We have read, written and talked much in recent years about the enormous pressures in our health and social care systems – pressures caused by increasing need as people live longer but are not always well; by public spending cuts; by the necessary expenses of modern, high-tech care; and,…Read more…
Is the Daily Mail right about increasing strike action? (Spoiler: No)
The Daily Mail took the TUC to task this week over claims made by our General Secretary, Frances O’Grady that industrial action was not on the increase and that the number of strikes were “very, very low”. Referring to industrial disputes on Southern, ScotRail and Virgin East Coast, the Mail…Read more…
Ghana TUC: building workers’ power for decent work & national development
As delegates head to Brighton for the TUC’s 148th Congress, we’ve received a fascinating report from the Ghana TUC Congress held last month, which we wanted to share. Thanks to Justice Baako Ntarmah,…Read more…
Strong and determined
Security staff at Community Safety Glasgow say they are standing firm against cuts of up to £4,000 in their take-home pay. Around 30 Unite members started strike action today (September 7)…Read more…
Ban zero hours contracts call
While many had predicted that zero-hours contracts (ZHCs) would diminish as the economy picked up again following the financial crisis, successive annual figures show that these work arrangements…Read more…
‘Blue blood’ monopoly
Snobbish investment banks are barring nearly all but the very wealthiest from entering the industry thanks to unforgivable infractions – like wearing brown shoes, speaking with the wrong accent and…Read more…
The fight that can never rest
Top former footballers including Les Ferdinand MBE and Paul Elliot MBE will be among those coming together at Unite’s headquarters this Friday (September 9) to promote the 20th anniversary of the…Read more…
Victory against insecure jobs
A victory against the insecurity of agency working has been won on behalf of 42 escorts on Hackney school buses who now have permanent jobs. Unite took up the cudgels for the escorts, all of…Read more…
Zero-hours contracts up 21% in just one year
The new official statistics on zero-hours contracts in the UK are out today and they make for grim reading. Over the past year, Britain’s zero-hours workforce has grown from 747,000 to 903,000 – a rise of 21%. Zero-hours contracts have become an easy way for bosses to employ staff on…Read more…
“They treat you like rubbish”
Around 20 Unite Community members, from Chesterfield, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield, were unfurling banners and unpacking pamphlets yesterday, when the factory tour led by Sports Direct billionaire…Read more…
Anger at the AGM
A shareholder revolt at Sport’s Direct has left owner and found Mike Ashley questioning his position, after angry scenes at the company’s annual general meeting. In a bizarre outburst during…Read more…
No place of safety
It’s a well-known fact that victims of domestic abuse are most likely to be harmed by a man they know – often a relative or partner. But did you know that in England and Wales alone two women…Read more…
Sports Direct AGM
UNITElive is reporting from the Sports Direct AGM. For all the latest as it happens read UNITElive live tweets on Unite’s twitter feed. Tune in back to the regular UNITElive spot…Read more…
Unions and investors come together to call time on poor employment practices at Sports Direct
Sports Direct is a household name, but one that is now nearly as famous for its use of zero hours contracts and mistreating its workforce as for the sportswear sold in its high street stores. Tomorrow the company’s Annual General Meeting brings the opportunity for investors to raise their voices…Read more…
‘Very dangerous situation’
Unite Wales has today (September 6) expressed its grave concerns for the future of Ford’s Bridgend engine plant. This follows the company’s decision to halve the plant’s proposed production of its…Read more…
Pension ‘robbery’
Members of Unite working for the Post Office have voted strongly for industrial action over plans by bosses to close the final salary pension scheme despite it being £100m in surplus. Of those…Read more…
Xmas bus strike on the cards?
The Weymouth bus driver ‘poverty pay’ dispute could continue to Christmas, after company bosses demanded ‘draconian’ conditions be imposed before arbitration talks could start. More than 110…Read more…
Apologies and deep regrets
In a remarkable triumph for Unite’s campaign against employment practices at the retail giant Sports Direct, the company has agreed to make significant changes following an investigation carried out…Read more…
If you don’t have time to read our new book on teacher workload, here’s a summary
By Nansi Ellis, Assistant general secretary (policy). It’s just how it goes: a new book comes out about teacher workload, and you’d love to read it but you haven’t got the time. So let me summarise…Read more…
‘End of their tether’
London bus workers at the bus operator Tower Transit will be staging a second 24-hour stoppage today (Tuesday September 6), over the imposition of roster changes and a failure by a hard line…Read more…