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Workers at the Honda Lock factory in Guangdong province return to work

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao has called for better living conditions for migrant workers from rural areas.

He said China owed them its wealth and tall buildings, and officials should treat them as their own children. The comments follow a wave of strikes and labour-related suicides.

Up to 200 million Chinese workers have migrated from the countryside to the cities in recent years.

But the government has refused to relax the system of residence permits.

Mr Wen made his remarks as workers at a Honda factory returned to work after a week-long strike over pay.

No pay promise

“The government and all parts of society should treat young migrant workers as they would treat their own children,” Mr Wen said.

He promised to improve public facilities in the countryside, like schools and hospitals, so that migrant workers would have less to worry about in their hometowns.

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Thirteen people died in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday

Families of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday and the soldiers involved are studying Lord Saville’s report on the events.

The outcome of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, the longest and most expensive public inquiry in UK legal history, is due to be made public later.

Thirteen people died in 1972 when British soldiers opened fire on civil rights marchers in Londonderry.

The Saville Report cost £195m and took 12 years to complete.

The shootings were among the most controversial state killings in the Northern Ireland conflict.

The marchers were shot dead on 30 January 1972 when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration. Fourteen others were wounded, one of whom later died.

More than 25 years later, in 1998, then Prime Minister Tony Blair established a full inquiry under the auspices of former High Court judge, Lord Saville of Newdigate.

The Saville Inquiry took witness statements from hundreds of people and has become the longest-running and most expensive in British history.

It closed in 2004 with the report initially due for publication the following year.
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Adobe's Flash software has become a favourite among hi-tech criminals

Adobe has fixed a “critical” security flaw that had the potential to allow hackers to take control of affected computer systems.
The bug was first spotted in early June week following a small number of targeted attacks.
The security update is one in a bumper update package that fixes a total of 32 documented vulnerabilities.
Adobe’s Flash and Reader software have emerged as prime targets for hi-tech criminals in the past year.
Users running Windows, Macintosh or Linux were all thought to be vulnerable to attack.
Security firm Websense said the flaw was being exploited via e-mails that prompted recipients to open booby-trapped websites seeded with malware.
Users visiting the websites would have their computers infected with trojans and other malicious programs that opened a backdoor into the machine.
Adobe urged users to apply the update as soon as possible.
Adobe said it would release an update at the end of June for its Reader and Acrobat programs which addresses a similar bug that makes it possible to booby-trap PDFs.
Adobe is reportedly considering patching its applications more frequently after a quarterly update cycle for its Acrobat and Reader programmes last year.
In 2009, Adobe announced an aggressive programme to beef up security after hackers increasingly focused on finding holes in its products.
‘Huge release’
The security update came in the release of version 10.1 of the Flash player.
“Don’t let the version number fool you! Flash Player 10.1 is more than a ‘dot upgrade’,” said Paul Betlem of Adobe’s Flash Player engineering team.
Mr Betlem said the update was a “monumental undertaking” that made significant changes to the architecture of the software.
Adobe estimates that more than 95% of computers worldwide have Flash Player installed. Many sites use it to show off multimedia content such as videos and games.
Wired called the latest release “significant” and said the underlying code has been largely re-written to address the platform’s key shortcomings, most notably battery problems and security issues.
“This is obviously a huge release for Adobe, as it comes at a time when the company is under attack for its platform’s pitfalls,” said Michael Calore at Wired.
Chief among Flash’s critics is Apple boss Steve Jobs who wrote an open letter explaining why he refused to have Flash on products such as the iPhone and iPad.
He claimed that it was “the number one reason why Macs crash.”

Original Article with Courtesy of : news.bbc.co.uk

In recent days We have become aware of a rather shady thing that NatWest has sneaked upon their customers. Basically In October 2009 NatWest in all its wisdom decided to shift its transaction updates to around 1-2am in the morning. Most people did not even notice this change unless they decided to some late night banking.

However it appears that is not all that has occurred. For as far back as I can remember and for many years before that. Close of Business in a Bank, meant when they closed the doors, and as such, if you had cleared funds then any bills due upon that day would be paid from said funds.

