UNISON’S branch secretary Paul Holmes has deemed the three day strike by council workers as highly successful.
How you can claim a success when you have just lost your members three days pay is beyond me and things still remain as was.
What his members should remember is that while they strike Mr Holmes will be receiving his full salary and the council will also be saving money.
Money lost through these actions will never be recouped.
History shows that our council leader will not rethink his policies or listen to the electorate. You only have to look at the library and other service fiascos to see what is happening.
The people who pay these salaries – you and I – are at the same time not receiving the services for which we are paying for.
So, not content with a small group of people losing wages, Mr Holmes now wishes to escalate matters by seeking a national ballot of all 7,200 Unison Kirklees members.
What I find ironic is the very fact that these strikers will have voted for the very same councillors who support the cuts to services.
So, after all the dust has settled what shall be the outcome? Probably, no change but our council will have saved some money (first time for everything).
A change of council and council leadership may be the answer? What do you think? Obviously not as we still have the same party with the same leadership. Ergo, no change.
R J Bray
Shelley
Longer waits?
KEELE University recently claimed that current changes in local NHS commissioning will make ‘previous redisorganisations seem like a teddy bears’ picnic’.
In the last three years I have regularly had to sit for 90 minutes in my doctor’s crowded waiting room. I fear this will get worse.
Is any group recording the rise and fall in waiting times?
If not, are we all in for a big surprise?
TC
Huddersfield
Housing rights
AFTER reading the article in Tuesday’s Examiner about ‘Pregnant mother’s delay for larger flat’ I felt I had to write.
Why on earth does this woman think she is entitled to a larger house?
She claims benefits for depression and arthritis. I have suffered severe depression and hospital in-care, my husband has also suffered severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Both of us have suffered for over 50 years but have never claimed benefits and always worked though in extreme pain.
Why do some people think it is their right to have a larger house? I think every hard working person is totally fed up with this attitude.
S MARRIOT
Huddersfield
A community celebrates
LAST Saturday the Polish nursing home Jasna Gora celebrated its anniversary with great style.
A huge marquee was arranged in the garden to accommodate a big crowd as the weather was shocking.
Archbishop Szczepan Wesoly came from Rome to take part in the celebration. He performed mass and sermon, mentioning his emotional connection with this part of Yorkshire as he lived in nearby Cannon Hall Camp and worked in a factory after the war before he became bishop of care of Polish immigration in Great Britain.
To me, personally, it was also emotional as I lived in the camp at the same time.
Joyful performances were made by a group of Manchester and Huddersfield schoolchildren and residents with the assistance of the carers. The food was super.
On Sunday the Polish parish celebrated their 65th traditional Corpus Christi procession since their formation in 1948. A big crowd took part in it followed by a successful garden party.
There was a bouncy castle full of children in colourful dresses. The hall was full of people tasting the huge variety of different dishes .
The organisers and servers really earned very, very big thanks. The proceeds from it strengthened the parish finances.
TONY SOSNA
Huddersfield
Veterans’ memories
MY NAME is David Hiscocks and I am currently running a history and memory project based in the north of Britain which will culminate in a book.
My hope is to interview veterans and relatives of veterans and by doing so showcase the importance of preserving their memories for future generations. My belief is that everyone’s memory should be preserved.
Therefore, I am looking for anyone with a connection to any branch of the armed forces who would like their memories (military and social) preserved. If you would like to be involved please call 07546444557 or email, david.hiscocks@googlemail.com and I will send you a simple questionnaire, to complete and return.
I am especially interested in veterans who served after 1965. A proportion of any profits from the book will be going to the British Legion. By getting involved you will be helping veterans today and educating tomorrow’s generation.
I look forward to hearing from anyone who is interested.
David Hiscocks
Newcastle upon Tyne
How democratic?
BILL Armer adds to the incredible support for our monarchy when he informs us that a hereditary monarch helps safeguard democracy (Letters, June 4).
I simply had not realised that George V, the Kaiser and Czar Nicholas had all been doing their best for democracy when 20 million people died for king and country in the first world war.
Mr Armer reports that Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933 by a ‘weak and ineffectual president’. He does not bother telling us that Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson were fervent supporters of Hitler and that it was a politician, Stanley Baldwin, who effectively got rid of this hereditary monarch.
But I suppose Victor Emmanuel handed power in 1922 to that great democrat Mussolini because the king was obviously a democrat at heart. And when, in 1924, Mussolini’s men began to kill opposition MPs, Victor Emmanuel remained silent because Mussolini was obviously moving heaven and earth to create a truly democratic Italy.
“We do not need to look far to see potent examples of the dangers of unfettered republicanism”, Mr Armer informs us. Whereas, the dangers of unfettered monarchy are practically non-existent.
It would be a bit tiresome to list the monarchs who have marched their men off to war for their own good,but perhaps Mr Armer could write to a few French historians telling them how lucky their ancestors were to be slaughtered by Henry V who proudly proclaimed that France belonged to him and not to the French.
KEITH D CHARLESWORTH
Marsden
Get town buzzing
WHEN reading the Examiner on Saturday, June 2, I could not believe what Kirklees had come up with when they say turn the empty shops in town into homes.
Kirklees was given £2.87m from the government two weeks ago. So why not use some of the money to open these shops and at the same time reduce the rents.
We would, without any doubt, see Huddersfield buzzing again!
It’s these high rents that has killed off a lot of the town shops and this pressure on shops must stop if we want a town to be proud of.
H BARROWCLOUGH
Waterloo
