People getting the government’s new Universal Credit often have to wait six weeks for their first money and this is causing them problems with their bills, according to a new report. Some have had to turn to food banks. Waiting for Credit is a new report written by a group of 16…Read more…
Justice Committee calls on government to scrap criminal courts charge, in new report
The House of Commons Justice Committee has today released a report which calls for the repeal of the criminal courts charge, introduced in April 2015, just prior to the general election. The report considers the effects of the introduction of the charg…Read more…
Music in step with the times:
Public sector workers in the firing line (again)
George Osborne has certainly got his work cut out with the Spending Review next week. On the one hand, the Chancellor has pledged to find a further £20bn of departmental cuts in order to meet his spending targets. On the other, he has a fresh commitment to find £4bn for cyber-security and military…Read more…
A blueprint for growth
Addressing a packed hall of students at York University (November 19) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke about the positive economic policies needed to kick-start British industry and create…Read more…
Justice now call
Unite has welcomed the `unreserved apology’ from the Metropolitan Police to the seven women duped into relationships with undercover police officers specially assigned to infiltrate politically…Read more…
Episode 25: Taking the first step
Sounds familiar? If you work in the hospitality industry you can join www.unitetheunion.org – if you earn less than the Living Wage (£9.15ph in London, £7.85 outside) for just £2.10 per week. …Read more…
TRADE UNION BILL: Government clings to concept of intimidation despite lack of evidence
20 November 2015
By Andrew Moretta, World of Work Project Researcher, Institute of Employment Rights
IER readers will recall that in July 2015 the government released three consultation documents…Read more…
We were all once refugees!
The St Andrew’s Day Anti-Racism March and Rally this year has the theme ‘No Racism: Refugees Welcome Here.’ The rally will take place on Sat 28th Nov, Assemble 10:30am Glasgow Green. Below is a…Read more…
‘Economics of Arthur Daley’
Media reports that further cuts to local government public health budgets are on the cards as a way of slashing overall health spending should be strongly resisted, Unite said today (November 20)….Read more…
Parishes proposal: the electors must decide
This is written on behalf of Parks & East Walcot Community Forum, of which I am the Secretary. Yesterday Parks & East Walcot Community Forum discussed the Community Governance Review being launched by Swindon Borough Council – the proposal to devolve some of its services to new parish…Read more…
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time
The workload elephant has always been with us, but it just seems to keep growing, and it’s increasingly out of control. It’s time to stop. ATL’s It’s about time campaign is about helping the…Read more…
The NHS is changing before our eyes: #FullyFundOurNHS
Some things will always be the same. Since I started in my role 8 years ago, the passion, dedication and commitment of my team of radiographers is, and always will be, strong. The unwavering focus on…Read more…
The Trade Union Bill: Jayne’s story
Jayne is a 26 year old Community Nurse working in mental health.
The article The Trade Union Bill: Jayne’s story first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
Who loves the BBC
Doctor Who fans are being called to show their backing for a BBC under attack as the show celebrates its 52nd birthday.Read more…
Why George Osborne is a bloody communist
It is very ironic that the Chancellor, George Osborne, is described as a Conservative “iideologically committed to cutting the state”.
Yet he has overseen almost unprecedented nationalisation and the expansion of “Big Government” since the Tory…Read more…
UK proposals for EU renegotiation: Joint DGB-TUC statement
Reiner Hoffman, the President of the TUC’s German equivalent, the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), has signed the following statement with me. It sets out our response to the Prime…Read more…
Ooops! Prentis does it again…
Those who think that the campaign for the re-election of UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis is being organised solely with a view to an eventual (slapstick) film version today received evidence to support their view.
The Prentis campaign today used a database of Branch Secretary email addresses…Read more…
Too many workers haven’t had a pay rise
More evidence has emerged about pay stagnation in the UK. Yesterday I noted that the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings showed that house prices had been going up twice as fast as earnings since the recession. Today I read an interesting presentation …Read more…
Fiscal fallacies and sectoral balances: response to the critics
The last two posts on ‘fiscal fallacies’ (‘Keynes wanted government loan expenditures NOT deficit spending‘ and ‘accounting identities and the case for government loan-expenditures‘) have generated a number of comments, including on Richard Murphy’s blog…Read more…