We are in a recession, we have a labour goverment so that all strike

Cadbury workers 'vote on strike'

Cadbury's produces some of the UK's best known chocolate bars Cadbury workers begin voting on possible strike action on Saturday, according to the union Unite. Ballot papers consulting on action will begin to arrive at the homes of workers at the UK's best-known chocolate maker, it said. Unite claims that Cadbury is breaking a long-standing pay deal with workers at its Bourneville, Chirk, Marlbrook and Somerdale plants. About 1,300 people work across the sites, the union said. The ballot will run to 18 August, it added. sourced from THE BBC Postal staff set to strike again The union has warned a national strike could take place Industrial action at the Royal Mail is set to escalate with strike action scheduled for three days next week, the BBC has learned. The strike action on 25, 27 and 28 July comes on top of Friday's one-day walkout by 12,000 Royal Mail employees. The escalating action is in defence of workers who, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) say, are being unduly pressured by Royal Mail managers. The Royal Mail has accused the union of standing in the way of modernisation. 'Illogical cuts' Union members in London and other selected regions are to down tools in the dispute over job cuts and working conditions. This could result in no deliveries of mail on Saturday 25 July, and no work at Royal Mail's London distribution centres on 27 and 28 July, says BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam. The CWU has accused Royal Mail managers of trying to "break the union for good" and accused them of "illogical and arbitrary" job cuts. Deputy General Secretary of the CWU, Dave Ward, said his union recognised that the Royal Mail is "facing huge problems" but said that it had a very different view of what modernisation is needed. The vision that Royal Mail has put to workers involves "endless job cuts, hugely damaging cuts to the service and continuous cuts in our members' pay, pensions and conditions," he said. Paul Tolhurst at the Royal Mail countered that with "mail volumes falling and our profits under huge pressure, there is no real opportunity for us to stop [making] the changes." "Particularly," he added, "as these changes we are trying to put in were agreed with [the union] in 2007." Earlier on Friday, about 400 employees marched on Westminster to deliver letters of protest to the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. Sell off The Royal Mail is suffering from a big drop in demand for letters as more and more people use the internet to communicate. The government announced last month that it was delaying controversial plans to sell a stake in the postal service to a private company. It maintains that the partial sell off of Royal Mail is required as part of measures to tackle the company's finances - in particular a pensions deficit said to be near £8bn. Lord Mandelson has said the company cannot survive without the sale. The Royal Mail employs more than 150,000 people in the UK, most of whom are represented by the CWU. sourced from THE BBC

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NEW blog in development

[caption id="attachment_571" align="aligncenter" width="310" caption="allaboutgrub"][/caption]

Hi all, I have been developing a new blog please come and visit it

allaboutgrub.wordpress.com

 - this blog is all about food, ingredients and where to buy good quality food from - add a marker to my allaboutgrub map to tell others about great places to eat out or places to buy great food from -

"go on share your food experiences with others" 

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UPDATED: Supermarkets on employment drive

As the Supermarkets go from strength to strength will this have an effect on the downturn. The supermarket go on a big employment drive will this take the sting out of the recession.

But this growth in the supermarkets  will have a down side,  if the supermarkets continue to open new stores (small and large) then the smaller local produce shops will disappear even more than ever.

New jobs created

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="142" caption="Iceland created 2,500 Jobs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="142" caption="Waitrose create 4,000 new jobs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="142" caption="Sainsbury's create 5,000 new jobs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="142" caption="Tesco create up to 10,000 new jobs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="110" caption="Creating up to 5,000 new jobs"][/caption]

Seasonal Produce

I work for a food manufacture. I think we should start buying seasonal produce, this will halp local producers and local growers. local produce. Why should we be able to buy strawberry's in December, we buy so much food from around the world, do we care about who and how our food is manufactured.

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Morrisons to create 5,000 new jobs

A Morrisons customer in Tynemouth. The company wants to add 90,000 sq metres of store space in coming years Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Morrisons has pledged to create 5,000 jobs this year, bucking the rise in unemployment as it looks to grow despite the economic downturn.

