Members of Unite working for British Airways’ mixed fleet yesterday (July 19) announced a further 14 days of strike action amid warnings that the airline’s attempts to bribe people into not striking…Read more…
5 reasons why a “dependent contractor” test is a bad idea
One of the more curious suggestions to emerge from the Taylor Review is the proposal to replace the concept of “worker” in employment law with that of “dependent contractor”. This proposal might sound interesting, but here’s 5 reasons why it may not be such a good idea. All working people…Read more…
Follow the money: How do the tax and social security proposals in the Taylor Review measure up?
The rise of insecure work has had real consequences for both personal budgets and the national exchequer. The lower earnings and lower tax paid by the self-employed and those on zero hours contracts means the rise in insecure work has come with a £5bn price tag for the exchequer. But the cost of…Read more…
The Taylor Review – should the Low Pay Commission be given more to do?
The Taylor review of modern working practices contains some important recommendations on low pay, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the Low Pay Commission (LPC). Taylor’s broad aim of empowering the LPC to do more to promote decent work is the right one, so the short answer to the question in the…Read more…
After seven years of pay cuts, I’m not proud to be a prison officer anymore
I started working for the prison service in 2005. Back then I was proud of what I did. I enjoyed the job and loved working with troubled teens. I had time to spend with the lads and could share my…Read more…
‘Out in the cold’
Members of Unite will be joining campaigners and concerned families in a march to save 19 Sure Start children centres and up to 50 staff from the axe by Medway Council tomorrow (Thursday July 20)….Read more…
May – help hungry kids plea
With the schools breaking up for the long summer holidays, Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden appealed to the prime minister to do more to help families worried about how to feed their children during…Read more…
Construction chaos on cards
Construction union Unite has begun balloting its members at HTC Wolffkran for strike action in a dispute over pay. Unite has taken the ‘regrettable’ decision to seek a mandate from its members…Read more…
‘Cruel illusion’
A 0.3 per cent drop in inflation is “cold comfort” for working people whose wages continue to fall in real terms, Unite said yesterday (July 18). The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) June…Read more…
An economic and social audit of the ‘City’
As its many champions constantly tell us, the City provides huge benefits to our economy in the form of contribution to GDP, tax take, balance of payments, employment and usage of financial services by UK households. This is undoubtedly true. But, the Financial Inclusion Centre’s new report for the…Read more…
Bus safety now call
Unite bus drivers demanded London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) must implement the findings of the London Assembly transport committee report, Driven to distraction, as a matter of…Read more…
Repeal Bill rights threat
The publication of the Tory’s Repeal Bill on July 13 was greeted with a barrage of criticism and vows to have it struck down in Parliament. Unite warned that the Prime Minister’s pledge to…Read more…
Bin pre-employment health screening
Last week Iberian Airlines, part of the same company as British Airways, were fined €25,000 for asking a recruitment company to do medical screening of prospective cabin crew that included checking…Read more…
Public sector workers are asking for a fair pay rise, not a windfall
David Chrimes is a Crown Advocate employed by the Crown Prosecution Service. He writes about why, after a seven-year squeeze, public sector workers deserve a pay rise. For us, this isn’t about pitting public sector against private sector. It’s simply about securing fair pay, which…Read more…
Workers stranded in diplomatic stand-off as Qatar and Saudi Arabia square up
As wealthy Gulf states face off over long simmering diplomatic differences, foreign workers in both countries are at risk of bearing the brunt of the dispute. An ongoing row in the Gulf over Qatar’s alleged links to terrorist groups, with the wealthy nation blockaded by a group of neighbours led by…Read more…
A new Anti-Slavery Charter: how to combat slavery in the 21st Century
Unionised workforces cannot be enslaved. This is because of the simple fact that a unionised workforce is harder to exploit by even the most unscrupulous employers. But that self-evident truth is one that many who profess themselves concerned with the …Read more…
Future economies: what next for globalisation and trade?
Last week I was invited to the British-German Forum – a symposium for young people from both countries – at Wilton Park, an agency of the FCO, to talk with my colleague Jan Stern from the German trade union confederation the DGB, about the issues facing globalisation. Here’s an…Read more…
The ‘not so Great’ Repeal Bill – what’s in it for working people?
Over the last year, the TUC has highlighted just how many of the workplace rights most of us take for granted come from Europe and how these rights could be at risk as we prepare to leave the EU. The government has sought to allay these concerns by pro…Read more…
What the Taylor Review says about learning and skills
Apart from the specialist press, such as the TES, coverage of the proposals in the Taylor Review on learning and skills has been limited. This is not too surprising considering the focus of the review on tackling contentious employment rights issues in…Read more…
Supreme Court battle leads to survivors’ pension equality for same-sex couples
Congratulations to John Walker! For eleven years, he has been fighting his employer and the government, so that his husband can receive his pension when he dies. He had to fight because, until today, the law permitted same sex couples to be discriminated against. Today the Supreme Court upheld…Read more…