This blog is now archived

The Merseyside ARMS committee has agreed that this blog and the North West ARMS blog are mostly duplicating each other. From now on, all posts and information for Merseyside ARMS will be on the North West ARMS blog. This blog will remain for information purposes but there will be no further updates.

Please click here for the ARMS North West blog.

Socialist Party Public Meeting Supporting Jeremy Corbyn

The Merseyside Socialist Party congratulates Jeremy Corbyn on being re-elected Labour Party leader. This victory confirms that, in spite of the sustained campaign of vilification against him spearheaded by 170 members of the Parliamentary Labour Party and the exclusion from the vote of thousands of genuine supporters – the Party is determined to shuffle off the remnants of Blairism. We believe Labour Party members should have the right to begin the process of holding MPs to account and replacing those who are implacably opposed to Corbyn with candidates who are prepared to fight for working class interests.

Come and hear Tony Mulhearn at next Tuesday's public meeting (27 September) at 7.30pm in The Liverpool Pub (upstairs), 14 James Street, Liverpool, L2 7PQ (next to James Street Mersey rail station).

Hear the story of the Liverpool 47 and what really happened in the 1980s as opposed to the continued distortions expressed by the opponents of both Jeremy Corbyn and Labour Party democracy.

Hear also Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, national organiser of the Socialist Party, explaining the Socialist Party's campaign for its right to affiliate to the Labour party and its demand for a democratic rewriting of Labour's constitution.

**********

For further information contact:

• Hugh Caffrey on07769611320. Email: manc_sfe@hotmail.com 
• Tony Mulhearn on 07939098455. Email: t.mulhearn47@gmail.com

Merseyside ARMS all members meeting

• Date:  Thursday 29 September 2016.
• Time:  11.00 to 14.00.
• Place:  Robert Tressell Room, PCS Regional Office, 3rd Floor, Jack Jones House, 1 Islington, Liverpool L3 8EG
• Guest speaker: Tony Mulhearn, co-author of Liverpool: A City That Dared To Fight, and also Liverpool Labour Party City Councillor in the 1980s.
• Meeting open to:  Merseyside ARMS members - North West ARMs members and PCS branches are all very welcome as observers.

A unique opportunity to hear first-hand the experiences of the Liverpool Labour Council in the 1980s when tens of thousands of workers united to gain major concessions from an intransigent Tory Government.

Active in his trade union, the National Graphic Association, since starting work, Tony Mulhearn joined the Labour Party in Liverpool in 1963. He was Vice-President of the District Labour Party for 8 years, then its President for a further 5 years. Elected to the Liverpool City Council in 1984, he soon became a key figure in the council struggle, combining his position on the council with the presidency of the Liverpool District Labour Party, until his expulsion from the Labour Party after a Spanish Inquisition-style inquiry in 1986. Tony Mulhearn was one of the 47 councillors surcharged and disqualified from office by the unelected district auditor in March 1987. We hope that this account of Liverpool's struggle can play its part in the rearming of the British working class for the mighty battles to come.

Agenda

1. Welcome (11.00-11.05) 
2. Previous minutes (11.05-11.10) 
3. Guest speaker – Tony Mulhearn, former Liverpool councillor (11.10-12.30) 
4. Lunch (12.30-13.00) 
5. Clara Paillard PCS NEC (13.00-13.30) 
6. NW Regional Committee (13.30-13.40) 
7. National Committee (13.40-13.45) 
8. Finance (13.45-13.50) 
9. Activities (13.50-13.55) 
10. Close of meeting (13.55-14.00)

TUC should speak for rank & file

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady calls for the Labour Party to look outward and deal with the Tories but she doesn’t identify the guilty party. Not a word of criticism of the Blairites who caused the divisions and chaos. She should declare that the rank and file Party members campaigning for socialist change are lions led by the Blairite donkeys of the PLP who are turning their fire on the leadership instead of organising to defeat the Tories. You can't be neutral in this situation; as the spokesperson for six million organised workers she should be demanding full support for Jeremy Corbyn whose policy is totally in accord with the TUC's policy of opposition to all austerity.

Tony Mulhearn ARMS Mersey

Miners' pension fund demo

Further to the post here on 31 August about the ongoing theft from the miners' pension fund, here are details of a demo in Liverpool on the issue on 27 September. There's also a petition here.

TUSC meeting for Corbyn, Liverpool

TUSC continues to support the campaign to re-elect Jeremy Corbyn and to elect an anti-austerity Metro Mayor.

Roger Bannister will speak at a meeting in the Casa, Hope Street on Saturday 3 September 2016 at 12noon.

Roger, TUSC candidate for Liverpool mayor in May 2016, is hoping to meet Labour’s metro mayoral candidate Steve Rotheram to explore a meeting of minds on fighting cuts.

Steve is committed to building council housing, to social justice and standing up for ordinary people, which are policies that TUSC has advocated at elections on Merseyside for 6 years.

Roger Bannister said: 'I commend Merseyside and Halton’s Labour members for rejecting the austerity agenda defended by the likes of Joe Anderson. In May’s mayoral elections in Liverpool I argued for: no more cuts to council services, no cuts to our colleges, save Liverpool Women’s Hospital and other threatened NHS facilities, and to defend the Mersey rail train guards and their service. I won over 5% of the vote which is a firm basis to build on.'

All are welcome to attend and broaden the campaign for the socialist alternative.

A display of the 1983-1987 Socialist Council’s achievements will also be on display.

Tony Mulhearn
ARMS Mersey

News updates - from the web

Our regular round up of relevant news items, by Steve Ion of ARMS Mersey.

One in ten over 65s in work - here.

Waspi: Jeremy Corbyn pledges support for pensioners - here.

Expats pensions possible impact - here.

Care home costs increase - here.

