All the union news that's fit to blog...
In a sincere plea for a reformed, inclusive democracy, author and commentator Owen Jones implored a Festival of Debate audience (March 9) to commit to actively taking part in uniting against the Establishment. Speaking at a packed University of Sheffield meeting, he said, “I want to address this culture of redirecting our anger to our […]
The post Standing on the shoulders of giants appeared first on UNITElive.org.
Julia Varley is the subject of the second in a series of short books on great men and women who feature prominently in the history of Unite and its predecessor unions. Born in Bradford 1871, Julia was influenced by her great grandfather. Joseph B Alderson had supported the 1830s Chartist working-class movement that agitated […]
The post A true union daughter appeared first on UNITElive.org.
The former head of the EU’s Safety and Health at Work Agency Jukka Takala has sounded a wake-up call: cancers induced by working conditions kill over 100,000 people in the European Union each year….Read more…
The wealth of top earners has risen sharply while the wealth of the poorest has slumped dramatically, according to a new report. The wealth of top earners rose by two-thirds at the same time the wealth of the lowest paid dropped by nearly the same amount. Debts owed by the highest earners have […]
The post Poor still paying price appeared first on UNITElive.org.
We are grateful to the ONS for their response to yesterday’s piece on pay growth for those in continuous employment. Our concern is that the 4.1 per cent figure has been widely used as guide to central, average or underlying experience in the economy. For example, in the Autumn Statement the…Read more…
Anti-austerity campaigner and war veteran Harry Smith urges students at Manchester University (March 11) to register and use their votes as part of the No Vote, No Voice campaign For me politics is personal because in my lifetime the defining moments in our country’s history have been decided by elections. I have always seen free […]
The post Seize your destiny appeared first on UNITElive.org.
It’s the government’s own National Apprenticeship Week – a week celebrating the positive impact training schemes can have for those seeking a way into skilled, well-paying work. While many apprenticeships are little more than exploitative work arrangements, there are some on offer that truly change lives. Building Lives, a construction apprenticeship sponsored by the Construction […]
The post Apprentices locked out appeared first on UNITElive.org.
You may have thought the pantomime season was over. Oh no it isn’t. Panto dames Scam and Ossie have been hard at work. It’s election budget flash the cash time. Like magic, money which has been scarce will suddenly start appearing. The next budget on 18 March will be the last show of […]
The post Panto dames don’t fool us appeared first on UNITElive.org.
On the #NoVoteNoVoice bus we’re asking those to vote who usually don’t get asked. We paid a visit to Ty-Phoo tea in Moreton, Chester, to register the people behind 120 million cups of tea per week. Speaking to this well organised workforce it’s clear that there is a lot of interest in the upcoming general […]
The post Brewing up for change appeared first on UNITElive.org.
It has been a mantra of successive governments that the public do not care who provides their public services, only what works in practice. But surveys and opinion polls are pretty consistent in demonstrating public unease and scepticism about the role…Read more…
Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude yesterday made an impromptu statement to Parliament. He claimed to have delivered for the tax payer by reducing civil service union facility time. While this may play…Read more…
ONS figures today show manufacturing output falling -0.5 per cent between December 2014 and January 2015. Overall, the index of production (which includes energy use and extraction) fell by only -0.1 per cent, because mining and quarrying rose by 2.0 per cent (related to the extraction of crude…Read more…
The Prime Minister recently claimed that everyone who had been in work for more than a year had had a 4.1 per cent pay rise (see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2840753/Britain-gets-1-pay-rise-Weekly-earnings-just-0-1-unless-work-year.html) ON…Read more…
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the proportion of workers who have suffered a fall in the real value of their hourly pay (that is, after taking inflation into account) is higher than you would expect, still higher than it was …Read more…
Despite the enormous strides women have made in gaining gender equality, the dream of equal pay for equal work is still far from becoming a reality. The pay gap between men and women remains stubbornly high at almost 20 per cent. And this average figure obscures more alarming gender pay gap trends among different […]
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On International Women’s Day (March 8) women took to the streets around London Bridge, many in suffragette costume, to highlight the importance of women registering to vote. Participants and speakers include Emmeline Pankhurst’s granddaughter Helen and great granddaughter Laura, who at 19 is a first time voter; Made in Dagenham star Gemma Arterton, […]
The post Deeds not words appeared first on UNITElive.org.
A new Unite guide aimed at encouraging women into engineering and science apprenticeships, Women apprentices, has been launched today (March 10) with the help of Labour MP, Gloria de Piero. As part of the pink bus ‘woman to woman’ tour of 70 key constituencies Labour’s shadow minister for women and equalities took time to speak […]
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Unite supported NoVoteNoVoice bus tour on film. Bus tour day 2 – Wembley Bus tour day 3 –Hastings Stagecoach Bus tour day 4 – Sussex Uni Bus tour day 5 – Southampton Find out more about #NoVoteNoVoice, Unite’s coalition campaign aiming to get everyone registered to vote, here.
The post On the road to registering appeared first on UNITElive.org.
To find out more about #NoVoteNoVoice, Unite’s coalition campaign with the Mirror and other campaign groups, visit our website here.
The post Remember the playground? appeared first on UNITElive.org.
I left home aged 18 to go to polytechnic in London and never moved back to live at home with my parents yet every general election time my mum would always call me and remind me to vote and rightly castigate me if I ever tried to say it’s not worth it. I grew […]
The post Songs of power appeared first on UNITElive.org.