This week the government published the findings of the McGregor-Smith review. The aim of the review is to report on the barriers BME people face when in work. This report is seen as an opportunity for the government to finally take action and tackle th…Read more…
Women’s Pay Day: 66 days before you start getting paid?
Spring is in the air, the blossom is on the trees, and we’re nearly a fifth of the way through 2017. So you might be surprised to learn that the average woman still hasn’t been paid for her work this year. Yes, you read that right. New analysis we’re publishing today shows that the average…Read more…
Statutory sex and relationships education: About time
The announcement this week by Justine Greening that the teaching of sex and relationships education will soon be statutory in all schools across the UK is truly welcome, so I apologise if my first response was “About time.” This is something we have been campaigning for over decades and it is great…Read more…
‘Overwhelming mandate’
A 24-hour strike today (March 2) by about 450 employees at the Oxford Bus Company was strongly supported as workers stood against hard line bosses who want to salami slice the pay and conditions of…Read more…
‘Pay more, receive more’
A new and improved pension deal for the 16,000 employees of the nuclear decommissioning authority (NDA) is to be put to workers, including members of Unite. The new proposals were hammered out…Read more…
The government takes a wrong turn on workplace pensions
On a day when official statistics revealed another welcome hike in the number of people saving in pensions, the government has just made it harder for savers when they reach retirement. Now, 68 per cent of employees are in a workplace pension scheme. T…Read more…
Don’t deal with blacklisters
Unite will tomorrow (Thursday March 2) urge London’s Haringey council not to ‘deal with blacklisters’, in a £2bn project which will see hundreds of long-standing Tottenham tenants removed from their…Read more…
‘With all our might’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey vowed that he would fight to secure a viable future for the Ford Bridgend plant as he meets with workers today (March 1) at the site in Wales. McCluskey’s…Read more…
A dark day for rights
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey vowed that Unite would not allow the Trade Union Act to stop the union from fully supporting the workers it represents, after many of the provisions of the Act…Read more…
Hammond: Shell out for NHS call
Chancellor Philip Hammond has been urged to get out his cheque book to save the financially-stricken NHS and social care system, as thousands of demonstrators prepare to march in London in support of…Read more…
The nominations for Unite GS are…
The largest number of Unite branches ever – nearly 1,500 have made nominations for three candidates in the election for the union’s general secretary, it was announced today (March 1). Len…Read more…
Steady Brexit nerves call
With Nissan today (February 28) warning MPs that it is keeping its commitment to the UK under review, despite assurances it may have been offered by the government, Unite general secretary Len…Read more…
For sanity’s sake
Benefit sanctions must be stopped to avert a national mental health crisis, doctors have warned. Doctors from Britain’s leading mental health organisations also called for an immediate review…Read more…
Stop cutting our NHS plea
A major demonstration in support of the NHS will see tens of thousands of people take to the streets in London on March 4 calling on the government to end health service funding cuts, privatisation…Read more…
Solid support
Hundreds of workers at IT giant Fujitsu are staging strike action across the UK to defend their jobs, pay and pensions, and to gain union recognition. Unite’s 1,200 members started the solidly…Read more…
Four reasons why we have more than two choices on the State Pension
Pensions can be a complex subject. So it is tempting to make the subject into a series of straightforward binary choices. The latest effort in this direction is the publication of research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies for the Work and Pensions Select Committee. This places the public…Read more…
Ford: commit to workforce
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey will tomorrow (March 1) call upon Ford to end the agony of its Welsh workforce and commit at last to the Bridgend engine plant. However, McCluskey will…Read more…
Free trade: what would it take to get union backing?
Today I was asked to give a speech at the Foreign Office by Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, about free trade. This is an edited version of my remarks. The debate over free trade is a timely one, given that those who advocate prote…Read more…
Fujitsu workers strike
Hundreds of workers at IT giant Fujitsu are staging strike action across the UK to defend their jobs, pay and pensions, and to gain union recognition. Unite’s 1,200 members will begin a 24…Read more…
‘Utterly shameful’
Coming in at 103rd out of 119 countries in a global ranking tracking wage growth since the financial crisis, the UK placed above only a handful of countries, including Greece, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and…Read more…