Potential plans to reform final salary pensions - here.

Miners pension fund fight

This petition calls upon the UK Government to review the mineworkers' pension fund to reduce the 50/50 share of the surplus that the Government takes from the system. It has been many years since the mineworkers and widows have had an increase in their pension (other than cost of living increases). They deserve a fair increase in their pension.

Since 1994, both Labour and Tory governments have taken from the surplus of the miners' pension fund at a rate of £1 million per day, making a total of £8 billion. The government must reduce the deduction from 50% of the surplus to a more reasonable percentage. 

Sign the petition here.

PCS Bulletin - help & support requested

The help of ARMS members is asked for the following campaigns:

• Protect Chorley and South Ribble Hospital from Cuts and Privatisation

WE NEED YOUR HELP to demonstrate outside these hospitals for 1 hour from 10.00 a.m. on Saturday 17th September to protect your local A&E: 

Preston, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Blackpool, Lancaster.

Our campaign was given the bad news that Chorley and South Ribble Accident and Emergency department will be closed until April 2017; we believe this is a move to close it indefinitely. The effect of this is rippling out to A&Es in other areas. This isn't good for other A&Es and the people they are intended to serve. It is having a negative effect on the North West Ambulance Service, some ambulances are queuing for hours to hand over sick or injured people.

Ask yourself these questions: If not me then who? If not now, then when? The NHS will survive as long as there are people willing to protect it. We are those people.

To help contact: Andrew Birchall on andrewbirchall3@gmail.com or mobile 0784 0202 084.

• March for the Liverpool Women’s Hospital 

25th September 2016 – Assemble at the Women’s Hospital at midday and walk to the water front.

The Liverpool Women’s hospital is a 20 year old world class hospital on a good site. It’s the largest maternity hospital in Europe and cares for more than 50,000 patients a year. Its future is under threat because of inadequate maternity funding, lack of investment, funding problems for all the NHS and the rampant privatisation and market focus of the NHS.

Follow ‘Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital’ on Facebook, Save-Liverpool-Womens-Hospital or email SaveLWH@outlook.com.

• Conservative Party Conference Demonstration 

Sunday, 2nd October 2016 – Assemble in Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BD at 11.30 a.m.

Austerity has failed! Join the Midlands TUC’s march and rally to tell the Government that austerity isn’t working. Please let PCS NW know if you wish to attend. Please email: nwrc@pcs.org.uk

News updates - from the web

A triple lock, yesterday

Our regular round up of relevant news items, by Steve Ion of ARMS Mersey. 

Over 60s cutting back to make ends meet - here.

Why we must stick with the triple lock - here. 

Annuity pensions cut again - here.

Lifetime ISA should not be used for pension - here.

WASPI campaign has no support from Government  - here.

UK firms paid five times more in dividends than into pensions - here.

Retired people spending less than £20 per week - here.

Zero hours contracts - a personal view

My grandfather was gassed aged 15 or 16 in the trenches during the First World War. The lifelong ill health that resulted made finding work hard but he never gave up trying. He'd go from his Kirkdale home to the Liverpool docks every day to try to get a single day's work. He never managed to because he refused to pay the foreman a bribe from the meagre wages that were on offer, partly on the principle that a man shouldn’t have to pay to get a day’s work, and partly because he had a family to keep. He died in his 40s during the Second World War from an illness related to his First World War injuries. 

What a way to treat an old soldier who had ruined his health for his country - and what a way to treat a worker. That's the world the Tories want to take us back to with their attacks on employment rights, with "no fault dismissals"; we have them already in the form of redundancy, but they actually want a US-style "hire and fire" regime because that’s a lot cheaper. Zero hours contracts take us precisely to what my grandfather had to face in his struggle to get just a single day’s work. 

This is even further than Mrs Thatcher dared go. We must not allow it.

Neville Grundy

Organiser
ARMS Mersey

6th Wigan Diggers' Festival

NW Regional ARMS Committee Special General meeting

To: North West Regional ARMs Committee members and all ARMs members in the North West.

As you may be aware, following on from the 2016 ARMs Forum held in June, arrangements have now been put in place to hold elections for the ARMs National Committee.

The first step in this process (which is set out in detail on the PCS National ARMs web-page ( ARMS latest news - PCS ) will be for the NW Regional ARMS Committee to hold a Special General Meeting (to which all ARMs members in the North West are cordially invited) to consider putting forward nominations for the National Committee. Accordingly, the Special General Meeting will be held as follows:

• Date: Wednesday 24th August 2016
• Venue: PCS Regional Office, 3rd Floor, Jack Jones House, 1, Islington, Liverpool, L3 8EG
• Time: 11:30 am – 2:00 pm

This is the first opportunity in over two years that members will be entitled to participate in the election process for the ARMs National Committee, so it is hoped that as many members as possible will be able to attend the meeting, As it is a special meeting, the question of nominations will be the only item on the agenda, so that the meeting will not be expected to last more than an hour, even though the meeting room has been booked for longer. Nominations are invited for the following National posts: Chairperson; Vice Chairperson/Editor; Secretary; Assistant Secretary/Organiser; Treasurer and Committee member (6 posts).

In order to facilitate debate at the meeting, any NW Regional ARMs member who wishes to submit nominations for the ARMs National Committee should send the details (via hard-copy or e-mail) to the NW ARMs Regional Secretary so as to reach him no later than 5:00 pm on Wednesday 17th August 2016.

Yours sincerely,

Phil Green
Secretary
PCS North West Regional ARMs Committee

E-mail: p.c.green@ukgateway.net
33 Cambridge Avenue
Churchtown
Southport PR9 9SA

John McDonnell’s plea to JC’s would be assassins

John's history underpins his loyalty to the working class and the ideas of socialism, but I was puzzled by his comments on BBC Radio's Today programme. He described the right wing MPs as nice people who should get behind Jeremy. John should know that they are behind him alright with daggers poised to plunge into his back. When asked was he in favour of re-selection he completely rejected the suggestion instead arguing that they could be persuaded to support a Corbyn-led party.

