* Update Tower Hamlets bins strike is over. Waste collections resume Weds 27th Sept.
Bin Strike from today to 1st October
Tower Hamlets Council says: “A number of Tower Hamlets Council frontline waste service workers and street cleansers will be going on strike from 18 September to 1 October due to a national pay dispute.”
According to the Unite Union Tower Hamlets is just one of 23 local authorities “…which voted for industrial action…”
Locally over 200 refuse workers and street cleaners have rejected a national flat rate offer, which the Unite says amounts to an effective pay cut given the high rate of inflation. These workers were already struggling to get by.
The photo heading this article shows a recycling bag outside our kitchen door which was ripped open by a fox last night. The situation is going to get worse.
Scrapping the Pensions Triple Lock
Neither the Conservatives or Labour will commit to maintaining the triple lock which was supposed to keep pensions in line with inflation. If applied next year’s state pensions would rise by 8.5%. In my case that would be about £23 extra a week. Good job I don’t have to rely on it! 28% of over 55s in Britain have no other pension. That twenty quid really matters.
Keeping the triple lock was a Conservative manifesto pledge. How exactly do our MPs think they’ll get re-elected?
You can sign the Silver Voices petition to maintain it. It’s headed: Guarantee the Full Triple Lock Increase for Older People in April 2024.