Trade deals haven’t been so high profile since the 1999 ‘battle for Seattle’, when the World Trade Organisation was met with a wave of anti-globalisation protests. In the US, first the Senate then the House of Representatives have seen pitched battles over ‘Fast Track’…Read more…
Ten countries not to go to, if you’re a trade unionist
Although holiday season is almost upon us, this isn’t really the TUC Holiday Show. Over the last fortnight, trade unionists, employers and governments from all over the world have been in…Read more…
Congress deals blow to trade deals as US wakes up to worker concerns
Just a couple of years ago, US unions attacking trade deals because they cost jobs and lowered wages were accused of bogus economics, protectionism and worse (they still are in some circles.) Now their views are expressed even by centrist Democrats and…Read more…
‘Fast track’ defeated – for now! US unions at forefront of campaign
The legislation President Obama needs so that he can drive through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement being negotiated by the US and twelve Pacific Rim countries is stalled –…Read more…
MEPs urge Congress to allow climate action in trade deals
Today, the US House of Representatives is debating whether to allow President Obama authority to negotiate trade deals for the next 6 years without significant Congressional scrutiny. In what is normally referred to as the ‘fast track’ procedure, the House will be asked to agree a…Read more…
Can an exercise of will effect political change?
Apologies, but it’s been very hot and muggy all day, and I find that makes me less active and more thoughtful. So it was a good time to read this blog by Kemal Dervis, former economics minister…Read more…
On the road to nowhere
George Osborne’s ‘march of the makers’ is stuck on the ‘road to nowhere’ warned Unite, as official figures released earlier this week (June 10) showed a decline in manufacturing with output still 4.4…Read more…
No justice, no peace
Campaigners from the Orgreave Truth and Justice campaign (pictured) called a press conference today (June 12) in response to the announcement by the Independent Police Complaints Commission that it…Read more…
Caring for Carers
This week is Carers Week and 2015 has been the year of the carer for ATL, and whether we are talking about adult carers or young carers, many of the same issues have been brought to the fore. At all…Read more…
Give party members real choice
On the doorstep I argued that this general election was the most important for decades. This wasn’t hyperbole. I genuinely believed it. And the contents of the Queen’s Speech, the taster of cuts to…Read more…
People and services first
Bromley residents are being urged to take a stand against the mass privatisation of their local council services at the People and Services First march on Saturday (June 13), assembling at noon at…Read more…
George’s economic mind-bender
If the Tories were not already planning new laws to prohibit mind bending legal highs then Osborne’s speech to the London banker’s dinner last night would force their hand. It seems as if more…Read more…
From the ground up
Unite members at the Port of Immingham are leading a global charge to drastically increase the power of trade unions. A new “hub” office has been opened at Immingham, the…Read more…
£13bn taxpayer rip-off
By selling off the public stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, George Osborne is short-changing the public and wasting a historic chance to bring needed change to Britain’s banks, warned Unite….Read more…
HSBC: adding insult to injury
The massive jobs cull announced by HSBC on Tuesday (June 9), in which 8,000 posts will be axed over the next two years, is only the latest instance of the bank’s blatant disregard for its most…Read more…
Cameron’s new migration plans: skills gaps & undercutting need to be divorced from fantasy targets
Yesterday David Cameron announced that he had written to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent body which advises the Home Office on migration policy, asking them to look into ways of reducing non-EU migration for work to the UK in the following ways: restricting work visas to…Read more…
Dear Andy Burnham
I have a lot of time for Andy Burnham. He’s from Liverpool, I’m from Liverpool. He supports Everton, so do I. supports Everton, so do I. I feel like I know him. So I was sad and disappointed when I…Read more…
If you mean it, put it in writing: unions to Cameron on NHS & #TTIP
At Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, David Cameron repeated – yet again – his claim that we should trust him that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP – the EU-US trade deal) would have no impact on the NHS. Under fire from Labour Leader Harriet…Read more…
Cameron must come clean about his plans to renegotiate our rights from Europe
When he was asked during Prime Minster’s Questions today about his plans for re-negotiating rights for working people set out originally under the European Social Chapter, David Cameron gave the ominous answer that it would include: “some of the issues under what was called the social…Read more…
Workers are wealth creators too – Give them a fairer deal
Good reputations are hard to build and all too easy to lose. Of course business isn’t the only institution in Britain facing a crisis of trust. But unlike others, business can end up paying a high price in lost profit, productivity and jobs. Unions argue that no one has a greater interest in the…Read more…