Updated 10:35am 11 February 2012:

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Kevin Rowan

Kevin Rowan

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

Why the future really can be bright green

A NATURAL sense of optimism led me to believe that the green manufacturing revolution would always happen. Read

Vital matters to debate at the Congress

TODAY sees the start of the 141st Annual Trade Union Congress, in Liverpool as it happens.Read

Jobless rate is long-term problem

AS talk of recovery from recession begins to gain some momentum the discussions around resolving some of the key structural challenges in the labour elements of the economy are producing some interesting food for thought.Read

Column: Kevin Rowan

THERE is no doubt at all that the Network Rail proposal to route high-speed rail entirely up the West coast would guarantee that the regional economic disparities endured in the North East would be exacerbated.Read

Lessons to learn in the downturn

THE news that France and Germany have moved out of recession is something we have all been looking forward to.Read

Renewables offer us the chance to lead the revolution

IT is not hard in the current environment to be enthusiastic about whatever good news opportunities may be appearing in the regional economy. While we may not be desperate for success we are all scanning the horizon for encouraging signs.Read

Action needed to stamp out loan sharks

MOST of the focus on the banking and finance sector has been on the high-end investment side. Read

It costs to be a mother and a worker

AN excellent new report this month from the Fawcett Society emphasises the dramatic cost of motherhood to working women.Read

Help needed to save key industries

ONE of the features of this current recession has been how quickly things can change.Read

Time for a rethink on essential services

THE headlines last week included some pretty big ticket issues: penalties for young people who don’t wish to accept the narrow range of options in the Young Person’s Guarantee; 110,000 new homes; an upturn in manufacturing output; the apparent abandonment of attempts to privatise the Royal Mail; and the utter failure of the National Express operations of the East Coast Mainline leading to its re-nationalisation. Read

This is no time to be complacent

WE still need an urgent focus on generating new employment.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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