Freedom of Information is an essential part of a thriving and effective democracy. Scotland needs to move from the ambition of support for open government, to putting the legislative and practical…Read more…
The General Election – locally and nationally
This week I have been spending my working hours getting back to working in my “day job” now that I am no longer seconded to trade union duties, and some of the rest of my time dealing with Labour’s General Election campaign in Brighton Pavilion.
I don’t intend to blog much about the election…Read more…
Is a robot after your job?
12 May 2017
Martin Upchurch, Middlesex University, London
We re-blog an article from the European Institute for Construction Labour Research on how the growing trend of automation is affecting…Read more…
Careersmart 2.0
Back in 2014, Prospect launched the Careersmart.org.uk website, providing information and guidance on careers and work issues from a union perspective. The site has recently undergone a major…Read more…
IER FACT NEWS: The Purposes and Benefits of Sectoral Collective Bargaining
12 May 2017
By John Hendy QC and Professor Keith Ewing, Chair and President of the IER
The Labour Party has identified the restoration of Sectoral Collective Bargaining as a key element in its…Read more…
Manchester council demo
Striking members of Unite employed on social housing maintenance contracts in Manchester will stage a demonstration outside of Manchester Town Hall, on Monday, May 15 at 12pm, demanding the council…Read more…
Picnic protest
Members of Unite will be joining campaigners and concerned families on Sunday (May 14) for a picnic protest over Medway council’s plans to close 19 Sure Start centres and axe up to 50 staff across…Read more…
“Sweatshop of Europe”
The number of people on zero-hours contracts has reached record levels, with 905,000 people on them in the last three months of 2016, up 13 per cent from the same period last year. But the…Read more…
‘Paltry’ accident fine
Unite has criticised a ‘paltry’ fine imposed on a company for health and safety breaches that led to the permanent impairment of a worker. At Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday (May 11), Wallace…Read more…
Blog: Young members are the present and future of our movement
This weekend, many of UNISON’s young members are coming together to talk about the future of our union, the future of public services and the future of our country.
The article Blog: Young members…Read more…
Workers need legal protection, not voluntary standards
An international standard for health and safety may sound like a good idea to a lot of people, but the current proposals for one would be bad news for many workers. The International Standards…Read more…
Making trade unions more agile
At the end of 2016, I took part in a design sprint looking at the unionfinder functionality on the TUC website. The tool matches thousands of people to TUC affiliated unions every month, but it could…Read more…
Re-electing Lyn Brown – Forest Gate, West Ham & Canning Town
Picture collage from canvass in Forest Gate North on Tuesday evening, West Ham ward on Wednesday evening and a Labour stall outside the busy West Ham Station tonight (which is confusingly not in West Ham ward but Canning Town North).
While we are camp…Read more…
Homelessness and the Housing Revenue Account
Swindon Council’s second raid on the housing account As Swindon Council faces the decline of central government Revenue Support Grant year on year, it has scrabbled around desperately looking for ways of saving money. Its imposition of parish councils on the town without a democratic mandate…Read more…
Barclays jobs stay pledge
Barclays is not considering moving British jobs to Europe because of Brexit, the bank’s chief executive has said. Jes Staley also said that any internal restructuring that would be needed…Read more…
Transforming Britain
A Labour government would re-nationalise the UK’s energy industry, railways, buses and Royal Mail, the party’s leaked draft manifesto states. In a boost for ordinary people, Labour would also…Read more…
‘Damaging’ school cuts
Unite has warned that damaging school cuts will increase if the Tories regain power on June 8. The warning was issued after education unions, including Unite, condemned plans by an academy…Read more…
Crane strikes loom
The likelihood of strikes this summer at HTC Wolffkran, the UK’s largest tower crane operator, have taken a dramatic step forward after peace talks collapsed in an ongoing pay dispute. Unite,…Read more…
Where’s the support for our mental health?
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, UNISON members share their experiences of the UK’s struggling mental health services
The article Where’s the support for our mental health? first appeared…Read more…
Hull Pride
Unite’s £17,000 sponsorship of a landmark UK Pride event in Hull – 2017 City of Culture – underlines the country’s largest union’s support for gay rights, whether in the workplace or in…Read more…