Britain's fourth-largest supermarket group said this morning that it would create new positions across its chain of stores. The new roles will include working on Morrisons' butchery, fish and bakery counters, said the personnel director, Norman Pickavance, although full details were not available.

"Even in these challenging economic conditions, Morrisons is committed to hiring and training new people to keep retail as the engine room of the economy and support our continuing growth," Pickavance said.

sourced from The Guardian read full article

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Crimes increase as a recession looms

As the recession takes hold, we can expect crime especially theft to increase. Mostly this theft will be shop lifting. As supermarkets are seeing significant increases in shop lifting, this will only increase as we get further and further into the recession.  But if someone is stealing to feed their family, should we be more lenient on them.

But will the supermarkets cover this loss or will it be passed onto the consumer.

Shoplifiting for food soars as recession looms

Shoplifting in supermarkets has increased by more than a third since the economic downturn began to bite, according to some of the biggest stores.

Essential items like baby food are among the items being stolen most often as thieves increasingly steal out of necessity rather than greed.

At stores belonging to Iceland, the frozen food specialist, the most popular product for thieves is a leg of lamb followed by cheese, bacon and coffee.

At Tesco, the country's largest retailer, thefts are up by more than a third (36 per cent) this year and at Marks & Spencer the problem is also increasing.

Retailers say shoplifting has increased in previous recessions and they are taking extra security measures this time including electronically tagging food.

Stephen Robertson, director-general of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Retailers are preparing for an upsurge in offences and are extending crime prevention methods, for example, placing electronic security tags on expensive cuts of meat."

sourced from The Telegraph read full article

The recession crimewave

The recession puts police on the back foot as official figures show offences in 31 police forces are on the rise.

By Mark Hughes, Crime Correspondent and Ben Russell, Home Affairs Correspondent.

Robbery and burglary are on the rise across the country, almost doubling in some areas, according to figures that provide the first evidence that the economic downturn is fuelling crime.

Figures obtained by The Independent from police forces across England and Wales show that cases of burglary or robbery rose in 31 of the 43 forces in the final four months of the year in comparison with the same period in 2007. In those 31 areas an extra 5,572 crimes of burglary and robbery were committed in the final months of 2008, compared with the previous year.

Forces such as Greater Manchester, Suffolk, Gloucestershire and Cumbria all saw increases of between 20 and 50 per cent. Lincolnshire police saw the biggest rise, a 97 per cent increase in robbery between September and November – the most recent three-month period collated by the force – compared with the same three-month period the previous year.

sourced from The Independent read full article

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Tesco trails after new discount offers backfire

One of the largest supermarket changes in Britain "Tesco" has suffered over the Christmas period. It was the worse performing on the top four supermarkets. This article is in direct contrast to Sainsbury's bumper Christmas sales.

The Article

Tesco will this week report the weakest Christmas trading of the big four supermarkets as doubts set in over its ambition to become "Britain's biggest discounter".

Analysts expect Tesco to post a 2.5% increase in like-for-like sales, lagging behind a field led by Morrisons, with an estimated 9%, nearly 7% at Asda and 4.5% at Sainsbury's.

Last year Tesco introduced a range of discount brands such as "Country Barn" cornflakes and "Daisy" washing up liquid to compete with Aldi and Asda. Analysts fear that the cheaper brands cannibalise sales: because these brands cost less, Tesco must sell more to stand still.

"This is the first big mistake Tesco has made in a decade," said Planet Retail analyst Bryan Roberts.

