We the undersigned are staff at Family Mosaic Housing Association. We are calling for: 1. A fair cost of living award for all staff including those in Care and Support. 2. Our bonus and benefits to be protected and not removed without consultation. 3. Greater transparency over pay in the organisation.

The loss of these talented members of technical staff will come at the worst possible point for the MA 2016 cohort and will have grim implications for those who still have the majority of their BA degrees ahead of them too. With resources already stretched to breaking point, contact and support time limited and specialist advice in high demand, we want to know how the University can justify this decision.

I used to work at BHS. Between 2009 - 2012 I sold furniture in Store 255, Reading Gate. The people I worked with made it one of the best jobs I've ever had. When the store was closed in 2012, the owner (at that time Phillip Green) tried to get away with providing the least possible support for those of us laid off. But we stuck together, campaigned and won a better deal. Today, BHS is on the verge of collapse. 11,000 jobs - people just like me and my old friends - are at risk. On top of that, the company has a £571 million pension deficit. Some employees have saved all their life. Now their pensions are at risk. And why? Greens Greed - and others like him. Cold, callous and heartless greed. The story of BHS's bankruptcy is one of theft and asset-stripping on a massive scale. Green took £580m+ out then sold the company for £1. The next owner, twice bankrupt Dominic Chappell, has taken millions more. Green underfunded the pension scheme - while paying his wife £400 million in BHS dividends, all channeled through a tax haven. Now the ship is sinking, while Green takes delivery of his new £100 million superyacht. I don't work at BHS anymore. Today, I run ACORN, a national organisation made of 15000 low-middle income renters, service workers, claimants and others, fighting against inequality and for a fairer deal. I want to use this petiton to help BHS workers organise together and win the best outcome possible (if you're a worker, let us know!) BHS collapse could drive 11,000 more people into poverty, welfare and zero-hours contracts risking homes and health. Green, Chappell and the rest must be held liable and made to pay for their crime. Please sign and share.

This is an idea that received unanimous support from the Dundee Fairness Commission. The Scottish Unemployed Workers' Network is calling for it to be translated into action. People unable to find work are increasingly being made to work for nothing on pain of losing their benefits and being left destitute. There have been various different work-for-your-benefits schemes - including Community Work Placements that mandate people to work unpaid for 30 hours a week for 6 months, a total of 782 hours, or more than 2 ½ times the maximum community service given as punishment for a crime. The DWP doesn’t actually use the term workfare, which comes from the United States where this approach was developed, but it is a convenient word to use to cover all the different schemes that both punish and exploit the unemployed. Very few of these schemes provide anything at all in the way of useful experience, and the people forced to do them are often treated like skivvies both in the work they are made to do and the attitudes shown to them. Far from building their confidence, as official documents suggest, this forced labour saps the spirit and wears down people’s mental health. And if they deviate at all from what they are being instructed to do they can end up sanctioned and penniless. In addition, rather than increase the numbers of people in paid work, these schemes actually cut across the creation of paid jobs. Why pay someone to work when you can get the labour for nothing? They also provide unfair competition to businesses who want to do the right thing by their workers. These schemes are a major source of worry for everyone who is faced with them, but they have not gone unchallenged – and challenges have elicited widespread support. Naming and shaming of companies and organisations who have exploited this forced labour has persuaded many well-known names to pull out of these schemes, and the Government refuses to publish the names of organisations involved as this would expose them to protests. Keep Volunteering Voluntary has persuaded large numbers of charities and non-profit organisations to sign up to their promise not to use forced labour. Workfare is an integral part of the ‘welfare reform’ juggernaut that is destroying our welfare state. We don’t have the power to change the rules, but a concerted programme of resistance organised at city level could provide a significant contribution to making them unworkable, and also highlight what is happening to those not already aware. We see the first (simple and easily instigated) steps as falling under two headings: 1/ We call on the City Council to agree that it will not itself be party to any workfare schemes and that it will make non-participation a condition for any organisation in receipt of council funding. 2/ We also call on the Council to give official backing to a well-publicised campaign to give formal recognition to all businesses and organisations who agree not to participate in these schemes. This would be similar to the scheme operated by Keep Volunteering Voluntary (who are very interested in the idea of a no-workfare city), but would include commercial organisations and not just voluntary ones. Organisations who have agreed not to exploit workfare would be listed in a well-publicised website and licensed to display a ‘no-workfare city’ logo on their window and publicity materials so that the general public would know where they could go without patronising organisations that use forced labour. This sort of opt-in scheme would avoid the difficulties of getting the accurate and up-to-date information needed for a name and shame list. However, it does need to be very well publicised so that organisations feel under sufficient pressure to take part. Publicity would also help prevent small voluntary organisations from being persuaded by misleadingly worded DWP documents into thinking that by participating in these schemes they are helping unemployed people. It would enable them instead to provide real help that people can access on a voluntary basis.

