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Nick Venedi
Sunday 30 January 2011
Saturday 29 January 2011
Pensions crisis, Nick Venedi
I am reproducing Dave Prentis statement found on the Unison website on the erosion in value of pensions.'This week, news emerged that the value of public sector workers' pensions has dropped by up to 25%. This is due in part to the government's decision to use the CPI rather than the RPI to calculate pension increases.This means the cost of providing public sector pensions has already fallen and workers are losing out when they retire. Further attempts to cut pensions for social workers, teaching assistants and nurses would be unjustified.It's time the government turned its attention instead to the private sector, where two thirds of companies do not pay a penny towards their workers' pensions – leaving taxpayers with a multi billion pound means-tested benefits bill
http://www.blogknox.com/blogs/UK%20Labour%20Party/old/201012.html
Nick Venedi
http://www.blogsitelist.com/detail/the-world-of-nick-venedi-9194.htm
http://www.blogknox.com/blogs/UK%20Labour%20Party/old/201012.html
Nick Venedi
http://www.blogsitelist.com/detail/the-world-of-nick-venedi-9194.htm
Friday 7 January 2011
Nick Venedi, Lambeth diaries
So myself and 5 others arrived in April 1988 from the heroic battlefield that was LSPU M Thacher got her way and managed to abolish anything associated with the GLC so this was the end.
We 'landed' in Lambeth after a long struggle with bureaucracy but we were not welcomed as heros as I imagined that we would be given the role of LSPU. In fact not many people in the branch knew who we were or what we did...if anything they were suspicious of us so I guess this shaped the way we viewed things for a long time to come. It was obvious that nothing was safe and that the Leviathan (that's what I call Lambeth Council) was in constant turmoil we had to learn to live with that and knew that the GLC was dead for ever.
The brief reign of Linda Bellos was followed by a shorter rise to power by Dick Serabji who replaced Linda who I regarded as a personal friend, in 1989. Dick was then removed by Joan Twelves who was a close ally of Gregg Tucker. Joan Twelves became the Leader and Gregg Tucker (from the RMT or maybe Aslef) took over the position of Central Services Chair. He ended up being in constant battle with Chief Officers and that, in itself, created instability within the Directorate. I would assume, although I have no evidence of this, that this was the reason as to why Gregg and Joan wanted to do away with the centre!
Joan Twelves decided to reorganise again and brought in Reg Race who then produced the Reg Race report at great expense if I may say so. This was around 1990 shortly after I became Convenor for DMS. It was a very difficult period for all of us but I managed to convince Joan Twelves, with help from Mike Waller who was then the Branch Secretary to allow those who were in a position of redundancy to have 3 redeployment opportunities and 3 appeals against any decisions to dismiss. This later on established the principle of White, Green and Pink redeployee status (denotes priority) I can safely say that no one who wanted to stay was made redundant so we did, in a way, achieve a small victory which gave me and those supporting me the confidence and energy to continue the struggle. I had an extensive network of support which came mainly from the reactivated Black Workers Group who were close allies. I started attending Convenors committee every week to witness battles and carniage which made me wonder if we were all on the the same side. I was young and new to this so a bit shocked!! I vaguely remember a skinny fella, called Jon Rogers, standing up at branch meetings advocating revolution, he was around my age and wondered what planet (at the time) he had landed from...
It became clear and obvious to me that we had to organise ourselves better and have trained shop stewards able to defend attacks from the employer but I was, at the same time, anxious to retain a balance between being anti everything and everyone and work with the employer to ensure that the interests of members were protected. I am a reformist and have always argued that change should be achieved using legal means. So the Reg Race report/reorganisation threw me at the deep end and forced me to come to terms with the realisation that I had to lead from the front so I waved goodbye to the opportunity of finishing a Cipfa qualification and I took up arms (literary speaking of course) I never believed that Lambeth was a bad employer and that everyone in top management positions was instinctively bad on the contrary I always knew that those who chose to come and work in Lambeth knew of its history and splendid past and retained within them a degree of honor and integrity. They were not the enemy but were forced into a hard position by a reactionary government, this, I think, helped me later on to persuade Chief Executives/officers to follow advice from me which in tern help us. There was inevitably the odd wanker to be found in the midst of despair and confusion but in general I felt and still do that those who work for Lambeth Council are a special breed of essentially good people who believe in public service. Even the Tories in Lambeth are a bad version of Liberals....
