All the union news that's fit to blog...
A huge corporate power grab of health care and public services would have a devastating impact on UK citizens. But that’s just what could happen if the “Trojan Horse” – an EU-US trade deal known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)–now being drawn up behind closed doors, goes ahead. By removing “regulatory […]
The post TTIP must be opposed appeared first on UNITElive.org.
In January this year, in a move that received little media coverage at the time, this government introduced secondary legislation that would enable them to extend benefit sanctions to low paid workers who aren’t doing ‘enough’ to earn more money. Sanctions – the withholding of benefits – have been…Read more…
Trade unions have been at the forefront of fighting for women and men to be treated fairly and to avoid discrimination in the workplace. As Chief Executive of a charity working with and on behalf of young women as they enter employment for the first time I wouldn’t, of course, argue that this isn’t…Read more…
The British Bankers Association said today that there were “signs that the mortgage market is recovering”. This view is based on the fact that in February bank mortgage approvals reached a five-month high. whilst any morsel of good news is always welcome,it is certainly not time to…Read more…
The UK Statistics Authority has now responded to TUC analysis on earnings estimates for those in continuous employment. We argued that newly calculated figures showing annual earnings growth of 2.3% for those in continuous employment (in their March Ec…Read more…
Mark Harper, MP, minister for disabled people announced (23 March) a commitment by government to helping disabled people in work or into work who need adjustments or support to enable them to carry out their jobs. The Access to Work (AtW) scheme has be…Read more…
A community and 270 people’s livelihoods have been put on 12 months’ notice as Scottish Power announced yesterday (Monday 23 March) that it will be forced to bring Longannet’s closure forward to March 2016. Unite had previously called for both Scottish and UK government interventions to resolve a dispute between the company and the […]
The post The struggle for power appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Inflation fell to zero in February 2014; down from 0.3 per cent in January. Once more the figure came in lower than expectations, on this occasion for 0.1 per cent (including the Bank of England in their latest Inflation Report). CPI records only began in 1989, but ONS projections show figures…Read more…
Days before the start of the election campaign, a Committee of MPs with a government majority has just published a report worrying that benefit sanctions “do not always” avoid causing severe hardship or hurting vulnerable people. This is an important point. As I’ve pointed out in previous posts,…Read more…
Two years ago, the coalition government, vowing to tackle tax avoidance, introduced new legislation that would bar tax-shy companies from procuring government contracts. Not one company has been stopped from bidding on a contract for this reason since. Now, Unite research published on Sunday (March 23) shows that the one state service most in […]
The post NHS – national health scandal appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Saturday, March 21 marked UN Anti-Racism Day, which inspired marches and rallies all over the world.
A strong Unite contingent (pictured) joined the thousands at the rally in London, where protestors assembled in front of the BBC and marched to …Read more…
X-factor judge and former girls aloud singer, Cheryl Fernadez-Versini has joined the Unite backed campaign No Vote No Voice (NVNV) to urge young people to use their vote. Cheryl has come out in support of the campaign after ending speculation that she was considering turning her back on her Labour roots over the […]
The post Cheryl’s plea to young voters appeared first on UNITElive.org.
We know a fair deal about the detrimental growth of zero-hours contracts in the UK labour market. We know that workers on them cannot depend on how much money they will bring home or what childcare they will need from week to week. We know that typical…Read more…
Last night’s BBC Question Time (20 minutes into the iPlayer recording) featured Sajid Javid MP, a member of Cameron’s cabinet, defiantly claim that 80% of the jobs created in the past 5 years have been both full time and high-skilled in response to an audience member who was rightly concerned about…Read more…
As part of a national day of action (March 19) opposing benefit sanctions, which are now being used on an industrial scale, Unite held a demonstration outside the Department for Work and Pensions in London demanding these sanctions end.
P…Read more…
To mark UN Anti-Racism day tomorrow, Saturday 21stMarch, a call went out from Keefra- the Greek anti-nazi movement, which had success in tackling Golden Dawn- to hold anti-racist demonstrations….Read more…
Unite’s rule book sounds just the sort of dusty tome to give employment lawyers headaches. Last week our governing body, Unite’s executive, unanimously agreed to make it shorter. It recommended the deletion from our rules of six little words that have governed our union’s actions: “so far as may be lawful”. So far, so […]
The post We will fight for workers appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Trade unions are finding ways to prevent mental health problems or, if it’s already happened to get employers to enable them to continue in work.
The post Some good news on mental health (at last)? appeared first on ToUChstone blog.Read more…
Last year we began our Saving Our Safety Net campaign by focusing on the “Five Week Wait” for benefits. One of the policies that will force thousands of new claimants to spend weeks with no income is the introduction of seven “waiting days”, which were due to be brought in next month for Universal…Read more…
Rolls-Royce, the iconic luxury car manufacturer which now predominantly builds aircraft engines, owes much of its success to the thousands of highly skilled UK workers who’ve made the business the bastion of world-class engineering it is today. In a short-term bid to cut costs amid profit losses, however, Rolls-Royce announced a global restructuring exercise […]
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