The right wing are desperate to preserve their influence, income and privileges which they see threatened by a rank and file who are supporting a radical leader and are rightly calling for control over their elected representatives, and that includes reselection. It’s called democratic accountability, a concept now described as 'bullying' by those hostile to JC.

John should be familiar with the truism: 'no ruling group has left the scene of history without a fight, and that means a fight with no holds barred.' When JC is re-elected as the leader, the truth of that axiom will be confirmed in spades.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS  Mersey

Jeremy Hunt: reveal your plans for the NHS

Health Minister Jeremy Hunt has a secret plan to force changes to local NHS services in order to cut costs. The changes, called "sustainability and transformation plans", are being kept secret. But they could mean cuts to hospital beds, local walk-in centres or family planning services near you.

Across England, these plans are being drawn up in the next few weeks. Because they're secret it's hard to say exactly which services near you are at risk. But the plans for one area have been leaked and show the scale of the threat: they include axing 500 hospital beds and some emergency ambulances. No wonder Jeremy Hunt doesn't want us to see them!

The best way to stop these cuts is to get them out in the open and demand the public has a say. So please can you sign the petition now, demanding that Jeremy Hunt publishes his plans for local NHS cuts? It only takes 30 seconds to add your name to the petition - here.

Corbyn providing an inspiration

To paraphrase a well-known old class fighter: ‘Let the ruling class and their Labour shadows in parliament tremble at the developing movement which will recreate a new mass party of the working class. We have nothing to lose but a fossilised right wing bureaucracy which has stripped working people of political representation for the last thirty years. All forces on the left are uniting to ensure the success of Jeremy Corbyn.’

St George’s plateau the scene of magnificent demos in 1911, 1926, 1983-87, last night witnessed the re-emergence of the spirit of workers who, given leadership, displayed magnificent energy in their quest for a just socialist society and see Corbyn as the leader that can achieve that objective. The ban on CLPs meeting should be lifted and the re-selection procedures be started immediately.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS Mersey committee

News updates - from the web

Our regular round up of relevant news items, by Steve Ion of ARMS Mersey. 

Ros Altmann's resignation letter in full - here.

Altmann: "I felt like I was in detention" - here.

Annuity rates on pension investment drop by 37% - here.

A new vaccine could reverse dementia - here.

Perception of downgrading importance of pensions by government - here.

MPA motion & Jeremy Corbyn rally in Liverpool

Motion on MP reselection to the Merseyside Pensioners Association

Proposed by ARMS committee member Tony Mulhearn and passed by the MPA. 

The Merseyside Pensioners' Association declares its continued support for Jeremy Corbyn and deplores the charges of bullying and intimidation falsely aimed at his supporters.

We applaud the conference decision of Unite the Union which recognises the right of party members to select candidates that reflect their views and supports the need for mandatory re-selection of Labour MPs with a view to selecting candidates who support a programme of opposition to the continuing savage cuts of the Tories.

We believe that in spite of assurances given that the triple lock will be protected we believe that pensioners' entitlements will be threatened by austerity supporters on both sides of the House and we need genuine anti-austerity MPs who will fight to defend the interests of the old and younger generations. 

Jeremy Corbyn Rally In Liverpool

• Date: Monday 1 August 
• Time: 7.00 pm 
• Place: St George's Plateau, Liverpool 1 

Jeremy Corbyn MP will be speaking in Liverpool next Monday at 7.00 pm on St George's Plateau in front of St George's Hall in Liverpool city centre

Speakers include:

• Jeremy Corbyn MP.
• Cllr Alice Bennet.
• Cllr Peter Mitchell.
• Mel Walker.
• Cllr Joann Kushner.

Come and join us to support Jeremy Corbyn in his campaign to be re-elected Labour Party Leader.

All welcome!

HMRC cleaners strike 25 & 26 July

A message from Phil Dickens, HMRC PCS Union Representative

Next Monday and Tuesday (25 & 26 July) PCS members working for ISS as cleaners in HMRC buildings in Liverpool and Bootle are taking part in a 48 hour strike, following a unilateral decision by management to cut the hours of cleaning staff.

PCS has called for the actual Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF), currently £8.25 per hour outside London, to be paid to the cleaners. ISS is accredited by the LWF and claims to be a Living Wage employer. Yet to pay for the government's much lower 'national living wage' (NLW) of £7.20, it is imposing the cuts to HMRC cleaners' hours.

We believe that ISS, having turned a £250 million profit in 2015, can more than afford the real Living Wage. We also believe that HMRC, as the department responsible for implementing the government's NLW, ought to save itself embarrassment by ensuring that it is properly applied without shortcuts on its own estate.

Cleaners are clear that they want a wage they can live on without cuts and are willing to fight in order to get that. If this initial strike doesn't move ISS, they are willing to escalate their action. Please support them in every way you can:

• Sign the on-line petition.
• Donate to the cleaners' strike fund on-line here.
• Send messages of support to NWRC@pcs.org.uk

Please attend picket lines (see below) if you can, and show your support for the lowest paid and most precarious section of the union's membership in HMRC.

More details about the campaign (including how you can support us through social media) can be found on-line here.

Support the pickets:

Bootle

• Litherland House, Litherland Road, Bootle (map) – 7am to 9.30am
• The Triad, Stanley Road, Bootle (map) – 7am to 12pm

Liverpool

• Graeme House and Regian House, Derby Square, Liverpool (map) – 3pm to 5pm
• Imperial Court, Exchange Street East, Liverpool (map) – 12.30pm to 2pm

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

• Adult social care faces 1billion shortfall - here.
• Joined-up health and social care - here.
• Funding concerns of defined benefit pensions schemes - here.
• Theresa May's husband works for investment firm whose major clients include Amazon and Starbucks - here.

