Unite has called it a ‘slap in the face’ after a global engineering firm said it wanted to slash redundancy payments for staff who have helped the company continue to make big profits. In…Read more…
Forced to retire early
Nearly half a million people in the UK are forced to retire before the state pension age because of illness or disability, a new TUC report has found, which accounts for on average one in eight…Read more…
Unprecedented support for reforms
This time last year Sports Direct shares were trading at over £8 each as the retailer’s board prepared for the company’s annual general meeting at its Shirebrook HQ in Derbyshire. The board no…Read more…
HSE: What social partnership means to the Tories
On Friday the Government announced a number of new appointments to the board of the Health and Safety Executive. The DWP did not indicate who they were representing when they made the announcement…Read more…
The army of older people forced out of work by illness
Forget the stereotype of the cruise or the conservatory. For many babyboomers reaching their sixties means joblessness and ill health, according to TUC research published today. Around one in eight (12%) men and women are forced to stop working before state pension age due to ill-health or…Read more…
Japanese government battles for Japanese companies worried by Brexit
One of the key arguments that the TUC made when campaigning for a Remain vote in the EU referendum in June was that, outside the EU, we would find it more difficult to attract inward investment in manufacturing, including from the Japanese (who made si…Read more…
Article 50: so much for Parliamentary sovereignty!
This week, Theresa May ruled out giving Parliament a vote before Article 50 is triggered. She’s explained her position in terms of respecting the will of the people as expressed in June’s referendum – and the TUC accepts that decision too. But we are still disappointed at her…Read more…
What are the challenges for unions’ traditional ways of working in a digital world?
There’s a lot of talk out there about ‘digital disruption’. This is a process cited for the demise of newspapers, troubles in the music industry, the end of Kodak and the death of…Read more…
More in common
Members of Unite’s Community section will be standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the Polish community at tomorrow’s (September 3) unity ‘march of silence’ in Harlow which follows the…Read more…
Welcome investment
The engine of the UK’s manufacturing base – the automotive industry – got a boost yesterday (September 1) as the government confirmed it would inject £35m into new industrial hub in Coventry where…Read more…
Drowning in debt
Young people may once have enjoyed a certain level of financial freedom before starting families, but now the so-called carefree youth is a thing of the past as generation austerity start their…Read more…
Giving up not an option
Heavy manufacturing equipment firm Caterpillar announced another raft of job losses yesterday (September 1), a move which Unite has condemned, calling it another blow to Northern Ireland’s…Read more…
Workers in Japan let down by Abe’s new spending plans
Last month Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set jaws dropping by announcing a 28.1 trillion yen (£208.1 billion) stimulus package. The package is designed to jump start Japan’s economy that has been struggling with slow growth and see off the threat of deflation. The important feature of the…Read more…
Unhealthy development
The recent exposure of the scale of the government’s toxic healthcare privatisation plans has reignited the debate on in whose interest should the NHS be run – patients or shareholders. NHS deficits, caused in part by extortionate Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes, are providing the…Read more…
Action now to save General Practice
Doctors in Unite (DiU), formerly the Medical Practitioners Union (MPU) expressed dismay yesterday (August 31) over the General Practitioners Committee (GPC) decision not to hold a consultative ballot…Read more…
Broad energy mix call
Bungled Tory energy polices are putting off investors and threatening the prospect of a ‘golden age’ of clean and affordable energy, the industry’s largest trade association has warned. Energy…Read more…
Cancer and Work: understanding your options
If someone is diagnosed with cancer, there are a range of decisions that they will need to make in terms of options regarding work. Some may choose to take a break during treatment, or will be…Read more…
Indian trade unions on general strike this Friday
The TUC has sent a message of solidarity to Indian trade unions who have called a general strike this Friday 2 September. The strike has been called by up to ten national trade union centres in an…Read more…
Defend our bus service
Unite has urged Edinburgh citizens to tell their councillors not to go ahead with controversial plans for Lothian Buses. Yesterday (August 30), members of Edinburgh’s transport committee…Read more…
When Chris met Jeremy
Unite Community member Chris Trestrail from Aberdeen got the chance to put some questions to Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, as part of Jeremy’s recent campaign visit to Scotland. They talked…Read more…