The supermarkets fared better than non-food specialists during a tough holiday season for the retail sector with results from specialists such as Currys and Argos, also due on Thursday, expected to make grim reading as consumers deferred spending on non-essential items. Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy will say that consumers let go of the purse strings to buy "special" Christmas treats for their families.

read full article sourced from The Observer

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Carrier bags and Re-usable bags

“Plastic shopping bags, or carrier bags or plastic grocery bags, are a common type of shopping bag in several countries. Most often these bags are intended for a single use to carry items from a store to a home: reuse for storage or trash is common. Heavier duty plastic shopping bags are suitable for multiple uses as shopping or storage bags.” sourced from Wikipedia

I use a re-usable bag for my shopping (onya bags), I looked in a couple of kitchen cupboards and found lots of carrier bags - we accumulate them without knowing it. In the last year Sainsbury’s has re-moved it carrier bags from the check outs (still available if you ask for one) and M & S are charging. I remember when we had to pay for carrier bags in all supermarkets.

• Every year, an estimated 13 billion plastic carrier bags are given away by Supermarkets; this is the equivalent to over 290 bags to every person in the UK.

• We produce and use 20 times more carrier bags then we did 50 years ago.

Read the full article . . . more

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Sainsbury's boost over Christmas

As recession is looming nearer. Sainsbury's has had a good Christmas and is creating 5,000 near jobs this year.

Sainsbury's served a recorded 22.5 million customers

Supermarket to employ 5,000 extra staff

A record-breaking Christmas is helping Sainsbury's to create 5,000 jobs this year.

The supermarket - which already employs 150,000 - had its best ever festive season with sales for the last three months of the year up 4.5 per cent on the same period in 2007.

The group hired 20,000 temps to help cope with the surge in trade - 8,000 more than originally planned.   read more

 

Carrier bags and Re-usable bags

 

 

 

"Plastic shopping bags, or carrier bags or plastic grocery bags, are a common type of shopping bag in several countries. Most often these bags are intended for a single use to carry items from a store to a home: reuse for storage or trash is common. Heavier duty plastic shopping bags are suitable for multiple uses as shopping or storage bags." sourced from Wikipedia

I use a re-usable bag for my shopping (onya bags), I looked in a couple of kitchen cupboards and found lots of carrier bags - we accumulate them without knowing it. In the last year Sainsbury's has re-moved it carrier bags from the check outs (still available if you ask for one) and M & S are charging. I remember when we had to pay for carrier bags in all supermarkets.

• Every year, an estimated 13 billion plastic carrier bags are given away by Supermarkets; this is the equivalent to over 290 bags to every person in the UK.

• We produce and use 20 times more carrier bags then we did 50 years ago.

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dNsDxRytmXQ]

A short carrier bag film from the BBC 

As seven major supermarkets agree to reduce the number of carrier bags used by spring 2009, this should see a reduction of an estimated 5 million fewer bags, but we as consumers must also start acting responsible.

 

"In Ireland a 15c tax on plastic bags that was introduced in March 2002 saw usage drop by 90%. Other European countries including Denmark and Switzerland have also introduced such taxes." 

Sourced from An Inconvenient Blog

So why do not all use re-usable bags, if you search on the Internet thousands of sites will appear offering different type of bags for sale.

The problem we have are the consumers who just don't care and the consumers who impulse buy. Also the consumers who can afford each time to buy a shopping bag (5p or 10p) but buy one each time their go shopping. 

 

How about supermarkets ban carrier bags altogether from the check outs - if you need something to carry your shopping in you use a box (most products delivered to supermarkets are in boxes) - a shop near Chichester (read more about (Clough's Delicatessen) has started this, it gave its customers warning that carrier bags will no longer be available, also this has helped customers to remember to bring their own bags. 

 

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In 21 years time enough plastic bags will have been produced to cover the whole of Britain. But, we must remember Supermarkets are not the only big offenders. A lot of high street shops hand out plastic carrier bags for the smallest of purchases. Also a lot of shops especial high end and small boutiques use the bags as a way of advertising. Also a lot of the Supermarket carrier bags are either biodegradable or partly recycled, but a lot of high street shops (especially fashion shops) have very posh (no recycled or biodegradable) bags. 

I way of reducing the number of carrier bags would be to use brown paper bags - like used in America. 