https://vimeo.com/163562207 The Coal Exchange, which stands proudly amongst its peers, has long been left to fall into disrepair. The building is battered and worn after years of decay. When people talk about this building, they will often talk of its past grandeur and place in history as the centre of the world’s controversial coal industry. The building ensured the flow of funds were channelled through her hallways, providing thousands of families with the means to feed and clothe their children. In many cases, what was seen as the centre of their community would also be the very reason to shorten their fragile lives. Whatever your thoughts are on this magnificent building, good or bad, you cannot deny it plays an integral part of the ancestry of Cardiff and wider-Wales. Many of the UK’s listed buildings no longer serve their original purpose, and developers do not wish to go into the detail that is required to save them. What they would prefer to do is sit in their ivory towers, looking no further than the plans strewn across their desks, with their fleet of advisors who serve to sterilise their new structure. This is not our intention. Signature Living and I intend to keep this building as close to the structure as possible. We certainly will not be changing any of the exterior walls, apart from re-engaging them with the building. It is widely known the rear of the building has had to bear the ingress of large amounts of water over many years, which has caused her wooden joints to not only rot, but to disengage from the main structure. This, along with the roof, will be the first of the tasks we set out to complete, as timing here is of the essence. With a listed building, such as The Coal Exchange, it is essential to preserve the structure as was intended when first erected, whilst ensuring it is self-sustaining – with the latter, arguably, being a primary aim for the building. Further Reading http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/pictures-show-just-how-wrecked-11192088 http://lawrencekenwright.co.uk/coal-exchange-closed-business/ http://lawrencekenwright.co.uk/plans-return-coal-exchange-former-glory/ http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2016-04-08/cardiffs-coal-exchange-to-be-200-room-luxury-hotel-and-events-venue/ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/how-cardiffs-coal-exchange-look-11152558

It is widely recognised that junior doctors are the lifeblood of the modern NHS. They are the consultants of the future, and through years of dedicated training provide a truly 24 hour a day, seven day a week service. The proposed contract undermines safe working practices, reverts to a previously failed system and has been roundly rejected by the workforce. It is openly discriminatory against female doctors. The proposed changes are based on flawed analysis of data that suggests a “weekend effect” and while we are keen to improve safety in hospitals across the UK, this contract will harm patients, harm the workforce and harm the training of junior doctors. Further to the overwhelming rejection of this contract by junior doctors, they have huge support from consultant colleagues, multiple Royal Colleges and the public as a whole. Please publicly reject the imposition of this contract at Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and call for new negotiations without pre-condition in a mark of support for the hard working and dedicated staff of these fine hospitals. For more information about why the new contracts are unsafe and unfair, please visit the BMI website: http://oneprofession.bma.org.uk/ On Behalf of the Support Junior Doctors Manchester Campaign. To find out more please join our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1704071369861870/permalink/1708719502730390/?comment_id=1709001592702181&notif_t=group_comment_follow&notif_id=1461101572281468

The economic impact on both the employees, and those dependant on the local economy, of the closure of the Longannet Power Plant will be felt far and wide. Small local business will be badly hit. There remains no large scale employer in the West Fife area after this closure so regeneration funding is vital to the recovery process.

The culture in the UK is for employees to work longer and longer hours, yet productivity in the UK is the lowest in the G7 countries. France, with similar population number and territory size, has a higher productivity per capita and yet employees work far less hours. It has been shown that a tired work force is less efficient and more costly, as it has more days off work. It impact on the NHS as a stressed workforce is more prone to illness and injuries. We want a law that reduce the costs to the British tax payer associated with overworking. A law which addresses the current work/social life imbalance. I am treating far too many people affected by stress due to long hours at work often forced, by a bullying culture, to 'socialise' with coworkers after work to show they are 'one of the team'.

This campaign is important for multiple reasons, firstly it is unfair practice and a form of ageism to pay 18-20 year olds less than their 21+ year old counterparts for the same work, secondly young people are disadvantaged by low pay as it is working for lower wages means having to work longer hours for the same of money which can have a negative effect on commitments to education, family duties and a good work life balance and finally this campaign is important to highlight that young people are an equal and respect member of the work force.

