Last week, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans launched a ‘better regulation’ initiative. Once you’ve lived through a few dozen of these, you do get a bit jaundiced (I go back to Michael Heseltine’s ‘bonfire of red tape’ in 1994 although the Daily…Read more…
Union members pay the cost of ISIS conquest of Ramadi
When ISIS takes over a city like Ramadi, near Baghdad in Iraq, the news bulletins are full of discussion about the future of Iraq, who’s to blame for the ISIS advance, how to reverse it and the…Read more…
Europe needs to commit on aid
Tomorrow, foreign ministers from across the EU will be meeting and will consider what to do about Europe’s pledge on overseas aid. For the first time, the British minister will be attending with a legal commitment to spend the UN recommended 0.7% of GNI (Gross National Income) on official…Read more…
Join the fight against union repression in Swaziland
This week Members of the European Parliament have condemned Africa’s last feudal dictatorship in Swaziland for its repression of trade union and human rights. One of the authors of their…Read more…
Doing our bit in Swaziland from Brussels
The Swazi people experience some of the most horrid living conditions on the planet. Under King Mswati II’s absolute rule, very low living standards have become even lower, very high AIDS/HIV prevalence has become even higher. Poverty is widespread, and the rule of law a distant ideal. We…Read more…
A room at The View
As Unite’s The View Hotel in Eastbourne completes major renovations—from its state-of-the-art conference facilities to a brand new restaurant and a new online booking service – your next summer…Read more…
If not now, when?
As talks between steel giant Tata and unions broke down over changes to members’ pensions scheme, Tata electrician Charlotte Upton, 25, spoke to UniteLive about the upcoming industrial action ballot…Read more…
Practice what you preach
The Church of Scotland is being urged to think again before ratifying a report which would break official links with Unite at its General Assembly in Edinburgh today (May 22). The Central…Read more…
Austerity doesn’t work
Earlier this week, the internationally renowned political scientist and author on world debt Susan George, addressed, the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) conference. Ahead of the…Read more…
UK poverty hits millions
The stark situation for many millions of Britons facing poverty has been outlined by new data from the office for national statistics (ONS). Staggeringly under the last Tory-led government…Read more…
Live from the Tata talks
Just as the Tata talks ended yesterday (May 22) UNITElive reporter Rae Passfield spoke with Unite national officer for steel Paul Reuter about the latest on the proposed changes to Tata Steel…Read more…
This flagrant disregard
Reps from unions including Unite, the GMB, and Community left a meeting with Tata Steel company representatives yesterday (May 21) bitterly disappointed. In a joint statement, the unions said…Read more…
Disabled workers in Great Britain: What now?
The TUC released a comprehensive report today revealing just how little progress for disabled people in the workforce was achieved under the 2010-15 government. The headline employment and unemployment rate figures paint a picture of essential stagnati…Read more…
Worst paid job in UK
Waiting tables is, according to the latest figures, the worst paid job in the UK. The vast majority of waiters are on the minimum wage, barely eking out a living from profit-flush companies,…Read more…
Promising little, delivering less: Qatar fails its migrant workers
It’s a resounding defeat for the workers. In five areas there has been limited progress. In four areas there’s been … nothing at all. After all the promises.
The post Promising little, delivering less: Qatar fails its migrant workers appeared first on ToUChstone blog.Read more…
The TUC’s 2015 election post-mortem poll
When the TUC commissioned a poll to go straight into the field the day after the election, we had no idea what the result would be. Now it has a painful relevance to Labour’s post mortem, and emerging leadership debate. As the TUC is making the poll’s findings public – and it is available…Read more…
‘Pinchers Express’
On National Waiters’ Day (May 21) Unite hospitality members held a protest outside Pizza Express’ flagship restaurant in Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square. Six years ago…Read more…
Ireland and marriage: stepping out of the darkness
Tomorrow, Friday 21st of May, Ireland will have a referendum on whether two people of the same gender can marry. It’s the first country in the world to do so, and a long journey from 1995, when it was forced by Europe to decriminalise “male homosexual acts”. Why a referendum?…Read more…
NI Water workers wage win
A dispute among NI Water workers, which began over the Christmas season, has come to an end after members officially accepted an increased pay offer on Wednesday (May 20), which was just recently…Read more…
Hammer blow for workers
The proposed closure of the coal-fired power station at Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire is ‘a hammer blow for the workforce’, Unite said today (Wednesday 20 May). Unite said that that there were 172…Read more…