On Sunday 16 July Sunday 2017 during the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs weekend, I went for a walk with Gill in Chipping Ongar and Greensted to visit the wooden Saxon Church and pay homage to the Tolpuddle Martyrs who were resettled in farms around here, aft…Read more…
Labour enforcement agencies – six potential developments
The Immigration Act 2016 brought about significant changes to the remit and powers of the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority. It also created the position of director of labour market enforcement. Sir David Metcalf has been appointed to this post. It is the director who is responsible for…Read more…
History of Populism:
The people is sublime: the long history of populism, from Robespierre to Trump David Marquand, The New Statesman A spectre of populism is haunting the world’s liberal democracies. Donald…Read more…
It’s the Common Law wot won it
31 July 2017
By Michael Ford QC, Professor of Law University of Bristol and Counsel for the EHRC in the UNISON case
As described by one commentator, the Supreme Court judgment in R (UNISON) v Lord…Read more…
After another lost decade, it’s time to fix the UK’s broken skills system
Workers have suffered from a lost decade of wage growth. While the jobs recovery has been strong, the wage recovery has been agonisingly slow. Wages in 2016 were still 4% lower in real terms than they were a decade before, and they are falling again. Britain’s dreadful performance on…Read more…
UNISON wins another important legal case over employers who fail to consult unions
Following on from the victory over employment tribunal fees on Wednesday.
“UNISON has won a landmark court victory today (Friday 28 July) that makes it much harder for employers to ignore staff when making major changes in the workplace.
The Court of…Read more…
The Phenomena of Time Consciousness
(excerpt) Hardial Bains (Circa 1967) The commitment of Socratic life is the individual acts on what he knows, today he goes into the future with the full conviction of his knowledge. He only goes…Read more…
West Ham General Election Wash Up
This picture is from Wednesday evening, when we had a West Ham Labour General Election “Wash Up”. CLP Officers, Branch organisers and secretaries were invited to our headquarters in Stratford to talk about and debate, what went right with our election …Read more…
There can be no socialist case for controls on migration
Much online comment has arisen from remarks made by the Labour Leader concerning the impact of migration on wages. I am not really interested in a debate about whether “Jeremy Corbyn is right” about this or that issue – that simply makes politics about individuals (in a way with which no…Read more…
West Ham Park Community Funfair – Sat-Sun 29th-30 July 2017 (12-7pm)
A great community event in West Ham Park tomorrow and Sunday. Many thanks to the HAFS Academy for organising it. Read more…
Lessons must be learned
Unite, the UK’s largest construction union, is calling on major contractors to urgently learn the lessons from the death of Rene Tkacik on the Crossrail project. Unite made its call after…Read more…
Grenfell fire police probe
The police’s investigation into possible corporate manslaughter charges relating to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, when an estimated 80 people died in the fire, was welcomed by Unite today (Friday July…Read more…
Bags of Rubbish Pile Up in the Streets of Birmingham as Bin Collectors Strike.
Hundreds of thousands of people are affected and collections have been disrupted for weeks. Refuse workers are set to strike until 1 September. From Friday, striking workers increased their…Read more…
Bin strike talks?
Talks to settle the long-running Birmingham bin dispute are on the cards, Unite said today (Friday July 28), as the city council indicated a willingness to re-enter negotiations. Unite’s team…Read more…
How we can build on Unison’s tribunal fees success
28 July 2017
Workers across the UK will be delighted with this week’s Supreme Court decision that employment tribunal fees are unlawful, leading to their immediate repeal and pressure on the…Read more…
‘Nothing in my fridge’
The days of glamourous flying are over – well at least for most of us. Likewise the days when working as cabin crew for the ‘world’s favourite airline’ was a dream job, a job synonymous with serving…Read more…
Health Canada: ‘Now they want to Market our Blood’:
Health Canada Gives Go-Ahead to Private Pay-for-Plasma Clinic in New Brunswick Protest in Halifax, March 24, 2016, demands province not allow sale of plasma and blood. Health Canada on July 24, gave…Read more…
UNISON in Court of Appeal victory over employers who fail to consult unions
UNISON has won a landmark court victory today (Friday) that makes it much harder for employers to ignore staff when making major changes in the workplace. The Court of Appeal ruling means that for…Read more…
Colossal profits shame
The country’s national carrier, British Airways, can easily afford to resolve its long-running pay dispute with its ‘poverty pay’ mixed fleet cabin crew workforce, according to Unite. …Read more…
Pay cap: the numbers behind public sector pay
Public sector pay is in the news and it has been the subject of some of the most heated exchanges between Theresa May and Jeremey Corbyn since the election. But what exactly are the numbers behind…Read more…