The thing about this dispute that keeps sticking in my mind is the fact that Boris and others keep coming out with the line "There will be NO forced redundancies"
That line is exactly the same as the one peddled by a scumbag by the name of Blane Judd who was the public face of the companies involved in the Electricians dispute that I was part of three years ago.
We were continuously told that no one would be sacked. But when you looked into it. Under employment law, you were being put into a position that you were not being sacked but putting yourself out of work by not accepting the new T&Cs.
So even though Boris is legally telling the truth by saying that there will be no forced redundancies I can guarantee people will be losing their jobs.
As a public sector worker, in what could be described as a volatile and potentially dangerous environment, neither I nor my colleagues have had a payrise for four years so effectively a pay cut. However we're more concerned about staff cuts because as a result there has been a dramatic rise in assaults and disorder. That is why I am part of our union. It's illegal for us to strike so it's imperative that we have union representation to offer us a modicum of protection against a government who would gladly see us all replaced with privatised cheaper staff. We have to stand together or else I can see one of my colleagues being killed on duty.
To make it relevant to the thread, I would love to have a union leader like Bob Crow. I'd have a lot more faith in my union if we did.
Addickted didn't answer the question as to why Market rates are seen as the true rate which you agree are extortionate. Its not subsidised, it is just a more sensible rate that everybody should be paying. The only reasons that rents are so high is that not enough social housing / affordable housing is built. I have no problem with people buying their flats, just build some more to replace the ones that were sold.
Calling Social Housing subsidised is just Conservative right wing speak and doesn't really mean anything just to suggest that those in social housing are getting something for nothing and feeds the Conservative aim of eliminating all social housing provision.
Bob Crow doesn't have his living arrangements just to wind up the Daily Mail. Maybe it is just a point of principle as to how he wants to live. Difficult to believe in this day and age I know.
Fiiish:
The housing shortage is a problem, but in the same way school dinners & prescription drugs are subsidised because the Government sells them for well below the market rate, so is social housing. Not saying there is anything wrong with that and yes we should be supporting those who can't afford housing, but Bob Crow is effectively getting housing benefit by another name when he earns more in a year than the average worker earns in 6. You wouldn't put up with any other top-rate taxpayer in the private sector claiming housing benefit. Plus it isn't morally right that he squatting in a house intended by society to be used for a family in need. He's effectively blocking a domestic violence victim or someone who is severely disabled from getting a council house, that doesn't sit right with me.
-----
VFF
With no disrespect to you Fiiish, I found this comment a bit mixed up. The main costs for building a house are in the beginning and then there are costs for maintenance, collection of rents and the housing organisation infrastructure. If a social house was built 100 years ago the weekly rents of a 100 years cover the cost of that.
The production of a repeated service such as meals on wheels for older people has repeated costs different to housing. The meal may cost £9 to produce but sold at £3. The repeated costs are ongoing. It is not as have the house has to be built everyday. The mows person checking on the person daily may pick up on ill health that may lead to a fall or find that they have fallen and get the Doctor in so that the person can be treated and save a hospital admission of a week, hospital beds are approx £500 per day so it sounds like a big subsidy but saves a lot of money in other costs to the government.
The sale of that social housing unit that cheaply, that you mention is a subsidy by the government to encourage the sale. The subsidy is not as big as it was when the social housing stock was sold off on mass. Still there. I am not sure I agree with that as well. I have no problem with the sale of social housing as long as Councils and Housing Associations are allowed to replace the ones sold with new houses. Bob Crow has not bought his flat so he is not guilty of that.
Bob Crow is paying his rent and having lived in his flat he is not receiving Housing Benefit. The lack of social and affordable and social housing has led to the crazy rental prices. If sufficient housing was built then the rents would be lower and Housing Benefit payments would be less. The answer is not to attack someone who has stability for living in social housing that has become a scarce resource but to create more social housing. A stable community needs a mix of high earners, people with permanent jobs and those that are not working / unable to work. Otherwise areas of poverty are created. Social housing should be a stable secure housing choice where you can raise your family and put down roots.
What I find not morally good, is the government not have a coherent housing policy, leaving the situation as is which is a big mess, creating mass insecurity then blaming individuals for problems for the failure of govt policy.
