All the union news that's fit to blog...
Set up in 1941, the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief as it was originally known is now a global anti-poverty movement. Over 81 years later it has shops and offices throughout the UK, with a dedicated staff committed to relieving poverty. Unfortunately many of these workers are also low paid themselves.
The post Oxfam staff strike appeared first on Unite Live.
As the TUC meets to plan its response tomorrow (December 8) my message is clear: don’t back down, strikes are a vital part of how we improve pay and conditions.
The post ‘Don’t back down’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Although news just in may be whispering of a wafer-thin helping of food inflation slowdown – for most of us in the real world your tasty turkey dinner is still going to be a bit of a Scrooge-like stretch.
Yesterday (December 5), news agency Reuters reported that food inflation was down slightly, slowing to 9.1 per cent in November according to Kantar; that the cost of the Christmas dinner up was up 1.3 per cent year-on-year; and that Sainsbury’s has the largest market share gain in over a decade.
The post Food down a snip, but profits still up appeared first on Unite Live.
After a long dispute involving lengthy industrial action it was cheers all round for Unite Go North East bus members when the union secured a significant pay award on December 1.
Unite secured an 11.2 per cent pay increase for drivers, engineers and administrators at Go North East. Members were balloted on the deal and accepted the offer.
The post Unite secures major pay win appeared first on Unite Live.
A quiet November Saturday afternoon in Sheffield. The steel-grey sky hangs heavy over the Sheffield United FC club house on Bramall Lane, home to the famed local team, the ‘Blades’.
A line forms outside the building. Men, women, children, jostle for position. The crowd is excited, the mood is good. Nothing unusual here you may think. But the Blades aren’t playing at home today. The crowd has not come for football. So why are they here?
The post Connecting communities through steel appeared first on Unite Live.
Calling it an ‘abject failure for workers’, a ‘missed golden opportunity to tackle the issues threatening jobs and livelihoods,’ and ‘leaving consumers at the sharp end of the economy’, you could tell that Unite was left far from impressed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, delivered this afternoon (November 22).
The post ‘Failure for workers’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite members in Deeside, North Wales, employed by DE&S DECA, formerly known as the Defence Electronics and Components Agency, are currently out on strike in a dispute over pay.
Following over a decade of extremely low pay increases, workers voted overwhelmingly to support strike action and began a series of 24 hour strikes in October 2023.
The post ‘It shouldn’t be like this’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite steel reps met in Port Talbot on Friday (November 17) and unanimously agreed a Workers’ Plan for Steel for all steel plants including Port Talbot. Commenting on the meeting, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that Unite’s plan “is about growth in steel jobs that will transform the UK into the global green steel […]
The post Plan to save UK steel appeared first on Unite Live.
The United Nations World Toilet Day has been observed annually since 2013 and is held on November 19th. The day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 3.6 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation.
The post ‘A basic human right’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Port Talbot sports teams and steel workers rallied at the beachfront on Saturday (November 11) to demand political action to save the industry. The rally comes as a petition calling on politicians to sign up to Unite’s Workers’ Plan for Steel reached over 21,000 signatures. Local sports teams in attendance will included Afan Lido FC, […]
The post ‘Bringing people together’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham on Friday (November 10) stood shoulder to shoulder with striking Go North East members who are fighting for fair pay. They are now in their second week of all-out continuous strike action. You can watch Sharon Graham’s speech on the picket line in the video below – and you can […]
The post ‘We will win’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite members working for Go North East are poised to enter their second week of all-out continuous strike action. On Friday (November 10) Unite staged a rally, attended by Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, which drew bus workers, community groups and members of the public who are united in support for the striking workers. The […]
The post Go North East strike continues appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite’s Workers’ Plan for Steel campaign has lit a fire in people from all walks of life — and all ages. Last week, the campaign held a day of action in the UK’s major steel towns including Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Sheffield. The campaign has only just begun but it’s already making major waves. And […]
The post ‘Future-proofing for the next generation’ appeared first on Unite Live.
A plan for steel, binding employment rights and an end to energy rip-offs should form the centrepiece of next week’s King’s Speech, Unite has said. The call comes as ministers finalise their plans – that will be laid out on Tuesday 7 November – for what will be the final legislative programme before the next […]
The post A King’s Speech for the people appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite campaigners held a day of action this week on Thursday (November 2) in the UK’s major steel towns to raise public support for Unite’s plan to save the steel industry. The actions, held in Sheffield, Port Talbot, and Scunthorpe drew scores of people from their local communities. They sent a unified message to the […]
The post ‘Step up to the plate’ on steel appeared first on Unite Live.
Every day over the Christmas period, UniteLive is running a different story from our top stories of 2023. Today, we look back at how Unite achieved a landmark national recognition agreement with housing and social care provider Mears. — Unite signed a landmark national recognition agreement on Tuesday (October 31) with housing and social care […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – Landmark agreement appeared first on Unite Live.
Every day over the Christmas period, UniteLive is running a different story from our top stories of 2023. Today, we look back at Unite celebrating its first-ever National Black History Month awards gala in October. — Unite celebrated its first-ever National Black History Month awards gala in Birmingham last week – and what a celebration it […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – Equalities ‘part of the fabric of our union’ appeared first on Unite Live.
The following article is a follow-up story to a Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) feature we re-published yesterday, which you can view here. The head of the independent watchdog for immigration has criticised the Home Office for failing to publish a promised review of the UK’s seasonal worker scheme. David Neal, the government-appointed independent chief […]
The post ‘Bizarre and deeply disappointing’ appeared first on Unite Live.
More than 1,300 Unite members working for bus company Go North East will embark on all-out continuous strike action from Saturday (October 28) in a determined fight for fair pay and conditions. Their latest brave stand follows two weeks of strike action that ended last week (October 20) and a resounding rejection of a new […]
The post ‘Pushed to the brink’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite hosted its first ever Black History Month awards gala on Tuesday (October 24) in Birmingham. The event drew more than a hundred of Unite’s BAEM reps and activists and paid tribute to their vital contributions to the trade union movement. Addressing guests in her speech, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “What’s taken us […]
The post Black History Month awards gala appeared first on Unite Live.