When people think about poverty pay and zero-hours contracts, universities and colleges aren’t usually the first workplaces that spring to mind. So it may come as a surprise to learn that 46% of…Read more…
Spreading positive messages on migration on International Migrants Day
Thursday 18 December is International Migrants Day, so it is appropriate that I inform you of the latest TUC project on migration. The TUC’s Migration Messaging Campaign began earlier this year to…Read more…
Overseas aid bill clears Commons – now heads for Lords
Michael Moore MP’s private members’ bill – aiming to bind future UK governments to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on official development assistance (overseas aid) cleared the…Read more…
Glencore: unions protest at mining multinational’s misdemeanours
This week Unite will be joined by representatives of the United Steelworkers from the USA who have been locked out by their company Sherwin Alumina, in Gregory, Texas. Their company is owned by…Read more…
The world needs a pay rise: Oxfam recognises the union role
Oxfam has today issued a guide for businesses on implementing living wages throughout their global supply chains, and it puts collective bargaining and trade unions centre stage. The paper is full of…Read more…
Rejuvenating effects: How CWU made the most of Young Workers’ Month
TUC Young Workers’ Month (November 2014) helped raise the already-high profile of youth activity within the CWU. People all around the union responded actively to the encouragement they were…Read more…
Modern Slavery Bill: take action on Monday
The TUC is working with a range of corporate accountability and anti-slavery campaign groups and NGOs, including the Ethical Trading Initiative, to strengthen the Modern Slavery Bill, which is now…Read more…
Unions hail good news on marriage equality in the Channel Islands
Last week, the chief minister in the island of Jersey reported that legislation for same sex marriage would be introduced shortly in the States of Jersey with a view to it being brought into effect…Read more…
Catch-22, Cuban style
Tonight (Wednesday 3 December), the traditional annual Vigil for the Cuban Five will take place outside the US Embassy in London. The gathering, now in its 8th year, calls on the US to honour calls…Read more…
Safety inspections are a requirement, not an option says ILO.
The International Labour Organisation, which sets international regulations on a range of employment and health and safety issues has just considered a case that could have ramifications for the…Read more…
Child Slavery: Tell the UN to act
Last week, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the adoption of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),the Global March Against Child Labour along with International Trade…Read more…
The invisible role of trade unions in the fight against slavery
On Saturday the Home Office released a new strategy for combating modern slavery or forced labour in Britain and abroad. We’re still digesting it, because, surprisingly, we weren’t…Read more…
Swaziland’s Marikana in the making?
Striking Swazi miners have retreated to a nearby hill in protest at the way they are being treated by their employer and the Swazi police, in a worrying echo of what happened ahead of the infamous…Read more…
Striking workers in Qatar find labour laws finally working – against them
If you ever needed proof of Qatar’s one-sided refereeing, this is it The reason “Play by the Rules” is one of our ‘Playfair Qatar’ campaign demands is that Qatar could make life better for its 1.5m…Read more…
Business minister takes gloves off in fight against Brussels
This morning I saw a very strange story in the Daily Mail. It claims that Matthew Hancock, the Business Minister has vowed to block a proposal that would mean the price of rubber gloves would soar…Read more…
Breaking the law? Today’s peaceful #NHSstrike pickets could be illegal by next year
NHS workers are taking strike action across the country today, in protest at six years of pay freezes and the growing funding crisis in the health services they work to sustain. Peaceful pickets are…Read more…