NatWest however have decided to rewrite this, but not in their Personal and Private Banking ‘Terms and Conditions’ which is essentially your contract. Instead this major change of Banking financial practice is hidden away in the Text of their “Our commitment to you” leaflet. The afformentioned being legally binding and monitored closely by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) the latter being a bit of marketing spiel.

If you look at the “Managing your money, some points to note” Section on page 81 of NWB 2707 16 May 2010. It reads:

“To be sure that a payment can be made, you should have sufficient available funds in your account by close of business on the  business day before the payment is due to be made”.

Excluding the bad terminology (which I will come back to). What this is supposed to be saying is, the close of business for Direct Debit/Standing orders is the day before the actual close of business.  Which is a major change in Banking practice.

One which results in many customers finding that their bills are not being paid and they are charged fees for the bounced payment. When NatWest are challenged about this. Customers are then informed of this change of Policy. If they happen to say “I was not informed about this change”. The telephone or Branch staff respond with either.

“It was contained in our leaflet Dated February 2010″. Remember that this was changed in October 2009 and on top of that the leaflet in question was only sent to about 3% of NatWest Customers.

Or they say:

“I am informing you of it now”!

Both responses being in clear violation of the Banking Code of Practice and that of the Guidelines set down by the FSA.

Now just when you think it could not get any worse, it turns out that even this bit of spiel is not even correct. The actual cut off time to pay in sufficient funds is 2:30pm on the day which the Bill is due to go out.

Just when we thought we had isolated the actual time. Yet again another Manager is now claiming that in fact it is 2:00pm (14:00hrs) on the day in question.

So here we have a change in Banking Practice that alters an accepted practice that has stood for many years.

Was it a big poster campaign?

Was it in the National Newspapers?

Nope! as I said before, its hidden in a marketing spiel leaflet.

The next question is. “Are the charges” or the late payment fees charged by third party companies (as the result of this action) actually legal”?

The answer to that one is NO!

Should you be charged by NatWest, they have to refund you, as well as covering any costs you incurred because of their actions.

Until NatWest actually include this amendment to their practices into their actual Contractual Terms and Conditions. No customer is liable in these circumstances.

For the moment, it still stands, if you walk into the branch and pay cash in

over the counter and receive a receipt for said cash/cleared funds. Then NatWest must honor the payment of any bills against those cleared funds.

The so called amendment and it’s wording:

To remind you. read this again:

“To be sure that a payment can be made, you should have sufficient available funds in your account by close of business on the  business day before the payment is due to be made”.

Now as I mentioned before, it could be assumed that this means that funds have to be in the account the day before. Did you read it that way?

If you did, then read it more closely. Namely this section

“sufficient available funds in your account by close of business on the  business day before the payment is due to be made”.

The reason why I say this is because it does not actually say what you think,

It should have read:

“on the ‘previous’ business day before the payment is due to be made”.

That one small omission results in the Legal definition of a possible secondary interpretation, that it could be paid in, by the close of business on the day that the payment is due to be made.

So we come full circle back to this moving goal post of when the actual time is.

Is it 2:00pm  or 2:30pm or in fact without any clear legally binding definition is it in fact the time that the Bank closes it doors as it has been for a long as most people can remember.

At the time of publication We are still waiting for a response from NatWests Customer Services Escalation team about this.

I will keep you posted on how this progresses.

Original Article with Courtesy of: 13thHouR

With the whole fiasco of the Students Loans Company (SLC) last year and the Strong possibility of the same thing repeating itself again in 2010/11. The last thing students need was yet another UK Government Department being misleading concerning finances available to Students on low incomes.

However the issue over Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) /Income support (IS) payments during the summer break has come to light yet again.

Basically for several years now The Job Centre Plus (JCP) and the Department of work and pensions (DWP) have been giving contradictory  information to  Students. The outcome of which is that many students are left with the belief that they can claim JSA/IS during the summer break.

That information is actually wrong!

