If you think the Tory attempts to prevent unions opposing cuts in the public sector through the Trade Union Bill are bad, spare a thought for the public sector unions in Swaziland, sub-Saharan…Read more…
Iran: what does ending sanctions mean for workers?
Iran is returning to the international community, as the nuclear weapons programme is ended and sanctions are being abandoned. Throughout the diplomatic standoff, unions globally and here in the UK…Read more…
Victory for the Airbus 8: to strike is not a crime!
Earlier this month, thousands of trade unionists marched in Madrid, Spain under the slogan “to strike is not a crime” to show solidarity with eight trade union activists on trial for…Read more…
EU referendum campaign begins: let’s put workers first
This morning an edited version of this piece was in the Sunday Mirror, with the alternative point of view put by Michael Gove MP. His remark that “membership of the EU prevents us being able to…Read more…
Web links for 16th February 2016
Sponsored: Meet TulaCo Trusted Development Partner. From Start-Ups to Enterprise Sponsored: Meet TulaCo Trusted Development Partner. From Start-Ups to Enterprise Sponsored: Meet TulaCo Trusted…Read more…
Fighting for fair pay at Express Newspapers
On the face of it, a shop steward negotiating with Richard Desmond is about as superfluous a role as Donald Trump’s equality and diversity advisor. The media mogul, labelled Britain’s greediest…Read more…
New Sentencing guidelines welcomed
This month new guidelines on the sentencing of those who break health and safety laws come into effect. They represent a huge change in attitude to health and safety offences and have broadly been…Read more…
Talking unions with Eddie Izzard at the #heartunions Big Workplace Meeting
A little known fact about Eddie Izzard: He was elected leader of a newly formed street performers’ association in Covent Garden early in his career, citing this as when he first learned about…Read more…
Cynical Government attack on safety representatives
Today is the beginning of heartunions week. It also sees the House of Lords start discussing the detail of the Trade Union Bill. The first is a celebration of the fantastic work that union…Read more…
Government pledges to reverse anti-union laws
No, it’s not April Fool’s Day yet, not a prediction for a future Britain. It’s the new Canadian Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau, and the new Minister of Employment, Workforce…Read more…
Qatar World Cup dream is a nightmare for workers
I had heard a lot about the exploitation of the migrant workers building Qatar’s World Cup dream. But nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing it first hand on a UNITE delegation last week…Read more…
Insurers take another pot-shot at the victims.
The insurers seem to be going after our compensation again. The last government gave them a huge bonus by making it far harder to take claims and recover all your costs by introducing legislation…Read more…
International agreements coming back into fashion?
In the same week that the UK government ratified the ILO Forced Labour Protocol after pressure from the TUC and CBI, the Transport Minister has signalled that he will ratify the Hong Kong Convention…Read more…
Franco’s ghost: trade union rights under attack
As Spanish trade unions protest against the use of a Franco-era law criminalising picketing, the UK House of Lords is debating picketing restrictions criticised by Conservative MP David Davis as like…Read more…
Thai worker rights activist Andy Hall faces prosecution again
Today, British-born workers’ and migrants’ rights activist Andy Hall is back in court facing further charges arising from his work for a Finnish NGO on the abuse of migrant workers in a…Read more…
Time to care: Homecare workers speak out
Can you imagine having to have someone else help you brush your teeth? How about to get you out of bed, or even to wash you? What if it was a stranger each time? Over half a million adults in the UK…Read more…
EU negotiations – Is Cameron’s support on deregulation built on quicksand?
There is a lot in the press at the moment about David Cameron’s four demands on the European Commission for reform prior to the forthcoming referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. Most of the…Read more…
London’s mayoral candidates should take a lead on online voting in #TUbill
Both of the front runners for the upcoming London Mayoral elections won their candidacies in votes that included voting via smartphones and computers. Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith’s…Read more…
Solidarity on the 1st anniversary of Charlie Hebdo killings
This afternoon, exactly a year after murderous gunmen burst into the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to kill people doing their jobs, French trade unions have organised a…Read more…
Flooding – dealing with the aftermath
The last few weeks have seen misery for people in many parts of the country as they have battled with the floods and their aftermath, both in their homes and their workplaces. For many people, this…Read more…