{"id":4820,"date":"2015-07-15T11:49:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T10:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4820"},"modified":"2015-07-15T11:49:12","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T10:49:12","slug":"union-solidarity-saves-the-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4820","title":{"rendered":"Union solidarity saves the day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Last night (Tuesday July 14) ex-Unite shop steward Paul and his daughter Roisin were still safe in their home after a judge at Croydon Crown Court granted a seven day stay of eviction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Paul Rooney, an insulin dependent diabetic, gave up his job as a social work manager to care for his severely disabled daughter, Roisin.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Roisin has a brain tumour, a chromosome disorder and as a result, physical and learning disabilities which require constant care.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Paul, who owns his own home, was left with a \u00c2\u01412,000 council tax bill and \u00c2\u014149,000 in solicitors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fees after Liberata, Bromley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s council tax collector failed to process his benefits correctly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He was left facing bankruptcy and eviction. Desperate and scared he turned to his union.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a relief, I&#8217;m very happy to get a hearing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Paul.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI&#8217;m still very worried, but the support I&#8217;ve had from local people and trade unions has been amazing, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t thank them enough.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bailiffs approached Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house yesterday but were forced to turn away by a group of 35 protestors there to support Paul and Roisin.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Members of Unite and Unite Community were joined by unions including RMT, NUJ and PCS.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Inhumane<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat Bromley council have tried to do to Paul is simply inhumane,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Pilgrim Tucker, Unite Community coordinator for London.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI am truly proud of Unite and of the solidarity shown to Paul by members of other trade unions too. It is a shining example of what being a member of a union is all about. We look out for one another and together we have strength to stand up to injustice like this,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Pilgrim.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But Paul and Roisin are not saved yet. Their case will be heard at Croydon County Court on Tuesday July 21.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite has been assisting Paul with applying for legal aid, which he should be eligible for after being forced in to bankruptcy. However Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s housing support workers will try to find someone to represent him from within members if needed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was Roisin&#8217;s birthday on Monday and we couldn&#8217;t celebrate because of the bailiffs coming. We can now celebrate her birthday this weekend instead,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Paul.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to UNITE\/live for updates on Paul and Rosin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night (Tuesday July 14) ex-Unite shop steward Paul and his daughter Roisin were still safe in their home after a judge at Croydon Crown Court granted a seven day stay of eviction. &nbsp; Paul Rooney, an insulin dependent diabetic, gave up his job as a social work manager to care for his severely disabled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[131,266],"wps_subtitle":"Temporary respite for diabetic Paul and disabled daughter Roisin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4821,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions\/4821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}