Yesterday the Deregulation Bill completed its passage through the Lords. According to the Government, this Bill will ensure a “reduction of burdens resulting from legislation for businesses or other…Read more…
Vote boosters!
The searing cold sun shone on the big red vote boosting bus today as we rolled onto Sussex University campus, Brighton. We weren’t sure what to expect from the student body at Sussex, as their university has become a hotbed of protest and mass occupation during the past few years. This is how our […]
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Public ownership of rail is not only necessary; it is the only realistic option
A recent article in BBC News Magazine asks the question Would it be realistic to renationalise the railways? Using as a premise the recent passing of the East Coast main line from public to private hands, the article provides an interesting insight int…Read more…
Productivity: no puzzle about it
TUC work issued today contests widely-held views that weak growth in productivity is down to failures of skills and/or other defects with the structure of the economy. Our research shows instead that the government’s austerity policies should take most of the blame for the productivity…Read more…
The demand interpretation of productivity outcomes (technical)
This post follows up the main one on the productivity puzzle, and the fuller TUC report issued today. Most contributions to the debate on the productivity puzzle recognise both demand and supply must play a part. But any arguments about demand are norm…Read more…
UKIP immigration policies: making it even easier for bosses to exploit workers
Today Nigel Farage outlined UKIP’s immigration policy proposals which revolve around Britain leaving the EU and imposing an Australian-style points system on all non-British citizens entering the country. While Farage seemed to back away from making a commitment on a firm figure at which UKIP would…Read more…
IFS show incomes for most WORKING-AGE people actually FALLING over this parliament
In spite of what the IFS are reported as saying (eg ‘household incomes finally top 2008′), they confirm that real pay is down. They show median incomes for most working-age people actually fell: by -2.5% for those aged 31-59, and -7.6% for those aged 22-30 (between 2007-08 and 2014-15,…Read more…
“Social model of disability”: What’s that about?
In a week when the government is claiming credit for getting hundreds of disabled people a day into employment and global corporation Maximus is about to take over running the Work Capability Assessment from discredited ATOS, why should the TUC bother …Read more…
Taboo subject
Walking into a room of Unite members – bus drivers working on the South East coast, I mention the upcoming general election. This raises a grunt, followed by a laugh, and then a nervous silence. Politics has become a taboo subject, many don’t think it’s their place and certainly don’t feel comfortable discussing it […]
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Saying it with flowers
Domestic workers are one step closer to getting the justice they deserve, as the House of Lords passed an amendment to the Modern Slavery Bill last week which would free the migrant workers from being tied to one employer as a condition of their visa. Now, the bill must go through the House […]
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‘Funding for lending’ still fails to deliver as bank bosses reward themselves while cutting back lending to firms
As another bank boss was rewarded yesterday with another fat pay packet, (ironically timed) figures at the end of last week showed the ‘funding for lending scheme’ still failing to deliver. Banks continue to cut back on lending to firms (large and small), while soaking up cheap lending from the…Read more…
New Scottish Government Economic Strategy: Corp Tax and Inequality
There’s much to discuss in the 82 pages of the Scottish Government’s new/updated/refreshed economic strategy published today. I’ll try to return to other stuff over the next few days but confine this…Read more…
Pay deal victory
Workers maintaining tens of thousands of miles of UK motorways secured a much improved pay deal today (March 3). The Unite members, working for Amey in four different depots in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire, accepted the two-year pay deal following the first day of an unprecedented week-long strike action. Amey’s workers, who grit […]
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The value of voting
The NoVoteNoVoice whistle stop bus tour is off to Brighton and Hove tomorrow (March 4) and then onwards to Southampton the following day (March 5), in an unprecedented voter registration drive that’s hoping to reverse the millions of people missing from the electoral roll. The bus tour, organised by a coalition of groups including […]
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Viral voting: What’s good for politics is surely good for unions too
It’s good to see WebRoots Democracy’s new report into online voting “Viral voting” incorporating an important recommendation for online voting to be introduced for union balloting as well as for parliamentary votes. It’s no surprise that so many people are turned off voting…Read more…
Voting – more vital than ever
As the NoVoteNoVoice tour bus kicked off its whistle stop tour last weekend, it rolled into Rayleigh, Essex, with the cast of hit reality TV show TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex) lending a hand to encourage the nation to register to vote. As the Daily Mirror reported today (March 3), TOWIE’s stars, including […]
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Pensions tax: the questions that need to be answered
Amid all the uncertainties about post-election pensions policy, thanks to the unknown impact of fringe parties, the vagaries of coalition negotiations and the uncertain fates of individual party spokespersons, one subject looks likely to be near the top of any administration’s agenda: reform of…Read more…
Fighting a ‘broken system’
Hundreds gathered outside US-based health service firm Maximus’ headquarters in London today (March 2) to protest the tick-box regime that robs disabled people of their rightful benefits entitlements. Unite community joined the Disabled People against Cuts (DPAC) demonstration in criticism against Work Capability Assessments (WCA), degrading tests carried out by profit-hungry firms on behalf […]
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Workers treated with contempt
Milk distribution to supermarkets could be disrupted in the north of England over the Easter holiday, if the pay and conditions of a group of drivers is not protected by their new employer. The 100 drivers are on the brink of taking strike action and/or industrial action short of strike, after Arla Foods, a […]
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The East Coast Mainline: Why was the government so quiet about one of its great successes?
Organisations generally want to celebrate their successes. A bit of boasting burnishes an organisation’s public image, as well as boosting the reputations of its staff, management, and promoters. Some organisations even celebrate their failures. The Royal Bank of Scotland, majority owned by the UK…Read more…