Business Writer In Aspic

Tony McDonough writes what appears to be a 1980s composite editorial straight from the pages of the Murdoch Press, the Daily Mail, the Express and the then Liverpool Echo. He asserts Eagle can take Labour back to the fabled 'middle ground'; he doesn’t mention she and her allies lost Labour the last two elections and during the Blair years attracted the lowest ever turnout in a general election and bequeathed in Iraq the most toxic legacy since Ramsey MacDonald joined the Tories in 1931.

Aping the worst features of political analysis he dismisses Corbyn as being 'grumpy' and more of a comedian than a leader.

He then regurgitates the old false calumnies that Labour in the 1980s destroyed Liverpool's economic credibility. Is he not aware that under a Liberal/Tory coalition locally and Thatcher nationally 65% of Liverpool's economy had collapsed? These were the dark days the socialist council inherited. We refused to impose further suffering on the city. We cancelled redundancies, built houses, created jobs, opened nursery classes, etc.

Tony claims he mistakenly supported the left in the 80s. Is he suggesting that we should have implemented the draconic cuts demanded by Thatcher and worsened the plight of thousands of Liverpool’s citizens.

I look forward to his reply.

Tony Mulhearn.

Call a conference now to mobilise support for Jeremy Corbyn

A media release from the Liverpool & District Socialist Party:

The Liverpool & District Socialist Party is calling on Jeremy Corbyn to call for mass conferences of his supporters in all major locations of the country, including Merseyside, involving all those who support Corbyn inside and outside the Labour Party. We also call for a national conference to co-ordinate the activities nationally.We are launching a petition to support this call now.

Tony Mulhearn for Liverpool & District Socialist Party said:

"The anti-Tory, anti-austerity movement stands aghast at the grotesque spectacle of right wing MPs who, instead of attacking a Tory government which is split from top to bottom, are turning their fire on the democratically elected Labour Party leader.

"Expressing the popular support for Jeremy Corbyn 4000 people marched through Liverpool last Saturday to defend him. We need to bring together the thousands in every city and town who support his anti-austerity message and oppose his would-be assassins in the Parliamentary Labour Party who have led Labour to its worst defeats in the post-war period. That is why we have launched a petition for an urgent conference to be convened now involving all those who support Corbyn: the trade unions, Labour Party branches and including all left and socialist organisations inside and outside the Labour Party.

"Jeremy Corbyn was elected to leadership by a popular uprising against austerity. The right wing action reveals their contempt for the will of rank and file. We support Jeremy’s firm stance in rejecting the hysterical demands of the PLP and their allies in the rabid media to quit. Now the labour movement, together with all those who are opposed to austerity, needs to mobilise to support Jeremy against the Blairite onslaught.

"We are urging all supporters of Jeremy Corbyn including the unions, Momentum and Labour party organisations to endorse this petition."

• Find the petition here.  
• Local progress with the petition will be reported on Facebook - here. 
• The Socialist Party on-line is here. 

For further information contact Hugh Caffrey 07769611320 or Tony Mulhearn on 07939098455.

Witch hunting by our 'free' press

The spectacle of a media pack in full blood-thirsty pursuit of Jeremy Corbyn has provoked the question, particularly from younger observers of the current events, why does the media behave in this crazed, irrational, fashion?

Against Corbyn are Rupert Murdoch (The Scum), Paul Dacre (Daily Mail), Daily Express, The Telegraph, The Times, The Observer, even the so-called Labour paper the Mirror, with Kevin Maguire the ‘radical’ journalist joining the chorus against JC. All of these papers, like Corbyn’s would be assassins, have belched out the lying narrative since day one of the crisis that 'austerity is necessary'. That is austerity for the poor, and increasing wealth for the financial spivs who created the crisis. ITV, Sky news and BBC’s 'Flagship' programmes like Newsnight, and their number one Torquemada Laura Kuenssberg attempt to give some 'intellectual' heft to the hysteria. The component parts of this congealed instrument of hatred far from being irrational are bent on destroying JC politically and socially because he represents a challenge to their wealth and privilege. Jeremy must trust the massive support he enjoys, make no more concessions to the closet Tories and stand firm for a socialist future.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS Mersey 

committee member

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Pensions timebomb faced by UK firms is frightening - here.

Media turns Nazi after EU vote: "stop older people voting" - here.

WASPI update - here.

9 things you might not know about older people in the UK - here.

Why it’s lazy, misleading and wrong to blame older people for Brexit - here.

Sign of the times: people have to work longer - here.

Momentum rally in Liverpool for Corbyn - note revised venue

A message from the Merseyside Momentum committee:

A public event has been organised for Saturday 2 July at midday in Church Street, Liverpool, opposite Marks and Spencer. A leaflet is being prepared and hopefully some posters, but feel free to make your own and bring them along. Also any Labour Party and Trade Union banners and flags. We hope to have a stall and a megaphone. Please come along to show your support for Jeremy and the policies he represents. Please use social media to build this event.

Since posting this, I've received this by e-mail: This Saturday July 2 supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are invited to a rally at 12 pm outside BBC Radio Merseyside, Hanover Street, Liverpool City Centre.

I'd suggest if there's nothing happening at one venue, stroll around the corner to the other.

Fight austerity, not Corbyn

Corbyn: under siege from his own side

The Blairites are enticed out of the woodwork by what they believe is the scent of Jeremy Corbyn's blood. Instead of mobilising to defeat the Tories the same old Progress members, 4.5 per centres, and closet Tories are ignoring the successes in elections under Corbyn's leadership and instead are creating a smokescreen behind which they can politically assassinate him. 

