Kevan Jones has responded to our concerns over the future of Kentigern House.
On this Friday, the 13th, to 'celebrate' the start of the HP SPVA Interim Contract, HP have arranged a complimentary breakfast for all SPVA staff. (Unless of course you aren't at core sites... sorry IPPH and VWS!)
The sale of Kentigern House in Glasgow is going ahead.
...Yeah, right!
Yesterday the Mail published an article attacking facilities given to trade union representatives in the civil service.
One of Britain’s biggest unions — which has campaigned fiercely against government cutbacks to public sector pensions — is to cut back its scheme for its own staff, says todays The Times.
"Whistleblowing within the civil service needs to be encouraged if the government wants to stem leaks, a cross-party group of MPs recommends."
Private Eye No.1242, 7-20 August, HP Sauce
Check out the latest Eye for the lowdown on MoD accounts, and our part of the business in particular.
This is the story of one of the great unspoken scandals of our times. Today, the people across the world who most need life-saving medicine are being prevented from producing it. Here's the latest example: factories across the poor world are desperate to start producing their own cheaper Tamiflu to protect their populations – but they are being sternly told not to. Why? So rich drug companies can protect their patents – and profits. There is an alternative to this sick system, but we are choosing to ignore it.
The Government launches an appeal today over two soldiers who won massive increases in compensation paid for injuries.
Defence ministers spurned three separate deals to buy American Black Hawk helicopters which would have helped to plug the dangerous shortage facing British troops in Afghanistan. The most recent rejection came only days ago, the Observer can reveal.
Millions of Japanese salarymen, whose fathers and grandfathers initiated this nation's economic miracle, are fully aware that the chaff has already been winnowed out of the domestic workforce.
There is an urban myth that all pay in the private sector is frozen, and so public-sector pay should be frozen too. In fact, pay awards have continued in the private sector this year - about two-thirds have awarded increases, from 1% to 4% or more. A Guardian article (Chancellor signals pay squeeze for public sector, 6 July) uses misleading earnings figures which seemingly give credence to the urban myth. They write: "Average earnings in the public sector for the three months to March 2009 (including bonuses) stood at +3.6% in the public sector, compared to -1.2% in the private sector." This private sector figure is dramatically negative almost entirely because of a large drop in bonus earnings in the financial sector in February and March. (Earnings growth in finance in February was -28.4% because of the drop in bonuses for high flyers.)
Today we remember the 52 victims of the London bombings of 7th July 2005, as today sees the unveiling of a permanent memorial in their memory.
Families of 8,000 British troops killed since WWII to be given new Elizabeth Cross medal. The Queen is to recognise the loss suffered by the families of armed forces personnel killed on operations with the award of an honour in her name.
The government is to nationalise Britains most profitable railway as National Express losses control. Could it be that this government is being forced, through circumstances beyond its control, to do some of the very things our union campaigns for?
A "landmark" legal decision involving three councils in the north east of England could pave the way for 12,000 men to take forward equal pay claims.Financial settlements had earlier been made on groups of women workers paid less than men doing similar work.
On Tuesday, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that 300 male workers had been discriminated against as they were then on lower pay than the women.
This was at the same time as women in low paid jobs, who were also claiming that the bonuses were discriminatory.
'Piggy back'
Whilst the women's case succeeded and they were offered financial settlements, the men were not. This left them in a worse financial situation to the women, as well as the better-paid men.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that the 300 men should have been offered the same back pay as the women. These claims are sometimes called piggy back claims as the men "piggy back" on the successful women's claims.
John 'Flipper' Bercow (not pictured opposite) has been elected, by his peers as Speaker of the House of Commons.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is set to announce a profligate and obscene £9.6 million pay deal for its chief executive, it was reported today.
It comes to our attention that in the continuing headlong rush to sell off the family silver, MoD are currently touting Kentigern House to the highest bidders...
...of at least some of his ill gotten gains. He still walks away loaded with more than sections worth of pensions mind!
Veterans Agency National Branch today voted to support the campaign to re-elect Mark Serwotka as General Secretary of PCS.
Significant ruling in a case points the way to defence of members who receive overpayments in the future.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: "This is a victory for common sense."
You might, like us , have received the latest copy of @SPVA, the "Norcross Special Edition". And like us, you might be wondering what has happened to the Norcross Trade Union Side, as like Waldo, they seem to be missing ?
Please sign the petition to say 'no' to the BNP in the civil and public service.
Just a reminder that it is election day on the 4th of June... just two days before the anniversary of the D-Day landings, when men of many nations and all races joined together to strike a decisive blow against nazism.
This diagram shows the structure of the PCS in SPVA and the relationships of the branch's to the GEC and NEC. Click on the image for a clearer view.
...despite at the time dismissed as routine clerical and pay data seems to have included sensitive details of drug abuse, extra marital affairs and the visits to prostitutes of RAF personnel.
Royal Bank of Scotland is under fire over new bonus schemes for its chief executive, Stephen Hester, amid yet further 'concern' about the performance criteria attached to multimillion-pound awards by a bank 70% owned by the taxpayer.The latest theft of public money follows the award of shares worth £5m to four RBS bankers last week. The largest award was to Ellen Alemany, who runs the bank's US business and was given almost 6m shares, worth £2.4m based on Friday's closing price of 41p. Three other bankers had awards of about 1.8m shares each, worth about £750,000 at current share prices.
The shares were awarded during an ongoing review of the pay structure for Hester, parachuted in as chief executive when Sir Fred Goodwin was ousted last year. Goodwin's pension of £700,000 a year continues to cause controversy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/24/rbs-banking-bonus-scheme-criticism"
Andy Boylan of Veterans Agency National Branch moves a motion at the annual delegate conference 2009. The photograph is taken from the perspective of an MoD delegate... at the front of conference this year.
At the PCS Annual Delegate Conference 2009 in Brighton, the SPVA branches meet together for the first time and agree to join together and establish an SPVA blog to share unity of purpose of their respective branches and to act as a communication hub for members and branch officers. Ian Melvin of VA branch volunteered to set up a blogger page for the purpose and to maintain it into the future...