Nick Venedi
We 'landed' in Lambeth after a long struggle with bureaucracy but we were not welcomed as heros as I imagined that we would be given the role of LSPU. In fact not many people in the branch knew who we were or what we did...if anything they were suspicious of us so I guess this shaped the way we viewed things for a long time to come. It was obvious that nothing was safe and that the Leviathan (that's what I call Lambeth Council) was in constant turmoil we had to learn to live with that and knew that the GLC was dead for ever.
The brief reign of Linda Bellos was followed by a shorter rise to power by Dick Serabji who replaced Linda who I regarded as a personal friend, in 1989. Dick was then removed by Joan Twelves who was a close ally of Gregg Tucker. Joan Twelves became the Leader and Gregg Tucker (from the RMT or maybe Aslef) took over the position of Central Services Chair. He ended up being in constant battle with Chief Officers and that, in itself, created instability within the Directorate. I would assume, although I have no evidence of this, that this was the reason as to why Gregg and Joan wanted to do away with the centre!
Joan Twelves decided to reorganise again and brought in Reg Race who then produced the Reg Race report at great expense if I may say so. This was around 1990 shortly after I became Convenor for DMS. It was a very difficult period for all of us but I managed to convince Joan Twelves, with help from Mike Waller who was then the Branch Secretary to allow those who were in a position of redundancy to have 3 redeployment opportunities and 3 appeals against any decisions to dismiss. This later on established the principle of White, Green and Pink redeployee status (denotes priority) I can safely say that no one who wanted to stay was made redundant so we did, in a way, achieve a small victory which gave me and those supporting me the confidence and energy to continue the struggle. I had an extensive network of support which came mainly from the reactivated Black Workers Group who were close allies. I started attending Convenors committee every week to witness battles and carniage which made me wonder if we were all on the the same side. I was young and new to this so a bit shocked!! I vaguely remember a skinny fella, called Jon Rogers, standing up at branch meetings advocating revolution, he was around my age and wondered what planet (at the time) he had landed from...
It became clear and obvious to me that we had to organise ourselves better and have trained shop stewards able to defend attacks from the employer but I was, at the same time, anxious to retain a balance between being anti everything and everyone and work with the employer to ensure that the interests of members were protected. I am a reformist and have always argued that change should be achieved using legal means. So the Reg Race report/reorganisation threw me at the deep end and forced me to come to terms with the realisation that I had to lead from the front so I waved goodbye to the opportunity of finishing a Cipfa qualification and I took up arms (literary speaking of course) I never believed that Lambeth was a bad employer and that everyone in top management positions was instinctively bad on the contrary I always knew that those who chose to come and work in Lambeth knew of its history and splendid past and retained within them a degree of honor and integrity. They were not the enemy but were forced into a hard position by a reactionary government, this, I think, helped me later on to persuade Chief Executives/officers to follow advice from me which in tern help us. There was inevitably the odd wanker to be found in the midst of despair and confusion but in general I felt and still do that those who work for Lambeth Council are a special breed of essentially good people who believe in public service. Even the Tories in Lambeth are a bad version of Liberals....
Nick Venedi
Thursday 6 January 2011
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Nick Venedi, the diaries
It all started when I was redeployed to Lambeth from the LSPU (London Strategic Policy Unit) in 1988. The process of shifting the 200 staff to the 8 participating boroughs was rather complicated and it involved us having to go through interviews followed by written tests. I do not recall NALGO objecting to us having to go through these difficulties at the time although I know that I objected and stopped tests for a reorganisation when I became a Convenor two years later.