Let us welcome Benn's sacking and the resignation of the rest and develop an irresistible force in support of JC and the policies of anti-austerity and socialism. If members of the PLP have no stomach for the fight they can resign and fight an election on their right wing, pro-austerity, pro-EU programme under which ever banner they can find to back them.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS Merseyside

Committee Member

EU vote: what next?

Merseyside ARMS committee member Tony Mulhearn proposes the Labour Movement's response to the referendum result.

The result shows a clear majority rejecting a system which has seen inequality reaching the highest levels in modern history. Endless austerity and attacks on workers' rights has been rejected. The Tories have been given their marching orders and are in complete disarray. Jeremy Corbyn and the TU leaders should demand a general election now.

Farage’s temporary triumphalism, which can only flourish in times of shortage, can be crushed by a confident Labour Movement mobilising all anti-austerity forces to finish the job off by throwing the Tories into the dustbin of history and returning a Corbyn-led Labour government committed to rolling back the cuts and bringing our utilities and the NHS back into public ownership. We can reach out to the European Labour and anti-austerity movement to join us in this objective.

Support sacked union activist

Leicestershire-based food manufacturer, Samworth Brothers, which supplies baked goods and other products to major UK retailers, responded to the introduction of the National Living Wage in April by eliminating paid breaks, premium pay and overtime rates, measures which can reduce workers’ pay by thousands of pounds per year. When hundreds of workers responded to these attacks by joining the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union, Samworth Brothers bosses responded by harassing Kumaran Bose, a leading union organiser who spoke out against the attack on pay and conditions, and then sacking him from his job at Samworth’s Kettleby Foods on 3 June.

Kumaran’s only offence was to convince over 50% of the workers at his factory to join the union; he has worked there for 12 years with a spotless record. Samworth Brothers, who last year recorded profits of over £41 million, refuse to recognise the bakers union at this site, despite the union’s majority membership. The union is energetically defending Kumaran and is appealing against the company’s refusal of voluntary recognition.

Send a message to Samworth Brothers telling them to reinstate Kumaran Bose, recognise the BFAWU and stop attacking workers’ pay and conditions!

The petition is here.

Info: Samworth Brothers own Cornish pasty maker Ginsters, and are the largest maker of certified Melton Mowbray pork pies. It is listed at number four in The Times Top Track 250.

EU Ballot - D-Day Minus One

By Tony Mulhearn, ARMS Merseyside committee member.

When you cast your vote remember this:

1. The institutions of the EU are controlled by unelected people with extremely dodgy political connections. EU President Junker, for instance, presided over Luxembourg which was a haven for every tax-dodging fat cat on the planet.
2. He was the bloke who patted Tsipras and Varoufakis on the head, ignored their pleas for a more caring capitalism, and chased them back to Greece to inflict the most appalling cuts in working class living standards in Greece’s history while that country’s fat cats who caused the crisis continue to live in opulent splendour and plunder state-owned institutions.
3. The EU blocked Portugal from implementing a no-cuts budget
4. It was the EU that ordered an increase in women’s retirement age from 60 to 65.
5. EU treaties protect freedoms for Business to move labour from member state to another and to ensure there is ‘no distortion of competition’. That means freedom for unscrupulous employers to pay the lowest rate of any EU country.
6. A condition of receiving EU ‘bale-outs’ is also that the recipient countries degrade the ability of trade unions to defend their members. National wage bargaining in Greece has all but disappeared.
7. Remaining will ensure that a more confident EU will act as an obstacle to a future Labour government from bringing back into public ownership the NHS, Rail, and the other public utilities that have been flogged off with the poisoned brew of TTIP as an additional weapon in their hands.
8. Unity of the international working class will not be achieved via this reactionary institution but via the struggle against austerity organised on a European basis. 

James Larkin March & Rally in Liverpool, 16 July 2016

Statement by the James Larkin Society 

''On Saturday 16 July, the James Larkin Society Liverpool will hold its annual March and Rally. The March will assemble at 12.30pm at Combermere Street (Larkin’s birthplace), off Park Road, Liverpool 8, and proceed to the city centre for a rally.

"The main theme of the event this year is to mark the start of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) in July 1936, and to honour all the Merseyside volunteers who enlisted in the International Brigade and fought against fascism and to defend democracy in Spain.

"Over 200 volunteers from Merseyside fought against Fascism in Spain. They included communists, socialists, trade unionists and Irish republicans. Over 30 were killed in action.

"One of the most famous of the Merseyside volunteers was James Larkin 'Jack' Jones (1913-2009), a Liverpool docker who went on to become leader of the Transport and General Workers Union. Jack and his comrades saw the struggle in Spain in the context of battling Mosleyite Fascists more locally, and as a precursor to the struggle against Hitler and the Nazis in World War Two. As he stated in an interview years later:

"For many men who went, it wasn’t a sense of adventure by any means. It was a feeling we were on the right side - the side of justice. For us it was the battle against fascism, including our local Mosley crowd, and that inspired me and encouraged me to do what I could against it, even if it meant laying down my life for it.

"The Liverpool March and Rally on 16 July will remember all the Merseyside volunteers of the International Brigade with pride and respect. In the context of the current rise of far right, racist and fascist groups across Europe, the message of the International Brigades, of hope against fear, is more relevant than ever.

"The James Larkin Society would like to encourage all trade unionists, and community groups to take part in the event, and to bring along their banners''.

The James Larkin Society was formed in Liverpool in 2003, to celebrate the life and work of the Liverpool-born Irish trade unionist and socialist, James Larkin (1876-1947), and to highlight the relevance of the message of his struggle and achievements to today’s world.

Next Mersey ARMS Group meeting

Notice of the next meeting of the Merseyside ARMS Group.

