It’s a decision which has been dogged by delays and political procrastination, put off by David Cameron to avoid a political row, and now sits in Theresa May’s in tray. For years it’s been kicked and…Read more…
Lloyds review is “counter-productive”
Lloyds Bank workers are suffering under a “counter-productive” cuts agenda Unite said, after the bank announced 1,340 more job losses this week (October 14). The redundancies will effect…Read more…
Held to account
Unite has welcomed as ‘fitting’ Labour’s creation of a brand new post of shadow steel minister. In a move designed to turn up the heat on the government Gill Furniss has been appointed to the…Read more…
We are stronger together: Union reps connecting by app
One of the things I liked most about going on trade union education courses was meeting union representatives from different unions and different workplaces. Even when I did the online TUC diploma…Read more…
What’s up with self-employment?
Last week I was perusing the latest Business; activity, size and location statistics on the ONS website (which counts as a good time in your 30s) when I noticed an interesting quirk: the number of private sector businesses continues to grow but the num…Read more…
Women earn £8,500 less a year by the time they reach their 50s
Today the TUC has published figures which show how the gender pay gap widens as you get older. The most dramatic widening happens between the 30s and 40s. The gap in annual earnings has more than doubles, increasing from £3,034 a year to £7,234 a year. By the age of 50, a woman working…Read more…
Despite Brexit worries and business lobbying, the PM must hold her nerve on minimum wage raises
In order to continue to take a place in the centre ground, the Prime Minister must stick to the government’s National Living Wage target for 2020, as this is now under some threat. When Greg Clark became business secretary, he immediately came under pressure to water down or delay the National…Read more…
Q. How did George Osborne end up borrowing FOUR TIMES more than he said he would?
A. His spending cuts crushed economic growth, meaning that in 2015-16 tax revenue fell short of expectations by £85bn. New analysis from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) carefully details exactly how Osborne managed to end up with this colossal failure to stick to his original plans:…Read more…
Soft option
About 4,000 employees at AWE Plc – the Atomic Weapons Establishment – are the latest group of UK workers to see their defined benefit pension scheme threatened with closure and an inferior…Read more…
State Pension Age: Cridland identifies the challenges but the way forward remains unclear
John Cridland, one suspects, has probably spent much of the summer in a darkened room with a cold flannel over his eyes. The former boss of the employer’s group the CBI has produced, under the auspices of his Independent Review of State Pension Age, a useful and sophisticated account of the many…Read more…
Rethink cuts
Plans to axe all the librarians working for Westminster city council and Kensington and Chelsea council will damage a first class library service and should be put to public consultation, Britain’s…Read more…
Mean spirited
The decision by the Post Office to push ahead with the closure of its defined salary pension scheme from the end of March next year has been condemned as ‘unnecessary’ and ‘mean spirited’ by Unite….Read more…
Safeguard budgets
A House of Commons debate on sudden infant death deaths should reinforce the need for health visitor budgets to be safeguarded according to Unite. Today’s (Thursday 13 October) backbench…Read more…
Fujitsu hammer blow
Fujitsu’s plans to axe 1,800 jobs – about 18 per cent of its UK workforce – has been branded ‘a hammer blow’ to the British economy by Unite. Unite national officer for IT, Ian Tonks,…Read more…
The Brexit economy: the ship seems steady, but the waters are choppy
If you’re confused about the state of the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit vote, we don’t blame you. In the past few days alone you might have heard that consumer confidence is at its highest level for two years. Maybe you’ve read that business confidence is “bouncing back” with optimism…Read more…
Combating racism
Unite is reaching out to NHS workplaces to combat the scourge of racism that holds back the promotion prospects of black Asian and ethnic minority (BAEM) workers in the health service. Unite…Read more…
Brexit: Britain voted for change
Four months after the vote, the only thing we know for sure is what we knew on the morning of June 24: we are coming out of the EU. The question is, into whose or what arms do we leap? …Read more…
Pensions: It’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world
The late James Brown had a complicated enough life without worrying about UK pensions saving. But the Godfather of Soul’s famous, if patronising, take on gender politics provides an appropriate soundtrack for the state of British retirement savings. Women make up just 36 per cent of those eligible…Read more…
Big win for Robin Hood Tax in Europe
Earlier this week, Finance Ministers from 10 Eurozone countries finally reached agreement on the principle of a Robin Hood Tax. Legislative drafting will now begin, and campaigners will be pressing the Ministers to conclude the details by December. Mea…Read more…
Official: Universal Credit is “less generous” than tax credits
For the first time, an authoritative statutory body has recognised that the cuts to Universal Credit announced in last summer’s Budget will mean that it is much less generous than was originally planned, making it effectively a cut when compared with Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit which it…Read more…