I am a trade unionist, lesbian and Christian. For me the recent ruling on the Asher’s bakery had a particular resonance. The vote on same sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland was a sea change in…Read more…
Release them now
Unite strongly condemned Tuesday evening’s (October 25) detention of the co-mayors of Diyarbakir Ms Gültan Kışanak and Mr Fırat Anlı and the subsequent police attacks on civilians who were protesting…Read more…
Equal pay fight
The gender pay gap has remained stubbornly high, as new figures released this week show that it stands nationally at 9.4 per cent, just barely below last year’s 9.6 per cent. At one company,…Read more…
STPs: ‘Slash, Trash and Privatise’
Struggling NHS patient services are under threat from stealth reforms that could see more closures and relocations of local hospitals and A&E departments, local councils have revealed. The…Read more…
A call to arms
For too many young working people today trade unions, and the principle of collective bargaining that underpins the movement, seem like a relic of a distant past – despite unionised workplaces…Read more…
Fast flight
Having backed a third runway at Heathrow the government is now being urged by Unite to ‘fast forward’ on the project to boost the economy and secure decent jobs. Expressing disappointment that…Read more…
Positive talks result
Unite reps at Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) are pleased to be engaging in positive talks with management a year after the union was re-recognised following strike action over a 22-month period….Read more…
Hiding behind ‘self-employed’ shield
Exploitative companies that use large numbers of agency or self-employed staff to avoid employment protections and taxes will be targeted by a new HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) unit. The…Read more…
A ‘People’s Brexit’ pledge
The shadow chancellor John McDonnell has unveiled plans for “a people’s Brexit” putting jobs and industry at the heart of the country’s future. In a major speech at the Institution of…Read more…
Fujitsu fight
Up to 300 workers at IT giant Fujitsu in Manchester will be staging three days of strike action starting next week in a dispute over pay, pensions and job security. The members of Unite claim…Read more…
End the uncertainty
In our final series installment we hear from Trish Ford, senior rep, Toyota vice-chair The automotive industry supports more than 800,000 jobs across UK, from WrightBus in Ballymena to Honda…Read more…
World class workforce
Nissan’s decision to build the new Qashqai and X-Trail in Sunderland is testament to the skills and expertise of a world class workforce according to Unite. The union described the move which…Read more…
Q3 GDP growth survives the referendum vote, but points to one reason for the outcome
In the wake of the Brexit vote, 2016Q3 quarterly GDP growth of 0.5% (down from 0.7% in Q2) is regarded as a ‘result’. Growth compared with the same quarter a year ago is 2.3%, the highest since 2015 Q2 (when 2.4%). In the industry detail, however, it’s business as usual. Contributions…Read more…
UK real wages are still down 6%, in the East Midlands it’s nearly 10%
Earnings figures put any economic ‘recovery’ into perspective. There has now been a two-year real wage revival (i.e. with earnings growth outstripping inflation), and in 2016 median UK full time earnings were up nearly 4 per cent on the low point in 2014. But that low point was nearly 10 per cent…Read more…
Five things we’ve learnt about pay today
Today – ASHE Wednesday in our office – saw the publication of the annual figures on pay across the UK (ASHE is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings). Here’s five things we’ve learnt: The National Living Wage is making a difference The introduction of the National Living Wage in April this year…Read more…
Renewables, Coal and Industrial Opportunities
According to yesterday’s Financial Times (£) last year saw something of an environmental milestone, as renewables overtook coal as the world’s largest source of installed power capacity. The FT reported that around 500,000 solar panels were installed every day of 2015, while wind turbines were…Read more…
Welcome U-turn on HSE board
Last month the Government appointed an employer to represent workers on the HSE board. This totally undermined the principle of an equal voice for employers and workers that is enshrined in the…Read more…
Putting the flesh on the government’s industrial strategy
Last Thursday (20 October) saw a backbench Commons debate on industrial strategy. This debate coincides with, but is distinct from, an inquiry by the BEIS Select Committee into industrial strategy, to which the TUC gave evidence. Jo Johnson, the Univer…Read more…
‘Catalogue of pain’
Overstretched ambulance crews are arriving late to pick up more than a third of critical emergency victims, while the number of ambulances waiting outside casualty departments for at least an hour…Read more…
Protecting pensions
The ‘pig-headed’ failure of Post Office bosses to hold constructive talks over the closure of the defined salary pension scheme has prompted more than seven hundred managers to stage a second 24-hour…Read more…