• Date: Thursday 30 June 2016.
• Time: 11.00 a.m. 
• Place: PCS office, 3rd floor, Jack Jones House, Islington, Liverpool, L3 8EG.

All ARMS members are welcome.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Lost pension tracking service ... any job you have had and you're not sure whether a pension went with it, try this through the DWP and it's free - here.

LGBT people face 'devastating' discrimination in end-of-life healthcare, research warns - here.

Support for housing should be given to elderly as well as young - here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Can I buy extra years National Insurance for new flat-rate state pension? - here.

Unsafe hospital discharge of older patients ‘getting worse’ - here.

Older people 'suffering in silence over loneliness' - here.

Worrying pension deficit at UK’s top charities - here.

Bank of England's chief economist calls for more simple pension system, as workers have little chance of making sense of funds when financial experts 'have no clue either'  - here.

EU vote: a message from Mark Serwotka & Janice Godrich

We urge you to use your vote in the EU Referendum on 23 June and to challenge politicians on both sides of the debate to say how remaining or leaving the EU will best serve your interests as a PCS member.

The debate in the national media has been dominated by myths and wild claims about the dangers of leaving or remaining in the EU. So our annual delegate conference last month agreed to launch a "PCS informs - you decide" campaign - challenging politicians on both sides of the debate to provide concrete information on how your jobs, pay, pensions and public services would be affected by a vote to leave or to remain in the EU.

Our special EU referendum publication outlines the issues that we need solid factual information on, including:

• Public services
• Trade union and workers' rights
• Economic growth and living standards
• Democracy
• Human rights
• Impact on women
• Immigration.

We hope you use the questions in this publication to challenge the 'remain' and 'leave' campaigners at hustings, on the streets and on the doorstep.

MARK SERWOTKA
General Secretary

JANICE GODRICH
President

The Orlando massacre terrorist will fail. Here's why.

Owen Jones explains why. From The Guardian website.
Click here to sign the on-line book of condolences.


tiny.cc/frs7by

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Tata bailout threatens UK pensions as rescue fund braces for steel deal hit - here.

Why is it more difficult than ever for older people to leave hospital? - here.

People 65+ to outnumber children under 5 for the first time ever in the next 4 years - here.

Can Britain afford to pay its pension bill? (Try tackling tax dodging?) - here.

Fibre linked to healthy ageing - here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Which? advice on paying for care - here.

3,000 local chemists could close after £170m subsidy cut - here.

Football's silent shame: Dementia 'conspiracy' is a stain on the game - here.

Public toilets 'wiped out in parts of UK' - here.

Older drivers should carry on until 75 before renewing licence, says review - here.

ARMS at the NWRPA

Jan Short of the NPC and Angela Rayner MP hold up our banner

Steve Ion and Ray Beeton of NW ARMS attended a recent meeting of North West Regional Pensioners Association. Speakers included Angela Rayner MP (Shadow Works and Pensions Minister) and Jan Short (Vice President of the National Pensioners Convention).

Angela Rayner's speech puts her very much on our side as pensioners, whilst Jan Short appeals for evidence of wrong doings in the care industry, whether it be care in the community or care homes. This evidence is necessary to make our case to the powers to be!

Liverpool TUC Public Meeting - EU Referendum

Hear the trade union arguments.

Speakers:
Alison Spencer-Scragg - Unite North West Political Officer (Unite Policy is Remain).
Steve Hedley - RMT Senior Assistant General Secretary (RMT Policy is Exit).
Steve Freeman - University College Union (boycott position).

Date: Monday 13 June.

Time: 7.00 p.m.

Place: The Casa, 29 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ.

Corbyn’s pledge to PCS

Jeremy Corbyn became the first ever Labour leader to address PCS conference and pledged that a Labour government would return national pay bargaining to the civil service and repeal the hated Tory Trade Union Act.

He also gave assurances on pay saying it was "time for the public sector (1%) pay cap to end and to restore good industrial relations in the civil service."

Condemning the Tory austerity agenda of cuts, closures and low wages he stressed that this was "a political choice being made by this government, not a necessity"; the cap on pay in the civil service continued, while consultants were brought in on very high levels of pay.

He also pledged that Labour would invest in HMRC, pointing out the inherent contradiction of the government cutting jobs in the department when billions of pounds were being lost in uncollected tax revenue. He said: "This government doesn’t seem to understand that job cuts mean tax not collected" and he called for “a properly staffed HMRC".

He also paid tribute to PCS as a "fantastic campaigning union", to which "the door is always open" and said he looked forward to working with the union on policy development.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Britain's pension system is a disgrace – we all deserve an easier way to save for retirement - here.

Almost two-thirds of people aged over 75 have never gone online - here.

The new era promised by the Care Act is yet to arrive - here.

Older people at 'heightened risk' of investment scam calls - here.

Delays in discharging older patients from hospital 'cost NHS £820m a year' - here.

Work until 70 to claim your state pension: Ex-FCA chairman Lord Turner - here.

What life as a pensioner really costs revealed - here.

Nearly half a million carers in their 80s

An "invaluable but invisible army" of carers in their 80s has increased by almost 40 per cent in the last seven years, new figures published by Age UK reveal. Around 417,000 octogenarians - one in seven - now look after a loved one saving the health and care system almost £6 billion every year. With a greying population that figure set to almost double to 760,000 by the end of the next decade.

The majority of these older people are looking after a partner as older couples try to manage living at home for as long as possible, leaning on each other for support. This all reinforces the need for fully-funded state provision of care.

Further reading here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Updates on health research on Alzheimers: new brain scan technique can spot Alzheimer’s 15 years before symptoms appear - here.

Older pensioners continue in poverty: evidence destroys wealthy pensioner myth - here.

