Eric's Blog

The Olympics are nearly upon us. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are due to come to the United Kingdom and most will flock to the Capital.

The newspapers are full of it. The media is full of it. The world-wide web is full of it.

The London Mayor is full of it. Parliament is full of it (I am still talking about the Olympics!).

For London it is the Olympics: for the staff of the London Ambulance Service it is the Notting Hill Carnival, New Years Eve, the World Cup, the Royal Wedding and Friday nights in the West End rolled into one, every day, all day, night and day, for two months or more!

Every member of staff, uniformed or not, will be under enormous pressure.

Business as usual? I don’t think so! Continue Reading

In October 2010 I wrote a posting on this blog entitled ‘Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (Service)!’ If you can, you should go back and read it. Good morning: it’s Groundhog Day!

Tory London Fire Authority Chiefs must have  ”if at first you don’t succeed, try try again” hot wired into their brains! This is usually a positive attribute to have, but not in this case. Ten out of ten for persistence – nought out of ten for originality! Continue Reading

I read today on the BBC News website that Michael Gove, the Tory Education Secretary, has put the idea forward that the nation should buy a new Royal Yacht as a gift to the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee! Continue Reading

The London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee published their report ‘The Future of the London Ambulance Service’ on the 15th December 2011. It is well worth a read, if only to get an insight into the way Boris Johnson (London Mayor) played with his toy cars as a child.

1. The future of the London Ambulance Service

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It is important for us all to understand that the present attack on our pensions, are not just about pensions!

Pensions are the Trojan Horse and Public Services the City of Troy. 

Make no mistake though, a robbery is in progress. Under cover of red herrings, lies and misrepresentations, public sector workers are being mugged and our pensions are being stolen. Continue Reading

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, called the 30th November Day of Action by over two million public sector workers a ‘damp squib’!

I think we will soon see the first scientific evidence of a damp squib exploding in the face of a British premier!

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The clock continues to tick down the days towards the Day of Action on the 30th November 2011.
A day that will see thousands upon thousands of public sector workers from all professions, all parts of the country, all trade unions, all united and, more to the point, all angry – joining with one voice to tell the Coalition Government “Hands Off Our Pensions!”. Continue Reading

The day before UNISON announced that our members had voted overwhelmingly to support the Day of Action on the 30th November, Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander (Treasury Secretary) and Tory Francis Maude (Cabinet Secretary) outlined a number of new proposals to the TUC pension negotiating team. Continue Reading

You would think, reading some of the press, that public sector pensions are something new. It’s as if the government woke up one day and discovered, to their horror, that public sector workers have a pension when they retire! They are not new. Continue Reading

At the recent TUC Conference Dave Prentis, General Secretary announced that UNISON would ballot members for industrial action over pensions.

Negotiations have been ongoing for 8 months but so far have produced little of any value to UNISON members.

We are asking LAS members to vote YES in the forthcoming ballot for industrial action to protect public sector pensions. Continue Reading