Tory-led Bromley council has suspended a Unite rep in a bid to silence critics of its privatisation programme. The council suspended Unite rep Alan Brown on Friday (July 17). Details of the…Read more…
Not to be ignored
The workplace at present is full of uncertainties and insecurity. But one thing is certain. The workforce is getting older and workers, by choice or necessity, are working longer. So what are…Read more…
Solving the IMF’s concerns about stronger unions
I have blogged at Touchstone about this week’s bombshell news from the International Monetary Fund that declining unionisation leads to ballooning inequality (which the IMF accepts is damaging…Read more…
Want to reduce inequality? New IMF research says unionisation is key
Through gritted teeth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has this week issued a ‘staff discussion note’ which contains a bit of a bombshell. The ballooning inequality that results from rampaging top people’s pay is not, as previously thought, an unfortunate by-product of…Read more…
Courage of their convictions
After the Tories’ proposed welfare bill, which aims to slash child tax credits and lower benefit caps among other cuts, received its second reading yesterday (July 20), nearly 50 Labour MPs voted…Read more…
War on the poor
The Tories smash and grab raid on tax credits, benefits and the unemployed who are sick and disabled has been cheered on by its supporters. Families in desperate need of financial support to keep…Read more…
How Trade Union Bill will cap greenworkplace projects
Growing awareness of the impacts of climate change on our daily lives has spurred union reps and members to explore new ways to “green” their workplace. Just as unionised workplaces offer better pay and safer working conditions, so through employee engagement there is an added Union Effect in…Read more…
Government borrowed as much in 2015-16 Q1 as it originally planned to borrow in year as a whole
We should not get too carried away by the Treasury’s claimed improvement in the public finances. Borrowing in the current financial year to date (April to June) is £25.1bn, down from £31.3bn in the same period of 2014-15. This indeed amounts to a gain of £6bn, but: 1. this gain over one quarter is…Read more…
#ImInWorkJeremy
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been slammed for his out of touch approach to the NHS. Not only was he the man who vetoed a paltry 1 per cent pay rise by the pay review body meaning nurses…Read more…
‘Special’ solidarity
Speaking to Unite Community coordinator Dave Condliffe on this dreary Monday morning it was clear that he was one person who definitely didn’t have the Monday blues. Dave was still buoyed up…Read more…
NHS – safe in Tory hands?
Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt launched a 25-year plan for the NHS but failed to mention how he would fill a £822m hole in NHS finances. He also failed to address how he was going to lift morale…Read more…
What does austerity mean?
“What is austerity?” was one of the most common Google searches during the televised leaders’ debate during the general election campaign in May. To many, public finances appear as a stream of disconnected data, huge numbers and percentages trotted out during budgets and spending reviews that seem…Read more…
Defending workers’ rights defenders: Andy Hall in Thailand
I’ve blogged several times over the years about the harassment of British workers’ rights advocate Andy Hall, who faces a number of charges – some with terrifying jail terms or…Read more…
World conference on funding development: much ado about little
The Third International Conference for Financing for Development ended on 16 July in Ethiopia’s capital with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA). The four-day event was organised by the UN in collaboration with the World Bank, IMF and developed and developing nations. It had, according to…Read more…
At the summit: fans keen to support FIFA reform
The fans got stuck in to our panel at the football Supporters’ Summit today, where the Football Supporters’ Federation had invited the TUC’s Playfair Qatar to talk about FIFA reform…Read more…
Coca-Cola backs global union call for an independent review of FIFA
The global trade union movement’s campaign for workers’ rights to be a key element of mega-sporting events is often obscured by the cesspit that is FIFA. Migrant construction workers…Read more…
BBC funding settlement is a disaster but far from a done deal
Did the 29 celebrities who wrote to complain about the BBC’s funding settlement this week initiate their letter to the PM or did they not? Who cares?! We very much doubt that Daniel Craig or Stephen Fry were forced by the evil BBC to sign or die! But the spat this threw up in the…
The post…Read more…
NI NHS staff: pay us properly
Understaffing and underfunding are the main barriers to a seven-day NHS in Northern Ireland, Unite said today (Friday July 17) – and not staff costs for working unsocial hours. The…Read more…
Not so sweet
Ministers should introduce a sugar tax and ban the advertising of sugary drinks and food, as the obesity crisis amongst children grows, Unite, the country’s largest union, said today (Friday July…Read more…
Just can’t take it anymore
Unite is at the forefront of Ireland’s Right2Water campaign, which has mobilised hundreds of thousands of people in the Republic against yet another austerity tax: water charges. Although…Read more…