Trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) closed in Nairobi on Saturday and the biggest news is what they did not manage to agree. After 14 years of stalled talks, rich countries continued to refuse to address longstanding injustices in agriculture, such as food stockholding – a…Read more…
A Happy New Year for the NHS?
There’s no doubt about it, the last 12 months have been a bumpy ride for our National Health Service. Will 2016 be any better? A year that started off with the government negotiating its way out of a bout of unprecedented industrial action involving NHS workers in England from nurses and midwives…Read more…
Official: govt failed steel workers
Unite has backed the findings of the select committee’s report on the failure of the government to react to warning signs that the steel industry was facing increasing problems. Unite has…Read more…
Holding back the tears
Britain’s last deep pit coal miners held back their tears, as they emerged from their historic final shift underground to face the glare of the media at Yorkshire’s Kellingley Colliery on Friday….Read more…
Diggers Unite and win?
Unite Archaeology members Dr Nora Bermingham and Caitriona Moore MA have been nominated for a prestigious award sponsored by Current Archaeology magazine. The nomination – for ‘Rescue Dig of…Read more…
#COP21: How does education and research figure?
The Paris Agreement that was finalised on 12 December (pdf) has had a mixed reception. For some, it is an historic document that will keep global warming in check. For others, it will deliver too little too late. Without repeating all of the arguments …Read more…
Only God and the bed manager
The consultant was clear – you need to be on an IV drip getting antibiotics in your local A and E within the hour because of complications with chemotherapy treatment. The patient, my partner,…Read more…
Beyond a crisis
GP surgeries are bursting at the seams, ambulance staff are leaving in their droves, NHS waiting times continue to rise drastically, junior doctors were set to walk out in a series of strikes and…Read more…
Government from the dark side? Transparency is not strong with this one…
Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson made an interesting speech today, raising concerns about the erosion of transparency and accountability under our current government, and the threats this poses to our civil liberties. He accuses the Prime Minister in particular of “governing from the…Read more…
Too little, too late
The UK steel industry has received much needed support, as the UK was given EU state aid approval to give green tax rebates for energy-intensive industries. The aid package will be worth…Read more…
‘Star Wars’ digital revolution is coming
Serious questions are being asked whether the UK is fully geared up to profit from the ‘Star Wars’ digital revolution so eagerly being embraced by its economic competitors. As the prospect of…Read more…
Orgreave: justice fight goes on
Unite has backed the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) since its inception over three years ago. One of the campaign stalwarts is Unite industrial organiser Joe Rollin from Barnsley…Read more…
Breaking down barriers
For our last part in UNITElive’s series for Disability History Month this, we speak to Marsha de Cordova who explains how people with disabilities are being shortchanged by employers and the…Read more…
Investigate now call
A co-ordinated inquiry should be launched to investigate serious allegations about pay and working practices at Sports Direct, MPs who are Unite members have said. Undercover reporters from…Read more…
End ‘Victorian’ work practices
A review by Mike Ashley into the use of agency workers at Sports Direct will be nothing more than a public relations stunt if it fails to end ‘Victorian’ work practices at the retailer’s Shirebrook…Read more…
Keep coal alive
‘King Coal’ has a future as a UK producer, despite ministerial short-sightedness, driven by treasury cuts, Unite said yesterday (December 17). And coal’s importance cannot be…Read more…
ONS wealth data: the rich get considerably richer
In cash terms the top 10% own £5.0 trillion of UK total household wealth of £11.1 trillion – that’s 44.8 per cent (over 2012-14). Last time (2010-12), it was £4.1tn of £9.4tn – so 43.6%. This increased share of 1.2 percentage points (ppts) is very hefty relative to the past three…Read more…
Ceramic Valley may lose ceramic factories without support
In the Autumn Statement more Enterprise Zones were announced, including “Ceramic Valley” in the Stoke and Staffordshire LEP. For our members making construction product materials it should currently be a no-brainer to invest in extra manufacturing capacity, given: Cross-party agreement on the need…Read more…
International migrants day 2015: European unions call for refugee employment rights
The TUC has joined other unions around Europe to mark International Migrants Day (18 Dec) by calling for measures to get refugees integrated into the workplace, rather than left in limbo in camps or on benefits – or worse. The TUC made this call ahead of an international conference in Zagreb,…Read more…
Bedroom Tax – hurting just like we said it would
This was MPs’ last day before the holidays and the department for Work and Pensions celebrated by publishing fourteen – count them – reports, releases and statements. In this take out the trash glut you might be forgiven for missing the excitingly titled Evaluation of Removal of…Read more…