Updated 4:11pm 20 March 2010:

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Kevin Rowan

Kevin Rowan

Time to talk up public services

TODAY sees the Newcastle launch of a national trade union campaign for public services. Public services, as well as public sector employment, are more important here than anywhere else in the UK.Read

Time we worked our hours

DESPITE the fact that there has been a significant drop in the number of people in work combined with the fact that those in work are working shorter weeks the number of people working ‘extreme’ unpaid overtime of more than 10 hours a week has increased by 14,000 to nearly 900,000 last year, according a new analysis of official statistics published last week by the TUC.Read

Tyne and Tees - never have they contrasted so sharply

THE anticipated start of the mothballing process of Redcar Steelworks marks the beginning of an extremely difficult period in the economy and social fabric of the Tees Valley.Read

Tackling inequality makes sense

TACKLING inequality at work has long been accepted as the right thing to do both morally, there can be no reasonable justification for discriminating against individuals on the basis of their personal characteristics, and increasingly from a business perspective, there is increasing evidence of the sound business case for diversity and equality in the workplace.Read

Growth is great but let's not get over-excited

THE economic growth reported this week, however minor, is much better news than we’ve enjoyed for some time. No one should get over excited about this latest set of figures and some will want to downplay this upturn completely.Read

Poverty still the reality for too many

WHILE much of the political discourse is focusing on the ‘need’ to reduce the public deficit as quickly as possible, forming a key battleground for the General Election, some apparently less glamorous discussions are struggling for airtime.Read

Bankers still don't get why we're angry

THE continuing precarious nature of Tata Corus in Redcar, the announcement of Bosch to close its components factory in South Wales and the general, pervasive mood of anxiety and uncertainty in the majority of workplaces contrasts dramatically with the astounding picture of returning large-scale bonuses being dished out by arrogant, ignorant bankers.Read

New Year brings new anxieties

THE New Year starts with a raft of anxiety for many workers in the region. If you work in the private sector there are warnings of austerity from business organisations; in the public sector or the third sector the overwhelming discourse is of tough times ahead, understood by the majority of workers to mean the very real risk of budget cuts and subsequent job losses.Read

Legal nit-picking that undermines the right to strike

THE news that the Unite cabin crew strike at British Airways was the subject of a High Court injunction was greeted with radically divergent views.Read

Workers must be protected during green revolution

EVEN without the focus of the Copenhagen jamboree there doesn’t seem to be more than a day or so go by without some reference to the challenges and opportunities of shifting to a low carbon economy.Read

Fragility of the economy still evident

TWO decisions last week should contribute further thinking to this week’s Pre-Budget Report from the Chancellor.Read

Why Heathrow really matters

WHILE there are strong industrial relations criticisms relating to the chief executive of British Airways, the CBI are to be congratulated for bringing Willie Walsh to Newcastle to debate the importance of international air links to the North East economy.Read

Easy agreement on top jobs in the EU

FOR many commentators the only surprising feature of the decision to appoint Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy and Baroness Cathy Ashton into the new senior posts created by the final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was the speed at which consensus was achieved.Read

Now isn't the time to cut the public sector

IT seems that wherever I go at the minute there are discussions about the pressure on public services and how important and 'inevitable' it will be for the public sector to be cut to help manage the current budget deficit.Read

Why there's quite some way to travel

A VERY small number of people in the region enjoy the luxury of being able to determine the time at which they start and finish their working day. This is largely confined to senior management or directors, or those who benefit from working for an employer who has fully embraced smarter working principles and practices.Read

Still a long way to go on pay equality

THE TUC joined a number of equality organisations last week in commemorating ‘equal pay day’.Read

Public services are a driver, not a burden

THERE was appropriate fanfare at the launch of the Institute for Local Governance at the continually impressive Sage in Gateshead last week.Read

Does the public care about poverty?

THE inevitable point-scoring era that ushers in a very long general election campaign has begun with the main Party conferences.Read

A message that's really got through

IT is 35 years since the Health and Safety at Work Act was introduced. It was a radical piece of legislation.Read

It's the poorer workers who need to clock on after 65

ON the face of it, last week’s High Court decision to reinforce the ability of employers to force workers to leave work at the ‘default retirement age’ of 65 was a classic example of different bits of public policy colliding.Read

Author Profile

Kevin Rowan is regional secretary of Northern TUC and also writes a weekly column for The Journal covering all major business issues affecting the North East. Kevin was formerly the regional organiser of the GMB where he was been involved in a series of campaigning issues. He was brought up in Cumbria and studied government and public policy at Northumbria University.

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