Unite Scotland community and youth activists will tell delegates to the Scottish Labour Party spring conference tomorrow (March 19) that growing trade union membership is the remedy to the rise of…Read more…
‘The best hope’
Unite has today (March 18) announced that it will campaign for the country to remain a member of the European Union. The union’s 63-strong executive council, drawn from workplaces across…Read more…
‘Before it’s too late’
European leaders are meeting today (March 18) to firm up action that must be taken to save Europe’s beleaguered steel industry. The Brussels summit comes on the heels of measures that the…Read more…
Stand up to Racism demo: refugees welcome
On Saturday 19 March thousands of people will join the Stand up to Racism demonstration and rally in Central London to voice their opposition to inhumane way that the government has dealt with the…Read more…
Sticking with the union: Why the EU referendum matters to working Britons
I grew up in Oxford and I was living there the last time we had a referendum, back in 1975. Only then, of course it was called the EEC, the European Economic Community. My dad worked at the Cowley car works and was a shop steward there. He was anti the EEC because he didn’t…
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EU: Vote for democracy and hope
When I vote for Britain to remain in the EU in June, and when I argue for the members of my union and others to do likewise in the months ahead, I will not be voting for the status quo. I will…Read more…
‘Between a rock and a hard place’
Deliveries of fresh produce – a top business priority for the Co-op – will be severely hit when more than 700 of its drivers stage a two-day strike next week in the dispute over transferring drivers…Read more…
Triple whammy for TU Bill
The government’s attack on trade unions faced a triple defeat last night (March 16), as the House of Lords moved to block key measures in the controversial trade union Bill. Peers voted in…Read more…
#Budget2016: TUC reaction roundup
The Chancellor, George Osborne delivered the 2016 budget yesterday, here is a quick round up of reactions from our TUC bloggers: Public Service cuts £3.5bn worth of cuts to public services by 2020. The spending cuts will be identified through an ‘efficiency review’. Cuts and increased pressures on…Read more…
UNCTAD calls for investment agreements to uphold labour rights and democracy
Yesterday I spoke at the United Nations Conference on Development (UNCTAD) meeting ‘Taking stock of international investment agreement reform’ which looked at the options for reform to investment protections such as ISDS that are currently used in international investment agreements…Read more…
Triple whammy defeat for government over #TUbill
Members of the House of Lords voted to defeat the government three times inside three hours tonight during the report stage debate for the trade union bill. The votes concerned substantial amendments to the bill over electronic balloting for strike vot…Read more…
Spare us the cutter
Unite has slammed Chancellor George Osborne’s budget as a failed opportunity from a “one trick Chancellor” – that trick being to cut – because he refuses to take action that would grow our economy….Read more…
#Budget2016: Pensions freedom tax boost for Treasury but what now for the workplace pension?
For the Chancellor, it was one bit of fiscal news to cheer in a Budget of downward revisions, cuts and slices. The Treasury has netted £200 million more than expected in tax from pension fund withdrawals after dramatically loosening restrictions in April.
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#Budget2016 arithmetic made simple: the madness of George’s surplus rule
The Chancellor has broken his welfare cap. He bust his debt rule (again). The great part of the policy action seems to have been about making sure it wasn’t a full house of broken rules. Because of the significantly weaker economy, government revenues were down by an average of around £10bn a year…Read more…
What are the Lords debating on trade union political funds?
While the big news today has been the Budget, debate has also been taking place in the Lords, where the first Trade Union Bill report stage debate is underway. Among the issues the Lords are debating are amendments which would implement the recommendations from the Lords Select Committee on Trade…Read more…
#Budget2016: What’s behind the changes to business taxation?
George Osborne has cut corporation tax again. In 2020, the rate will go down to 17% – lower than the basic rate of income tax. Given the extent of the cuts being meted out to welfare spending and local government services, this choice – forecast to cost nearly £1 billion when it comes in…Read more…
Schools take centre stage in #Budget2016
As trailed in yesterday’s press, a centrepiece of the Budget is a move to make every school in England an academy and to strip local authorities of their long-standing role in education. The signs were there that this was on the cards with the Times reporting earlier this month that there would be…Read more…
Toughen up on Chinese steel call
The UK government will leave itself open to accusations of ‘selling British steel down the river’ if it continues to block moves announced today (March 16) to tackle the dumping of cheap Chinese…Read more…
Broken ‘covenant’
At the height of the financial crisis, the Royal Bank of Scotland came under the auspices of taxpayers and received a bailout of £45bn. Since then, the bank’s implicit covenant with taxpayers…Read more…
Altering tax thresholds is an expensive way to aid the well-paid
The chancellor has promised measures to increase the personal tax allowance (PTA) for low-paid workers (the amount they can earn in a year before being liable for tax) also the higher rate threshold (HRT) (the point beyond which tax increases to 40%). …Read more…