Unite called on Lloyds Banking Group to give a no compulsory redundancy guarantee today (July 28) as the banking group announced a further 3,000 job losses and the closure of 200 branches by the end…Read more…
Drop pay plans call
Penny pinching bosses at Capita’s life and pensions division were being urged to drop a ‘derisory’ pay offer resulting in a real terms pay cut for 75 per cent staff after the firm posted half year…Read more…
Bus drivers ‘cancer’ scandal
Weymouth bus drivers, suffering from cancer and serious heart conditions, have been told by hard-hearted bosses that they will have their sick pay docked while the strikes over ‘poverty pay’…Read more…
‘Don’t be fooled’
Theresa May’s new head of policy has drawn up plans to cut workers’ rights, and lower wages for employees in poor areas, despite the Prime Minister’s inaugural pledge to help working people rather…Read more…
Give the ‘green light’
Unite today (July 27) urged the board of energy giant EDF to give the green light on the final investment decision for the new Hinckley Point nuclear power station. The call comes ahead of…Read more…
No justification
NI Executive must take control of funding provided for higher education to ensure working-class children are not excluded, Unite has argued. Sean Smyth, Unite regional officer with…Read more…
Leeds bus strike suspended
Leeds bus workers, who have suspended their all-out strike due to have started today (July 26), will be voting on a new improved two-year pay deal over the next fortnight. Unite said that the…Read more…
Priti Patel: right this disparity
The new international development secretary Priti Patel is being asked what steps are being taken for the 200 NHS workers and academics, who risked their lives in combating the deadly Ebola virus…Read more…
Blatant exploitation
Workers at the Fawley oil refinery will stage a second 24-hour strike tomorrow (July 27) in the dispute that sees foreign workers being paid half that of UK workers at the Southampton site. …Read more…
Solid oil strike
Messages of support for striking workers on Shell platforms across the North Sea were flooding in from around the globe today (July 26), as they took part in a 24-hour stoppage in a dispute over…Read more…
Window of opportunity
There is a window of opportunity to settle the six-week old Weymouth bus dispute as the parent company First Group has sought settlements in two other separate bus disputes in the UK. Unite…Read more…
Pensions result
The threat to summer holiday flights from Southampton airport has been lifted, after members of Unite agreed to accept improved pension arrangements following talks with the airports’ owner, AGS. …Read more…
Shared vision
On a hot Saturday morning (July 23), hundreds gathered at a Southampton college to demonstrate their strong support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The second annual celebration of Left…Read more…
Government must do more to tackle discrimination against trans people
The Government has finally responded to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee Report on Transgender Equality that was published in January 2016. This wide ranging report recognised that, despite welcome progress in recent years, our society is still failing to support the rights and…Read more…
On industrial strategy, a return to Thatcher is not the answer!
This morning, the former Foreign Secretary and Conservative Party Leader, William Hague, has stepped into the debate about the nature of the UK’s industrial strategy. Hague’s intervention, in this morning’s Daily Telegraph, has been prompted by the new Prime Minister, Theresa May’s, welcome…Read more…
Protecting health and safety post-Brexit
Given the possibility that the UK may no longer be covered by EU regulations on health and safety in the near future, what protection will British workers have to a safe workplace? This is important…Read more…
UK real wages decline of over 10% is the most severe in the OECD (equal to Greece)
The decline in UK real wages since the pre-crisis peak is the most severe in the OECD, equal only to Greece. Both countries saw declines of 10.4% per cent between 2007 Q4 and 2015Q4. Apart from Portugal, all other OECD countries saw real wage increases, albeit mostly modest ones. (NB strictly the…Read more…
They think it’s all over … but there are 5 tests before we start negotiating Brexit
One of the strangest views you hear expressed about the result of the EU referendum a month ago is that the impact on the economy has not been as severe as the Remain campaign claimed. Apart from the political turmoil in both the Conservative and Labou…Read more…
Chinese sweatshops: they were the future, once
Once it was David Cameron’s jibe at Tony Blair. Then he used it self-deprecatingly to bid farewell to the Commons after the referendum. But it reflects an iron law that what was once seen as…Read more…
Privatisation fight
Unite and the local Bromley community stood firm in solidarity against cuts to council services and privatisation at a packed demo on Saturday (July 23), which was also attended by Unite general…Read more…