The new government has been in office for just 6 weeks and in the last 7 days has already set alarm bells ringing on the UK’s energy policy. The Conservatives have followed through on their promise to withdraw state subsidies for on-shore wind farms, though a year early – and whilst Energy…Read more…
Pride of Unite
As the summer kicks off, Pride events will be hosted throughout the nation, with Unite playing a decisive part as it continues in its critical work in supporting the LGBT community – both in and out…Read more…
You shall go to the ball!
Although school balls and discos have long been part of the UK’s cultural landscape, since the noughties, the much more extravagant US-style prom has captured the nation’s imagination. “More…Read more…
Challenging the Establishment
May’s general election result was a shock, not just to those in our movement but to pollsters, political commentators and even to the Tory beneficiaries now sitting smugly in their grand offices of…Read more…
Pensions: one of the last legal hurdles for same-sex couples
Peter Armstrong-Luckhurst met his husband Kristofer in 1990. They entered a civil partnership in 2009 and converted to marriage on 19 December 2014. He worked as a doctor and contributed to the NHS pension scheme from 1978 until 1994. He also bought another four years worth of ‘pension…Read more…
Shock Goodyear factory shutdown
Unite warned that the closure of the Goodyear factory in Wolverhampton, with the loss of up to 400 jobs, would devastate the local economy and was being taken because British workers are easier and…Read more…
Green Investment Bank sell-off
The government’s announcement to sell off a large chunk of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to the private sector is ‘a slap in the face’ for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking much…Read more…
Into the Tory abyss
It took the Tory-led coalition which took office in 2010 only three years to push another 500,000 children into absolute poverty, according to new figures released today. And it took them only four…Read more…
Frank Field steps in where ministers fear to go on pension changes
It is welcome that this morning the Financial Times is reporting (behind a paywall) that the Work and Pensions Committee, under its new chairman Frank Field, is to scrutinise so-called pensions freedom reform. The policy, which means savers in defined contribution pensions no longer have to buy an…Read more…
Green Investment Bank share sale may deter green investments
The Green Investment Bank (GIB), which launched its annual report today, has helped drive investment in low carbon energy projects. It is the UK’s most active investor in the green economy. But today the government has announced it will sell a majority stake in the bank to help fund austerity…Read more…
Towards a rebalanced economy
Hobbled by an almost exclusive focus on the low-wage services industry and the short-term thinking of the financial sector, the UK has lagged woefully behind on exports. A final Cole…Read more…
CCS stuck on Amber
Three times today at the CCSA’s annual reception the Energy Secretary, Amber Rudd, was pressed to clarify the extent of government support for carbon capture & storage (CCS). Can the supply chain bank on two CCS projects and look forward to further CCS projects? “You are asking for more…Read more…
Whose Pride is it anyway?
Trade unionists have promoted the rights of LGBT members for forty years. Trade unionists negotiated equal tights at work with employers long before it was a legal requirement. Trade unionists have organised solidarity with LGBT people at home and acro…Read more…
Cutting Child Tax Credit mainly hurts working families
David Cameron’s speech yesterday ends a lot of speculation: the government seem determined to introduce substantial cuts in Child Tax Credit. The prospect of £12 billion of benefit and tax credit cuts is so horrific that many people refused to believe they were possible. Last month I explained why…Read more…
Join the call to drop Greece’s debt
The government of Greece is in a battle with creditors to overturn austerity policies which have wreaked havoc on the country. Unemployment has been over 20% for four years. One-third of people now live in poverty. The debt cannot be paid and, for Gree…Read more…
Seafood jobs to fall through net
The potential loss of up to 300 jobs at Young’s Seafood in Grimsby is extremely worrying news to the workforce and the local economy. The company has lost a vital contract with Sainsbury’s and…Read more…
End austerity now
On Saturday June 20 thousands of Unite members joined 250,000 others to send a message to this Tory government that austerity is not working and to “End Austerity Now”. You can view a…Read more…
UAE: one of the terrible ten worst countries for workers’ rights
The United Arab Emirates has made the ITUC’s list of the ten worst countries for workers’ rights abuses, and it’s not hard to see why when you look at the plight of the…Read more…
TTIP, CETA, TISA: We need to call time on zombie trade deals
Trade affects everyone’s lives. It affects the job you can get, the pay you receive and of course the goods you can buy. But trade policy and negotiations like those being conducted for TTIP, CETA and TiSA affect a lot more than that, and come with huge risks for our society. I’ll be speaking…Read more…
EU putting business interests above others
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady was in Brussels last week for the European Trade Union Confederation executive committee. The executive dealt with many issues of concern to British trade unionists, but none more serious than the concerted effort to restrict and reduce regulatory…Read more…