Yes students can sign on, but this is not actually the same as being in receipt of benefits. Basically what is causing all the problems is that the Decision Makers Guide (DMG, which is a simpler day to day break down of the Benefits Acts for staff) actually refers to a system of disregards. 

How does this work?

In theory it should be quite simple, purely as an example. Student X has £4000 income per annum composed of Loans/Grants and Bursaries.

If their bursaries are very specifically named for a use such as.

Food : £1200
Materials: £600
Travel: £600

Then those are disregard items, for the 52 weeks used in the calculation. THis means,  Student X’s actual income would be £2000 over the year. Putting them £652 below the annual income threshold for JSA (Which is approx £2652 for 19 to 24 year olds). Thus allowing the normal JSA payments to be deducted from the yearly DWP allowance per person.

However in practice the majority of Students income is bases purely on SLC Student Grants/Loans which are not as specific when is come to what the money is actually for. Meaning that in Social Security legislation terms the Aforementioned student X has £4000 per annum, thus is £1348 over the threshold to receive any payment from JSA/IS.

So a simple rule of thumb. If your course is greater than 1 year (or you are not in your final year). You cannot claim JSA/IS during the summer break.

There are exceptions to that rule, such as Single Parents, Disabled, Student with partners etc. Of which many are already entitled to Housing Benefit and Income support (Even with grants and loans).

For everybody else. Please make sure that you budget all your money to cover 2010/11 semesters, as well as the 2011 summer break.

Original Article With Courtesy of: 13thHouR

If you are student who is struggling to cope with no income over the current holidays. You may be able to get Help from Social Services or a one off Hardship payment from the DWP. Please contact your local Jobcentre Plus or Social Services for further information.

Foxconn recently promised its employees a 70% wage rise

Owners of a factory in China where 10 workers have killed themselves say they will no longer make condolence payments to employees who take their own lives except those that are mandatory.

Foxconn has been paying compensation equivalent to 10 years’ wages to the families of suicide victims.

Posters have gone up at the factory site in Shenzhen to explain the move.

They say that to prevent more tragedies Foxconn will not pay compensation beyond its legal obligations.

Previously most of the victims’ families had received payments of more than $14,000 (£9,700) each.

Foxconn officials say they have evidence that in at least one case where a worker attempted suicide, he told his family they would receive a large amount in compensation if he took his own life.

Terry Gou, the Taiwanese chairman of the electronics company’s parent firm, has announced that an investigation by the Chinese authorities found that none of the suicides were related to working conditions at the Shenzhen plant.

Mr Gou says the fact that he was not detained after the investigation “proves” the company should not be blamed.

R-Force says:
I have actually spent time in China and I am aware of some of the things that do occur in these large factories. Apple and other companies who are involved at Foxconn, have gone to quite considerable lengths to ensure good working conditions for staff (This was not always the case, but it has dramatically improved).

The difficulties that arise here is a concept that we in the UK can find hard to grasp. China is a vast Country, in many cases even married people will be working Hundreds or even Thousands of miles from their spouses and their children (Often children are raised by the Grandparents). This means that a large proportion of the workers only get to have the company of their families during major Holidays like the Chinese New Year. On top of this there is a vast pressure upon people to bring in an income to be able to support their families back at home.

It is quite feasible that with the amounts involved for person taking their own lives, that some workers do decide that they can best serve their families by taking their own lives. So in this instance it does seem that the care package for workers and their families welfare, has backfired and created a very sad situation where some people believed they where worth more dead.

On another note I can see the difficulties that major corporations have in China. Even when their intentions are good, in many cases workers are threatened to create a false image of working conditions when inspectors come to monitor the situations there. (This did occur previously at Foxconn, however it appears this no longer is the case and working conditions have vastly improved.)

All I can say is that Foxconn’s working conditions are 10,000% better than Wal-Mart’s factories in China. Some of the living Accommodation (That staff have to compulsory pay for) at Wal-Mart (ASDA in the UK) Factories, is not even fit for an animal to live in.

Original Article with Courtesy of : news.bbc.co.uk