Myself, Kienda Hoji, who later on became one of the most legendary Chairs of the Branch, arrived sometime after April 1988. I don't think we were greeted with hostility by the NALGO branch but the reception was rather wet. Lambeth NALGO was facing a huge crisis at the time with Linda Bellos trying desperately to work with the unions and appease those in her own party who were openly hostile towards her. I knew Bellos from my work with the LSPU as she was the Chair of that body. Margaret Hodge was the Secretary. Lambeth NALGO had, at the time, more than 5000 members.
It is worth mentioning that prior to our arrival there was resistance from the HR section who did not think it was right for us to be taken in, this is despite the fact that our contracts contained clauses that made it clear that in the event of abolition we would be assimilated by one of the 9 boroughs participating in the post GLC body. So there was a lot of hostility from the HR side and not much interest shown by NALGO. The only people that were helpful were Peter Woodward and Amanda Baird who were, at the time, Convenors in Lambeth. Mike Waller, the then Branch Secretary, persuaded the Branch to work with the plan and proved to be helpful at the end. I did not know Jon of the Rogers at the time so no idea what his position was on this. The LSPU were, to start with, seen as outsiders by the Lambeth branch. This of course changed dramatically with me and Kienda standing for election to positions and rising within the union structures, but this was a struggle and we had to fight and challenge negative attitudes and perceptions.
At the end the complications with us being redeployed were resolved with Linda Bello's intervention. She instructed officers in Lambeth to get on with it (in that special Linda Bellos assertiveness that she was famous for) so we were 'allowed' to have the interviews and the tests after Linda put her foot down.
I think the incident and the events around it which took two months to resolve shaped the way I would view and see the union and those in management positions. It made myself and others who came with me, more suspicious and more determined to be involved at the front of any fight that could have affected our future. I was in my twenties at the time so the unstable period taught me a lesson. The lesson was simple, don't sit around waiting for others to determine your destiny, take control and be involved with a union that is, at the end of the day, yours
Myself, Kienda Hoji, who later on became one of the most legendary Chairs of the Branch, arrived sometime after April 1988. I don't think we were greeted with hostility by the NALGO branch but the reception was rather wet. Lambeth NALGO was facing a huge crisis at the time with Linda Bellos trying desperately to work with the unions and appease those in her own party who were openly hostile towards her. I knew Bellos from my work with the LSPU as she was the Chair of that body. Margaret Hodge was the Secretary. Lambeth NALGO had, at the time, more than 5000 members.
It is worth mentioning that prior to our arrival there was resistance from the HR section who did not think it was right for us to be taken in, this is despite the fact that our contracts contained clauses that made it clear that in the event of abolition we would be assimilated by one of the 9 boroughs participating in the post GLC body. So there was a lot of hostility from the HR side and not much interest shown by NALGO. The only people that were helpful were Peter Woodward and Amanda Baird who were, at the time, Convenors in Lambeth. Mike Waller, the then Branch Secretary, persuaded the Branch to work with the plan and proved to be helpful at the end. I did not know Jon of the Rogers at the time so no idea what his position was on this. The LSPU were, to start with, seen as outsiders by the Lambeth branch. This of course changed dramatically with me and Kienda standing for election to positions and rising within the union structures, but this was a struggle and we had to fight and challenge negative attitudes and perceptions.
At the end the complications with us being redeployed were resolved with Linda Bello's intervention. She instructed officers in Lambeth to get on with it (in that special Linda Bellos assertiveness that she was famous for) so we were 'allowed' to have the interviews and the tests after Linda put her foot down.
I think the incident and the events around it which took two months to resolve shaped the way I would view and see the union and those in management positions. It made myself and others who came with me, more suspicious and more determined to be involved at the front of any fight that could have affected our future. I was in my twenties at the time so the unstable period taught me a lesson. The lesson was simple, don't sit around waiting for others to determine your destiny, take control and be involved with a union that is, at the end of the day, yours
Monday 3 January 2011
Saturday 1 January 2011
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