Fifty years ago today at 9:15am a massive spoil tip slid down the mountain behind Pantglas Junior School, engulfing it completely. 116 children and 28 adults were killed. It’s difficult to find words…Read more…
For Generation Y, trade unions will need to be a springboard not a safety net
Unions exist to represent everyone at work. But the people who are currently engaging with the union movement are aging and not being replaced by a younger cohort. Just 9.3% of low and middle earning…Read more…
We are stronger together: Union reps connecting by app
One of the things I liked most about going on trade union education courses was meeting union representatives from different unions and different workplaces. Even when I did the online TUC diploma…Read more…
Southern Rail – it’s about time you listened to your passengers
Meet Chris Hogg, a 36 year old lyricist from Sutton in Surrey. Every week Chris travels by Southern Rail, taking the train from Sutton to Ashtead to attend his music class. Chris is a wheel chair…Read more…
Is Southern Rail putting savings before safety?
Last week Southern Rail’s attempts to blame its shambolic running of the franchise on its staff and the RMT monumentally backfired – with passengers taking to Twitter to tell Southern what they…Read more…
Good mental health in the workplace
One on four people will experience some form of mental distress in their lifetimes. Workplace stress is cited as the number one cause. Lack of job security, continued cuts to public services and the…Read more…
Cable Street 80: Remembering their actions, living their values
It’s 80 years this week since the Battle of Cable Street, when working-class neighbourhoods united to drive Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists out of the East End. The blackshirts’ planned…Read more…
#WDDW16: unions calling for decent work around the world
Now in its 9th year, World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) is a day set aside by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for trade unionists and others to reiterate our call not just for jobs…Read more…
#SouthernBackOnTrack – Safety spun in numbers
Southern Rail – having seemed to have learnt nothing from their disastrous social media campaign yesterday with #southernbackontrack – have come back for more of a metaphorical kicking….Read more…
Andy Hall’s conviction in Thailand a blow to free speech & workers’ rights
On Monday 20 September, British-born migrant and labour rights activist Andy Hall was found guilty on charges of criminal defamation by a court in Bangkok, Thailand, and sentenced to a three year…Read more…
Cambodian unions still not satisfied with minimum wage increase
Cambodian unions have reacted with anger to the Government’s decision to fix next year’s minimum wage for garment workers at $153 a month, way below the $171 pcm that unions had demanded,…Read more…
Who provides your occupational health?
A recent TUC survey showed that 92% of workplaces with union health and safety representatives have some form of occupational health provision. This is well above the national average, where it is…Read more…
Sad news from Mogadishu, but Somalian unions will survive
Yesterday we received the awful news that another Somalian trade unionist had been murdered. Our colleagues in Mogadishu, from the ITUC-affiliated FESTU, reported that Brother Abdiasis Mohamed Ali, a…Read more…
Bangladesh factory fire kills 34 as government fails to protect workers’ rights
This latest disaster in Bangladesh exposes poor governance and the desperate need for union involvement in keeping workers safe. The death of 34 workers at a Bangladesh factory last week, the…Read more…
Trade deals still on the Brussels agenda – we say no!
Despite the Prime Minister’s mantra that “Brexit means Brexit”, the UK is still engaged in negotiating so-called trade deals as part of the EU, so yesterday, the TUC sent a small…Read more…
Union health and safety representatives rock!
Every two years the TUC asks trade union health and safety representatives about the issues that affect them, and the results are always really interesting. The 2016 survey results have just been…Read more…
How the Grunwick strikers changed the face of British trade unionism
The striking women at the Grunwick factory reminded me potently that trade unionists, and trade union leaders, come from all walks of life. As a south Asian women trade unionist myself, the story of…Read more…
Building a movement of young workers
The buzzword during Congress this year is young workers: where they work, what they need, and how unions can help them. What we do know is that young workers –those aged under 30 and usually outside…Read more…
Ghana TUC: building workers’ power for decent work & national development
As delegates head to Brighton for the TUC’s 148th Congress, we’ve received a fascinating report from the Ghana TUC Congress held last month, which we wanted to share. Thanks to Justice Baako Ntarmah,…Read more…
HSE: What social partnership means to the Tories
On Friday the Government announced a number of new appointments to the board of the Health and Safety Executive. The DWP did not indicate who they were representing when they made the announcement…Read more…