The Conservative tactic is to come out with a flawed phrase or idea that social housing is subsidised, which doesn't mean anything when you get into it, repeat a million times with the hope that the idea sticks. The housing problems in this country are a failure of policy not down to Bob Crow choosing to live in Social Housing.
Calling Social Housing subsidised is just Conservative right wing speak and doesn't really mean anything just to suggest that those in social housing are getting something for nothing and feeds the Conservative aim of eliminating all social housing provision.
But Social Housing rents cannot be raised to the levels of Market Rent due to legislation. They only go up by inflation plus 1%, whereas market rent prices can fluctuate wildly. If not 'subsidised' then what else do you call it?
Please show me where in the Conservative Party Manifesto they talk of eliminating Social Housing? Your assertion is just typical radical bollocks that tries to demonise the Tories by spouting absolute tripe.
What I find not morally good, is the government not have a coherent housing policy, leaving the situation as is which is a big mess, creating mass insecurity then blaming individuals for problems for the failure of govt policy.
Here I agree with you 100% - but it's not just this Government. The last 'Socialist' Government spent 13 years without producing a single coherent Housing Policy. Indeed more Social Housing Homes have been started during this Government's term in office than in the last five years under "New Labour".
Addickted didn't answer the question as to why Market rates are seen as the true rate which you agree are extortionate.
The clue is in the name "market rent". It will reach a natural level that the market feels it can take and will be lead by supply and demand.
The operative word there being 'natural'. How can it be assumed to be 'natural' if there isn't enough affordable housing to go round, and the country's fiscal policy specifically requires that the price of purcahsing a property outright spirals up beyond the reach of most? There's not much 'natural' about that
Cost of Land + Cost of Construction + Cost of Borrowing + Cost of Overheads + Profit is the natural level for the market. If you increase your profit and the cost goes up, people buy from another supplier.
The funding model of Social Housing providers to enable them to build more housing is dependant their financial and governance rating, their ability to sell off a percentage of the units they build (or sell through shared ownership) and the fact that they are allowed to finance with 'pay back' being over 70 years.
Private Developer wouldn't even consider building new homes under these constraints. What would the point be?
The key words are supply and demand - the supply is dampened by a poor business environment to build new homes and lack of coherent initiative by the public sector/government to ameliorate the situation.
Similarly, demand is skyrocketing due to three situations: open-door immigration leads to net population gain above the national birth rate, meaning housing supply cannot keep up at the rate people vacate houses by either moving in together, moving into retirement communities, dying or emigrating; The social concept that adults post full-time education should not live with their parents therefore every year a whole year of people graduating from high school/college/6th form/uni are looking for houses; and finally people are often forced to move due to areas where labour is demanded fluctuating, meaning people need to move geographically for work far more than the last generation.
Essentially, if the demand for housing in an area is £10000 a month, a landlord will demand it as it is only natural they maximise their profit. The government steps in with housing benefit for those who qualify but those who don't have to suffer the consequences of the poor housing situation - ideally rent controls of some kind are required until the supply catches up to demand.
TFL has stated that under the new plans they will save £50m. Will any of those savings get passed down to the commuters..?? I think we all know the answer.
The tube savings are about the cost of 150 of the new Boris buses, which also cost double to run, as they need two members of staff. That £50m is about what TfL have wasted on the cable car. So see what the priorities are with Boris, vanity over service
So now we can all go from slagging off Boris for not doing enough for them to stop them striking, to congratulating Bob Crow on his level headedness and quality of character.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
So now we can all go from slagging off Boris for not doing enough for them to stop them striking, to congratulating Bob Crow on his level headedness and quality of character.
Hmmm, I can see some difficulties there. He's a Spanner. Shall we stick to slagging Boris?
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
It's obvious that he has absolutely no concern for passengers throughout this. Trade unions must absolutely love the thought of a conservative majority at the next election, they get to strike and get their names all in the papers and still look as good as gold. All whilst catering to their boyish "raa raa fight tha powah" wet dreams and be their own version of braveheart.
How about Bob Crow gives up his salary and gives it all to the people that will be affected by the cuts? Doubt it somehow. The world's changing towards automated services, it's time London moves with the times.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
Are you trying to tell me that Bob Crow doesn't actually care about us? Because that would be something that I wouldn't be able to bear. He is a working class hero who is doing the best for Londoners, and because he's a trade unionist he obviously would never act immorally or in a way which only benefits his union him.
He's a hero through and through, cutting down them evil Tories who want to privatise everything and have people living on the street in dinghys between fracking drills and people on hospital trollies. Dam Tories.
Think i might become a trade unionist tbh. Labour party is your puppet and when the other big party is in power you can use economic terrorism to get your way anyway.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
It's obvious that he has absolutely no concern for passengers throughout this. Trade unions must absolutely love the thought of a conservative majority at the next election, they get to strike and get their names all in the papers and still look as good as gold. All whilst catering to their boyish "raa raa fight tha powah" wet dreams and be their own version of braveheart. .
...so you're seriously suggesting that those involved at the top of the trade union movement are hoping the Tories win a majority at the next election. Really?
Honestly, as a public sector worker for over 25 years I've lost probably less than 10 days in total to industrial action so we are hardly a hot bed of unionised firebrands in the UK. You'll have to excuse me if I treat your view as a load of old ballots..
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
It's obvious that he has absolutely no concern for passengers throughout this. Trade unions must absolutely love the thought of a conservative majority at the next election, they get to strike and get their names all in the papers and still look as good as gold. All whilst catering to their boyish "raa raa fight tha powah" wet dreams and be their own version of braveheart. .
...so you're seriously suggesting that those involved at the top of the trade union movement are hoping the Tories win a majority at the next election. Really?
Honestly, as a public sector worker for over 25 years I've lost probably less than 10 days in total to industrial action so we are hardly a hot bed of unionised firebrands in the UK. You'll have to excuse me if I treat your view as a load of old ballots..
What kind of public service do you provide though? It's the ones who get noticed when they go on strike eg firefighters, tube drivers, teachers etc who really go for it.
The tube savings are about the cost of 150 of the new Boris buses, which also cost double to run, as they need two members of staff. That £50m is about what TfL have wasted on the cable car. So see what the priorities are with Boris, vanity over service
Am sure the unions complained when the conductors were let go in the first place. Typical Boris though, trying to generate jobs.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
It's obvious that he has absolutely no concern for passengers throughout this. Trade unions must absolutely love the thought of a conservative majority at the next election, they get to strike and get their names all in the papers and still look as good as gold. All whilst catering to their boyish "raa raa fight tha powah" wet dreams and be their own version of braveheart. .
...so you're seriously suggesting that those involved at the top of the trade union movement are hoping the Tories win a majority at the next election. Really?
yes. They get to oppose everything the tories do and pump out a bunch of propaganda about how evil and self serving conservatives are. This and the top dogs get their name in the papers and people call them "working class heroes". vomit At the end of it all the labour party comes crawling back and the trade unions can shake hands with the labour prime minister at their own parties.
Labour/trade union is the same relationship the mega rich have with the tory party. Pick your poison.
things were so much better under red ken----remember when you could get a grant of £4K towards doing the Knowledge ---only white people ouldnt----why no explosion over that racism on CL ?
or better still the the millions and millions he and his Social Action buddies pissed up the wall ---- as Ken says he broke no rules---yes because in your fecking 9 years you put no controls in place did you ken
or how about giving his 6 Socialist Action advisors a 20% wage increase days after he lost the election.
Or how about the fact that he openly supported a non Labour councillor against a Labour cllr which should have got him booted out of the Party but like all socialist the Labour party has no gonds and left him be.
Trade Unions poisoned and polluted by the ultra left ----------------only one thing worse the socialist Students Union.
The last government and the current labour party were not and are not socialist. They are/were capitalist, but with a greater leaning towards a social conscience. I think it is important to get the terminolgy right if people are going to accuse others of being something they are not.
The policies of the labour party are basically social democratic in nature, although they will have members on the left with socialist leanings.
And I suspect Bob Crow would be doing it with whoever was in charge. There were tube strikes under Livingstone.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: "We now have a golden opportunity to look again in detail at all of the concerns we have raised about the impact of the cuts on our members and the services that they provide to Londoners"
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
It's obvious that he has absolutely no concern for passengers throughout this. Trade unions must absolutely love the thought of a conservative majority at the next election, they get to strike and get their names all in the papers and still look as good as gold. All whilst catering to their boyish "raa raa fight tha powah" wet dreams and be their own version of braveheart. .
