In 2014, there were over 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. That is 28% of all UK children – or for those of us in education, 9 children in every class of 30. These shocking…Read more…
Government threat to safety reps – get the message out there!
The TUC is running a major campaign against the Trade Union Bill. I have written on it previously on this site, and there is an excellent article from the TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady in…Read more…
Levelling the playing field
This week we look at the work of Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) together with Unite in fighting racism. Today we discuss the findings of Unite’s survey Unite’s recent survey of black,…Read more…
Swaziland Ministers come to Brussels
A ministerial delegation from Swaziland travelled to Brussels this week to respond to demands made by the European Parliament to improve the human and workers’ rights situation in the country….Read more…
The North/South divide in healthy old age
In 1979 pop singer Debbie Harry suggested her preferred life pattern was “Die Young, Stay Pretty”. Ms Harry, as part of the band Blondie, has blithely ignored her own advice and is pumping out records and touring more than three decades later. However, her focus on healthy life expectancy, rather…Read more…
Holiday pay result
Unite has won compensation for cabin crew for underpayment on all elements of holiday pay at easyJet. The ground-breaking deal covers basic pay, sector pay and commission. Cabin crew’s holiday pay…Read more…
They shall not prevail
This week we look at the work of Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) together with Unite in fighting racism. Today we continue with two Unite members’ experiences of racism at work What do a…Read more…
Commission’s proposals for reforms to ISDS: new name, same danger
Last week EU Trade Commissioner Malmström announced proposals for a reformed version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in TTIP. The new system of investment protection she described is called the ‘Investment Court System’, or ISD. Sounds similar to ISDS, doesn’t…Read more…
Osborne’s cuts risking hundreds of billions of green economy exports
The Chancellor may welcome future Chinese investment in the UK, but back home the present-day reality of his cuts to the green economy is beginning to bite uncomfortably hard. The CBI speaks of the government “watering down” its green commitments, while the government’s advisers, the Committee on…Read more…
Balancing the Costs and Benefits of Shale Gas Fracking
Should the Government call on an in dependent body, such as the former Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, to undertake an independent evaluation of the costs and benefits of shale gas fracking? The new Conservative Government has picked up wh…Read more…
Cameron’s welfare merry-go-round
A new report out today (Tuesday September 22) shows that the best way to help the in-work poor is through tax credits and that they should be increased to eliminate financial inequality. But…Read more…
The People’s railway
Unite has welcomed Jeremy Corbyn’s proposed people’s railway describing it as “an end to business as usual for failed companies in a failed system.” The new Labour leader has indicated he…Read more…
Why we need the right to strike
The government’s Trade Union Bill looks set to undermine the right to strike, and attacks the role trade unions play in day-to-day life. These reforms are spiteful and unnecessary.They are…Read more…
As he seeks to borrow even more in China, why doesn’t George Osborne worry about record (net) overseas debts?
As we all know George Osborne came into office promising to rebalance the economy, and to reduce reliance on public and private debts. With no progress on the former and only very limited gains on the latter, one area of severe deterioration has been the UK’s financial relations with the rest of…Read more…
Bigger than football
This week we look at the work of Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) together with Unite in fighting racism. Today we continue with some footballers’ own stories If football is a microcosm of…Read more…
Pay rise win after strike threat
The threat of strike action by refuse workers in the London borough of Bromley has led to a ‘double your money’ pay offer which sets an example for other firms providing outsourced local government…Read more…
A beacon for freedom
The Woodland Trust is asking people to vote for England’s first Tree of the Year from a list of 10 unique English trees that have significant cultural or ecological value. Unite is urging…Read more…
Call for energy blueprint
Chinese investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear power station has “laid the financial building blocks” for the project to go-ahead according to Unite. But the country’s largest…Read more…
“National Living Wage” – business can cope
The TUC had mixed feelings about the new higher National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate for workers aged 25 and above announced in the July Budget. This will effectively create a new NMW band for older adults – £7.20 from April 2016, rising to more than £9.00 by 2020. We were of course pleased that…Read more…
TUC 2015 – Unite highlights
This year’s TUC saw members of Unite’s delegation speak on the gender pension’s gap, blacklisting, discrimination against pregnant women, the EU referendum, the NHS and the Trade Union Bill to name a…Read more…