This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/oct/17/tradeunions-tuc-marchforafuture-jobs-benefits-young-people
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| TUC March: 1. The northern alternative | TUC March: 1. The northern alternative |
| (4 months later) | |
| I go straight into the subject and in answer to my first question , Bill Adams smiles and says: | I go straight into the subject and in answer to my first question , Bill Adams smiles and says: |
| I'm marching to think about a new future for my kids, and their kids | I'm marching to think about a new future for my kids, and their kids |
He's thought carefully about what it means to him to march on Saturday and he sums it up like this: | He's thought carefully about what it means to him to march on Saturday and he sums it up like this: |
| The government's attitude to reducing the deficit is completely flawed - what they are doing is making things worse. We need to look at how we finance things in this country, our tax system, benefits and welfare. We need a new social contract between business, government and the workforce. | The government's attitude to reducing the deficit is completely flawed - what they are doing is making things worse. We need to look at how we finance things in this country, our tax system, benefits and welfare. We need a new social contract between business, government and the workforce. |
| Throughout our interview, Adams glances frequently at the picture of his three children on his office wall, one a student and the other two with jobs but not sustainable ones, not good ones. His daughter, who has a history degree, manages a restaurant, but it's not what she wants to do. Every interview she goes to elicits the same response – not enough experience. | Throughout our interview, Adams glances frequently at the picture of his three children on his office wall, one a student and the other two with jobs but not sustainable ones, not good ones. His daughter, who has a history degree, manages a restaurant, but it's not what she wants to do. Every interview she goes to elicits the same response – not enough experience. |
| His son manages a website, making sure the sales are up, and his other son is at still at university. Like millions of parents in Britain, he worries what a decade of austerity will bring for his children. He says: | His son manages a website, making sure the sales are up, and his other son is at still at university. Like millions of parents in Britain, he worries what a decade of austerity will bring for his children. He says: |
| Brendan (Barber) has led the opposition to austerity better than any politician. I really believe that Brendan has the right strategies. We're not saying that we won't rebalance the economy but it needs to be done in such a way that gets people paying tax rather than drawing benefits. | Brendan (Barber) has led the opposition to austerity better than any politician. I really believe that Brendan has the right strategies. We're not saying that we won't rebalance the economy but it needs to be done in such a way that gets people paying tax rather than drawing benefits. |
| Outside his office there are reminder of the economic crisis. In the heart of the financial sector in Leeds, For Sale and To Let signs hang like bunting and there's a queue outside the job centre. Adams has been involved with the trade union movement since leaving school at 16 to take up an apprenticeship. After years of low paid work,getting up at 5am, 6 days a week, he returned to full-time education in 1989, earning a law degree at the University of Central Lancashire. | Outside his office there are reminder of the economic crisis. In the heart of the financial sector in Leeds, For Sale and To Let signs hang like bunting and there's a queue outside the job centre. Adams has been involved with the trade union movement since leaving school at 16 to take up an apprenticeship. After years of low paid work,getting up at 5am, 6 days a week, he returned to full-time education in 1989, earning a law degree at the University of Central Lancashire. |
| Now, he jokes, he gets up at six and,works five days a week although I suspect Adams works round the clock. He began as a workplace union rep, then became an education officer and is now the TUC regional secretary of Yorkshire and the Humber. | Now, he jokes, he gets up at six and,works five days a week although I suspect Adams works round the clock. He began as a workplace union rep, then became an education officer and is now the TUC regional secretary of Yorkshire and the Humber. |
| He is deputy chair of his old university where applications dropped by 15% this year. Adams shakes his head and says that no-one believed him when he warned fee increases would deter applications from lower income or working class homes. He wants a new deal for young people: | He is deputy chair of his old university where applications dropped by 15% this year. Adams shakes his head and says that no-one believed him when he warned fee increases would deter applications from lower income or working class homes. He wants a new deal for young people: |
| Good jobs they could aspire to or damn good training vocational schemes. Francis O'Grady was right, she's bang on with climate change, green energy,skills and investment for our young people. We should be saying - there's no such thing as dole lad, you turn up here and you're training to be an engineer. That to me is the long term, sustainability. | Good jobs they could aspire to or damn good training vocational schemes. Francis O'Grady was right, she's bang on with climate change, green energy,skills and investment for our young people. We should be saying - there's no such thing as dole lad, you turn up here and you're training to be an engineer. That to me is the long term, sustainability. |
| Adams would rein in the worst excesses of the banks and look for ways of providing sound financial help for ordinary people – there are 25,000 people in Leeds who don't have a bank account. He sees a particular role for the north in this: | Adams would rein in the worst excesses of the banks and look for ways of providing sound financial help for ordinary people – there are 25,000 people in Leeds who don't have a bank account. He sees a particular role for the north in this: |
