If you want a true display of how the government’s ideological obsession with deregulation trumps any type of common sense and seems to ignore the democratic process then you just have to read the…Read more…
Nissan reject mediation over harassment of US trade unionists
Nissan, the global automotive company, has refused an offer by the US government to mediate in the long standing union recognition dispute in Canton, Mississippi, issuing blanket denials of…Read more…
The Assault on Turkish Democracy continues
It has been a year since I blogged on the arrest of a staggering 502 people in Turkey, many of whom are trade unionists, for basically voicing their dissent. More like a year and a half since my blog…Read more…
Qatar asks for patience – to perfect its PR strategy
Qatar seems to be confused about what message to put out to its critics, simultaneously accusing them of a conspiracy whilst also meekly asking for more time to put an end to the abuse of migrant…Read more…
Union reactions to Syriza’s victory
Unions around the world have welcomed the election result in Greece last Sunday, because the victory of the anti-austerity Syriza party was a rejection of the policies that have dominated Europe…Read more…
#HolocaustMemorialDay 2015: Remember the holocaust
This Holocaust Memorial Day the spotlight is on the worrying growth of anti-semitism in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, where hard right and neo-fascist parties are gaining ground. The attacks in…Read more…
Does Davos do any good?
As the super-rich decant from Davos – some, seriously, by private jet – it’s time to reflect on another year of the elite World Economic Forum. Does it do any good? Davos is mostly…Read more…
TUC launches new guide in 13 languages to combat migrant worker exploitation
Today the TUC is launching the online guide Working in the UK in 13 languages including Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian and Portuguese and Italian to combat the exploitation of migrant workers. This…Read more…
Global pressure forces withdrawal of Thai prison labour plans
Campaigning has paid off again. Last week I blogged about a campaign we’d joined to stop the Thai Government’s plans to force prisoners to work in the notorious Thai fishing industry….Read more…
Union-busting at the heart of this government?
We’ve long been used to the hostility towards trade unions exhibited by some of the more excitable elements on the fringes of the Tory right. From Aiden Burley and the Trade Union Reform Campaign to…Read more…
Unions join condemnations of Thai prison labour plans
The TUC has joined a coalition of 43 union and human rights organisations condemning the regime in Thailand for a planned pilot project recruiting prisoners to fill labour shortages in the…Read more…
TUC Aid Appeal for Gaza
Before last years conflict, TUC Aid had supported a project in Gaza at the Beit Lahia Plant Nursery. The idea behind the initiative was to grow fresh food both to enhance the diet of people in…Read more…
Nous sommes Charlie: Journalists show solidarity in Paris
Visiting the site close to the Charlie Hebdo offices along with NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley, it was impossible not to be instantly moved by the mounting tributes and memorials to…Read more…
Hadi Saleh’s legacy, ten years on
Today is the tenth anniversary of martyrdom of Hadi Saleh, international officer of the Iraqi trade union movement and my close friend. The union centre he represented, now known as the GFITU, is…Read more…
Iraqi unions build protest on jobs, wages and union rights
2015 began with a fresh new wave of industrial action across Iraq (apart from Iraqi Kurdistan) organised by the national trade union centre, the GFITU. The action centred on several demands,…Read more…
Unions condemn the Charlie Hebdo killings
As crowds gathered in cities across France and beyond today, standing in solidarity with those attacked at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, journalists’ unions expressed their shock and…Read more…
Myth-busting or diversion? HSE looking in all the wrong places
There is a new report out on health and safety myths. It is a review of all the cases that have been referred to the Mythbusters Panel which the HSE set up a few years ago to challenge health and…Read more…
Iraqi unions are still demanding better
Despite the impact of the ISIS insurgency, workers across Iraq staged several industrial actions from the end of October, through November and into the first part of December, and returned to the…Read more…
Fast-food workers scent justice in fight with franchises
In a ruling that has given US unions a significant boost, the US National Labor Relations Board has ruled that McDonald’s (and other fast food outlets) are a “joint employer” of workers at its…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: Unions are scoring successes against casualisation
The fall in the numbers of workers covered by agreements negotiated by trade unions is the key reason for the rise in low-paid and casual jobs in the UK. In 2013, 29 per cent of working people in the…Read more…