...so you're seriously suggesting that those involved at the top of the trade union movement are hoping the Tories win a majority at the next election. Really?
yes. They get to oppose everything the tories do and pump out a bunch of propaganda about how evil and self serving conservatives are. This and the top dogs get their name in the papers and people call them "working class heroes". vomit At the end of it all the labour party comes crawling back and the trade unions can shake hands with the labour prime minister at their own parties.
Labour/trade union is the same relationship the mega rich have with the tory party. Pick your poison.
The following is a list of current trade unions in the UK. I'd consider myself at least reasonably well informed, maybe even a bit of a news junkie tbh, but I struggled to come up with more than about 5 of their leaders names. Maybe you can do better but your view they are only in it for self promotion is a bit weak to be frank and the vast majority of those leading the organisations below are doing so to represent the millions of ordinary, decent, hard working members as best they can.
Yeah, Bob Crow probably likes and enjoys the limelight but he's also an exception IMO...
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen ASLEF Association of Teachers and Lecturers ATL Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union BFAWU British Air Line Pilots Association BALPA Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union BECTU Ceramic and Allied Trades Union CATU Communication Workers Union CWU Community (trade union) Community and Youth Workers' Union Connect - formerly the Society of Telecommunications Executives (STE) Educational Institute of Scotland EIS EQUITY (actors) Fire Brigades Union FBU First Division Association (senior civil servants) GMB (General workers' union) Graphical, Paper and Media Union GPMU Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association HCSA Industrial Workers of the World IWW International Union of Sex Workers Musicians' Union MU National Association of Probation Officers NAPO National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers NASUWT National Union of Journalists NUJ National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers NUMAST National Union of Mineworkers NUM National Union of Teachers NUT Offshore Industry Liaison Committee OILC Prison Officers Association POA Professional Association of Teachers PAT Professional Footballers Association PFA Prospect (engineering, scientific, management and professional staff) Public and Commercial Services Union PCS National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers RMT Royal College of Nursing RCN (legally a professional society rather than a trade union) Scottish Artists Union SAU [2] Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists SCP Society of Radiographers SoR Solidarity Ferderation Transport and General Workers Union T&G / TGWU Transport Salaried Staffs' Association TSSA Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (National Union of Teachers of Wales) UCAC UNIFI (trade union) (Financial services) Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians UCATT Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers USDAW UNISON (Public services) (about 1.3m members) Unite - the Union University and College Union, amalgam of the AUT and NATFHE. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain WGGB
The tube savings are about the cost of 150 of the new Boris buses, which also cost double to run, as they need two members of staff. That £50m is about what TfL have wasted on the cable car. So see what the priorities are with Boris, vanity over service
I'll take the Boris Bus over Bendy Buses any day of the week. Many of us who commute in and through London value open platform buses making a comeback- removing them was one of Ken's sillier decisions.
I have two two problems with Bob, Tony Soprano, Crow. Number 1 he's a Champagne Socialist that's to say he earns £145k a year and lives in a Council House when he could well afford his own property thus depriving a deserving, hard working but lower paid family the right to a decent home. Second he plays the safety card all the time regardless of the real issue so when there really is a safety issue everyone will say "yeah right" he is like the boy who cries wolf.
As for Boris well I do think hes all piss and wind but I still prefer him to Ken Livingstone the most mendacious, corrupt and vindictive politician of my time.
Comments
"There will be NO forced redundancies"
That line is exactly the same as the one peddled by a scumbag by the name of Blane Judd who was the public face of the companies involved in the Electricians dispute that I was part of three years ago.
We were continuously told that no one would be sacked. But when you looked into it. Under employment law, you were being put into a position that you were not being sacked but putting yourself out of work by not accepting the new T&Cs.
So even though Boris is legally telling the truth by saying that there will be no forced redundancies I can guarantee people will be losing their jobs.
To make it relevant to the thread, I would love to have a union leader like Bob Crow. I'd have a lot more faith in my union if we did.