| New ideas need to come in. There's plenty out there. A British Investment Bank based in the north of England, for instance, would send out a message that says: 'We're not the poor neighbour.' Leeds is the second biggest financial centre in the UK. We've got the right people, the rights skills – all sorts of people who could take that on. | New ideas need to come in. There's plenty out there. A British Investment Bank based in the north of England, for instance, would send out a message that says: 'We're not the poor neighbour.' Leeds is the second biggest financial centre in the UK. We've got the right people, the rights skills – all sorts of people who could take that on. |
| As things stand, he reckons there's virtually an investment strike - not just in the north but across the UK. Billions of pounds that could be used to rebuild the economy are sitting in banks. Adams believes that with investment, the north could develop strong local economies. The appetite for green technology for instance, with some of the biggest polluters in terms of power stations, cement works and chemicals based in the region. The legacy of the north's expertise in heavy industry could breed world leaders in new technologies which merge engineering prowess with scientific advances to create sustainable, well-paid jobs in carbon capture and green energy. | As things stand, he reckons there's virtually an investment strike - not just in the north but across the UK. Billions of pounds that could be used to rebuild the economy are sitting in banks. Adams believes that with investment, the north could develop strong local economies. The appetite for green technology for instance, with some of the biggest polluters in terms of power stations, cement works and chemicals based in the region. The legacy of the north's expertise in heavy industry could breed world leaders in new technologies which merge engineering prowess with scientific advances to create sustainable, well-paid jobs in carbon capture and green energy. |
| In July, Drax Group announced plans to convert its North Yorkshire power station to run mainly on biomass, the same huge power station which recently completed the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history, increasing overall efficiency and reinforcing its position as the most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK. But a pipeline out to the gas fields in the North Sea which would have reduced carbon by 40% was cancelled when the £1 million cost proved prohibitive. That saddens Adams: | In July, Drax Group announced plans to convert its North Yorkshire power station to run mainly on biomass, the same huge power station which recently completed the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history, increasing overall efficiency and reinforcing its position as the most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK. But a pipeline out to the gas fields in the North Sea which would have reduced carbon by 40% was cancelled when the £1 million cost proved prohibitive. That saddens Adams: |
| We could have been a world leader in that technology. We've got Doggger Bank, wind and wave power – loads of platforms on which to build the north's economy with good jobs. Not £6-an-hour jobs but work for engineers, technicians and skilled construction staff. | We could have been a world leader in that technology. We've got Doggger Bank, wind and wave power – loads of platforms on which to build the north's economy with good jobs. Not £6-an-hour jobs but work for engineers, technicians and skilled construction staff. |
| A think tank at Leeds city council recently asked: how are we going to get through the next few years without completely dismantling what the council does? One answer is through encouraging civic entrepreneurism – relocating companies, getting them to come here and invest in the economic front, taking advantage of the special skills that people in Leeds have in abundance - but also putting something back into the community as part of a long term plan. | A think tank at Leeds city council recently asked: how are we going to get through the next few years without completely dismantling what the council does? One answer is through encouraging civic entrepreneurism – relocating companies, getting them to come here and invest in the economic front, taking advantage of the special skills that people in Leeds have in abundance - but also putting something back into the community as part of a long term plan. |
| Adams worries that: | Adams worries that: |
| A small elite of people own and run so much and outside of that no-one really has any power, any control over national politics, any stake in the companies or organisations that they work for. There is a sense of hopelessness, but I think that has generated a new type of activism as we've seen with Occupy, with student populations getting political again, fighting back on what has happened to them. A lot of unemployed young people are looking to get involved , to change things. | A small elite of people own and run so much and outside of that no-one really has any power, any control over national politics, any stake in the companies or organisations that they work for. There is a sense of hopelessness, but I think that has generated a new type of activism as we've seen with Occupy, with student populations getting political again, fighting back on what has happened to them. A lot of unemployed young people are looking to get involved , to change things. |
| I've noticed how across the region so many groups being set up out of dismay and thinking: we can do something if we get together. | I've noticed how across the region so many groups being set up out of dismay and thinking: we can do something if we get together. |
| What do you think? Please comment at the end of Ann's fourth post here. | What do you think? Please comment at the end of Ann's fourth post here. |
| The other two in the series are here and here. | The other two in the series are here and here. |
| Ann Czernik is a freelance photojournalist specialising in activism in the north of England. All photographs within the text are hers. | Ann Czernik is a freelance photojournalist specialising in activism in the north of England. All photographs within the text are hers. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |