‘The Battle Of Grangemouth – A Workers Story’ by Mark Lyon This book tells the story of the industrial dispute at Grangemouth in 2013, when the owner threatened to close a large…Read more…
20 years of defending the safety critical role of the guard
The current struggle in defence of the safety critical role of the guard is not a new one. The threat to eradicate this role began in 1997. Although the media has presented the issue as one of who will open the train doors, it is about who controls the train. In the event of a […]Read more…
£33.6bn of unpaid overtime: Free work is costing us a lot
5.3 million employees worked a grand total of 2.1 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year, putting in an average of 7.7 extra hours each week. If they had been paid for all their free work, on average they would have each received an extra £6,301. Try out the TUC’s unpaid overtime calculator…Read more…
Stop bank closure call
The 72 per cent taxpayer-owned bank RBS – which benefited from a £45bn bailout after the financial crisis – today (February 24) reported its ninth consecutive year of losses, as it struggles to pay…Read more…
Further BA strikes
Members of Unite working as cabin crew for British Airways mixed fleet announced a further round of seven days of strikes today (February 24) in their ongoing pay dispute, taking the total number of…Read more…
‘Give hope for the future’
Unite says it is disappointed that the Scottish Government has failed to agree to invest in offshore infrastructure. The union was reacting following a Members Debate today (February 23)…Read more…
‘Hidden cuts’ agenda
Argos’ plans to transfer nearly 500 workers from its Lutterworth distribution hub in Leicestershire to Kettering, Northamptonshire are widening out to become a countrywide dispute. Unite is…Read more…
Sanctioned to sleeping rough
The government’s despised benefit sanctions regime has pushed people into sleeping rough, a scathing report by MPs has concluded. The cruel measures that punish claimants for missing or being…Read more…
A people’s Brexit
The government has “wrapped Brexit up in fake patriotic posturing” and must not be allowed to turn Britain into “bargain basement tax haven”, Jeremy Corbyn said today. Speaking at the Road to…Read more…
‘Relatively positive’ meeting
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey met with Peugeot boss Carlos Tavares this morning (February 24) to press the case for maintaining the two Vauxhall plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton and the…Read more…
Working people need robust opposition to the drive for hard Brexit
I’ve been speaking at the Party of European Socialists’ Road To Brexit conference today. PES is the European political grouping that includes the UK’s Labour Party and their counterparts from around Europe. This has been a particularly important event as Brexit will be a process with real dangers…Read more…
Ordinary people need a Labour government, says UNISON
Commenting on the results of the Copeland and Stoke by-elections, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “No-one objective could argue last night’s by-election results were good for Labour….Read more…
Blog: Let Copeland be our final warning
While there are many ways in which we can change society and our communities for the better, the only way to make lasting change is to win elections, and seize power for working people. That is, and…Read more…
Wage exploitation
Umbrella companies are a curse and in recent years they have spread from construction to many other sectors including logistics, warehousing, supply teaching and pharmaceuticals. Workers…Read more…
Hardship funds & Social care crisis: Proposed amendments to Newham Council Budget 2017/18
This is my proposed amendment to the budget which the Newham Council meeting on Monday 27 February 2017 should consider. See my previous post on this issue.
What I am hoping to do is persuade (there is a free vote) my fellow Labour Councill…Read more…
An Evening of Palestine Solidarity – Wanstead Tap E7 Tuesday 21st March
This looks interesting and just around the corner from where I live but clashes with my UNISON branch AGM.
“Join us for an evening of solidarity with Palestine.
Guest speakers: Hamed Qawasmeh, of the Hebron International Resources Network and Leanne …Read more…
Blog: Standing against hate in all its forms
At a time when our values are under fire, we must take every opportunity to oppose peddlers of bigotry, and attacks on the powerful diversity of our country – and UNISON will take a leading role in…Read more…
‘Speedy changes’ concerns
Worries over Vauxhall’s future were heightened today (February 23) after it emerged that Carlos Tavares, chief executive of French carmaker PSA Group which owns Peugeot, said he was hoping to…Read more…
Welcome committment
Unite Scotland has welcomed a commitment by the First Minister to look at bringing fair pay to the union’s members at Marine Scotland. Highland and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant raised the…Read more…
Bottom of the table
Poorer families in the UK are much less likely to own their home than their counterparts abroad, new research that highlights Britain’s chronic housing crisis shows. According to Organisation…Read more…