Central to supporting the UK steel industry – which has seen more than 5,000 job losses since this summer – is a public procurement strategy. Simply put, if it’s made in Britain, it should be…Read more…
‘Cautious welcome’
Unite has called for urgent talks with the new owners of a boat firm to discuss implications for its members who work there. Fairline Boats, a luxury boat builder in Northampton has been taken…Read more…
Northern poorhouse
Last summer, chancellor George Osborne pledged that his government would create a “higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare” country; that the vaunted ‘Northern Powerhouse’ would, over the next few…Read more…
Tory mission impossible
Owning your own home is for many people their biggest aspiration. So why is the Tory party, who claim to be the party of aspiration, making it impossible for most people to ever realise this dream?…Read more…
Wake-up call
Crane operators at the UK’s largest mobile crane hire firm, Ainscough, have delivered a wake-up call to management, after voting overwhelmingly for strike action in a pay dispute. Unite is…Read more…
Closer to justice
A High Court judge on Friday (January 22) ordered 30 construction firms including Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd and Balfour Beatty to disclose all emails and correspondence relating to blacklisting after…Read more…
The ties that bind
Rupert Murdoch’s plan to set up a new non-union printing works in Wapping was well over a year in the making. It involved Farrers, the Queen’s solicitors and strike busting advice from…Read more…
‘Affront to democracy’
The Tory trade union Bill will not only tie unions up in red tape, threaten fines and open them up to detailed investigations. It’ll cost £7m a year for the first five years according to the…Read more…
Uniting to save jobs
Unite today announced (Friday January 22) it is joining forces with European counterparts in a bid to save former Alstom workers from redundancy – in the wake of the recent General Electric (GE)…Read more…
‘National scandal’
As it couldn’t get any worse for beleaguered steelworkers, today’s (January 22) Mirror front page reports that the government could be considering building new Royal Navy warships with cheap imported…Read more…
Act of sheer brutality
Thirty years ago this Sunday (January 24) Rupert Murdoch made his move to Wapping – sacking 5,500 print workers employed on his newspapers overnight. It was an act of sheer brutality…Read more…
Steel: job losses make grim news
The UK steel industry workforce faced one of its worst blows yesterday (January 18) as steel giant Tata announced the loss of just over 1,000 jobs, the majority of which will be axed at the…Read more…
Don’t hold our jobs to ‘ransom’
Ballymena, Co Antrim and Hollywood. Worlds apart you might think. But such is the threat to jobs and the community that Ballymena-born award winning actor Liam Neeson has joined with Unite to fight…Read more…
A workforce dehumanised
When the SSI steel works in Redcar closed in October the 2,200 skilled workers that lost their jobs knew things were going to be tough. Redcar, Middlesborough and all of the surrounding towns…Read more…
‘Step aside’ call
The Post Office is to transfer another 39 Crown Offices to private companies like WH Smith and to close a further three branches. Branches in Shaftesbury Square in Belfast, Antrim in Northern…Read more…
‘Right that wrong’ now plea
Sheffield has been known as the ‘City of Steel’ since the 19th century when innovations like crucible and stainless steels were developed there. Today Sheffield Forgemasters is one of the last…Read more…
Ministers: act to save our steel plea
The UK government’s failure to act swiftly and decisively to support the British industry is leaving it on the verge of wipe out. Tata Steel’s latest announcement to axe a further 1,050 jobs takes…Read more…
Intolerable pressure
A new survey shows that GPs are under ever increasing pressure as patients report waiting more than a week for appointments. Last year patients waited over a week to see their GP on more than…Read more…
Speaking out for Scotland
Unite Scotland held its first ever policy conference last weekend (January 16/17) as the union deepens its commitment to its members and their communities to provide distinctive solutions for their…Read more…
Bellies full of hope
Salisbury isn’t necessarily a community you’d think is plagued by homelessness but that’s because it’s often invisible. Look beyond the town’s picturesque veneer and you’ll find many people down on…Read more…