Today the government will publish its Trade Unions Bill – a grossly unfair package of measures that will tip the balance of power in the workplace. The proposals will make getting a much-needed pay rise, stopping job losses or negotiating better conditions at work much more difficult. They’ll make…Read more…
Swaziland: is the pressure working?
We’ve been pressing for a change of course in Swaziland for many years. It’s Africa’s last feudal dictatorship. It has the world’s highest rate of HIV-AIDS infection. And…Read more…
Workers’ struggles headline at the Show
The historic struggles of working people were brought to life at the Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) today (July 14) by Unite’s North East Yorkshire and Humberside region. Schoolchildren and…Read more…
Half the CPI shopping basket is now showing price falls
June 2015 CPI inflation was back at zero, from 0.1% in May. Likewise core inflation (excluding energy, food, alcohol & tobacco ) was back at 0.8% from 0.9% in May. Falling prices are now seen throughout the index. ONS publish CPI figures broken down into some 85 non-overlapping categories (e.g….Read more…
For ‘fox sake’ Cameron
Today (Tuesday July 14) the Tories cynically postponed the fox hunting ban amendment which was scheduled to be voted on in the House of Commons tomorrow. The move reeks of suspicion and…Read more…
Blacklisting: High Court case hearing
The road to justice for blacklisted construction workers continues as a hearing takes place today (July 14) at the High Court in preparation for a full trial scheduled for May of next year. It…Read more…
Pay protest – strong as ever
Hundreds of highly skilled construction workers and their supporters gathered at all four entrance gates to the Wilton complex on Teesside to protest at Sita/Sembcorp in their #PayTheRate campaign on…Read more…
Mayday! The helmsman of the green economy is way off course
The Conservative manifesto 2015 said nothing about increasing road taxes. If anything, it implied the opposite: “We will make motoring greener … to protect your environment.” But the Chancellor’s Budgets changes mean that from 2017 a new greener car will cost nearly £1,000 more….Read more…
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda”: yet more evidence suggests income beats choice in retirement
Beverley Knight is a woman well aware of the consequences of poor decision-making. “Now ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda’ means I’m out of time, “Coz ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda’, can’t change your mind.” Inexplicably, popular music tends to gives more attention to matters of the heart than it…Read more…
Of course I’ll defend the rights Europe has delivered. But we want better, not just more of the same!
David Cameron is touring national capitals around Europe garnering support for his pre-referendum EU renegotiation strategy. And because his strategy seems to be bad news for British workers, he sometimes finds we’ve been there first. Today, for example, I’ll be travelling to Luxembourg…Read more…
Organise and win – like the Chainmakers
Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland (pictured left) on Sunday (July 12) helped Midlands trade unionists celebrate the successful achievements of 800 striking women Chainmakers in 1910 by…Read more…
Missing skills emergencies
The UK is now facing an emergency skills crisis in key sectors including manufacturing, construction, science and engineering, the Confederation of British Industry warned today (July 13). The…Read more…
Building on sand
‘Fixing The Foundations’, the government’s plan to ‘boost productivity, was launched this week by business secretary Sajid Javid. Addressing workers at a UK automotive factory, Javid talked…Read more…
The shambles that wrecks lives
More than 30 Unite Community activists and local residents protested outside an ex Unite shop steward’s house today (Monday July 13) to stop bailiff’s evicting him and his severely disabled daughter….Read more…
Apprentices levy: government skills policy paradigm shift
It’s a game changer – that is the general reaction to the news of a levy on large employers to pay for apprentices. It has met with much surprise too. Is this really what we expect from a Conservative government? Something that three successive Labour governments felt was a step too far?…Read more…
Council signs up to Fight for 5
We have just learned that a Unite young activist has signed his employer up to Unite’s #fightfor5 pledge for decent work for all. Joe McGurk (pictured), who is part of Unite’s youth committee and…Read more…
The passion and the colour
It was cheers all round for Unite general secretary Len McCluskey when he announced at Saturday’s (July 11) 150,000 strong Durham Miners’ Gala that, “Unite has signed up 50,000 of our members to take…Read more…
Cameron playing with fire on workers’ rights
The TUC has been criticised for crying wolf over the Prime Minister’s plans to use the EU renegotiation phase of the referendum strategy to attack workers’ rights. But today’s media stories suggest we are spot on the money on both working time and temporary agency workers. The…Read more…
Clock is ticking for Ofsted on FoI requests
On June 30, ATL submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request regarding the failure of 1,200 inspectors to pass Ofsted’s rigorous new assessment process: Dear Madam/Sir Freedom of…Read more…
Honour pay deal call
The delivery of cash to the UK’s 4,500 post offices could be hit, if a group of Post Office managers take industrial action over the management’s refusal to make an agreed one-off payment of between…Read more…