Today the OECD issue their twice yearly Economic Outlook, setting out their view of how the economy will develop, and how governments should respond. Their message for the UK government is clear: they need to invest. The headline on their economic comm…Read more…
Love Equality – the fight for same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland
It was whilst working at Royal Mail at the central Tomb Street sorting office in Belfast in 2002 that I first truly fathomed the transformational power of the trade union movement. A 20-year-old…Read more…
Can we trust the Rusty Lady?
The union I have the privilege of leading, Unite, is glad that the questions of trust and leadership are now centre-stage in this election. For the past seven years, the Conservatives have run…Read more…
May has questions to answer
Trade unions and Labour have said that Theresa May has questions to answer over cuts to emergency and police services while she was home secretary. Sadiq Khan also this morning warned that the…Read more…
Wake up and smell the coffee
Low paid hospitality workers today (Tuesday June 6) protested outside the Grand Connaught rooms in relation to the low pay and exploitative practices in their sectors and told hospitality bosses to…Read more…
Why auto-enrolment matters to women
Auto-enrolment is a Government initiative designed to encourage workers to save for their retirement. By 2018 all employers must enrol their eligible employees into a workplace…Read more…
This election is a chance for a new deal for working people: Let’s not waste it
It seems that every election, the parties tell us it’s the most important election for a generation. But this one genuinely could be. Whoever ends up forming the next government, at the top of their…Read more…
Tories education on a shoestring
At St Nicolas’ Church of England school in Taplow – part of the Prime Minister’s constituency – parents are being asked to donate up to £30 a month to cover a projected £40,000 shortfall and avoid…Read more…
Vote for change
It was the moment all could see that this Empress has No Clothes. The Prime Minister flapping her arms and shrilling that nothing had changed as she U-turned on her voter-poison social care plan….Read more…
Chicken factory closure confirmed
The 2 Sisters Food Group has confirmed that the Smethwick plant in the West Midlands will close on June 23 this year. The poultry processing plant employs 630 workers and 530 of them are Unite…Read more…
Public servants need a #PayRise: Stories from the North West
One of the strongest themes we’ve heard on the North West leg of our Britain Still Needs A Pay Rise tour has been what’s happening to wages in the public sector. Traditionally seen as a sector of “good jobs”, the years since the crash have seen a dramatic reversal. In…Read more…
West Midlands devolution – ending the fly-over state
Devolution has a long history. The election of metro mayor’s across the UK was just the latest milestone in the devolution journey. Successive governments have recognised that the UK is far too centralised and that to unlock the full potential of the UK’s nations and region’s Whitehall needs to…Read more…
‘Most popular policy’
Extortionate rail fares that never fail to rise above the rate of inflation now seem as British as dreary weather. Europe, however, is known for having friendlier climes and superior…Read more…
‘Remarkable’ transformation
On its first anniversary British Steel, which took over Tata’s Scunthorpe steelworks last year, has given workers a 5 percent stake in the business after returning a profit of £47m. Unite…Read more…
Growth of insecure work has added to labour market disadvantage for Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups
The growth of insecure work has exacerbated the inequalities that Black, Asian and minority (BAME) ethnic workers already face. The experience of insecure work differs between different ethnic groups, but the overall pattern is one in which BAME worker…Read more…
Lifeline collapse
The shock collapse of the UK’s leading drug and alcohol charity, Lifeline, which was heavily reliant on income from public sector contracts, should set alarm bells ringing, Unite has warned, as it…Read more…
Strike vote over cuts
Refuse collection workers at Birmingham city council have started voting in an industrial action ballot today (May 31) amid accusations of financial mismanagement and an overspend by council bosses…Read more…
‘Hidden’ food banks
Hundreds of “hidden” food banks have revealed record levels of food poverty in the UK. Research from the Independent Food Aid Network (Ifan) indicates that the true level of food poverty…Read more…
Stanlow pensions row
Essar Stanlow staff at the refinery plant in Ellesmere Port are being balloted for industrial action in a row over pensions. Unite started balloting over 350 of its members in the collective…Read more…
Sticking together
Members of Unite have stuck together on the first day (May 30) of 11 days of scheduled strikes, in a dispute over pay, at the Stafford factory of Bostik the adhesive and sealant manufacturer. …Read more…