Charities are in a privileged position and contributors expect the cash they volunteer to go to the charitable cause, not inflate the pay packet of administrators. If you limit the maximum pay to that of a Member of Parliament-which is still three times the average pay of an employed worker, people would feel that more of their contributions were spent on the cause they support.

The continued exclusion of overseas pensioners from up-rating adjustments to their State Pensions means that the real terms incomes of those affected falls year-on-year. Over time this leads to hardship, poverty, loss of independence and loneliness. Some individuals have been forced to return to the UK, away from loved ones, just to get by. This policy also creates a barrier to pensioner emigration from the UK, as the prospect of a frozen pension means that many feel they simply couldn't afford to do so. Given the countries involved are largely in the Commonwealth, those in British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are disproportionately impacted. There is no dispute about the entitlement to receive a State Pension overseas. All British pensioners who have made the required NI contributions during their working life are eligible. The issue at stake is whether that pension is universally uprated or not. At the moment, the government's policy is inconsistent and unfair, with half British pensioners abroad getting up-rated and the other half excluded. This creates crazy anomalies i.e. uprating in the USA, frozen pensions in Canada. It is time for reform to give all pensioners the full state pension they deserve, wherever they live, and to end this injustice once and for all. A positive, and easily affordable, step forward would be for the Government to include all pensioners in the 2.7% State Pension up-rating to be granted this year, by withdrawing the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2016 currently before parliament. CASE STUDIES: Anne Puckridge Former college lecturer Anne Puckridge, now 91, lived and worked in the UK all her working life, paying mandatory NI contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s. Fourteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £75.50 a week rate, she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day to day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by. Anne says: “It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health.” Abhik Bonnerjee Abhik Bonnerjee, now 73, moved from India to Glasgow in 1960. He worked in the UK for 38 years, in shipbuilding, steel manufacture and the food industry. He owned an Indian restaurant for 6 years. Abhik returned to India in 1997 and reached the State Pension retirement age in 2008 when it was paid at £87.30 a week. Having made all the required NI contributions, if Abhik still in the UK today he would get £115.95, 28% more. The decline in his real terms income has left Abhik concerned about losing his home. He now feels he may have to move back to the UK. Abhik says: “The current situation makes me very, very angry. The government are scaremongering… [The Minister] says it will cost a lot of money but it is only a tiny percentage [of the pensions budget]. The government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries and MPs can’t explain why they are not.” Rita Young Rita Young, 78, lives in Peterborough in the UK. She retired in 2002, aged 67, having enjoyed a long career in market research and as a community volunteer. Rita’s son moved to work in Australia some time ago and now has a family there. Since being widowed Rita has wanted to join her son and grandchildren in Australia, but has felt unable to do so due to the prospect of a frozen pension. As she gets older Rita finds daily life increasingly difficult, especially as she doesn’t have a family around who she can call on. She is deeply saddened that she is not able to be with her family during the later stages of her life, and feels that it is a complete injustice that had her son moved to a different country (e.g. France or the USA) she would be able join him with a full UK pension. Rita has spoken at the National Pensioners Convention about the issue and is very active in her community. Rita says: “I worked and contributed to my State Pension all my life. It doesn't seem fair that the government can just stop uprating it because I want to be with my family.” Geoff Amatt Geoff Amatt from Abergele in Wales reached 100 last year. Geoff contributed to the UK economy all his life and fought for his country during the Second World War. Geoff’s daughter Jean emigrated to Calgary, Canada more than 40 years ago, yet Geoff was unable to follow in the knowledge that his State Pension would be frozen at the rate of leaving the country. £29 per week at the time. As a result Geoff has been separated from his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren throughout his retirement. He has lived alone, largely dependent on the state for care, since his wife died seven years ago. Jean says: “Frozen pensions are unbelievably unfair. Canadians get their pension uprated in they live in the UK yet we don’t offer the same for those moving in the other direction. The government is keeping families apart and I worry about my father left all alone in Britain while we’re thousands of miles away.”

Our MPs get extensive holidays compared to regular members of the public in low paid jobs. I propose they be required to work in a low cost high street food chain on the shop floor for five days, in full public view. Cabinet members who "refuse" to take part or need to be excluded for security reasons must wear a wonky boot, a glove on their dominant hand, and fuzzy goggles from dawn to dusk, secured by locks, and be on web camera at all times except toilet breaks. Use of public transport in full "kit" should be mandatory at least once per day, from random locations across the country. This will ensure they more fully understand the lives of the people they were elected to represent, or the nature of health and disability.