Really, this is one of those “one chart says it all” stories: Here at the TUC we started worrying about the living standards crisis years ago – and there’s a long way to go before we can say it’s over. But the crisis isn’t just about wages, pensions and other…Read more…
Massive body blow
As AKD Engineering in Suffolk announced that it will shutter its doors yesterday (April 7) after 60 years in operation, more than 100 skilled jobs will be lost, delivering a “massive body blow” to the workforce and local economy. After several years of substantial losses, the oil and gas engineering firm has been particularly hard […]
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Mansions debunked
The question of houses worth more than £2 million is currently in the news. To read some of the more florid press coverage you might think that we are all in danger of finding that our homes have accidently become mansions – this is simply nonsense of course. To get a quick shot of…Read more…
A bit more than a ban on ‘zero hours abuse’
There was a lot in the Labour Party’s Manifesto for Work that echoes things unions have been calling for for a long time now.Read more…
Labour market deregulation: When the facts change…
The famous remark, commonly attributed to Keynes, that “when the facts change, I change my mind…” could be about to face a stern test. The IMF is about to publish the findings of research by staff members that finds no evidence that labour market deregulation promotes growth. This…Read more…
Less sotto voce – more loud-hailer
That’s it. The first five-year, fixed-term parliament is over, limping to an exhausted, shabby end. This cursed coalition has disbanded. Yet, with the official campaign finally underway, the voting public is not exactly thrilled at being pursued by the escapees from London SW1. The noisiest sound from the streets is that of millions of […]
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Spy in the cab
Angered over a tracker device measuring workloads inaccurately, more than 300 engineering service workers employed by lift firm Kone took strike action today (April 7). The vehicle tracker device, known as VAMS, has shown itself to be unreliable, Unite contends. For example, one driver was alleged to have driven 1,000 miles in one day […]
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Strong message
Unite kicked off its fight back against mass privatisation of Bromley council services today (April 7), in day one of a widely supported two-day strike. Unite members working in libraries, adult services and parks, among other areas, are participating in the walk-out as the Conservative-led Bromley council embarks on a privatisation programme which will […]
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Signing up to save NHS
“The NHS is one of the country’s most treasured institutions. But its future is under serious threat.” That is the warning of more than 40 signatories – including Unite’s Len McCluskey and Hollywood actor Michael Sheen – to a letter published in today’s Guardian to mark the launch of the People’s Convention for the NHS. […]
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Does pensions “freedom” offer the right choices?
Today (almost*) anyone over 55 can get their hands on their pension and take it as cash. It is all about “freedom” and “choice”, we are told. Those of us who are sceptical of the policy are therefore immediately labelled as opponents of freedom. We are the snooty…Read more…
Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: Taxing disability benefits would hit hundreds of thousands of low-paid disabled workers
There’s something (horrible) for everyone in the list of possible benefit cuts leaked to the BBC last week. In this column I want to concentrate on the proposal that people would have to pay income tax on their disability benefits if their incomes including these benefits were over the minimum…Read more…
Who does this country work for?
Nothing was more indicative of the Tories’ base of support than a letter published in the Telegraph yesterday, signed by 103 big business leaders, calling on the public to vote Conservative in May. Among the letter’s signatories were Bob Dudley, the American boss of BP, Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Prudential who received […]
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Supporting our reps
Pictured are some Unite Community members today (April 2) supporting Unite Smurfit Kappa members on their picket line. David Condliffe, Unite Community Co-ordinator for the East Midlands, said he was proud Community could be there in solidarity for our industrial members. “Community members from Leicester and Derby were supporting Smurfit Kappa comrades today. […]
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Workplace justice access hope
Unite has warmly welcomed an election pledge from Labour to scrap controversial employment tribunal fees brought in by the Tory-led government almost two years ago. The upfront fees – which have been heavily criticised by some bosses as well as trade unions – are believed to have denied millions their rightful access to justice. […]
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Attack on rural communities
Rural communities across Northern Ireland are under grave risk to their safety after Unite has discovered plans to severely cut road maintenance services. Unite representatives were informed that Transport NI management have proposed reducing the inspection of rural roads for potholes from three times a year to only once a year. Management has also […]
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Stop this calamitous course
This general election has been dubbed the most important in a generation and – it is for many reasons – not least the protection of our NHS. But another crucial reason that makes this election important and it’s our membership of the European Union. Back in 1975 Margaret Thatcher campaigned to […]
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Could you live on a zero-hours contract?
Labour announced yesterday (April 1) that it would clamp down on exploitative zero-hours contracts, by guaranteeing people who work regular hours the right to a regular contract. The video below features the decisive moment in last week’s ‘Battle for Number 10’ programme, in which presenter Jeremy Paxman presses David Cameron to answer a very […]
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A cautionary tale: pension funds and the infrastructure bandwagon
Infrastructure finance has risen to the top of the international financial policy agenda. Within the new infrastructure finance agenda emerging in such forums, the $85 trillion that institutional investors, and in particular pension funds, are estimate…Read more…
Rana Plaza: $9 million still owed to the victims with 23 days to go to second anniversary – tell companies to #payup
In 23 days time it will be two years since the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Savar district, Bangladesh killing 1138 workers, injuring thousands more and leaving 500 children orphaned. Shamefully…Read more…
Figures for 2014 change nothing: weak productivity is still caused by austerity
As many argued in the wake of the Budget, productivity outcomes remain a significant concern and major blot on the government’s economic record. Today ONS issued the first figures for 2014 as a whole, showing growth at only 0.5 per cent, up only marginally on 0.4 per cent in 2013 (left chart); they…Read more…