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In the news this week, workers across a number of industries in Bristol will strike this week, in response to a 40-year inflation high of 10.1% resulting in real-terms pay cuts. There will be no Great Western Railway trains running from Temple Meads on Saturday because of ongoing disputes between the private operator and three unions over safety, staffing and pay.
Over in Avonmouth, Amazon workers have held further protests over a pay offer the GMB union called “pathetic”. And next week, Royal Mail postal workers and journalists at Bristol Live will strike too.
Demands by workers that bosses address cost-of-living are also spreading to the public sector. Hospital bosses warned there was a “real risk” that NHS staff will go on strike this autumn over pay because proposed pay increases do not keep up with inflation. Unions will be balloting hundreds of thousands of NHS workers and teachers in the coming months on strike action.
And yet, instead of much-needed government intervention to tackle the cost of living crisis, Liz Truss has pledged to crack down on strikes if she becomes our next PM. We will be reporting from picket lines in Bristol and on the energy price crisis in coming weeks.
Your Bristol news round-up
⛔ A rogue landlord with a portfolio of 34 properties in Bristol has been banned from letting to tenants after being convicted of eight safety and conditions offences. Ms Naomi Knapp had continually failed to resolve issues despite warnings from the council, and in addition to the ban has been fined £22,000. Her existing tenants’ legal rights remain in place and they will “not necessarily” have to leave their homes, the council says.
💰The government has announced an extra £130m of funding to keep bus services going that are struggling after the pandemic. West of England Mayor Dan Norris welcomed the extension of emergency funding by six months, but said services in Bristol would still be under threat from October onwards because of severe driver shortages.
🚴♂️ The Big Issue says their e-bike scheme in Bristol will be paused from this weekend due to “extensive and relentless levels of vandalism”. The company claims 10% of their fleet of 400+ bikes is being vandalised every day; in practice, “the entire fleet every two weeks”.
☀️ A new heat map developed by Bristol City Council, ‘Keep Bristol Cool’, has revealed that the city centre and areas to its east such as St George and Lawrence Hill are the hottest places in the city. The council is the first to develop this online tool that allows citizens to explore how vulnerable their neighbourhood, and health, might be to heatwaves.
💡 Bristol councillor and co-leader of the Green Party Carla Denyer has called for nationalisation of the Big Five energy companies. The Greens are the only party to table nationalisation in response to the energy and cost-of-living crises, with Denyer claiming that “the government could make sure everybody can afford to get through this”.
💸 Bristol City Council has been criticised following the publication of its annual accounts for the “spiralling” costs of the Bristol Beacon refurbishment project. Financial documents show that in the last year the council spent more on the refurb than on transport, flood defences, street lighting, road maintenance, and the Clean Air Zone project combined. (Local Democracy Reporter Scheme)
🚨 A former Avon and Somerset police officer facing a sexual misconduct hearing has been named as Lee Cocking. The ex-sergeant claims that in the course of driving home an “argumentative and fighty” drunk woman, she had sex with him despite it being “the last thing he wanted”, but prosecutors accuse him of lying about the circumstances and his medical history. (LDRS)
🎚️ A crowdfunder aiming to raise £2,000 to help Stokes Croft record shop Idle Hands get through its final months before closing has surpassed its goal, raising £10,000. Chris Farrell called the result “heartwarming”, and said the windfall could even make a new store viable.
⛪ Bristol Cathedral has launched a permanent exhibition exploring its connections with the transatlantic slave trade. The work displays research into around 200 people buried at the Cathedral who had connections with the slave trade economy, and photographs of Christians in Bristol with questions and commentary on the findings.
📉 The Community Farm of Chew Valley, as large hub for local, organic food in the region which fed almost 1000 households during the pandemic, is now on a financial “knife edge” due to the cost of living crisis. The organic food sector has seen rising costs and falling sales across the board, and while the Community Farm saw a huge uptick in custom during the pandemic in response to failing supermarket supply chains, the cost of living crisis has reversed their fortunes, cutting their custom in half.
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