It is said that if you say something often enough and loud enough everyone believes it is true regardless of the facts. This is the case with asbestos. We have been told for decades that the safest…Read more…
European regulation is good for you – Part 2.
Earlier this week I posted a blog about an EU evaluation of the European occupational safety and health directives. I complained that the Commission had not published the report, although a joint…Read more…
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize shows the power of social dialogue
In a very dangerous and uncertain world the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to the Tunisian National Dialogue quartet underlines the power and resolve to settle differences by working together in a…Read more…
Violence in Turkey’s Capital
The violence in Ankara on Saturday marks yet another step in Turkey’s decent into the mayhem that engulfs many of her neighbours. It would seem that there were two suicide bombers responsible…Read more…
New research says EU regulation working.
Two years ago this week, the Prime Minister’s business taskforce said relaxing the European Commission’s rules on health and safety risk assessments would save £2.7bn. Meanwhile a piece by…Read more…
Take action to free imprisoned garment union activists in Burma
On 8 November Burma will hold crucial general elections, which makes this is an important time to hold the government to account for the increasing crack down on trade union rights and repression…Read more…
Free Mahdi Abu Dheeb
In May last year I blogged about the disgraceful treatment of trade union activist, Mahdi Abu Dheeb, by the Bahraini authorities. Sadly the only developments since then have been negative. Mahdi…Read more…
World Day for Decent Work: end corporate greed!
For the eighth year running, today, 7 October has been designated World Day for Decent Work by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the global trade union confederation to which the…Read more…
European unions back TUC call on EU referendum
Last week in Paris, the four-yearly Comgress of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) adopted unanimously an emergency resolution from the TUC about the British government’s EU…Read more…
SDGs – the new MDGs
Today (25 September) world leaders from 193 countries will assemble at the United Nations annual General Assembly in New York to adopt 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty and build a better world…Read more…
Government threat to safety reps – get the message out there!
The TUC is running a major campaign against the Trade Union Bill. I have written on it previously on this site, and there is an excellent article from the TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady in…Read more…
Swaziland Ministers come to Brussels
A ministerial delegation from Swaziland travelled to Brussels this week to respond to demands made by the European Parliament to improve the human and workers’ rights situation in the country….Read more…
Why we need the right to strike
The government’s Trade Union Bill looks set to undermine the right to strike, and attacks the role trade unions play in day-to-day life. These reforms are spiteful and unnecessary.They are…Read more…
Unions face increasing harassment in Iran
Despite the recent thaw in relations between the Iranian regime and western countries, the situation facing trade unionists in the country has worsened alarmingly this month. While we were in…Read more…
Guatemala: joker in the pack holds cards in election run-off
Guatemala has dodged the bullet of a ‘gangster President’, but will those remaining in the contest be willing and able to heal a country tearing itself apart? Guatemala has been gripped by protests…Read more…
London Labour Film Festival 2015: Holding a mirror to working life
It’s very exciting for me to be back in the London Labour Film Festival programme this year (24-26 Sep 2015), as I participated actively in the first festival back in 2012. The LLFF is one of over…Read more…
Say #refugeeswelcome – march on Saturday
The vivid stories of human suffering that have dominated the media coverage of the refugee crisis have provoked reactions of shock and, importantly, solidarity by the public. As organisations founded…Read more…
Stopping the Job – collectively
There should be a health and safety law poster in every workplace in the country. This is produced by the HSE and tells workers what their legal rights are. It is simple and well-written. There is…Read more…
US fast food workers get a legal boost
A ruling this week in the USA by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has given a boost to unions, and the ‘alt.unions’ who are trying to build union organisation in the US fast food…Read more…
What an expert government body says about the Trade Union Bill
The government’s Trade Union Bill has taken a bit of a pounding lately. First there were the trade unions themselves, who are uniformly opposed to the bill. Then there was a joint letter from…Read more…