All the union news that's fit to blog...
Around 360 bus drivers employed by First Manchester are balloting for strike action over pay, Unite said on Thursday (June 6). Drivers at First Manchester earn less than other bus companies in the area. First Manchester drivers earn £13.50 an hour, while Go North West pays £14.37, Diamond Bus £14.30 and Stagecoach £14. The difference […]
The post Manchester braced for bus chaos appeared first on Unite Live.
Commenting on Labour’s energy plan, which includes proposals to halt new oil and gas production in the North Sea, Unite general Secretary Sharon Graham said, “Grabbing the headlines is easy, developing a serious plan for more renewable energy is not. “When Keir Starmer decided to let the world know that he would halt new oil […]
The post Unite will not accept ‘jam tomorrow’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Over the next five years Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) is expected to make dividend payments worth £1.5 billion to its shareholders. The prediction on HAL’s bumper dividends is made by the Civil Aviation Authority in a highly authoritative report into the airport’s finances. The revelations about the forthcoming dividend bonanza coincides with the latest strike […]
The post Heathrow security officers’ strike resumes appeared first on Unite Live.
More than 250 workers at the City of London Corporation, the local authority for London’s Square Mile financial centre, are to strike over pay, Unite said on Monday (May 22). The City of London Corporation has imposed a lump sum pay increase for 2022/23 that is on average worth around 5 per cent. With the […]
The post City of London Corporation workers to strike appeared first on Unite Live.
Taking public control of the UK’s energy network could reduce bills, reduce inflation, and pay for itself in a few years, reveals new research by Unite. Unite Investigates “Renationalising Energy – costs and savings considers how a publicly run energy network could use the massive profits of Britain’s energy giants to reduce household bills and […]
The post Public ownership would end ‘energy profiteering scandal’ appeared first on Unite Live.
The city of Liverpool may have made upwards of £40m from hosting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, with UK and overseas visitors spending millions in hotels, pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues. It’s an economic boon that any city should be proud of – but just how much of those untold millions have landed in […]
The post ‘Liverpool’s potential is huge’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite has accused Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) airport of cynically attempting to suppress pay for its lowest paid workers. HAL, which is a living wage employer, is seeking to finally pay the London Living Wage (LLW) foundation increase (which came into effect in January) to its lowest paid staff, increasing pay to £11.95 an hour. […]
The post Heathrow ‘cynically suppressing pay’ for lowest earners appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite has joined forces with the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) and the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum (SPF) to launch a campaign to demand that the government rules out any further increases to the state pension age. In the first of many demonstrations, Unite, NPC and SPF activists mobilised outside Parliament alongside Labour MPs on Tuesday (May […]
The post 68 is too late! appeared first on Unite Live.
Striking health workers were joined by hundreds of protestors at a May Day NHS demo in London outside St Thomas’ Hospital on Monday (May 1) to collectively demand a decent pay rise for NHS staff. Unite members employed by Guys and St Thomas’ Trust and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who had begun a first […]
The post ‘We refuse to accept poor pay’ 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 general secretary Sharon Graham’s inspiring May Day message. – May 1st is an important date for trade unions. For us it marks International Workers Day. It is time to reflect on […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – ‘Change starts in the workplace’ appeared first on Unite Live.
After roundly rejecting the government’s pay offer, Unite members at Guys and St Thomas’ Trust in South London, and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust, will strike on Monday (May 1). Meanwhile, Unite members at South Central, South East Coast and West Midlands ambulance trusts alongside workers at Christies NHS Foundation Trust, Christies Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire […]
The post NHS strikes resume 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 our International Workers’ Memorial Day story, where we highlight the issue of suicide in construction and how Unite is making a big difference. — The construction sector has made significant strides in […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – ‘This can’t continue’ appeared first on Unite Live.
In 2021 the Court of Appeal overturned the 1970’s criminal convictions of 24 trade unionists — half a century after those convictions were first handed down. Unite retired member Terry Renshaw tells UniteLive how the Shrewsbury 24 campaign won their 47-year fight for justice. On the 6th September 1972, pickets from North Wales travelled around […]
The post ‘It was a victory for the trade union movement’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite has blasted restaurant chain Fridays for scrapping free meals for low paid staff working 10-hour shifts, often late at night. Fridays claims the move is to “provide more equitable benefits to everyone in our teams”, however Unite accused the profitable company of trying to squeeze already hard-pressed staff for extra cash. UK-based Hostmore group […]
The post Thank God it’s Friday? 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 a comment piece from Claire Peden, Unite organiser and team leader of Unite for a Workers’ Economy about their Feed the Weans campaign wins. — In September last year, hundreds of trade unionists […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – ‘From the ground up’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Hundreds of workers employed by pharmaceutical giant GSK will stage a series of walkouts throughout May in a dispute over pay. The 750 workers who are members of Unite voted for strike action having rejected the company’s significantly below inflation rate pay offer of a six per cent pay increase and a one off lump […]
The post GSK workers to strike appeared first on Unite Live.
Inflation continues to stay at record highs, according to the latest figures, driven mainly by ongoing hikes in the price of food. The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation fell marginally from 10.4 per cent in February to 10.1 per cent in March – a smaller drop than analysts expected, with some having predicted […]
The post ‘No end in sight’ to cost of living crisis appeared first on Unite Live.
The real value of workers’ pay keeps on nosediving, with the latest figures showing the fastest fall in real wages since 2009 as inflation continues to outpace wage rises. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Tuesday (April 18) showed that yearly growth in average pay stayed at 6.6 per […]
The post Real terms pay continues to plummet appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite’s consultative ballot in England on the government’s NHS offer ends on 28th April. So far the known results show that members in a large number of NHS trusts are voting to reject the offer. Union representatives in those trusts with a live strike mandate will now be issuing strike notices. This was agreed at […]
The post ‘New wave of NHS strike action’ appeared first on Unite Live.
“I could open a farm there,” Vadim Sardov, 24, joked about the inside of his caravan window, where it was so mouldy that plants started to sprout. Sardov came to the UK from Kazakhstan last September on a British government visa scheme for farm workers. He worked at a packhouse in Essex for UK Salads, […]
The post ‘It’s almost the same as living on the street’ appeared first on Unite Live.