Addickted didn't answer the question as to why Market rates are seen as the true rate which you agree are extortionate. Its not subsidised, it is just a more sensible rate that everybody should be paying. The only reasons that rents are so high is that not enough social housing / affordable housing is built. I have no problem with people buying their flats, just build some more to replace the ones that were sold.
Calling Social Housing subsidised is just Conservative right wing speak and doesn't really mean anything just to suggest that those in social housing are getting something for nothing and feeds the Conservative aim of eliminating all social housing provision.
Bob Crow doesn't have his living arrangements just to wind up the Daily Mail. Maybe it is just a point of principle as to how he wants to live. Difficult to believe in this day and age I know.
Fiiish:
The housing shortage is a problem, but in the same way school dinners & prescription drugs are subsidised because the Government sells them for well below the market rate, so is social housing. Not saying there is anything wrong with that and yes we should be supporting those who can't afford housing, but Bob Crow is effectively getting housing benefit by another name when he earns more in a year than the average worker earns in 6. You wouldn't put up with any other top-rate taxpayer in the private sector claiming housing benefit. Plus it isn't morally right that he squatting in a house intended by society to be used for a family in need. He's effectively blocking a domestic violence victim or someone who is severely disabled from getting a council house, that doesn't sit right with me.
-----
VFF
With no disrespect to you Fiiish, I found this comment a bit mixed up. The main costs for building a house are in the beginning and then there are costs for maintenance, collection of rents and the housing organisation infrastructure. If a social house was built 100 years ago the weekly rents of a 100 years cover the cost of that.
The production of a repeated service such as meals on wheels for older people has repeated costs different to housing. The meal may cost £9 to produce but sold at £3. The repeated costs are ongoing. It is not as have the house has to be built everyday. The mows person checking on the person daily may pick up on ill health that may lead to a fall or find that they have fallen and get the Doctor in so that the person can be treated and save a hospital admission of a week, hospital beds are approx £500 per day so it sounds like a big subsidy but saves a lot of money in other costs to the government.
The sale of that social housing unit that cheaply, that you mention is a subsidy by the government to encourage the sale. The subsidy is not as big as it was when the social housing stock was sold off on mass. Still there. I am not sure I agree with that as well. I have no problem with the sale of social housing as long as Councils and Housing Associations are allowed to replace the ones sold with new houses. Bob Crow has not bought his flat so he is not guilty of that.
Bob Crow is paying his rent and having lived in his flat he is not receiving Housing Benefit. The lack of social and affordable and social housing has led to the crazy rental prices. If sufficient housing was built then the rents would be lower and Housing Benefit payments would be less. The answer is not to attack someone who has stability for living in social housing that has become a scarce resource but to create more social housing. A stable community needs a mix of high earners, people with permanent jobs and those that are not working / unable to work. Otherwise areas of poverty are created. Social housing should be a stable secure housing choice where you can raise your family and put down roots.
What I find not morally good, is the government not have a coherent housing policy, leaving the situation as is which is a big mess, creating mass insecurity then blaming individuals for problems for the failure of govt policy.
The Conservative tactic is to come out with a flawed phrase or idea that social housing is subsidised, which doesn't mean anything when you get into it, repeat a million times with the hope that the idea sticks. The housing problems in this country are a failure of policy not down to Bob Crow choosing to live in Social Housing.
There is a world of difference between a short distance location move and losing your job though
But Social Housing rents cannot be raised to the levels of Market Rent due to legislation. They only go up by inflation plus 1%, whereas market rent prices can fluctuate wildly. If not 'subsidised' then what else do you call it?
Please show me where in the Conservative Party Manifesto they talk of eliminating Social Housing? Your assertion is just typical radical bollocks that tries to demonise the Tories by spouting absolute tripe.
Here I agree with you 100% - but it's not just this Government. The last 'Socialist' Government spent 13 years without producing a single coherent Housing Policy. Indeed more Social Housing Homes have been started during this Government's term in office than in the last five years under "New Labour".
The funding model of Social Housing providers to enable them to build more housing is dependant their financial and governance rating, their ability to sell off a percentage of the units they build (or sell through shared ownership) and the fact that they are allowed to finance with 'pay back' being over 70 years.
