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…
Bangladesh breakthrough as global unions rally in defence of workers
An international campaign to support Bangladesh’s trade unions in the face of a government crackdown has won key concessions. Global unions, backed by a strong stance from brands sourcing from…Read more…
Lords begin voting on the Brexit Bill: our view
Today and Wednesday, the Article 50 Brexit bill – known formally as the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2016-17 – will get its committee stage in the House of Lords. This is the stage where most of the voting will take place on specific amendments (although there may be…Read more…
Undermined
Undermined is a one man show told through Dale’s point of view and his journey throughout the year of the miners’ strike, his community and the clash with the police. Written and performed by…Read more…
Decent work call
Unite members took their fight for decent work in hospitality including fair tips and union rights to Malmaison hotels in London and Leeds this Sunday (February 26) as the hotel chain’s big wedding…Read more…
Defending UK car jobs
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, will address representatives from the three Vauxhall plants today (February 27) on Unite’s fight to defend thousands of UK car industry jobs. McCluskey…Read more…
UK 103rd out of 112 in global ranking for real wage growth since the crisis
Over 2008 to 2015, UK real wages fell by 1% a year. This puts the UK 103rd out of 112 countries for wage growth over the post-crisis period, on the basis of International Labour Organisation figures. The average wage growth across all countries was +2.3% a year and the median +1.6%. There were…Read more…
Brexit priorities: rights, living standards and jobs
Brexit is the defining issue of British politics. Our over-riding concern is to ensure that working people don’t pay the price for Brexit, and we are making progress. But there is a lot more to do to protect people’s rights at work, and we also need to tackle the impact on living…Read more…
£33.6bn of unpaid overtime: Free work is costing us a lot
5.3 million employees worked a grand total of 2.1 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year, putting in an average of 7.7 extra hours each week. If they had been paid for all their free work, on average they would have each received an extra £6,301. Try out the TUC’s unpaid overtime calculator…Read more…
Stop bank closure call
The 72 per cent taxpayer-owned bank RBS – which benefited from a £45bn bailout after the financial crisis – today (February 24) reported its ninth consecutive year of losses, as it struggles to pay…Read more…
Further BA strikes
Members of Unite working as cabin crew for British Airways mixed fleet announced a further round of seven days of strikes today (February 24) in their ongoing pay dispute, taking the total number of…Read more…