Welsh strikers in Liverpool

Welsh strikers with ARMS Merseyside
committee member, Tony Mulhearn

I visited the striking Museum workers from Wales at the Albert Dock gates who are in their third week of strike action. PCS Rep Elfyn Jones-Roberts told me that they had been taking other forms of action for the last two and a half years to force the Welsh Assembly to withdraw their bullying attacks on basic rights. Among other attacks they have targeted front of house staff with cuts in premium payment for weekend working as well as drastic cuts in manning levels.

Director David Anderson has adopted a truculent 'take or leave it' stance. The workers were outraged by this and voted for all out action in the face of this provocation. Elfyn said they have visited PCS sites around the city and received a tremendous response. The strikers are determined to stay out until they are victorious.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS National Forum in Liverpool - observers welcome

The 2016 ARMS national forum will be held on 21 June 2016 in the PCS office in Liverpool. Every ARMS region is entitled to representation at the event which will discuss motions submitted by ARMS regional committees. We hope to welcome to the forum National President Janice Godrich.

ARMS members can attend as observers. However, early notice of attendance is required to ensure that all who may wish to attend can be accommodated. Applications for observer status must be sent to the ARMS national secretary via ARMS regional secretaries.

The ARMS North West regional secretary is Phil Green. If you wish to observe the forum, e-mail him by Friday 20 May on p.c.green@ukgateway.net

News updates - from the web

More news items from the internet, compiled by ARMS Mersey Group secretary, Steve Ion.

Better housing can help tackle the crisis of loneliness in older people - here.

The elderly are at risk of losing £140 energy rebate if they switch supplier - here.

A report into end of life care finds the dying elderly being forced into to hospital against their will - here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

EU Referendum over 60's vote - here.

And you thought you were safe with your "gold-plated" civil service pension. No money in the pot for public sector pensions, but how about the trillions swimming round in off shore accounts - here.

The 'if only' of care costs - here.

Good news on a potential cure for Alzheimer's. This is where the money should be spent on medical research and improving basic living standards for people, not sitting idle in an off-shore account - here.

Health care: how to improve it - here.

90th Anniversary of the General Strike

Ninety years ago today, millions of workers were taking part in the General Strike to defend the miners from a brutal Tory government. PCS National Vice-President John McInally celebrates the 1926 General Strike and declares that leadership now as then is critical. In 1926, the Daily Mail accurately described the general strike as a "revolutionary move" but with the purpose of frightening the Labour Party and union leaders, which it did.

Jeremy Hunt’s imposition of unacceptable contracts on junior doctors is a key stage in privatising our National Health Service. The PCS along with the Fire Brigades Union called on the TUC general council to call a day of action in support of the junior doctors. The TUC must, as a matter of priority, reconsider their decision not to support this call.

"The real lesson of the general strike," John concluded, "is not that we can’t win but with determined leadership, workers can secure priceless victories."

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS North West banner

Our brand new ARMS NW banner on its first ever outing 

on the May Day march and rally in Liverpool.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Whose Poodle Now?

Barack Obama sees the EU with its commitment to neo-liberalism as an instrument of American foreign policy, and TTIP as the goose that lays the golden egg. He is concerned that Brexit could jeopardise that arrangement, hence his audacious comments.

Leaving will not result in a bonfire of workers’ rights, that’s already happened under Tory governments, with Blair tightening the screw. UK membership has not prevented the enforcement of the most illiberal labour laws in the developed world nor the most savage cuts in social provision for 100 years. Greece learned in a most brutal fashion that the notion that the EU protects workers is a myth.

Blair was crazy Bush’s poodle. Now Cameron is Obama’s poodle. The time is ripe for us to slash the poodle’s leash. It’s not too late for Jeremy Corbyn to face down his right wing blackmailers and oppose the fat cats’ club and join the campaign for a United Socialist States of Europe.

Tony Mulhearn

A Campaign Of Seeping Malevolence Against Pensioners

Merseyside ARMS believes the claim that IDS resigned on the basis of his opposition to attacks on the disabled is cynical and hypocritical. He pushed the bedroom tax, Universal Credit, ATOS, the persecution of disabled people who were sanctioned when incapable of work. He presided over the increase in suicides among those deprived of benefit.

We particularly note that his letter targets pensioners with the words: 'You are aware that I believe the cuts would have been even fairer to younger families and people of working age if we had been willing to reduce some of the benefits given to better-off pensioners…', another cynical ploy to divide the old from the young.

Such a notion is part of a growing and insidious campaign to attack pensions and related entitlements. As well as ID Smith, Frank Field and assorted journalists have trailed the idea that pensioners are 'privileged'. Hamish McRae of the 'I' declared 'If pensioners get more, then someone has to foot the bill'. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian headlined 'Pensioners now have a bigger share of the wealth than under-45s.' Darling of the establishment Field says 'The so-called triple lock on state pensions is paid for by squeezing the real incomes of working people.'

These people see the banker-induced crisis as a zero-sum game of a single cake of a shrinking size baked by the Tories in which every slice is reduced or increased as long as it stays within the spending cap determined by history's most mendacious government.

Ignored are the £billions in tax dodged by the fat cats who bankroll the Tory party; as is the £350billion of quantitative easing gifted to the banks; the £billions paid out in bankers’ bonuses is a sealed book; the tax cuts to the top 1% is not even mentioned by the sainted Frank Fields or his kindred spirits.

Nor is it mentioned that British pensioners are among the lowest paid in Western Europe. The OECD reported that British workers receive, if private and state pensions are combined, 38% of their wages, this figure would dramatically reduce for workers without a private pension. In contrast the level in Holland and Austria is 90% and in Spain and Italy 80% of average wages.

