages. They support the local economy by shopping at local establishments, paying taxes, and vote locally. They contribute entirely. They should not be criminalised for doing there jobs and penalised by inadequate infrastructure. By combining these elements, a city centre that is dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable may be built that promotes environmental preservation, economic development, and the health and happiness of both locals and tourists.

In a recent survey of Oxfam staff, 34% have had to make a choice between heating their house and feeding their family in the last 12 months. And more than 1 in 5 said they had not been able to pay their rent. Meanwhile, Oxfam has more than doubled its reserve level to £35-45 million. And in 2011/22 the CEO’s salary was £121,000, that’s 6.7 times the pay of the average employee. We deserve a pay rise, and Oxfam can well afford to give it to us. Isn’t it time Oxfam ended poverty at Oxfam? Take a look at this video highlighting the poverty workers at Oxfam are facing: https://youtu.be/G4tH8zgx49A