 

 

 

 

 

History of the carrier bag

"Plastic was first introduced by Alexander Parkes in 1862, and the name was coined by Leo H Baekeland in 1909. Plastic bags are often made from polyethylene, which consists of a long chain of monomers called ethylene. Ethylene is derived from natural gas and petroleum, and it wasn’t until 1977 that polyethylene was used in forms of plastic grocery bags. The real change in grocery bags didn’t start until 1982, when the two of America’s largest grocery companies Safeway and Kroger started replacing paper bags with more affordable plastic bags. From then on, plastic bags have been our #1 choice of taking our daily groceries from the store, to our vehicles, and finally to our homes." sourced from Wikipedia

Carrier bag use around the world.

 

Australia

In Australia shoppers are now encouraged to buy bags called "green bags" which cost about a dollar, but can be reused many times. The bags are coloured depending on the company that sells them. Some "green bags" are insulated for the carrying of hot or cold items. Locally, the town of Coles Bay, Tasmania banned plastic shopping bags in April, 2003. In early 2008, the Australian Federal Government stated it would consider action that would result in plastic bags being phased out by the end of 2008. Australians used 4.84 billion plastic bags in 2007, at a wholesale cost of $0.0018 each. The bags each weigh 35grams and are used to wrap many Australian products such as fruits and vegetables. The shopping bags themselves account for 10% or less of the plastic Australian shoppers carry home from supermarkets. In South Australia free single use plastic bags will banned as of the end of 2008.

Bhutan

Plastic shopping bags have been illegal in Bhutan, on the grounds that they make the country less happy. See Gross National Happiness.

However,the ban has not been successful at all and no current initiatives address the issue.Alternatives to plastic bags are not being encouraged, segregation of any waste is not currently undertaken and recycling or waste-energy facilities are not available within the country.

China

Beginning on June 1 2008, China, prohibited the use of ultra-thin plastic bags and required retailers to charge for plastic bags. Stores must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags and are banned from tacking that price onto products. The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags - those less than 0.025 millimeters, or 0.00098 inches, thick - are also banned. The State Council calls for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets.In this environment, there is a Chinese environmental protection bag manufacturers, they have their own brand: the source of one mind, their company, based in Beijing, the capital of China.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong enjoys a set of different laws as one of China's Special Administrative Regions. The city has not prohibited the use of giving out free plastic bags yet even if the problem is of growing concern. Supermarkets play a large role in giving out free plastic bags for their customers. The problem has raised awareness amongst the people when a "No Plastic Bag Day" was launched back in 2006, a campaign co-organized by the Environmental Protection Department and several green groups such as Green Student Council, Friends of the Earth, The Conservancy Association and Green Power. However, as the campaign is voluntary and only takes place on the first Tuesday of each month, it did very little to halt the problem. Government statistics show that the city currently disposes of 23 million bags a day. For a city of almost 7 million, this means an average of 3 bags disposed of per person per day. In December 2007, a Product Eco-responsibility bill was introduced. The bill proposes charging 50 cents HKD per plastic bag, with phase one being implemented in 2009. It is hoped that this bill will not only reduce the plastic bag problem the city faces, but also bring in 100,000,000 HKD per year.

France

Growing awareness of the ecological impact of plastic bags has led main mass retailers to force customers to buy reusable plastic or non-woven bags. This has been adopted by E.Leclerc on 1996 and soon followed by others. which has managed to improve its image and save itself the purchase of the former plastic bags. Nonfood related retailers such as Cloth tend to prefer to switch to paper bags, allowing them to match the ecological demand and upgrade their image on two aspects: ecology and quality. On May 23, 2003 Corsica has been the first region to ban plastic bag. In most of regions, like Morbihan (since 2006) or Paris,(since 2007), retailers stopped supplying bags. A nationwide ban is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2010.

Spain

In Spain, supermarkets give free plastic bags except some as Día which charge 3 cents per bag. Recently, Spanish Government wants to adopt the National Plan of Integrated Waste which has among its objectives in 2010 to ban plastic bags single-use non-biodegradable.

