{"id":4833,"date":"2015-07-15T16:44:44","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T15:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4833"},"modified":"2015-07-15T16:44:44","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T15:44:44","slug":"through-adversity-comes-solidarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4833","title":{"rendered":"Through adversity comes solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New jobless figures released today (July 15) reveal a fragile economic recovery potentially going into reverse \u00e2\u20ac\u201c unemployment has risen for the first time in two years.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut the latest figures may obscure another, more worrying trend \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the persistence of higher joblessness in the north, especially in the North East region.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe latest ONS figures show<\/a> that for the three months ending in May 2015, the North East had an unemployment rate of 7.7 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the highest in the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c compared to the lowest rate of 4.4 per cent in the South East.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe North East also had the lowest number of hours worked per week, averaging little more than 30, while London averaged more than 38 hours.<\/p>\n

 
\nMore and more people have become economically inactive in the North East as well \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the rate of economically inactive people, those who are not in work and not actively looking for work, went up by 2.3 per cent, the highest out of any region and now accounts for almost 40 per cent of the entire working-age population.<\/p>\n

 
\nA report released earlier this year found that the economic divide between the North and South is one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s persisted despite government promises to bridge the divide and rebalance the economy.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe report,<\/a> authored by the think tank Centre for Cities, found that for every 12 new jobs that have been created in towns and cities in southern England in the last decade, only one has been generated in the rest of the UK.<\/p>\n

 
\nIts examination of various urban areas in the UK found that northern towns fared far worse. For example, Blackpool and Grimsby were the only cities in the UK found to have had fewer businesses in 2013 than they did in 2004.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe cities with the highest number of JSA claimants as well as the lowest rates of private sector jobs growth were predominantly northern, including many cities from the North East such as Hull and Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n

 
\nAnother report<\/a> presented to the Trades Union Congress last year examined the impact of austerity in the North East region, which concluded that the North East suffered disproportionately compared to other parts of the country.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe North East has experienced considerable economic restructuring over recent decades, as changes to the national and global economy resulted in the rise of service industries, together with decline of manufacturing within the region,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the report noted.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis severely impacted the North East and many of its residents, resulting in long term unemployment and health inequalities which still affect the region today, despite the development and renaissance of niche manufacturing activities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nLack of investment in the area has further contributed to the challenges the region faces. Public sector employment largely helped fill the void left by a restructured economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c indeed, the region has the highest rate of public sector jobs in the entire country.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut this also means that austerity cuts hit the North East harder than they have anywhere else \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and are compounded by local multiplier effects and a struggling private sector lacking investment.<\/p>\n

 
\nLack of investment<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional secretary for the North East, Karen Reay confirmed what the report found about the challenges that the region faces.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe main problem is lack of investment,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter the demise of heavy industry, there was nothing really to take its place.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have many large employers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the only one really is Nissan, which only employs 6,000 people. Beyond that, employment is very fragmented.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAusterity has really hit the region hard,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe North East is a Labour stronghold, and after the demise of heavy industry, there was a lot of public sector investment on behalf of Labour governments, but now with the cuts, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really hurting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWomen and young people are suffering the most under the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this is true throughout the UK but especially so in the North East.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nBut Reay added that the relentless austerity measures being pushed forward by the government have given the people of the North East a newfound sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThrough adversity comes collectiveness and solidarity,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly and various groups, the region has a renewed sense of community. We have a large and growing Unite community membership in the North East, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done some incredible things together \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including setting up various food and clothes banks (pictured) .\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nReay noted that despite the challenges the North East faces, they can be overcome.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need investment, and we need better transport links,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to make sure the young people are getting into high-quality apprenticeships and are properly trained in burgeoning industries in the area, such as windfarms.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need to ensure a future for our children.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner pointed to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unemployment figures as evidence that a true economic recovery felt by all is far from becoming reality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only get worse under austerity, as the North East has already learned.<\/p>\n

 
\n“The truth is we have an economy where insecure, low paid work is growing and government policies that will make that situation worse,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n“We are deeply concerned about what will happen to this fragile economy when the government takes an even bigger austerity wrecking ball to the economy.<\/p>\n

 
\n“This fresh wave of cuts will further drain local economies, putting at risk livelihoods and communities,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner added.<\/p>\n

 
\n“Austerity economics combine cruelty to those least to blame and least able to bear the burden, with incompetency as cuts make absolutely no sense in terms of growing the economy, which even the chancellor accepts and is why he has revised down his growth predictions.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New jobless figures released today (July 15) reveal a fragile economic recovery potentially going into reverse \u00e2\u20ac\u201c unemployment has risen for the first time in two years.   But the latest figures may obscure another, more worrying trend \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the persistence of higher joblessness in the north, especially in the North East region.   The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[103],"wps_subtitle":"Jobless figures show NE worst hit ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833"}],"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=4833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4834,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4833\/revisions\/4834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}