As night falls over Whitechapel the young men in black shirts spill into the narrow streets looking for a fight. Members of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, they prowl around, seeking out…Read more…
#SouthernBackOnTrack – Safety spun in numbers
Southern Rail – having seemed to have learnt nothing from their disastrous social media campaign yesterday with #southernbackontrack – have come back for more of a metaphorical kicking….Read more…
Housing crisis solved at #CPC16?
Perhaps not quite yet, I fear. Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced a new scheme to support house-building at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday, saying that: “We want to ensure everyone has a safe and secure place to live and that means we’ve got…Read more…
‘In it together’
Unite took to the streets of Birmingham yesterday (October 2) alongside thousands of others from all walks of life to send a clear message to the government that the British people have had enough of…Read more…
Dispute settled
The pay dispute at Menzies Distribution, which had threatened deliveries to newsagents across the UK, has been settled after workers voted to accept an improved offer, Unite said on Friday (September…Read more…
Double blow for Bromley council
Bromley council has been dealt a double blow to its plans to sell-off the borough’s treasured libraries. Bexley council has informed Bromley council that it will no longer be looking to…Read more…
A home is a human right
Families evicted by private landlords are becoming homeless in record numbers because they can’t afford a place to live, shocking new government figures show. Nearly a third of the 15,170…Read more…
Celebrating decent jobs
So much focus has been on bad jobs and bad employers recently like Sports Direct, with their shameful warehouse working conditions and zero hours contracts that rob people of any quality family life….Read more…
Andy Hall’s conviction in Thailand a blow to free speech & workers’ rights
On Monday 20 September, British-born migrant and labour rights activist Andy Hall was found guilty on charges of criminal defamation by a court in Bangkok, Thailand, and sentenced to a three year…Read more…
Cambodian unions still not satisfied with minimum wage increase
Cambodian unions have reacted with anger to the Government’s decision to fix next year’s minimum wage for garment workers at $153 a month, way below the $171 pcm that unions had demanded,…Read more…
As Portugal tries to take back control of Metro Lisbon, Mexican privateers turn to #ISDS
One of the main complaints unions make about the investment protection elements of trade deals known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is that it would be used against governments trying to bring privatised services back into public ownership. “Oh no it won’t!” cry…Read more…
Is the decline of manufacturing really ‘natural evolution’?
According to conventional wisdom, industrial trends follow a natural evolution from agriculture to manufacturing and finally to services. Fascinating long-run data from the ONS (based on employment information from census records since the mid-C19) sug…Read more…
easyJet: Staff breast feeding victory
Expectant mothers and mothers of young children have never had it worse in the workplace – a wide-ranging Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) study published earlier this year found that the…Read more…
No way to treat workers
Irish drinks giant C&C has been accused of behaving with ‘cavalier contempt’ towards its Shepton Mallet Cider Mill workforce, as confusion swirls about the employment prospects of the remaining…Read more…
Decent pay rise call
Chancellor Philip Hammond should use the autumn statement to signal a massive cash injection into the crisis-hit NHS, allowing the independent Pay Review Body to help restore the pay of a…Read more…
Labour and Tory policies– oceans apart
Liverpool looked glorious as we departed Labour’s conference yesterday afternoon (Wednesday September 28). The summer’s hullabaloo was setting as a new, rosy red optimistic spirit descended upon the…Read more…
100 days after the #Brexit vote & we’re still in the dark on workers’ rights
It’s been 100 days since Britain voted to leave the EU, and still we’re no clearer about what Brexit means. In particular, despite Remain and Leave voters agreeing that workers’ rights should be maintained, the Prime Minister has failed to commit to that. The TUC is calling today…Read more…
‘No-go area’ for women
The higher up the income ladder you are in the UK, the less likely it is that you’re a woman. This was the conclusion of a new report by the London School of Economics out this week (September 26)…Read more…
Ripoff bosses
Just three companies have been prosecuted for paying below the minimum wage in the past two and a half years, despite the government naming and shaming 700. Since February 2014 HM Revenue and…Read more…
Transparency call
Serious questions need to be asked about the reasons for the closure of General Electric Power Conversion plant in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire with the loss of about 240 jobs, Unite said yesterday…Read more…