Most autistic people want to work, but often encounter difficulties in the workplace which employers can address better. Author and workplace trade union representative Janine Booth, who is on the…Read more…
‘Pothole’ nation?
Speculation over what chancellor Phillip Hammond will unveil in his Autumn Statement on Wednesday (November 23) is running high, but one thing is certain – infrastructure spending will be a top…Read more…
‘Kind words and false promises’
Shameless Theresa May has ruled out installing worker representatives on company boards, just four months after her pledge to do so. The Prime Minister, who after her appointment as Tory…Read more…
‘Sickening blow’
News that crane and plant hire specialist Hewden is going into administration was described as a ‘sickening blow’ by Unite as it today (November 22) pledged to fight to secure as many jobs as…Read more…
‘We are all Daniel Blake’ protest
Members of Unite Community’s West London branch will stage a ‘We are all Daniel Blake’ protest outside four west London job centres tomorrow (November 23) from 11am, as part of a day of action…Read more…
Lessons unlearned
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the UK will have the “lowest corporate tax rate in the G20” ahead of her government’s first Autumn Statement, while Chancellor Philip Hammond hinted that…Read more…
Chancellor should ensure more money for a fairer deal on migration
Yesterday the TUC released a report calling on the Chancellor to use the Autumn Financial Statement on Wednesday to significantly increase the amount going to a Migration Impacts Fund so that areas that have experienced industrial decline, cuts to services and significant recent increases in…Read more…
5 tips for union reps to support disabled workers
I have been a trade union rep for almost a decade and am now the policy officer for disability equality at the TUC. I have also had reasonable adjustments myself. Disability History Month (#UKDHM) is…Read more…
Women are being held back by unrewarding, low-paid, part-time work
Despite some progress, women still take the lion’s share of domestic and family responsibilities. Over 40% of women, compared to just 12% of men, work part-time. This is part of the reason that progress on closing the gender pay gap has been so painfully slow. There are far too few opportunities to…Read more…
Ernest Bevin and three lessons for ‘Rethinking Economics’
(This post is the fuller version of remarks I made at the launch of Econocracy: The Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts, by Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins of ‘Rethinking Economics, London School of Economics, 21ST November 2016.) Parallels have rightly been drawn between the…Read more…
Workers on boards would become part of a new, and better, normal
The Prime Minister used her speech to the CBI this morning to appear to dilute her previous commitment to put workers on company boards. If this is the case, it represents a huge missed opportunity to put in place a different model for British business…Read more…
Standing up to ‘corporate greed’
Workers at drinks giant Diageo have voted to take industrial action over plans to slash their pensions at a time when the company is making massive profits. Members of Unite voted by an…Read more…
Bleak future?
On the eve of the government’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday (November 23), Unite has revealed the necessity of immediate state intervention following a survey of the offshore…Read more…
Young worker’s Challenge #7: Precarious working conditions
This month we’re counting down the ten most significant challenges faced by young workers. Young people’s experience of work is increasingly dominated by precarious working conditions. It might be…Read more…
The vindictive policy that punishes children for having more than one brother or sister
Last year, in his summer Budget, George Osborne announced a couple of measures designed to penalise large low-income families. One was the reduction in the Benefit Cap, from £26,000 to £23,000 in London, £20,000 elsewhere. The limit mainly applies to people who need to claim Housing Benefit for…Read more…
ACT NOW! Freedom for Iranian teacher union leader Esmail Abdi
The international trade union movement continues to deplore the actions of the Iranian government in its heavy handed stance of imprisoning trade unionists on unjust, trumped up charges. One such…Read more…
Brexit means Brexit. Workers on boards means workers on boards
We’re looking forward to the Prime Ministers speech this morning to the CBI, and any detail on the pledge she made in her conference speech to build ‘a country that works for everyone’. Theresa May’s signature policy to date has been her plan to include workers on company boards. In her pitch to…Read more…
Public sector cuts are stalling progress on closing the gender pay gap
Now at 9.4%, the gender pay gap has barely budged in recent years. Since 2011 the full-time gap has fallen by just 0.2 percentage points a year. At this rate it will take over 40 years to achieve pay parity between men and women. This means a young wom…Read more…
For trade unions, Trans Day of Remembrance reminds us we must organise for trans equality
A trans person is killed globally every 1.4 days and black trans women are most heavily represented in these figures. Trans Remembrance Day is a time to remember the lives lost through hate and violence. In the workplace, three in five (60%) of trans workers have experienced some form of…Read more…
From gender reassignment to trade union activist – my story
Unions: not them; us. “Think not what your union can do for you but what you can do for your union.” Actually when I went through gender reassignment, my thoughts were very much with what my union…Read more…