All the union news that's fit to blog...
X-factor judge and former girls aloud singer, Cheryl Fernadez-Versini has joined the Unite backed campaign No Vote No Voice (NVNV) to urge young people to use their vote. Cheryl has come out in support of the campaign after ending speculation that she was considering turning her back on her Labour roots over the […]
The post Cheryl’s plea to young voters appeared first on UNITElive.org.
We know a fair deal about the detrimental growth of zero-hours contracts in the UK labour market. We know that workers on them cannot depend on how much money they will bring home or what childcare they will need from week to week. We know that typical…Read more…
Last night’s BBC Question Time (20 minutes into the iPlayer recording) featured Sajid Javid MP, a member of Cameron’s cabinet, defiantly claim that 80% of the jobs created in the past 5 years have been both full time and high-skilled in response to an audience member who was rightly concerned about…Read more…
As part of a national day of action (March 19) opposing benefit sanctions, which are now being used on an industrial scale, Unite held a demonstration outside the Department for Work and Pensions in London demanding these sanctions end.
P…Read more…
To mark UN Anti-Racism day tomorrow, Saturday 21stMarch, a call went out from Keefra- the Greek anti-nazi movement, which had success in tackling Golden Dawn- to hold anti-racist demonstrations….Read more…
Unite’s rule book sounds just the sort of dusty tome to give employment lawyers headaches. Last week our governing body, Unite’s executive, unanimously agreed to make it shorter. It recommended the deletion from our rules of six little words that have governed our union’s actions: “so far as may be lawful”. So far, so […]
The post We will fight for workers appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Trade unions are finding ways to prevent mental health problems or, if it’s already happened to get employers to enable them to continue in work.
The post Some good news on mental health (at last)? appeared first on ToUChstone blog.Read more…
Last year we began our Saving Our Safety Net campaign by focusing on the “Five Week Wait” for benefits. One of the policies that will force thousands of new claimants to spend weeks with no income is the introduction of seven “waiting days”, which were due to be brought in next month for Universal…Read more…
Rolls-Royce, the iconic luxury car manufacturer which now predominantly builds aircraft engines, owes much of its success to the thousands of highly skilled UK workers who’ve made the business the bastion of world-class engineering it is today. In a short-term bid to cut costs amid profit losses, however, Rolls-Royce announced a global restructuring exercise […]
The post Offshoring via the backdoor appeared first on UNITElive.org.
It’s that time of year again—the government announces a minimum wage hike, as it did on Tuesday (March 17), and pats itself on the back for how much it’s improved the lot of the lowest paid and hardest working among us. The statutory minimum will go up to a grand total of £6.70 an […]
The post Nothing comes from nothing appeared first on UNITElive.org.
At the Autumn Statement in December last year, the extent of the failure to reduce the deficit was laid bare. The Chancellor took a political hammering for the extent of future cuts that he had planned to set matters right (leaving aside the implausibi…Read more…
The Department of Work Pensions—the epicentre of the coalition government’s destruction of the welfare state as we know it—was today (March 19) the scene of Unite’s national day of action against benefits sanctions. Hundreds gathered outside the DWP to protest the cruel sanctions, in which benefits claimants’ entitlements are suddenly cut for spurious reasons, […]
The post When a government just doesn’t care appeared first on UNITElive.org.
The personal tax allowance will increase to £10,800 pounds in the 2016/2017 tax year, George Osborne told parliament, up from the £10,600 announced for 2015/16. The allowance will rise again to £11,000 in 2017/2018. This year’s increase is a real one, but the rates announced for subsequent…Read more…
Unite activist and former Teeside charity boss, Jessie Jacobs speaks out against benefits sanctions Today at 12.30pm I was stood outside Middlesbrough job centre, speaking to a crowd of people about the benefit sanctions regime. I have been taking part in Unite’s national day of action #no2sanctions. Up until recently I was leading […]
The post No one deserves sanctions appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Unite Community members today held protests against grotesque benefit sanctions outside over 75 job centres across the United Kingdom. Millions of claimants have faced sanctions varying in length between four weeks and three years. Many are often imposed for the most trivial reasons that are beyond the claimant’s control. The unemployed, sick, disabled, […]
The post Fighting ‘grotesque’ sanctions appeared first on UNITElive.org.
The TUC’s economic and social affairs team has been working flat out to pick apart, scrutinise and analyse the final budget of this Parliament. Here are some of the most popular posts: 1. Welfare cutsThe Chancellor referred to £12 billion of welfare cuts. Nicola Smith crunches the numbers to…Read more…
‘Iain Duncan Smith’ has today ‘been jailed for crimes against humanity’ by Unite community members in Southampton over the government’s widespread use of benefit sanctions. As part of a national day of action against the sanctions – which lead to a cut or loss of benefits for the most trivial reasons – Unite […]
The post IDS ‘verdict’: Guilty appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Regional employment growth is a pretty simple statistic. The ONS helpfully publishes a clear analysis every month. In fact, they did this just yesterday morning. In his budget announcement yesterday afternoon, Mr. Osborne boldly proclaimed: “Today’s figures show that since 2010, 1000 more jobs have…Read more…
The somewhat dismayed reaction to the Budget from both sides of the steel industry – unions and employers alike – to the meagre £25m compensation for industrial energy costs reflects a harsh truth about the government’s manufacturing strategy. We are shedding jobs, plant and investment at an…Read more…
How could £12 billion of welfare cuts be achieved? We have previously looked at the sorts of changes that would be needed to raise the revenues the Chancellor has set out. These proposals make clear the enormity of changes being considered. For example (with all changes concerned with the position…Read more…