Unite has warned that billion-pound losses announced this week by oil industry super-majors could bring an end to meaningful production in the North Sea within years unless there’s serious…Read more…
Battling to save Europe’s steel and manufacturing industries from China’s unfair trade
The TUC and many others – unions in Britain and across Europe and manufacturing employers – are battling to defend jobs in Europe from unfair competition from China. The impact of underpriced steel flooding the UK market is well-known, but if the EU grants China ‘Market Economy…Read more…
‘Soft touch’ for electricity theft
EDF Energy will become ‘a soft touch’ for electricity theft if it cuts its revenue protection staff by 50 per cent, Unite has warned. EDF Energy is planning 6,000 staff cuts worldwide and, as…Read more…
Punished for working
One would be forgiven for thinking that Google’s recent tax deal with the HMRC, which held the tech giant liable for only £130m over the last decade, must be an anomaly. Surely, the UK’s…Read more…
Runaway pay
As NHS frontline workers barely eke out a living on meagre wages – a reality most recently reflected in the junior doctors dispute – NHS senior managers continue raking in increasingly larger…Read more…
Cameron’s renegotiation deal: tinkering, not tackling the real issues
There’s a lot of noise today about the proposals that European Council President Donald Tusk has sent to European leaders to address David Cameron’s call for a reformed European Union ahead of the UK’s referendum on EU membership. Eurosceptics are hostile, supporters of remaining…Read more…
EU offer on migrant benefits brake ignores workers’ problems
Today Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, published draft proposals on Cameron’s EU renegotiation agenda which will be discussed at the EU summit on 18 -19 February. If the other EU Member States at this summit approve these proposals, it is very likely the government will announce a…Read more…
Worst fears realised
As UNITElive reported last year, the government rushed through the introduction of a new voter registration system that requires voters to individually register themselves. This replaced an…Read more…
Win for vulnerable children
Last week (25 January) the House of Lords voted by 290 to 198 to keep child poverty targets the same, forcing the government to rethink its plans to abolish them. Back in July, work and…Read more…
‘Rock solid’ strike action
Solid strike action by crane operators at Ainscough, the UK’s biggest crane hire firm today (February 1) caused near total shutdown of operations. Less than 10 of the company’s 500 cranes left…Read more…
‘Reject Sports Direct’
Unite Scotland community and young members ramped up their action against Sports Direct at the weekend (January 30 and 31) in a campaign that’s calling for decent work for all. Members…Read more…
‘Damning indictment’
The government’s productivity plan has been slammed by a committee of MPs as “vague”, and not worth being called a plan at all. The business, innovations and skills (BIS) committee noted in a…Read more…
‘Build-to-let’ plan welcome
Unite initially welcomed the move by British insurer – Legal & General – to build 3000 flats across the UK with the aim of tackling the housing crisis. The firm has teamed up with Dutch…Read more…
More likely to go to prison than university? But a degree doesn’t close the pay gap.
David Cameron’s front page of the Sunday Times announced a concerted Government anti-discrimination drive. Targeting universities, the police, the courts and the armed forces he said steps must be taken to tackle the ongoing discrimination that “should shame our country and jolt us to action”….Read more…
Government pledges to reverse anti-union laws
No, it’s not April Fool’s Day yet, not a prediction for a future Britain. It’s the new Canadian Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau, and the new Minister of Employment, Workforce…Read more…
Aerotoxic action call
The revelation that a second flight in as many days was forced to turn back to the UK following an outbreak of sickness among the cabin crew has added further weight to calls for a public inquiry….Read more…
It’s like coming home with a poor school report and the admonishment ‘must try harder’
One of AMiE’s goals is to highlight what effective leadership looks like, to help raise the standard of leadership and management practice. We believe that the profession itself is able to be…Read more…
Boost for steel
The hard-pressed UK steel industry gained a much-needed fillip as Sheffield Forgemasters received a £30 million support package from three of the country’s leading manufacturers. Unite today…Read more…
GDP, Inflation and Optimism Bias
January contains a number of key dates: New Year’s Day is obviously a big one, blue Monday – the day which some deeply dubious psychology has identified as the most depressing of the year; and it heralds the first release of the fourth quarter and thus calendar year GDP figures for the previous…Read more…
Cider support
Unite is committed to providing every support for workers at the Shepton Mallet Cider after a mass meeting today (January 29) over the planned closure of the historic factory. The union, which…Read more…