News digest 3 June 2011
The digest starts with sombre news of the
death of four workers after an accident at a refinery in Wales. The
main story of the day remains local government cuts with Birmingham
council being taken to task and Southampton’s workers continuing to
take action. There’s a call to nationalise Southern Cross, a danger
that PFI may be back, while the public sector pay freeze is
condemned as the Commons credit card takes off even with the war on
waste, bad news from Lotus cars, while Twinings loses EU funding,
Aviva gets a new UK boss and Glencore goes on a charm
offensive…
Four die in refinery
explosion – Thoughts with the family and friends of four
workers who died after an explosion at a plant in Pembroke Dock,
south-west Wales. The explosion was in a 730 cubic metre storage
tank, where maintenance was being carried out. Owner Chevron
confirmed that the four people who died were contractors and said
another worker was receiving treatment in hospital for serious
injuries (Mirror p15,
Express p18, Mail p2, Times p4, Guardian p10, Telegraph p2).
Outrage over outsourcing –
The outsourcing of 100 jobs to India by Birmingham council is
followed up in a number of newspapers. Unison members at the
council are also voting in a ballot over planned new contracts
which would abolish payments for weekend and out-of-hours work. The
separate dispute at Southampton city council also heard from Unite
general secretary Len McCluskey yesterday who said:
"When will employers realise that macho management does
not work? You cannot tell workers that they must accept
serious attacks on their wages or be sacked and not expect them to
defend themselves. Southampton's workers have time and again
proposed a better way forward to an employer that refuses to listen
… negotiation, not intimidation, is the only way to solve this
dispute.” (Times p19, Guardian p15, Telegraph p, FT p4, Morning Star p1/2,
http://www.localgov.co.uk/index.cfm?method=news.detail&id=99515,
Southern Daily Echo,
Conservative Home, Unite
release)
Nationalise Southern Cross –
Labour MP John Mann calls for firm to be taken into public
ownership to protect the vulnerable people being cared for in the
Mirror (p7), but most of the
other papers report that the company looks more likely to go under.
Private equity managers said the problems were nothing to do with
them while it also noted that one of Southern Cross’ directors,
Sally Morgan, was appointed by education secretary Michael Gove as
chair of Ofsted, let’s hope schools don’t go the same way (Mail p4, Times p3, Indie p6, Guardian p28, FT p1, Morning Star p8)
Private finance funding state
schools – And the FT (p3)
has a full page feature on the cuts impacting the education
department with the trail that a wave of up to 100 state schools
could be built using private finance as the education department
has not got enough funds to deal with the baby boom, and we all
know who gains from PFI…
Housing benefits cuts hit
disabled – And the Guardian (p6) highlights a report
from homeless charity crisis that says changes to housing benefit
for young people could make 11,000 disabled people homeless as the
rules that limit housing claims to a single room in a shared flat
are extended to single people aged up to 34; the move is expected
to force many young disabled people into unsuitable
accommodation.
Public sector pay freeze
'unprecedented' – As government data shows that private
sector pay rises have started to nudge upwards, hitting three per
cent in the last quarter unions, including Unite and the TUC, have
slammed the unprecedented squeeze on teachers, nurses and other
public sector workers as figures showed pay settlements running at
zero. Unite assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail, said:
"This is an unprecedented attack on millions of
workers' living standards. It's grossly unfair - the public
servants that our families rely on are having to endure real
hardship because of the cavalier attitude of the Tory-led
government and many councils across the country.”
(Morning Star p2,
Unite
release).
Commons credit card bill hits
£880,000 – The latest details on MPs allowances shows that
MPs racked up spending of close to a million on the new payment
cards for their allowances which totalled £3.2 million in the first
two months of 2011. The new cards are used for travel, hotels,
utility bills, stationery and other office payments, even disgraced
MP Eric Illsey pocketed thousands of pounds (legitimately) even
though he had admitted fiddling previous claims. The Mirror (p4-5) features payment cards
that are also used by senior civil servants who have come in for
criticism after splashing out on boozy dinners and posh hotels,
(Sun p2, Express p2, Mail p20, Indie p20, Guardian p11, Telegraph p10, Morning Star p4).
War on waste continues –
Government announces that it wants to make more savings by running
Whitehall more efficiently, again. The Express (p29) says that Philip
Green’s report wants to save £3 billion, while the Mail (p12) says savings could
reach £10 billion. Government procurement is to be looked at as a
key opportunity and cabinet office minister Francis Maude has said
consultant fees need to be curbed, did they really need a report to
work that out? (Telegraph
p4, FT p2)
Brick boost – Some good news,
even though construction confidence remains poor the latest
purchasing managers’ index shows that the construction sector is
once again recruiting workers (Mirror p58, Sun p52, Times p42, Guardian p29, Telegraph b2, FT p4).
Lotus applies brakes – But
sports car maker is to axe 100 jobs at it Norfolk plant in a new
cost reduction drive, the company failed to get a government grant
earlier this year (Mirror
p58, Mail p75, Indie p29, Guardian p29, Telegraph b7, Morning Star p5).
Twinings loses funding – And
the Guardian (p29) reports
that the EU has withdrawn a £10.5 million grant to the tea company
after it closed its North Shields plant and transferred production
to Poland; the company wanted the grant to transfer machinery
rather than – as stipulated - buy new equipment
Leahy’s lucky strike? - From
tea to tobacco and ex Tesco boss Terry Leahy is investing a chunk
of his own fortune in a new ;’smokeless cigarette’ which will offer
all the rituals and routines of smoking, but without the added risk
of cancer (Express p66,
Indie p14).
Cucumber conundrum spreads –
Still no source for the E. coli outbreak but it has been confirmed
that it is a mutant strain of the virus. Spanish authorities were
considering suing Germany over the loss of earnings, but have
backtracked slightly, suppose they have seen who is paying for the
euro bailout, or will they be covered by insurance? (Mirror p7, Sun p11, Express p1, Mail p1, Times p15, Indie p4, Guardian p4, Telegraph p1, FT p9)
New Aviva boss – Shake up at
insurer’s UK division to be headed up by Trevor Matthews after
current head resigns (Express p66, Mail p74, Times p45, Guardian p28, Telegraph b1, FT p18).
Glencore’s charm offensive –
And finally the (FT p19)
reports that even with the giant share offering the commodities
company goes on a push to try to shore up investor confidence after
the share offering has split investors, so will they be charmed or
offended, only time will tell…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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