In a major intervention, former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown this week warned that Britain’s world class automotive industry is under dire threat from a hard Brexit pledged by the Tories,…Read more…
Industrial Strategy: Which sectors should we focus our support on?
If industrial policy is suddenly so popular amongst politicians wanting our votes, why was it so controversial before now? The answer to that question lies in the fact that industrial policy has been based on an understanding that some business sectors…Read more…
Tories’ ‘hit and miss’ plans
Unite has blasted the Tories’ “ad hoc” “hit and miss” industrial strategy, after details of the government’s deal with Nissan emerged. The Times obtained a four page letter from Nissan…Read more…
Unite pioneers e-education
With adult education undergoing years of painful cuts, Unite is pioneering new online training and education to ensure that working people do not lose out on skills and development. Research…Read more…
‘Sensible bonus’ call
Unions representing construction workers at Hinkley Point are hopeful that the dispute over bonus payments can be resolved after fresh talks were promised. The unions involved,Unite and GMB,…Read more…
Top store in under pay shock
John Lewis has long been lauded for its staff-centred approach – their employee ownership model means workers share in the profits and so have a direct connection to the value they create. But…Read more…
Strike ‘pane’ in windows row
The strikes over pay and shift patterns at Sierra Windows in Paignton, Devon could spread to another company in Newton Abbot, part of the same Specialist Building Products group. A total of 44…Read more…
Why all the political parties should be talking about pay, jobs and rights?
What’s at stake for working people in this election? Economic issues increasingly risk being the dog that didn’t bark in this election. The 2015 campaign saw a fierce debate about the figures, whether on the scale of the cost-of-living crisis or the size of the deficit, at the centre of parties’…Read more…
Active industrial strategy: Where should the next government put its money?
The main parties in this election are committed to an active industrial strategy, a great improvement over years of leaving much of the development of industry to market forces. But we need to see the detail. As they publish their manifestos, we’ll be watching closely to see what their own…Read more…
Continued record real wage declines are not the only way to employment growth
For UK workers the financial crisis has morphed into a real earnings crisis. OECD forecasts suggest that there will be very little respite in the next parliament. Over 2017 and 2018 UK real wages are expected to decline by -0.5%. Only Greece, Italy and…Read more…
Blacklisting fight goes on
A year after Unite, the largest union for construction workers, secured a historic victory for blacklisted workers, the union is still fighting for justice for victims of the scandal. The High…Read more…
‘Unjustified’ job losses
Unite, which represents staff at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has expressed opposition to the announcement today (May 9) that the bank has decided to cut another 334 jobs and offshore more jobs to…Read more…
Brexit race to the bottom?
Working people in both the EU and the UK – especially those in low-skilled jobs – could have their working rights eroded after Brexit, new TUC research shows. The report, conducted on behalf…Read more…
‘Quality, not just quantity’
Full employment was once thought to be a pipe dream. But now with more people aged 16 to 64 in work than since records began in 1971, the UK has made near full employment a reality. Still,…Read more…
Worker Voice: the missing element of the Government’s Industrial Strategy
How important is the voice of workers to the success of industry? Needless to say, industrial success is a collaborative process: the best companies enjoy the benefits of excellent management, engaged shareholders (or a visionary owner) and a talented,…Read more…
Pay row resolved
Workers at three DHL Supply Chain sites in South Yorkshire have overwhelmingly accepted an improved pay offer of 2.6 per cent for the year starting June 2016. Unite said that the 15 days of…Read more…
‘We proved the world wrong’
It’s been nearly a year since hundreds of steelworkers from across the UK descended on Parliament in a march to save an industry that forms the bedrock of all UK manufacturing. At the time,…Read more…
Checking out of the NHS
Stressed NHS staff are leaving to work in supermarkets because they are so demoralised by years of receiving 1 per cent pay rises or nothing at all, health service bosses warned yesterday (May 7)….Read more…
Most of us will end up voting for an active industrial strategy. So what will we get?
General election campaigns are an opportunity for competing political parties to set out their visions of the economic and social future of the country. Those visions can be markedly different, but going into this campaign we are in the happy position …Read more…
Devo Manc: unions will be hitting the ground running with the new Mayor
As expected, Andy Burnham has been elected as the new Mayor for Greater Manchester. Whilst the result may not be a great surprise, it is nonetheless important. With a population of 2.7million, Greater Manchester has the biggest set of devolved responsi…Read more…