The pandemic lockdown saw communities banding together to provide support for the vulnerable, filling the gaps to support left by a slow to act state. Mutual aiders describe the challenges they face providing help during the Covid-19 crisis.
Controversial proposal for 20,000 seat Eastlands Arena is up before Manchester’s Planning Committee this Thursday
The huge Eastlands Arena proposal is backed by the American multinational Oak View Group. The owners of the Manchester Arena say the Eastlands project, near the Etihad Stadium, would take trade away from the city centre and accuse the council of having a conflict of interest in the deal.
Curious kakapos and violin plots: my data expedition discoveries
Maddy McCormack took a first dive into a data expedition organised by Open Data Manchester.
She discovered that violin plots are not generally created by scheming orchestra members and that you should always question the data, be very thoughtful about power dynamics and keep in mind who the information can hurt and why.
Stop using pandemic as cover to ‘fire and rehire’, Unite warns Manchester bus company
Unite leader Len McCluskey warns Go North West parent company Go Ahead Group it risks industrial action if it continues with plans to “fire and rehire” nearly 500 Manchester bus drivers, which would see each driver lose an estimated £2,000 a year.
Masks for Life scheme brings artists together to help local community
Islington Mill in Salford have launched a scheme to provide community groups with free masks and help keep local artists making and serving their communities. Covid-19 has decimated many industries and changed how we keep ourselves and others safe in public spaces. Islington Mill has launched Masks for Life, a Covid response project that aims […]
Manchester bus drivers to ballot on industrial action after boss suspends union rep
Around 500 Manchester bus drivers will hold a consultative ballot on whether to take industrial action, after employer Go North West Limited suspended a senior Unite representative for carrying out trade union activities.
As future students get their grades, hard-working lecturers and staff at the University of Manchester are getting redundancies
As prospective university students get their A-level grades, thousands of lecturers and university staff are getting redundancies. While the sector reels from the effects of Covid-19, the marketisation of higher education has cultivated an industry of insecure and exploited teaching staff who are worked the hardest, and are now being disposed of.
Conditions that led to the Covid-19 crisis in social care
Salford Council have guaranteed full pay for care workers isolating because of Covid-19 under ‘The Salford Offer’. Now the council and UNISON are pressing private care homes to take up the policy, with the mayor and a local MP leading protests.
Manchester housing campaigners join forces to fight predicted Covid-19 evictions ‘tsunami’
Tens of thousands of tenants across Greater Manchester at risk of losing their homes during the Covid-19 crisis, once the ban on evictions is raised on 23 August. Tenants Union UK, ACORN Manchester and the Greater Manchester Law Centre are joining forces to offer training and information to help renters resist eviction. Full details below. […]
‘Carry on asking questions’ Andy Burnham tells primary school reporters ignored by Boris Johnson
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and children’s commissioner of England answered Manchester Media Club mini-reporters’ questions in live press conferences and encouraged them to keep trying to have their voices heard. Mini-reporters from Greater Manchester interviewed Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor and Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England, about their post-pandemic future. The six […]