All the union news that's fit to blog...
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. […]
The post Workplace justice access hope appeared first on UNITElive.org.
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 […]
The post Attack on rural communities appeared first on UNITElive.org.
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 […]
The post Stop this calamitous course appeared first on UNITElive.org.
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 […]
The post Could you live on a zero-hours contract? appeared first on UNITElive.org.
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…
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…
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…
Right from the off yesterday, ONS statistics triggered a celebration of rising living standards. Yet you were hard pushed to find exactly the reason for that celebration. In the newly-issued National Accounts, real household disposable income per head …Read more…
Imagine being a single parent struggling on benefits. You look long and hard for some sort of stable job – anything that will pay the bills and feed your child. You’re finally hired. It’s on a zero hours contract, but no matter. At least it’s something. Kelly, this young woman’s father, recalls how overjoyed […]
The post Stop the suffering appeared first on UNITElive.org.
As the general election campaign heats up, prime minister David Cameron made a startling claim on Monday night (March 30) – under his watch, he says, 1,000 jobs were created every day, an accomplishment he pledges to continue if a Conservative government were to be elected in May. Sounds great, but just how much […]
The post The claim, the maths and the reality appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Very few people in the UK today would not know about zero hours contracts. The Prime Minister himself said that he wouldn’t want to work on one…
The post Zero hours: Time to put a stop to this exploitation appeared first on ToUChstone blog.Read more…
Workers at the Northampton plant of one of the world’s largest packaging firms have begun a 48-hour strike over the dismissal of two Unite shop stewards. Unite members at Smurfit Kappa, who had previously been working to rule, walked out at midnight (April 1) calling for their colleagues to be immediately reinstated. Speaking from […]
The post Resolute in purpose appeared first on UNITElive.org.
1 million people have fallen off the electoral roll since the government changed the way we register to vote back in September. Many won’t even know. If you’re a one in the million then you’ll miss out in the most important election in our times. But there’s still time to make sure that […]
The post 20 days to go. Are you one in a million? Don’t be appeared first on UNITElive.org.
So the Modern Slavery Bill has finally become the Modern Slavery Act. Unfortunately however its inadequacies flagged-up in my blog of 25 February were not addressed. On the very same day following a debate in the Lords my colleague Owen Tudor was able to report that the Government was defeated on…Read more…
The Tories are refusing to set out how they are going to cut £12 billion from the welfare budget. But documents leaked to the BBC show they are looking to hit carers, children and the disabled in the next round of cuts. Labour urged the Tories to ‘come clean’ about where the axe will […]
The post Where will the axe fall? appeared first on UNITElive.org.
As UNITElive reported today, most of us expect our pay to stay the same this year or rise ever-so-slightly. Drivers who transport disabled children to school for Hackney council, however, face something else entirely – an astounding 50 per cent slash in their wages as the local authority embarks on vicious cost-cutting measures. […]
The post Striking for a fair deal appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Tonight, residents at Banister House, Hackney are launching the first solar power farm in north London, not in a field but on the sunblest flat rooftops of 14 council blocks on the estate. Backed by Repowering London, Hackney Council and campaigners fr…Read more…
The Government has published a “report book” on its reform of health and safety legislation over the past five years. It proudly boasts that it has reduced the number of regulations by 50%, and…Read more…
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Last week the RSA published a new report looking at the living standards of the self-employed. Why did we undertake this study? Simple: Because the self-employed community is booming but government, business and wider society have yet to catch up. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of initiatives…Read more…