The gig economy has more than doubled during the last three years, according to a new report that exposes Britain’s growing reliance on insecure work. Unite has led calls for reform to prevent…Read more…
Manchester bus travel ‘renaissance’?
Plans by Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham to take back control of the conurbation’s bus services could herald a renaissance in bus travel, Unite said today (June 28). Unite said that…Read more…
‘First shot across the bows’
Workers at Derby’s Reckitt Benckiser plant will start a continuous overtime ban and work to rule from Thursday 11 July in the dispute about workers being asked to work for up to an extra four weeks…Read more…
‘Unprecedented’ health visitor strike action
Health visitors employed by Lincolnshire county council will strike initially for six days over not getting paid the rate for the job and the erosion of their professional responsibilities which…Read more…
Bus drivers ‘exhausted’ by long hours
Unite has demanded that Transport for London (TfL) take action on bus driver fatigue on the eve of the publication of a damning new report on the issue. The new report follows a previous one,…Read more…
‘Profoundly disturbing’
A new survey of housing association workers has revealed an epidemic of work-related stress among staff who feel burned out, undervalued and poorly paid. The survey commissioned by Unite of…Read more…
‘Catastrophic’ no-deal Brexit
A failure to take a no-deal Brexit off the table will destroy jobs and snuff out the hope of securing the long-term future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant, Unite warned today (June 27). The…Read more…
Fringe benefits
Away from the conference floor, delegates to Unite’s third rules conference had a busy time on the fringe meeting circuit. From untold stories of trade unionists and working class history, and…Read more…
‘Sea of uncertainty’
Tory leadership contenders must take a no deal Brexit off the table Unite has warned, after car manufacturing figures fell for the twelfth month in a row. The union called on leadership…Read more…
Unity over division
Unite members gathered discuss how to tackle the far-right and racism at the union’s rules conference in Brighton this week. At the Unity Over Division fringe, delegates discussed the union’s…Read more…
Bromley library dispute escalates
Unite has called for a London-wide boycott by the public of leisure centres run by social enterprise leisure services’ giant Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL). Unite said the boycott call of…Read more…
Halt First Bus sell-off call
The new chairman of FirstGroup should pledge to halt the sell-off of its bus operations in the UK, Unite said today (June 26). Unite’s intervention came after FirstGroup chairman Wolfhart…Read more…
‘The doctor won’t see you’ – as rural surgeries close
The picturesque Cornish fishing village of Mevagissey was up against a problem faced by many rural and coastal areas – it desperately needed a GP. When their local family doctor Dr Katherine…Read more…
‘Challenging times – nothing will divide us’
I will take the opportunity of having our key activists from across the union, here in one place, to make a couple of points. The first is that we are facing challenging times. Brexit is one…Read more…
Legal assistance ‘lifeline’
A former Unite member has praised the union for offering a “lifeline” of vital legal assistance after he was made ill from being exposed to diesel fumes at work. The assistance was part of…Read more…
‘Short-sighted’
The announcement of 170 job losses at De La Rue’s plant in Gateshead today (June 25) is being blamed on last year’s decision by the government to give the post-Brexit passport printing contract to a…Read more…
‘End of an era’
Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire was dealt a “crushing blow” after it was announced that the Kerry Foods factory would be shutting down with the loss of 900 jobs. Kerry Foods, which is the…Read more…
‘A powerful voice’
The National Union of British Sign Language Interpreters (NUBSLI) celebrates its fifth anniversary today (June 25) amid renewed warnings that government cost cutting and the unethical behaviour of…Read more…
End ‘free labour’ call
Unite has called for an end to a loophole that enables employers, mostly in hospitality, to exploit mainly young people on unpaid trial shifts. Media outlets highlighted the issue at the…Read more…
‘People feel insecure’
Social justice will do more to improve people’s mental health than medication and therapy, the UN’s chief health envoy has said. Dr Dainius Pūras, the UN’s special rapporteur on health, spoke…Read more…