Supermarket pharmacies are to get access to the records of millions of NHS patients for the first time this autumn amid concerns about confidentiality and the exploitation of the information for…Read more…
The foundation stone
August 12, 2015 marks the 126th anniversary of the start of The Great Dock Strike of 1889. Now, Unite has published a free booklet on this historic event. Before 1889 trade union membership…Read more…
Stop the tips outrage
As the media caught up with Pizza Express’ outrageous policy of charging it’s waiting staff an 8 per cent service charge on tips (August 10), Unite members demonstrated outside a Pizza Express…Read more…
EDF strike suspended
Two days of strike action by EDF Energy staff that would have affected the rollout of a Smart meter installation programme across London and southern and western England have been suspended for…Read more…
Claim your vote!
“Trade unions built the Labour Party,” columnist and author Owen Jones, who is also a committed trade union member, told UNITElive. That’s why, Jones believes, all Unite members should…Read more…
JLR: Safeguard our future plea
Unite welcomed Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) continued investment in the business, but today (August 11)warned against it being to the detriment of the UK workforce who had worked tirelessly to make the…Read more…
Growing safety concerns
A crunch meeting of shop stewards will be held on Friday (August 14) to discuss future industrial action at Sellafield in Cumbria in the growing campaign to improve health and safety and productivity…Read more…
Pizza protest
It was hotter than an American Hottest pizza last night (August 10) as Unite turned up the heat in it’s campaign to get Pizza Express to give staff their full customer tips – and to stop…Read more…
Jobs gaps – the forward march of egalitarianism halted?
I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s monthly employment statistics (it’s an exciting life at the TUC) and I’ve been thinking about the employment and unemployment gaps between men and women. In some respects, the convergence of men’s and women’s employment opportunities that we’ve got used to over a…Read more…
What if Mao still ran China?
I’ve always been a sucker for those ‘What if?’ historical scenarios. What if John Smith hadn’t died in 1994? Would New Labour ever have happened? How would social democracy look today in the UK? Or: What if Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro had not been kidnapped and killed by terrorists in 1978?…Read more…
Using agency temps to replace striking workers will threaten the basic right to strike for all
Two years ago this September, workers at Hovis in Wigan took strike action and won a landmark victory over increasing zero-hours work in their factory, safeguarding an important source of secure…Read more…
Dave’s dining tips
When you tip your server at a restaurant, you’d expect the full tip to be given to the server, who works hard to ensure you have a good dining experience. While most restaurants do give their…Read more…
Sense of hope
Unite member Samantha Ritchie has been actively involved in the Labour party as a youth officer in her Constituency Labour Party, and signing up to vote in this year’s leadership election, is, for…Read more…
Clearing rush
Record numbers of students are rushing to get a university place through the Clearing system, as maintenance grants are set to be scrapped by the government and replaced by loans next year. …Read more…
Holiday hunger
For many families the six weeks holidays are a time to look forward to where children can relax, enjoy day trips and holidays abroad or try different holiday clubs. But for many the shocking…Read more…
Chutzpah on global migration from the Foreign Secretary
There were many things that made people’s blood boil about Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s statement that Europe’s social infrastructure was under threat from migrants fleeing war-torn or poverty-stricken countries in Africa and the Middle East, like the scaremongering…Read more…
Cracking down on migrants or on exploitation?
The Home Office Immigration Minister James Brokenshire MP (who, lest we forget, replaced Mark Harper MP in the role after Harper was exposed as having employed an ‘illegal immigrant’ as his cleaner) has announced a crackdown on those who employ illegal immigrants, promising Border Force…Read more…
The secret sanctions figures
The government is stopping payments to nearly three times as many jobseekers as their official figures suggest, according to new research by the Guardian newspaper. And the numbers being…Read more…
It just isn’t working
One of the present Tory government’s favourite mantras, that its “long-term economic plan” is “working”, is a classic example of effective propaganda – repeat it often enough and, in the minds of the…Read more…
Stranger danger
It’s a busy Friday night in Leeds city centre and thousands of people are enjoying the myriad clubs, pubs and restaurants on offer. Most are here to enjoy a social evening with their…Read more…