Civil liberty groups, voluntary organisations, NGOs, academics, employer organisations, groups representing users of public services, and industry commentators across the UK have joined the TUC in voicing their opposition the government’s Trade Union Bill. A selection of their comments is provided…Read more…
The Importance of Proofreading: how Trade Union Bill equality analysis admits it lacks supporting data
Today the government has published its equality analysis of the Trade Union Bill. For busy readers who may not have time to read to the end of my blog, let alone the government’s 31 page document, I can reveal that the government’s analysis of its proposals to weaken workers’ rights is that there…Read more…
Relief for truck drivers?
It can be tough to spend a penny in an era of government cuts which have brought about the closure of so many public toilets. Toilet breaks are no laughing matter; rather they are a basic…Read more…
No one’s buying it
Days before the Trade Union Bill comes up for its second reading in the Commons on Monday (September 14), the government proposals have come under fire not only from trade unions, but from all sides,…Read more…
Democracy threatened
Unite is calling on the government to end what it calls a “shocking attack on democracy” because of Tory changes to voter registration. Rushed changes Figures suggest two million people…Read more…
Scrap the Trade Union bill
Unite, has today (September 10) urged the government to abandon its Trade Union bill, warning that the legislation heralds a new era of divisive industrial relations ill-befitting a modern economy….Read more…
Former BIS secretary Vince Cable attacks ‘vindictive’ trade union bill
Former Business Secretary Vince Cable has today branded the government’s Trade Union Bill as “vindictive” and a threat to “civil liberties”. Speaking to the BBC Vince Cable warned that the Trade Union Bill would worsen industrial relations and make disputes harder to resolve: “I think…Read more…
Twice as many €-millionaire bankers in UK as the rest of Europe put together. Doing what for the rest of us?
(I missed this data release on Monday, but today the FT remind us of the results with a chart on their front page.) In 2013 the UK has 2,086 high-earning bankers (defined as earning more than one million euros a year, £850,000), according to a new report published by the European Bankers…Read more…
Boost for building workers
Firms that want to build in Liverpool will have to sign-up to a six-point charter designed to ensure that workers receive the minimum employment conditions. Unite, Ucatt and the GMB drew up…Read more…
Shrinking the state
Unite has described the government’s spending cuts as “ideologically driven nonsense” after George Osborne’s plans were roundly criticised by a former head of the civil service. At a…Read more…
BA cabin crew heroes save the day
As a Gatwick-bound British Airways aircraft readying for take-off in Las Vegas burst into flames yesterday (September 8), BA cabin crew, Unite members, swung into action and evacuated the plane,…Read more…
Stopping the Job – collectively
There should be a health and safety law poster in every workplace in the country. This is produced by the HSE and tells workers what their legal rights are. It is simple and well-written. There is…Read more…
Sports Direct: pressure is on
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has often appeared invincible by using the massive profits he has generated from forcing his employees to endure low wages and zero-hours contracts to knock out his…Read more…
Get grip on manufacturing
Unite has made it clear ministers have still not ‘got to grips’ over formulating a coherent manufacturing strategy as figures showed a sharp dip in industrial output in July. The union said…Read more…
Tipping the balance
Unite’s fair tips campaign has roared on all summer and been hailed by the Guardian as ‘impressive’. There have been key victories, but the work’s not over yet. It’s rare for a union campaign to…Read more…
It’s less about money buying happiness, but more about the unhappiness without it
There was a lot of press at the weekend on the general theme that ‘money buys happiness’, prompted by the ONS well-being analysis issued on Friday. But thinking more about the results that were covered briefly here on Friday, these headlines might draw the wrong conclusion. There is a…Read more…
Economic taskforce call
Unite has called for local political representatives to work together and establish an economic taskforce to help secure employment for the southwest border region of Ireland. The region has…Read more…
Still living large
Grossly overpaid bankers, who helped trigger the worst financial crisis in generations in 2008, are still living large according to a European watchdog report, with the UK being home to the biggest…Read more…
Be proud, be inspired, be union
As the Tory government’s Trade Union Bill looms on the legislative horizon, the rights of working people are under unprecedented threat. The Bill, as human rights groups pointed out this week,…Read more…
‘Victorian’ work practices
Unite members dressed as Dickensian workers will protest outside Sports Direct’s annual general meeting tomorrow (Wednesday September 9), demanding an end to the retailer’s ‘Victorian’ work…Read more…