This morning I took part in a virtual meeting with the new Shadow Housing Secretary, Thangam Debbonaire MP, chaired by Cllr Darren Rodwell (Leader of Barking & Dagenham Council). The Leader of Labour Local Government, Cllr Nick Forbes, also present…Read more…
Extension of NHS death in service benefits to all healthcare workers is the least we can do
Only right that proper provision is made for families
The article Extension of NHS death in service benefits to all healthcare workers is the least we can do first appeared on the UNISON National…Read more…
Blog: A moment of silence is the very least that we can do
wherever you are – at home or at work – please join us in a moment of silence. To say thank you. To remember. To show our solidarity. To remember the dead, but also on International Workers Memorial…Read more…
Houses before health?
Unite has warned that there are growing fears that building new homes is being put ahead of the health and welfare of construction workers and their families. The union is calling on the…Read more…
‘A national embarrassment’
Unite has slammed the government’s slow response to testing essential workers such as NHS staff for coronavirus. The criticism comes after health and social care secretary Matt Hancock pledged to be…Read more…
We will remember them
From Edinburgh to the Eden Project, from Aberystwyth to Aldeburgh there will be no outdoor memorials – the squares where annually workers come to honour and commemorate their lost friends will be…Read more…
Public asked to observe minute’s silence tomorrow to honour all workers who have died from coronavirus
Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford among those to pay tribute
The article Public asked to observe minute’s silence tomorrow to honour all workers who have died from coronavirus first…Read more…
Review: Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists, by Julia Ebner
In 1943, the best-selling book Under Cover by John Roy Carlson described the pro-Axis groups that thrived in the US before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Carlson — whose real name…Read more…
Unite fights an ‘unprecedented crisis’
Never in recent years has International Workers’ Memorial Day – which takes place every year on April 28 – been so poignant, or so necessary. As the world is gripped by a global pandemic, far too…Read more…
‘Everything is jam tomorrow’
“Unite is urgently calling for ambulance workers to be given clear guidance regarding triaging which patients should be taken to hospital and more action on PPE which needs to be supplied to…Read more…
Lessons from living through COVID-19
When NEC member Mark Fisher started to feel ill, he didn’t realise it was the new coronavirus and that he was facing a frightening stay in hospital
The article Lessons from living through COVID-19…Read more…
Remember the dead, fight for living
Ahead of International Workers’ Memorial Day on Tuesday (April 28), Unite general secretary Len McCluskey calls on people to ‘Remember the dead, fight for the living’ with a one…Read more…
Unite: Remember the dead, fight for the living – International Workers’ Memorial Day
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey calls on people to ‘Remember the dead, fight for the living’ with a one minute silence at 11am on International Workers’ Memorial Day, Tuesday…Read more…
Covid-19 – How unions can help support bereaved workers
There’s a lot trade unions can do to support people who are grieving, as well as to remember those we have tragically lost to coronavirus.Read more…
Coronavirus – why structural racism is putting BME lives at risk
We need to reflect on why the poorest and most exploited in our society have been hit so hard by Covid-19.Read more…
Protecting disabled people working from home
Covid-19 means more people than ever before are working from home and having to adapt to a new space. But if you have a disability and rely on adjustments you are used to at work, this simple change…Read more…
Ramadan and coronavirus – Supporting Muslim workmates
Support and solidarity to Muslim colleagues during Ramadan under Covid-19 lockdown. Here are a few practical steps you can take.Read more…
Job Retention Scheme – millions of furloughed workers show why unions fought for wage protection
Latest ONS figures show how effective the Job Retention Scheme that unions negotiated has been in protecting jobs and incomesRead more…
Remember COVID-19 dead this International Workers’ Memorial Day
“Tuesday 28 April is International Workers’ Memorial Day, when we remember all those who have died because of their work – and renew our pledge to fight for the living.In the year of coronavirus, this day of commemoration has never been more important….Read more…
The “Spanish” flu epidemic & a Canadian Bolshevik Revolt in Wales
For the reasons given in my post from 2008 (see below) I have been conscious of the impact of viral pandemics from an early age.
There are some 80 graves of Canadian soldiers at the Marble Church in Bodelwyddan, North Wales.
Up to 76 of them may ha…Read more…