Trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) closed in Nairobi on Saturday and the biggest news is what they did not manage to agree. After 14 years of stalled talks, rich countries continued to refuse to address longstanding injustices in agriculture, such as food stockholding – a…Read more…
Free professional development for school support staff in Cymru / Wales
UNISON invites you to Saturday development sessions
The article Free professional development for school support staff in Cymru / Wales first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
You were the stars in our schools
UNISON celebration of school workers had a fantastic response
The article You were the stars in our schools first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
UNISON THERE FOR YOU – WINTER FUEL GRANTS 2016
WORRIED ABOUT PAYING YOUR WINTER FUEL BILL?
With rising fuel costs and another cold winter looming many members on low income are worried about how they’re going to pay their winter fuel bills.
Help is on hand
‘There for You’ has set up a limited fu…Read more…
Stand up for school librarians, says UNISON Scotland
Date: Monday 21 December 2015UNISON Scotland has called on councils and Scottish Government to do more to protect school librarians. UNISON says the evidence is that local councils are seeing school library services as a soft target to meet budget cuts and are cutting school library services across Scotland. UNISON has made a submission in support of School Libraries Petition PE 1581 to theRead more…
A Happy New Year for the NHS?
There’s no doubt about it, the last 12 months have been a bumpy ride for our National Health Service. Will 2016 be any better? A year that started off with the government negotiating its way out of a bout of unprecedented industrial action involving NHS workers in England from nurses and midwives…Read more…
Official: govt failed steel workers
Unite has backed the findings of the select committee’s report on the failure of the government to react to warning signs that the steel industry was facing increasing problems. Unite has…Read more…
Holding back the tears
Britain’s last deep pit coal miners held back their tears, as they emerged from their historic final shift underground to face the glare of the media at Yorkshire’s Kellingley Colliery on Friday….Read more…
‘Our members support our communities every day of the year’
Many UNISON members will be keeping the country going over Christmas and the new year
The article ‘Our members support our communities every day of the year’ first appeared on the UNISON…Read more…
Diggers Unite and win?
Unite Archaeology members Dr Nora Bermingham and Caitriona Moore MA have been nominated for a prestigious award sponsored by Current Archaeology magazine. The nomination – for ‘Rescue Dig of…Read more…
#COP21: How does education and research figure?
The Paris Agreement that was finalised on 12 December (pdf) has had a mixed reception. For some, it is an historic document that will keep global warming in check. For others, it will deliver too little too late. Without repeating all of the arguments …Read more…
Failure of hospitals to meet safe staffing targets is no great surprise, says UNISON
An analysis published today (Monday) by the Health Service Journal, which found that nine in ten hospitals in England are failing to meet their own safe staffing targets for the number of nurses on…Read more…
Only God and the bed manager
The consultant was clear – you need to be on an IV drip getting antibiotics in your local A and E within the hour because of complications with chemotherapy treatment. The patient, my partner,…Read more…
Beyond a crisis
GP surgeries are bursting at the seams, ambulance staff are leaving in their droves, NHS waiting times continue to rise drastically, junior doctors were set to walk out in a series of strikes and…Read more…
Government ‘not alert to UK steel industry crisis warnings’, says Business Committee
The Government was not ‘alert enough’ to the warning bells sounded by UK steel industry, says the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee in a report published today. The BIS Committee found…Read more…
My Sunday News
Some random bits and pieces I found interesting this Sunday morning.
Corbyn against illegal budget settingSome Labour-led councils are reportedly considering drawing up budgets based on people’s needs, as opposed to council finances. In a letter to councillors, sent jointly with John McDonnell, the…Read more…
Venezuela to defend the Revolution
Patriotic Forces Pledge to Defend the Revolutionary Gains People in Caracas participate in street assemblies to discuss how to defend their revolutionary gains, December 9, 2015. Following the…Read more…
A Merry Christmas for the Very Rich
Check out this seasonal message from the ONS wealth data via TUC TouchStone
ONS wealth data: The rich just got considerably richer
18 Dec 2015, by Geoff Tilyin Economics In cash terms the top 10% now own £5.0 trillion of UK total household wealth, according to the latest ONS wealth and…Read more…
Reflecting on Education for Movement Activism
Colleagues, I have found it incredibly difficult since the start of the new academic year to find the time to sit, reflect and write material for this blog. On the positive side this is largely because the volume and range of trade union education…Read more…
NLRB to Issue Complaint Alleging Four-Month ATI Lockout is Illegal
The United Steelworkers (USW) union was informed today by Region 6 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Pittsburgh that the regional director will issue a complaint in the four-month-long…Read more…