Private Developer wouldn't even consider building new homes under these constraints. What would the point be?
Similarly, demand is skyrocketing due to three situations: open-door immigration leads to net population gain above the national birth rate, meaning housing supply cannot keep up at the rate people vacate houses by either moving in together, moving into retirement communities, dying or emigrating; The social concept that adults post full-time education should not live with their parents therefore every year a whole year of people graduating from high school/college/6th form/uni are looking for houses; and finally people are often forced to move due to areas where labour is demanded fluctuating, meaning people need to move geographically for work far more than the last generation.
Essentially, if the demand for housing in an area is £10000 a month, a landlord will demand it as it is only natural they maximise their profit. The government steps in with housing benefit for those who qualify but those who don't have to suffer the consequences of the poor housing situation - ideally rent controls of some kind are required until the supply catches up to demand.
He forgot the bit about passenger safety.
How about Bob Crow gives up his salary and gives it all to the people that will be affected by the cuts? Doubt it somehow. The world's changing towards automated services, it's time London moves with the times.
his unionhim.He's a hero through and through, cutting down them evil Tories who want to privatise everything and have people living
on the streetin dinghys between fracking drills and people on hospital trollies. Dam Tories.Honestly, as a public sector worker for over 25 years I've lost probably less than 10 days in total to industrial action so we are hardly a hot bed of unionised firebrands in the UK. You'll have to excuse me if I treat your view as a load of old ballots..
Typical Boris though, trying to generate jobs.
Labour/trade union is the same relationship the mega rich have with the tory party. Pick your poison.
or better still the the millions and millions he and his Social Action buddies pissed up the wall ---- as Ken says he broke no rules---yes because in your fecking 9 years you put no controls in place did you ken
or how about giving his 6 Socialist Action advisors a 20% wage increase days after he lost the election.
Or how about the fact that he openly supported a non Labour councillor against a Labour cllr which should have got him booted out of the Party but like all socialist the Labour party has no gonds and left him be.
Trade Unions poisoned and polluted by the ultra left ----------------only one thing worse the socialist Students Union.
Would old Bob be doing this with Ed Milliband (LOL) in charge
I think not
Sorry Ed deserves his own LOL
The policies of the labour party are basically social democratic in nature, although they will have members on the left with socialist leanings.
And I suspect Bob Crow would be doing it with whoever was in charge. There were tube strikes under Livingstone.
Yeah, Bob Crow probably likes and enjoys the limelight but he's also an exception IMO...
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen ASLEF
Association of Teachers and Lecturers ATL
Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union BFAWU
British Air Line Pilots Association BALPA
Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union BECTU
Ceramic and Allied Trades Union CATU
Communication Workers Union CWU
Community (trade union)
Community and Youth Workers' Union
Connect - formerly the Society of Telecommunications Executives (STE)
Educational Institute of Scotland EIS
EQUITY (actors)
Fire Brigades Union FBU
First Division Association (senior civil servants)
GMB (General workers' union)
Graphical, Paper and Media Union GPMU
Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association HCSA
Industrial Workers of the World IWW
International Union of Sex Workers
Musicians' Union MU
National Association of Probation Officers NAPO
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers NASUWT
National Union of Journalists NUJ
National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers NUMAST
National Union of Mineworkers NUM
National Union of Teachers NUT
Offshore Industry Liaison Committee OILC
Prison Officers Association POA
Professional Association of Teachers PAT
Professional Footballers Association PFA
Prospect (engineering, scientific, management and professional staff)
Public and Commercial Services Union PCS
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers RMT
Royal College of Nursing RCN (legally a professional society rather than a trade union)
Scottish Artists Union SAU [2]
Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists SCP
Society of Radiographers SoR
Solidarity Ferderation
Transport and General Workers Union T&G / TGWU
Transport Salaried Staffs' Association TSSA
Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (National Union of Teachers of Wales) UCAC
UNIFI (trade union) (Financial services)
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians UCATT
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers USDAW
UNISON (Public services)
(about 1.3m members)
Unite - the Union
University and College Union, amalgam of the AUT and NATFHE.
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain WGGB
As for Boris well I do think hes all piss and wind but I still prefer him to Ken Livingstone the most mendacious, corrupt and vindictive politician of my time.