…starring our photocopier, as it can act a whole lot better than me. Thanks to Moby for allowing me to use the splendid track “18″ on this, and to Lianne for clicking repeatedly.
BTW: As Mark Twain would likely have tweeted - had I more time, I would have uploaded a shorter video. If you do, have a go at the TUC 60 second video contest on YouTube, which I’ve missed by a mere 150%.
Friday is the unions’ global protest day in solidarity with our colleagues in Iran. Free trades unionists there have been harshly repressed in recent years, with many in prison for organising unions outside the approved ‘puppet union’ structures, or for daring to hold May Day celebrations.
I’ll be outside the Iranian embassy on Friday with colleagues from the TUC, ITF and UK unions. There’s more information on the demo at the TUC site, if you’re able to come along (12:30-13:30 at SW7 1PT). Read the rest of this entry »
I’m very happy to endorse the campaign for Aunt Sally to be a demonstration sport at the Olympics.
Aunt Sally may only be played in Oxfordshire, yet it is the world’s best sport because it is so accessible. This all hinges on the fact that it is quite ludicrously difficult. You lob six batons (like a rounders bat) underarm down an alley, attempting to strike a white peg, suspended about a meter above the ground. The spinning batons are wildly inaccurate. On a good day, I can hit one of my six shots, whilst some of the best players I know only manage three. A three to one skill premium is lower than any other sport I’ve heard of, and it’s no disgrace at all to miss all six. Read the rest of this entry »
Fame at last - I made the cut for Unions Together’s new YouTube video for tomorrow’s elections ;) - Make sure you’re not blinking near the start if you want to catch me! Read the rest of this entry »
I went to see a solicitor today, something that normally has me worrying about the fees meter running, and whether I can afford to say yes to the offer of a coffee if it comes at £200 an hour. I was getting my signature on a financial document witnessed, but when I asked how much I owed him for the few minutes help, he said “You’re a union member aren’t you? There’s no charge.” Read the rest of this entry »
It’s expected that the Westminster expenses scandal will earn major parties a thumping at this week’s elections, with UKIP one of the main winners, and the worrying possibility that the BNP could pick up their first seat in Strasbourg.
As others have noted though, a big reason these parties are untainted by the other’s dodgy claims woes is not that they’ve taken a principled stand away from the trough, but because they couldn’t, as they’ve not actually been voted anywhere near it in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »
The TUC’s new Middlebritainometer (widgeted below) shows you how close (or not) you are to middle income Britain. Give it your income and it will quite possibly give you a surprise!
Certain sections of the media are very fond of talking about Middle Britain, portraying an aspirational group of happy Mondeo drivers as the very core of society. This is something of a fiction though, and the new Life In The Middle pamphlet shows how British society has moved in recent history from a sort of diamond shape, clustered around median income with some poorer and a comparable number richer, tapering off in both directions.
Now it’s all gone (literally) pear-shaped. The median has fallen downwards in the overall income scale, with the working poor better off in recent years, but the middle quintile slumped around the £20,000pa mark, and professionals and the super-rich stretching off much further at the top of the graph. Read the rest of this entry »
I bought a suit a couple of years back for a conference in the States. I’d arrived and unpacked, only to find my suit had been hanging unused for so long at home that moths had been right through it. Bit of a panic, but I was cheered up tremendously by finding a UNITE union made logo tucked into the inside pocket of my new Hart Marx whistle.
Well, it seems I’m in good company, as that 136 year old US gents’ outfitter has an even more notable client than me - a certain Barack Obama. Unfortunately both the POTUS and I could now be in danger of losing our sartorial shine, as the firm are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, with a bailed-out bank trying to deny Hart Marx the second chance they themselves received. Read the rest of this entry »
Opening my copy of The Journalist, the periodical of choice (or at least of automatic mailing) for unionised media professionals, I noticed this strangely placed ad. Of course, the union certainly needs the cash at the moment from any advertisers who’ll have the space, and it all helps keep the Journo as the good read it has become since its recent makeover, but I do wonder how many takers the Bowden Hall training company will receive from this ad.
Or am I wrong, and the nation’s assorted hacks and subs have actually been dying for the chance to acquire a decent level of accomplishment in the English language? As the ad says, it could bring them “real dividends in business” should they ever want to consider writing for a living. Still - I’m very happy to offer Bowden Hall a freebie for supporting the union: You missed a full stop for the penultimate sentence.
Just back from a lovely May Day march in the sun in central London, celebrating International Workers’ Day 2009 in the company of unionists, socialists and assorted lefties. Read the rest of this entry »
