2015 began with a fresh new wave of industrial action across Iraq (apart from Iraqi Kurdistan) organised by the national trade union centre, the GFITU. The action centred on several demands,…Read more…
Planned future spending cuts return us to the Geddes Axe of the 1920s
On the basis of the OBR projections for future spending cuts, the only more severe consolidation in over a century was the Geddes Axe of 1921-23. That these disastrous policies are the nearest precedent for any prospective economic action beggars belief.Read more…
National minimum wage – no hiding place for cheapskate bosses
The TUC today called for enforcement of the minimum wage to be greatly strengthened and published a 10-point plan for strengthening this vital legal protection during the next parliament. We have welcomed the improvements already made by successive gov…Read more…
Time for an ethical energy policy
The £8m short term government loan for employee-owned Hatfield colliery, Yorkshire, is a welcome move by the government to protect hundreds of skilled jobs. But that such a loan is needed at all reflects the government’s failure to develop a long term strategy for UK coal in our energy mix,…Read more…
Unions condemn the Charlie Hebdo killings
As crowds gathered in cities across France and beyond today, standing in solidarity with those attacked at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, journalists’ unions expressed their shock and…Read more…
Myth-busting or diversion? HSE looking in all the wrong places
There is a new report out on health and safety myths. It is a review of all the cases that have been referred to the Mythbusters Panel which the HSE set up a few years ago to challenge health and…Read more…
Iraqi unions are still demanding better
Despite the impact of the ISIS insurgency, workers across Iraq staged several industrial actions from the end of October, through November and into the first part of December, and returned to the…Read more…
Power to the people: Trade unions, energy and climate change
At the end of this year, the countries of the world will meet in Paris under the auspices of the United Nations in a make or break effort to curb global warming by reaching a binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The preparatory COP 2…Read more…
Magna Carta and Social Security
This year (15 June) we’ll mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta. The commemorations will include a TV documentary, a Magna Carta cycle trail, a visit by 800 American lawyers and, I kid you not, a new roundabout on the A308. A lot of the people I usually agree with will be…Read more…
Wages fell £500 last year – 2015 needs a pay rise
Despite the recovery, 2014 has been another miserable year for living standards. The average wage is now worth £50 a week less than when the government came to power. And current policies offer little relief. The Office for Budgetary Responsibility forecast, released with the Autumn Statement,…Read more…
Fast-food workers scent justice in fight with franchises
In a ruling that has given US unions a significant boost, the US National Labor Relations Board has ruled that McDonald’s (and other fast food outlets) are a “joint employer” of workers at its…Read more…
Review of the year
The major educational event of 2014 was the sacking of Michael Gove. Joy was unalloyed among the vast majority of teachers and school leaders as this most ideological of politicians was shown the…Read more…
Don’t let UKIP panto take the spotlight off low pay and exploitation
In the last few weeks we all seem to have been given tickets to an extended UKIP panto complete with a string of offensive racist/sexist/homophobic/fill in the blank one-liners and a gay donkey. While the papers are having a field day with this silly season, it shouldn’t distract us from the…Read more…
A quarter of a million jobseekers approaching their second Christmas in a row on the dole
Silver bells ringing through the city are as sure a sign as any—Christmas is nearly upon us yet again. For some of us, it is a time of delightful food, visits with family, and colourful packages nestled ‘neath the tree. Yet, for too many of our neighbours, it is stark reminder of just how…Read more…
A national curriculum should help children flourish
By Michael J. Reiss A school curriculum is not an end in itself, but a vehicle to realise further purposes. You would think, therefore, that those who devise a national curriculum would start by…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: “I’m the last mother standing”
If you listen to the government, you could be forgiven for believing that women’s labour market position is better than ever before. It’s certainly true that women’s employment rate is up, and women’s unemployment rate is down. But what this positive picture of women at work doesn’t show us…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: Unions are scoring successes against casualisation
The fall in the numbers of workers covered by agreements negotiated by trade unions is the key reason for the rise in low-paid and casual jobs in the UK. In 2013, 29 per cent of working people in the…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: This exploitation of agency workers must end
Tina is a qualified further education lecturer employed through an agency which forced her to sign a permanent contract of employment. She is only paid for the time she spends teaching but not for planning or attending meetings. Because she only teaches 24 hours a week she can’t claim working tax…Read more…
MEPs fight to save Europe’s air quality, women’s rights and recycling plans
Europe’s “fresh start” under the Juncker Presidency has already run into opposition from MEPs. A draft document leaked to the press last week shows that key EU environmental proposals on clean air, waste and recycling (the so-called ‘circular economy’), and stronger protection for…Read more…
Who’s really in favour of #ISDS?
The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the proposed trade deal between the EU and the USA (TTIP) are the most controversial part of the deal. And they appear in all new trade negotiations, like the one between the EU and Canada (CET…Read more…