pIWW members working on the Stratford City development site of the Olympic construction site have produced a report into health and safety failings by employers on the site. Malpractice is widespread, with accidents regularly not reported, insufficient signage and unprotected deep excavations as just some of the problems faced by workers. Moreover, bosses and police regularly use intimidation and harrassment to ensure that workers do not fight back./pdiv class=og_rss_groups/divpa href=http://iww.org.uk/node/254 target=_blankread more/a/p

pThis week London IWW branch overwhelmingly decided to support a campaign by the London Coalition Against Poverty (LCAP) against the introduction of a new 'work for welfare' scheme proposed by the government. In doing so, London IWW members will refuse to comply with this new scheme, which is expected to be piloted in the London borough of Hackney over the coming year. The Welfare Reform Act was passed, unsurprisingly, by the government last month, and proposes the introduction of draconian measures for benefit claimants, including:/p ol liForced labour in menial, unsociable jobs for unemployment benefits, amounting to as little as £1.73 per hour/li liPrivatisation of Jobcentre Plus to companies who will be paid more, the less benefits they give/li liReduction of income support for single parents/li liPhasing-out of carers' allowances/li liGreater powers for the Police to hold information on claimants/li /ol div class=og_rss_groups/divpa href=http://iww.org.uk/node/253 target=_blankread more/a/p

pThis week London IWW branch overwhelmingly decided to support a campaign by the London Coalition Against Poverty (LCAP) against the introduction of a new 'work for welfare' scheme proposed by the government. In doing so, London IWW members will refuse to comply with this new scheme, which is expected to be piloted in the London borough of Hackney over the coming year. The Welfare Reform Act was passed, unsurprisingly, by the government last month, and proposes the introduction of draconian measures for benefit claimants, including:/p ol liForced labour in menial, unsociable jobs for unemployment benefits, amounting to as little as £1.73 per hour/li liPrivatisation of Jobcentre Plus to companies who will be paid more, the less benefits they give/li liReduction of income support for single parents/li liPhasing-out of carers' allowances/li liGreater powers for the Police to hold information on claimants/li /ol pa href=http://www.iww.org.uk/node/253read more/a/p

pWest Midlands IWW made an appearance at the Unite organised National March for Jobs in Birmingham city centre on May 16th. Reports from the weekend suggested the event was the usual TUC demo affair with plenty of hot air bellowed from the platform. Yet again, another expensive PR exercise for a corporate partnership union to act as though it has some muscle. Nevertheless, the IWW is proud to stand along side the thousands of working class people who made the effort to come out on Saturday./p div class=og_rss_groupsul class=linksli class=og_links first lasta href=/westmidsWest Midlands IWW GMB/a/li /ul/div

pWest Midlands IWW made an appearance at the Unite organised National March for Jobs in Birmingham city centre on May 16th. Reports from the weekend suggested the event was the usual TUC demo affair with plenty of hot air bellowed from the platform. Yet again, another expensive PR exercise for a corporate partnership union to act as though it has some muscle. Nevertheless, the IWW is proud to stand along side the thousands of working class people who made the effort to come out on Saturday./p div class=og_rss_groupsul class=linksli class=first last og_linksa href=/westmids class=og_linksWest Midlands IWW GMB/a/li /ul/div

pMay 25th Bank Holiday at the Wagon and Horses, Digbeth, Birmingham. Hard hitting political songs from David Rovics amp; Attila the Stockbroker. A variety of food and stalls in the garden from 6pm with performances following and DJs later in the evening. £6 in. Fundraiser for the West Midlands Industrial Workers of the World, the fighting union!/p pAttila first heard about David Rovics about eight years ago and immediately got in touch: they did a UK tour in May 2002 and went/p div class=og_rss_groups/divpa href=http://iww.org.uk/node/242 target=_blankread more/a/p

pMay 25th Bank Holiday at the Wagon and Horses, Digbeth, Birmingham. Hard hitting political songs from David Rovics amp; Attila the Stockbroker. A variety of food and stalls in the garden from 6pm with performances following and DJs later in the evening. £6 in. Fundraiser for the West Midlands Industrial Workers of the World, the fighting union!/p pAttila first heard about David Rovics about eight years ago and immediately got in touch: they did a UK tour in May 2002 and went/p pa href=http://www.iww.org.uk/node/242read more/a/p

pIt has transpired today that Sir Alan Davies, head teacher of Copland School in Wembley, has been suspended after serious allegations over pay and bonuses. He, and two other members of senior management have been accused of awarding themselves around £1 million in bonuses over the last seven years, on top of their already significant pay packets./p div class=og_rss_groups/divpa href=http://iww.org.uk/node/240 target=_blankread more/a/p

pIt has transpired today that Sir Alan Davies, head teacher of Copland School in Wembley, has been suspended after serious allegations over pay and bonuses. He, and two other members of senior management have been accused of awarding themselves around £1 million in bonuses over the last seven years, on top of their already significant pay packets./p pa href=http://www.iww.org.uk/node/240read more/a/p

pSeveral schools threatened with closure have had a bit of a wake-up call in recent weeks. Four schools - two in Glasgow and two in London - have been occupied by parents and campaigners against unnecessary cost-cutting measures meaning the closure or merging of perfectly good local schools. This wave of occupations can be seen as part of a rising wave of discontent, as bosses, bankers and bureaucrats try to punish the working class for their own mistakes./p div class=og_rss_groups/divpa href=http://iww.org.uk/node/239 target=_blankread more/a/p

pSeveral schools threatened with closure have had a bit of a wake-up call in recent weeks. Four schools - two in Glasgow and two in London - have been occupied by parents and campaigners against unnecessary cost-cutting measures meaning the closure or merging of perfectly good local schools. This wave of occupations can be seen as part of a rising wave of discontent, as bosses, bankers and bureaucrats try to punish the working class for their own mistakes./p pa href=http://www.iww.org.uk/node/239read more/a/p