This afternoon, exactly a year after murderous gunmen burst into the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to kill people doing their jobs, French trade unions have organised a…Read more…
Save our insurance jobs
Unite members at insurance giant Legal & General’s (L&G) flagship site in Kingswood, Surrey, have voted today (January 6) in favour of industrial action to save over 1,500 jobs. In an…Read more…
Fears for patient care and jobs
The double whammy of two key failed NHS policies – privatisation and PFI debt – have contributed to the potential merger of two mid-Anglia NHS trusts – possibly affecting patient care and jobs…Read more…
Paying for privilege to care
Protesters will take to London’s streets this Saturday to demonstrate against Tory plans to cut student nursing bursaries in England and replace them with loans. The plans, which were…Read more…
It’s official, most people back online strike ballots. So why won’t the #TUbill allow them?
We’ve published the results of a new poll today, showing that the majority of the British public think that unions should be able to use electronic balloting to vote for industrial action. YouGov talked to a representative sample of 1,711 adults. 53% told them that secure online voting for…Read more…
Strike over Smart meters
A week-long strike by EDF Energy workers carrying out Smart meter installations will take place next week (January 11), after Acas talks failed to make a break through. Unite suspended a…Read more…
Fat cat Tuesday injustice
By the end of today (January 5) the UK’s top bosses will have earned more money than the average worker will do in a year, claims campaign group the High Pay Centre. The group has named today…Read more…
Unfair fares are up
This week (January 4) rail fares increased to the anger of commuters, who have been left to pick up the cost of rail privatisation. The increase of one per cent increase to season tickets and…Read more…
The State Pension muddle and 1950s women
On Thursday, Mhairi Black, the youngest MP in the House of Commons, will do her bit for intergenerational solidarity by opening a House of Commons debate on State Pension age changes. A long-simmering row over the impact on women born in the 1950s of a combination of State Pension Age equalisation…Read more…
Times tables tests – as easy as 1, 2, 3?
By Anne Heavey, Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Happy New Year! Yesterday Nicky Morgan announced that in 2017 every 11 year old child will take an online test to check that they know their times…Read more…
Flooding – dealing with the aftermath
The last few weeks have seen misery for people in many parts of the country as they have battled with the floods and their aftermath, both in their homes and their workplaces. For many people, this…Read more…
Help make life better for women trade unionists in Libya
Want to start the New Year with some global solidarity? Our friends at LabourStart are running an e-action with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) on behalf of Nermin Al-Sharif,…Read more…
Do you know where your next meal is coming from? ‘Free’ traders say you mustn’t!
Just before Christmas, the US Congress caved in to a ruling from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and agreed that displaying the country of origin of beef and pork products should no longer be required. Canadian and Mexican meat producers (and the U…Read more…
2016 is the year to end the two-speed economy
Decent wages and security for your family shouldn’t just be the preserve of those at the top of the tree, but should be on offer for everyone.
The post 2016 is the year to end the two-speed economy appeared first on ToUChstone blog.Read more…
Sir Lynton Crosby? Two countries, one strategy – weakening unions to make attacks on workers easier
In the New Year’s Honours List, David Cameron’s Australian attack dog Lynton Crosby is expected to receive a knighthood for his services to the Conservative Party. But his assistance has…Read more…
Somalia’s unions will not be cowed by violence
Yesterday, Omar Faruk Osman, the leader of our sister organisation in Somalia – the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) – was the subject of an assassination attempt (thankfully…Read more…
TTIP: due for a diet in the New Year resolutions?
When the negotiations for an EU-US trade deal – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – were launched back in 2013, advocates of the deal predicted that it could be completed “on one tank of gas”, before the US Presidential elections brought Barack…Read more…
Turkish unions protest for peace
While many trade unionists in the west are relaxing due to the gains of trade unionism (like holidays), workers in other parts of the world are still struggling for what we consider essential. Like…Read more…
China: we say no to market economy status
The Financial Times has today reported that the US government is pressing the European Commission not to grant China ‘Market Economy Status’ (MES), which under WTO rules would allow far more undercutting by Chinese exports into the EU. The UK government is on the record as a supporter…Read more…
Len McCluskey’s hopes for 2016
Tempting as it is to slip into dejection by the prospect of four more years of this appalling Tory administration gifted to us by this ending year, let us opt for optimism for the one to come. …Read more…