All the union news that's fit to blog...
Unite members working in agriculture have backed a call by fire fighters for improved resources to tackle the increasing number of wildfires flaring up across the UK, as the countryside swelters under successive heatwaves. Following two major wildfire incidents this week, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) highlighted the dangers that the funding crisis for the […]
The post Fields of fire appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. Most British consumer products spring from a supply chain that stretches thousands of miles. The chain spans continents and is touched by an untold number of hands. What secrets do our consumer products hold? […]
The post True cost of a cuppa appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. Vast fields, monitored by drones and sensors, with all planting, crop management and harvesting carried out by robotic tractors controlled by AI and a few workers sat behind screens miles from the farm. This […]
The post Rise of robocrops appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. Unite is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with migrant workers who have faced exploitation on British farms. The union joined a number of charities and NGOs at a protest outside the Home Office in London in January […]
The post “We are tired of being abused” appeared first on Unite Live.
Norfolk’s Burston Strike School Rally returns in 2025, and it will be a chance for the crowds to check out the newly refurbished school building. The Strike School was beginning to show its age, and earlier in the year the call out was made to Unite branches, regions and sister unions across the country to […]
The post Strike School welcomes the crowds appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. Working alone is normal in agriculture and forestry. Moving stock, doing maintenance at base or at distance, or operating mobile machinery, the rural worker is often a lone worker. In Landworker Winter 2024, we […]
The post Take care when working alone appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. The timing couldn’t be more telling. Just days after Labour suffered in local elections against Reform UK – Nigel Farage’s party that campaigned heavily on an anti-immigration platform – the plan was announced. Billed […]
The post Invisible and Unwelcome appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite has launched a new campaign this week highlighting the issues workers face regarding musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), and calling on the Government and employers to play their part in keeping workers safe from the life changing effects that MSD can have. Unite’s campaign is calling for: Unite National Health and Safety AdvisorLuke Collins said, “Musculoskeletal […]
The post Fight for your health! appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. “Every moment is an organising opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world,” said renowned trade union activist, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) […]
The post Rural Organising appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite members came in their droves to the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival last month, with Unite’s presence at the festival bigger than ever before. Unite’s stand included inspiring talks presented by both the South West region and Landworker magazine, as well as the premiere of a play on the little-known story of the Ascott Martyrs. Last […]
The post Unite at Tolpuddle appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite members and supporters came out in their droves yesterday (3 August) in a public demonstration of solidarity outside the Village Hotel in Glasgow. The Village Hotel is one of the city’s major hotels, and has been rocked by all-out strike action that started this weekend following Unite members returning an overwhelming mandate for industrial […]
The post Historic hospitality strike appeared first on Unite Live.
The Calton Weavers Commemorative Committee are returning to the Calton Burial Ground for the 2025 event to mark the murder of weavers fighting against cuts to their pay. Unite Community member Jim Lister is part of the organising committee. Jim said, “This is our 3rd year, and it has been building up a bit of […]
The post Unite remembers Calton Weavers appeared first on Unite Live.
For years disabled people have faced cuts to support and cuts to the income we need to live in dignity. The savagery of austerity hollowed out public services and resulted in hundreds, if not thousands of untimely deaths, and for many disabled people the decision to pass the assisted suicide bill has only added to […]
The post Fighting disability cuts appeared first on Unite Live.
Delegates at last week’s Food, Drink and Agriculture sector NISC in Dorchester supported the call for a “Heat Strike” campaign to protect workers from increasing extreme temperatures. Unite food worker, Monique Mosley, updated the group on the increasing movement to introduce a maximum working temperature in the UK, something Unite has been calling for some […]
The post FDA supports Heat Strike call appeared first on Unite Live.
Festival goers flocked to the Unite Marquee at this year’s Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival for a packed line up of debates, music, theatre as well as a chance to talk to members of the Unite South West team and pick up the latest resources to help them organise at work. The Unite Marquee was in full […]
The post Remembering the Martyrs appeared first on Unite Live.
Brothers, sisters, comrades It’s an honour to stand here at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Rally amongst trade union activists and working class people who know that history doesn’t just live in the past, it lives in our struggles today. We are here to remember those six brave men who stood against injustice in 1834, and to […]
The post “Whose side are you on?” appeared first on Unite Live.
A blistering heatwave couldn’t stop Unite members joining trade unionists and their supporters from across the UK and the world at the Durham Miners’ Gala Big Meeting last Saturday (January 12). Unite members came out in droves to take part in the procession, hear from speakers including Unite general secretary Sharon Graham and visit stalls […]
The post The Big Meeting – in photos appeared first on Unite Live.
Many Unite members were part of a mighty crowd of well over 150,000 on Saturday (July 13) as the Durham Miners’ Gala ‘Big Meeting’ retained its place as the largest annual labour movement gathering in the country. Platform speakers included for the second time Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, whose descendants include her great uncle […]
The post ‘Unity is strength’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham closed conference saying, “Listening to you has been inspirational. Our conference, our ‘parliament’ has been in full song this week. She said that were some issues that had not been easy – like the accounts – but “I promised you transparency and I will get our money back.” Concluding she […]
The post ‘The flame flickers anew’ appeared first on Unite Live.
The 2025 Unite Policy Conference was an amazing week, packed full of powerful debates and motions submitted, fantastic fringe events and chance for comrades from Unite’s many sectors to catch up with each up other and discuss who the union had been supporting them at work. The conference showed the strength of solidarity amongst the […]
The post An amazing week appeared first on Unite Live.