Updated 10:33am 11 February 2012:

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Kevin Rowan

Kevin Rowan

How will the changes affect poor?

AN inevitable post-recession problem for any government is the significant costs of unemployment.Read

Agency has done a vital job for us

THE apparent concession to regional economic organisations in the coalition Government agreement published last week is clearly to be welcomed here in the North East. Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, talked large about his total determination to abolish regional development agencies (RDAs) without hesitation.Read

North East to brace itself again

AHEAD of the general election campaign, when the polls were indicating a strong likelihood of a Conservative majority there were discussions among leading trade unionists about how it was important to be considered and, initially at least, temperate in the reaction to a Tory government.Read

Vote for the party that gets it right

A FEW days before polling day it could be no surprise that the focus of almost all commentators is on the choices before the electorate on May 6.Read

Support for Workers' Memorial Day event

WEDNESDAY sees another commemoration of Workers’ Memorial Day with asbestos poisoning remaining the single biggest killer in the workplace.Read

World Poverty still on the agenda

AMID the fuss and furore around the General Election, with consideration focusing on local and national issues, not to mention the air traffic shutdown, the actions and events for World Poverty Day yesterday will not have featured on many radars.Read

Tax increase protesters are not thinking of the big picture

WHAT is surprising about the political furore around business opposition to potential National Insurance increases is the 'surprise'.Read

Differences in outlook grow stark

LAST week's Budget was the latest in a series of ‘last chances’ the Labour government has had to convince the voting public it is still the right party to lead the country.Read

Future now starting to look better

THE announcement that Nissan has selected its Washington plant as the site for the manufacture of the new Leaf electric car is a great boost to the region.Read

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

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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