The government of Catalonia issued a law prohibiting the free distribution of plastic bags from January 2009. Shops will decide how much they will charge for plastic bags, and whether to directly charge for them or to apply discounts when customers do not use bags. This decision was criticized both by shops associations, that argue the measure was not discussed enough with them, and by ecologist organizations, that would like the establishment of a minimum price for the bags. Catalonia is the first Spanish autonomous community to ban free plastic bags.

Spain is the leading producer of plastic bags for a single use and the third consumer in Europe. Each year 10,500 million plastic bags are distributed in Spain, with a total weight of 96,000 tons. 62% of plastic bags are reused as garbage bags and 10% are recycled through the yellow containers.

Germany

Generally, most German supermarkets charge between 5 and 25 cents per single-use bag, depending on the type of bag. Most shops also offer cloth bags or sturdier, woven plastic bags for about €1, encouraging shoppers to re-use them. Many high-street retail shops will provide bags free of charge. Most people will re-use single-use shopping bags, i.e., for collecting deposit bottles or using them as bin liners.[citation needed]

Ireland

On March 4, 2002, the Republic of Ireland introduced a €0.15 levy on every plastic shopping bag. This led to a 90% reduction in use of plastic bags and increased use of reusable bags. The money gathered by the levy was used to raise money for environmental initiatives. Many retailers in Ireland switched to supplying (untaxed) paper bags, or simply stopped supplying bags. Most supermarkets continued to supply plastic bags, subject to the tax. The charge was increased to €0.22 on July 1, 2007. Most supermarkets supply reusable woven bags, or heavy reusable plastic bags for about €1.00

Israel

The entire country of Israel has enacted legislation to add a surcharge for every plastic bag. Bags that contain fish, meat, poultry or fresh produce won't incur any charge. Aside from that, every plastic bag given to a customer will incur a charge of 1 NIS which will be shown as a separate item on their receipt. The proposal will also subsidize for 6 months the sale of reusable bags, in order to create public awareness of the law.

New Zealand

In recent years cloth bags have been promoted and sold by some supermarkets as an alternative to plastic bags. In August 2006 the Collingwood community in Golden Bay declared itself shopping bag free by a group of local residents who promoted the idea. In early 2007 a nationwide campaign was kicked off with the aim of introducing a shopping bag levy similar to Ireland's.

In the town of Wanaka in the South Island the Bag the Habit Campaign has converted almost 50% of shoppers to say no to plastic bags. This saves around 1,500 plastic bags from ending up in the landfill every day. Wanaka has a permanent population of around 7,000 and visitor numbers of around 600,000. 30% of retail stores are now plastic bag free and Wanaka looks set to have the first plastic bag free supermarket in New Zealand with the 4 Square supermarket committing to removing plastic bags from their operation within 12 months. The end goal is for the town to be plastic bag free and over summer campaigners will be targeting the masses of visitors that come to enjoy the natural beauty of the town.

South Africa

Mohammed Valli Moosa, the Environment and Tourism Minister of South Africa, jokingly named plastic bags the "national flower" of that country, and worked to introduce a minimum legal thickness of 30 micrometres to increase their cost, re-usability, and recycle. They may not be legally given away to shoppers, and must instead be sold; however this rule is not always enforced strictly.[citation needed] The South African government collects a 3 cents per shopping bag environmental levy.

Turkey

The littering of plastic shopping bags has created major environmental problems throughout Turkey. Currently, Turkish people use on average 1.2 bags per day each, most of which end up not being disposed of properly. The government has launched a feasibility study into the movement towards environmental bags; however, this is not due until late 2008. However, Turkey has made the most success over the past time.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, plastic shopping bags are commonly known as carrier bags.

Growing awareness in the United Kingdom of the problems caused by indiscriminate use of plastic bags is encouraging some large retailers to reward customers who bring their own bags or who reuse or recycle ] announced on 13 November 2007 that the 10Th London Local Authorities Bill would include a provision to ban the distribution of free throw-away shopping bags in the capital. The London Local Authorities (Shopping Bag) Bill was deposited inParliament on 27 November 2006. If the Bill is passed by Parliament, it is expected to become law by mid-2009.

