All the union news that's fit to blog...
In my fourteen years on the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) I think I have spoken from the platform on no more occasions than the four on which I spoke, from the floor, in the two days of my last Local Government Conference as a branch delegate…
Our conference is once again having the real and necessary debate about our country’s future. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for our country’s government. Theresa May has shown not only her…
It’s time again for the annual trade union website league table. So how have the metrics changed in the last 12 months? (Previous results can be seen at 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012). The league…
I mentioned a little while ago this morning’s meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) (the second to last such meeting in my fourteen years on this august body). Towards the end of the meeting we descended into pantomime as an NEC member spoke by means of asking questions which he clearly…
Today (June 22) Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail spoke out on HSE inspection cuts in the construction industry. “Sadly there remain far too many employers who are all too…
Unite is seeking urgent answers after a crane collapse in Crewe killed two workers and injured several other people. The accident happened yesterday (Wednesday June 21) at Dunwoody Way in…
I have just sat through my last ever Rules debate at UNISON National Delegate Conference. UNISON Conference has passed three non-controversial Rule amendments.
I have to say that we used to have rather more interesting Rules debates within our Conference (indeed we use to have more actual “debates”…
As the dust settles on coalition and other arrangements across Scotland’s 32 hung (or balanced if you prefer) councils, now is good time to look at how councils will operate in this…
My only contribution this morning at my penultimate meeting of UNISON’s National Executive Council (NEC) was to ask an innocent little question about whether or not the idea of an NEC policy of “support with qualifications” on Conference motions may have had its day.
This led to a lengthy debate…
Refuse workers at Birmingham city council are set to strike as the council swings the axe on 122 waste collection jobs amid claims of ‘a bullying culture’ and financial incompetence. The…
We need to restore direct investment and subsidy for public housing
The article Building a national housing consensus and homes for all first appeared on the UNISON National site.
National conference calls on ILO to count girls in forced childhood marriage as child labour
The article UNISON vows to campaign on child marriage first appeared on the UNISON National site.
Despite being forced to exclude most of her manifesto policies from the Queen’s Speech, beleaguered Theresa May made sure her plans for a hard Brexit that will take the UK out of the EU’s single…
Britain’s getting a pay cut There is a real and present danger that inflation will continue to increase faster than earnings this year. The latest figures show average weekly earnings growing at a modest 2.1%, whilst CPI inflation has increased to 2.9% and RPI to 3.7%. In short, Britain is getting…
To their advocates, zero hours contracts offer flexibility for both the employer and employee. But such a simple summary strips away the human aspects and power dynamics that make insecure work so stressful for the employee. Hundreds of people employed…
Hat tip Phil Lewis Chair of London Hazards & in today’s UNISON NDC regional newsletter “London Calling”.
“Here is some information I was able to get hold of
2009 – Lakanal House tower block catches fire killing 6 people. The local authority is prosecuted for lapses in fire safety. A review is…
I think it is important that we do not rush to conclusions over the catastrophic fire at Grenfell Tower that has killed so many people in West London. The priority must be supporting residents who…
I think it is important that we do not rush to conclusions over the catastrophic fire at Grenfell Tower that has killed so many people in West London. The priority must be supporting residents who…
NUT staff at London school to strike outside DfE Jess Staufenberg 1 Teachers and parents are set to strike on a picket line outside the Department for Education’s (DfE) London offices this morning in…
Unite Community Coventry and Warwickshire branch members have thrown their weight behind a campaign to rescue the beleaguered Coventry City Football Club (FC). The branch has organised the…