New research from the Ministry of Justice shows that more than 8,300 people face losing their home every week in England. Londoners face the highest risk of losing their home because of…Read more…
#TTIP vote postponed: blow to G7 hopes of an early EU-US trade deal
This afternoon, we heard that the votes in the European Parliament due for Wednesday lunchtime on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) had been postponed. Various reasons for the postponement have been given, and there are different explanations of what the postponement means…Read more…
Graduates’ pay still lower than seven years ago
This morning the government released the quarterly Graduate Labour Market Statistics for England, which allow us to look at post-graduate, graduate and non-graduate employment rates and salaries since 2006. You wouldn’t know it from the government’s spin, but graduate pay has been slipping for two…Read more…
Surrey buses: strike action suspended
Over 100 bus workers working for Abellio Surrey have suspended strike action following a breakthrough in talks at the conciliation service Acas, Unite announced today (June 9). The drivers had…Read more…
Update: Vital TTIP vote postponed
UPDATE [09/06, 16:23]: The European Parliament debate and vote has been postponed due to more than 200 amendments being tabled. Campaigners have said this indicates that mounting public pressure…Read more…
G7 starts to address workplace safety
Although most of the publicity around the G7 Summit in Germany has been around the relationship with Russia and the problems in the Middle East, there have been a lot of other discussions taking…Read more…
Paying for others’ mistakes
The announcement by HSBC that up to 8,000 UK jobs are to be cut from the bank by 2017, is the latest example of the workforce being punished for the misconduct of senior and investment bankers says…Read more…
#TTIP: What MEPs will be voting on this Wednesday
This Wednesday, the European Parliament will vote on what message to send to the negotiators of the EU-US trade and investment deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). They won’t (yet) be voting on whether to accept the deal, partly because the vast bulk of it…Read more…
Honour your agreements
Unite confirmed today (June 8) that they will be entering into talks at the conciliation service Acas with bus company Abellio Surrey in a bid to avert strike action in a dispute over terms and…Read more…
Breaking: steel strike on
Steel unions have agreed Monday, June 22, as the date for strike action at Tata Steel in their ongoing dispute over pensions. The strike action will be preceded by action short of strike action…Read more…
‘On the level with asbestos’
Unite has blown the lid off the dangers cabin crew members face being exposed to toxic air – a scandal that’s being compared to asbestos exposure. This morning (June 8) on the Victoria…Read more…
Allowing students to find their passion changes everything
Students at Springwell Learning Community experience a personalised and engaging curriculum that succeeds in both promoting a love of literature and development of empathy and social understanding….Read more…
The Chancellor bemoans Labour’s household debt record, but official figures show the pace of borrowing rising rapidly and debt on his watch likely to hit an all-time high
In the Independent today, James Moore reported Frances O’Grady’s remarks on household debt. These followed the Queen’s Speech economy debate last week, when Tory backbencher Mark Garnier attacked Labour’s record: “Does the Chancellor agree that the £1 trillion rise in household debt…Read more…
Deadline set
Offshore trade unions have set a deadline of Friday, June 19 for employers in the Caterers Offshore Trade Association (COTA) agreement to return to negotiations over a pay deal for 2015/16. …Read more…
#EUReferendum: Business for Britain’s longest blackmail letter in history
The eurosceptic Business for Britain campaign – not to be confused with the pro-European Business for New Europe campaign – this week issued what you might call ‘the longest blackmail letter’ in history to Prime Minister David Cameron. But they have done us a great service…Read more…
Bonn blog #2: UK performance at UN climate talks and the future of just transition
I’ve been at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Bonn this week, where 195 countries are negotiating the international climate treaty that will be debated at COP21 climate talks in Paris in December. This blog describes my initial thoughts on the process, as someone…Read more…
Tata Steel: Members vote
Unite members working for Tata Steel UK Ltd have overwhelmingly voted for industrial action over the company’s plans to close the British Steel pension scheme (BSPS) and make employees work five more…Read more…
The UK rich quiz: How much do you know?
Despite the UK having one of the biggest economies in the world, wealth inequality between the rich and poor is rapidly growing. If you’re part of the 99% not in the UK’s rich club then…Read more…
Tip of the iceberg
The newly elected Tory government has wasted no time in implementing its latest dose of austerity, with chancellor George Osborne putting forward £3bn in spending cuts yesterday (June 4), which are…Read more…
Bonn blog #1: UN hooks Just Transition at #SB42
In Bonn this week, where the UN is labouring through an 86-page draft climate treaty, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has welcomed the return of three clear commitments in the draft text to just transition and decent work. Labour’s three “hooks” re-appeared in the UN draft treaty as…Read more…