On 12 January 2008 Girton, Cambridgeshire became the first village in the East of England to declare itself a "Plastic Bag Free Community". The scheme comes from Sustainable Girton, an environmental group made up of local residents.

On 28 February 2008 Marks and Spencers announced that with effect from 6Th May 2008 it will begin charging customers 5p per bag in order to bring awareness to ecological living. All the money raised will be on single use carrier bags in 2009.

United States

Plastic bags have largely displaced paper bags as the most common type of shopping bag during the late 1980s and early 1990s. There has been no broad government action against the litterproblem; proper household waste management (reuse when possible and not littering) is considered a personal responsibility or a locally enforced misdemeanor. Some local governments have enacted ordinances, and many stores allow customers to return the bags forrecycling. Empty bags carried on the wind are popularly known as "urban tumbleweed."

On March 27, 2007, the City and County of San Francisco became the first city to ban non-compostable plastic shopping bags, followed shortly thereafter by nearby Oakland. In 2008 the Oakland ban was overturned in the courts as the city could not prove that the ban would improve environmental conditions by transitioning consumers to paper bags. Since July 1, 2007, all large supermarkets in the state of California will be required, by law, to take back and recycle plastic shopping bags.

Portland, Oregon, is next to propose a debagte on banning plastic bags according to Thanh Tan of news Channel KATU.

Plastic shopping bags are banned in at least several small villages and towns in Alaska, including the towns of Emmonak, Galena, and Kotlik.

Seattle, Washington, recently proposed a 20 cent "green fee" or tax on plastic bags, which would go into effect on January 1, 2009. The fee was proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels and approved by city council July 28, 2008. Just days after its passage, opponents to the fee mobilized a petition to remove it; a referendum will be presented to voters in 2009 after petitions showed strong opposition to the fee.

Los Angeles, California, has also suggested it would place a ban on plastic bag starting in 2010 but now ordinance has been drafted to date.

New York City is suggested a 6 cent plastic bag tax shortly after it implemented a recycling ordinance and the collapse of the economy in 2008 created a large budget short fall for the city. The tax is being advertised to the public as environmentally friendly and an innovative way to raise needed revenue. If this tax is to take effect, state approval is required.

IKEA, the home furnishings retailer,no longer provides plastic bags

Zanzibar

The island of Zanzibar banned the import and use of plastic shopping bags in November 2006. People who litter used bags are responsible for a significant problem, and government officials enacted the ban to protect tourism, an economic mainstay for the island.

sourced from Wikipedia

 

So in conclusion; 

 

we all need to start taking responsibility our self's. Simply carry a re-usable bag with you at all times - even if you use one less carrier bags each day this will have an effect. Lets think about our carrier bag use in every day use, pop out to get some milk from your local corner shop - morning newspaper - use a re-usable bag. Also remember I don't think its just the Supermarkets fault, it also every shop in the high street. I not saying never use a carrier bag again but do you need it. Maybe when you are asked in a shop if you want the item in another bag - say no and place it in another bag.

So lets all start using reusable bags or reuse carrier bags handed out by shops.As the supermarkets are doing somethings towards this issue, make sure you do something as well.

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Changing High street

As we see some of the most well known high street stores closing - are we seeing a new high street emerging. Will small independent shops start opening or will the highstreet be full of boarded up shops and for sale signs. 

I am not that surprised that the high street is starting to showing of downturn. We have lived for best part of 10 years in a consumer fuel enviroment. As high streets up and the country were all starting to look the same. Do we need all these shops selling very simarly things and as we are all starting to do more amd more shopping on the internet, why do we need still high street outlets.

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The changing recession

Thank you for visiting my site. I am 31 years old and have been interested in this current downturn. I don't remember the previous recessions having much effect, but maybe it did.

The most noticeable element this time is the banking sector, house prices and the high street. The main difference is how fast paced everything is happening. Each day i watch the news something else has happened.  

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Iceland buys 51 Woolworth stores

read more sourced from The BBC

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