We believe now is the time for the TUC to join with the National Pensioners Convention to act on its policy of preparing a massive campaign of opposition to these attacks on pensioners and to all austerity. This campaign should initiate mass industrial action to include a 24-hour general strike, a policy adopted by the 2013 TUC, to force this shambles of a government to retreat.

Tony Mulhearn

May Day in Liverpool

Event Facebook page here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Workers warned they face 'nasty surprise' when they retire as they will not qualify for the full rate - here.

300,000 elderly people 'have unmet care needs and are chronically lonely' - here.

Altmann admits savers ‘bewildered’ by pension changes - here.

Bank bailout v Tata bailout – how the costs compare - here.

State pension reforms: ​Millions still clueless about entitlements - here.

Could women be about to land a fairer pension deal now Iain Duncan Smith has gone? - here.

The care visits that STILL last just 15 minutes: two years after councils were told to stop cutting corners, hundreds are offering slots in defiance of government warnings - here.

Health rationing row as NHS hospitals set out rules preventing the elderly from having operations - here.

Spike in deaths 'due to dementia and flu' - here.

Up in ARMs - latest issue

The latest edition of the ARMs newsletter is out now. In this edition:

• ARMs strategic review
• State Pension age review
• Motor insurance discrimination
• Council funding con trick
• Newsbrief
• Local ARMs groups
• Unique award for Ann Rhodes
• ARMs contacts
• New ARMs national secretary

Click here.

Petition to demand on-line voting in industrial action ballots

MPs could be voting on an important amendment to the Trade Union Bill in just a matter of days. They will be deciding whether to allow trade unions to use on-line voting for industrial actions, which is currently banned. The government is acting like it has a huge majority, but in reality its majority is only 12, which means there's a good chance we can make sure this important change to the bill is approved.

On-line voting is a sensible reform to existing trade union law. It would make it easier, cheaper and probably increase turnout in union ballots, making votes more democratic and increase their legitimacy: no wonder the government wants to stop it.

Cameron’s government is handing big business and dodgy employers a golden opportunity to weaken our rights at work and treat workers unfairly. But if we can force the government to accept the Lords amendment on on-line voting, we can help our unions fight back.

Send a message to your MP here.

The Manchester May Day Festival 2016

With guest speaker Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary. The march assembles from 11.30 at All Saints Park on Oxford Road and will move off at 12.00. Click on the flyer to enlarge it

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Unpaid carers can't keep on plugging gaps in the NHS and social care - here.

Elderly hospital patients given eviction warnings - here.

20 million - mainly low-earners - to lose out under pension reform - here.

Having pharmacists in care homes could save the NHS £135 million per year - here.

PM pressured to help women hit by state pension age rises - here.

Cuts preventing councils from implementing Care Act – British Red Cross - here.

Women have barely half the pensions of men, says TUC - here.

Brexit: 400,000 Britons living on the Continent could have state pensions frozen - here.

 

'Work for longer': major shake-up of state pensions announced - here.

The state pension shakeup that could leave you with nothing at all - here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Austerity linked to increase in deaths of over-85s, research into Pension Credits finds - here.

The flat-rate pension you probably won't get! Government slammed for botched messages over looming shake-up - here.

Check your pension entitlement - here.

Labour urges new DWP head to act on state pension age - here.

Teachers consider taking industrial action with junior doctors over Government academy plan - here.

Osborne sold low earners a 'pup' when he unveiled new state pension, union claims - here.

NHS spending devolved in Greater Manchester. This is another opportunity for the government to blame someone else rather than increase central budgets (like Regional Devolution of Council Spending) when impossible budgets are unable to deliver regionally - here.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

User involvement in care inspections is jeopardised by CQC's short-sighted thinking - here.

E.ON and Age UK urged to refund pensioners over fuel deal - here.

Age UK energy deals with E.On to be examined by regulators - here.

Ministers under fire after Amazon boss is appointed to Work and Pensions department board - here. 

Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away - here.

Later Life Agenda - here.

Task force warns more than a million elderly may be suffering from malnutrition - here.

New state pension blow for women as they lose right to make a claim based on their partner's National Insurance record - here.

Is charity Age UK selling overpriced insurance too? Investigation suggests its quotes are three times higher than rivals - here.

Hope in the fight against dementia: Number of people battling the condition has FALLEN by 20% every decade since the 70s - here.

Over-65s in England 'living longer than ever before' - here.

Age UK and E.ON suspend controversial tariff for pensioners - here.

Trident meeting, Liverpool - 16.2.16

Public meeting in Liverpool about Trident - all welcome.

News updates - from the web

ARMS Mersey Group secretary Steve Ion's regular round-up of relevant news items.

Families 'use contactless cards to steal from the elderly' - here.

Pension taxes are 'milch cow' for chancellor, says IFS head - here.

Frail, older people suffer in silence as they are 'too afraid' to complain about poor care - here.

Vitamin B can help boost learning and memory in older people - here.

Older People Believe More In Gender Equality Than People In Their Twenties - here.

Social Care Cuts Leave Thousands Of Older Blind People Without Vital Support - here.

'Cash-for-diagnosis' scheme sees doctors claim more dementia cases - here.

Older people, disabled people and most vulnerable to lose £68 a week in housing benefit - here.

Inequality and Older Age - here.

This company wants to charge elderly people in Wales £18 an hour to have a friend - here.

Retirement flat rip-off! Elderly people hit by hidden fees amounting to tens of thousands of pounds - here.

Older people in need 'let down by NHS' - here.

Fury as BBC ask over-75s to give up free TV licences - here.

At last we have a shadow pension minister - here.

Too many councils are failing to meet their Care Act duties - here.

Councils still insisting on 15 minute homecare visits - here.

Care homes face crisis as CQC experts threaten mass walkout over pay cuts - here.

GPs vote to axe care home visits: Fears elderly patients will be left with inferior care and higher fees after decision at crisis meeting - here.