Forms are now on the website for the Black Members’ AGM on 14 November at the Scottish Parliament. Deadline is 23 October. See more at http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/blackmembers/index.htmlRead more…
UNISON Scotland Disabled Members’ AGM: Forms now online
Forms are now online for the Women’s Conference/AGM on 17 November in Glasgow. Deadline is 16 October. See more at http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/disabled/index.htmlRead more…
TU Bill: No concern for workplace democracy
Strike action, fox hunting, the BBC, Europe, migrant benefits – never underestimate the Tory capacity to identify things that aren’t problems and then attack them. The number of days lost to…Read more…
Poorest hurt most – again
After the announcement that maintenance grants will be scrapped by the government next year, students will be dealt a double blow as the cost of student accommodation soars. Between 2010 and…Read more…
The sad kids’ nation
Ask any parent what they want their child to be and I am sure happy is top of their list. As a parent sending your children off to school can be a painful experience. It is about so much more…Read more…
One in four offered insecure work
As the government attempts to downplay just how pervasive zero-hours contracts (ZHCs) have become, a new report released today (August 20) has revealed that one in four unemployed adults have been…Read more…
Thailand needs to stop the harassment of workers’ rights advocates
The British-born worker and migrant rights defender Andy Hall is due back in court on Monday 24 August, facing criminal defamation charges for exposing the truth about exploitation of migrant Burmese…Read more…
Blood Money promised, then postponed.
THOUGH left-wing politicians like Jeremy Corbyn are often accused by right-wing opponents and media of wanting a return to “the 1970s and 1980s” when supposedly unspeakable things were done by…Read more…
Select Committee on Future for Housing Associations – Have your say
My UNISON branch Greater London Housing Associations and the national UNISON Community Service Group Executive are asking members to make submissions to the Parliamentary Select Committee investigation into the future of Housing Associations. See below…Read more…
Iraq’s new labour law: positive but ‘clipped’
Iraq has finally issued a labour law that complies with ILO conventions, up to a point. It is a good day for global justice. The law provides legal protection for organised workers in the private and…Read more…
Shameful act
Benefits sanctions, in which welfare claimants are stripped of their benefits for often spurious reasons and so deprived of their only lifeline, became the hallmark of the previous government’s…Read more…
Yesterday’s ‘core’ inflation figures are misleadingly strong, driven by erratic items
Yesterday the ONS reported headline CPI inflation in July 2015 at 0.1%, marginally higher than last month’s zero and market expectation of no change. But subsequent attention has focussed heavily on the rise in core inflation to 1.2%from 0.8%. As we have often argued, core figures are likely…Read more…
Council cuts could mean more children in need let down
Billions of pounds of cuts mean that few councils can cope with demands from young people
The article Council cuts could mean more children in need let down first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
TU Bill: no justification
IndustriALL, the world-wide trade union, has hit out at the government’s trade union Bill, calling for it to stop the attacks on trade unions and start a dialogue. IndustriALL warns the…Read more…
Campaigners protest as fares rise nearly three times faster than wages
Campaigners gathered at over 30 stations across England and Scotland yesterday (August 18), from London Waterloo to Glasgow Central, to protest another rise in rail fares and to call for an…Read more…
Fares still unfair
Regulated rail fares are set to rise by 1 per cent in January, after inflation figures released today (August 18) show an unchanged Retail Price Index (RPI) in July. Over the last two years,…Read more…
Everything has changed
I’ve not blogged much in the last few days because I don’t know where the combination of optimism and anger will take me – and in recent years I’ve been taken to task for calling strike breakers by their given name and for being honest in public about how I felt about the death of a former Prime…Read more…
Austerity is not the only way, Prentis tells Newcastle rally
This is our chance to create a new path that offers hope that offers opportunity to all, UNISON general secretary tells Corbyn rally in Newcastle
The article Austerity is not the only way, Prentis…Read more…
‘Guilty’ young exiled to bootcamp
What does the word bootcamp conjure up for you? Military recruit training? A type of correctional facility or penal system? Imagine being a young person, fresh out of school, trying your…Read more…
Prentis opens new Northern region ‘shopfront’ centre
New ‘shopfront’-style UNISON resource centres are a new way of organising in local communities and making the union visible, general secretary Dave Prentis said today, as he opened a new…Read more…