All the union news that's fit to blog...
2014 was a significant year and we should be rightly proud of the role UNISON played in the independence referendum. We led the debate for a fairer and just Scotland. Thank you to UNISON members, activists, staff and supporters for the way you conducted yourselves throughout. We showed, once again, the importance of trade unions in shaping the country we live in
Public services remain a keyRead more…
The NUJ rejects the new draft code of practice for the UK Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which allows the police and other authorities to access journalists’ communications without…Read more…
By Michael J. Reiss A school curriculum is not an end in itself, but a vehicle to realise further purposes. You would think, therefore, that those who devise a national curriculum would start by…Read more…
If you listen to the government, you could be forgiven for believing that women’s labour market position is better than ever before. It’s certainly true that women’s employment rate is up, and women’s unemployment rate is down. But what this positive picture of women at work doesn’t show us…Read more…
The fall in the numbers of workers covered by agreements negotiated by trade unions is the key reason for the rise in low-paid and casual jobs in the UK. In 2013, 29 per cent of working people in the…Read more…
Tina is a qualified further education lecturer employed through an agency which forced her to sign a permanent contract of employment. She is only paid for the time she spends teaching but not for planning or attending meetings. Because she only teaches 24 hours a week she can’t claim working tax…Read more…
Europe’s “fresh start” under the Juncker Presidency has already run into opposition from MEPs. A draft document leaked to the press last week shows that key EU environmental proposals on clean air, waste and recycling (the so-called ‘circular economy’), and stronger protection for…Read more…
The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the proposed trade deal between the EU and the USA (TTIP) are the most controversial part of the deal. And they appear in all new trade negotiations, like the one between the EU and Canada (CET…Read more…
Government and industry often argue that the flexibility of casualised ‘zero hours’ jobs benefits both employers and workers. The advantages for employers are abundantly clear. But what’s in it for…Read more…
On October 11th, Sherwin Alumina part of the multi-national Glencore company locked out 450 hard-working USW Local 235A members at their plant in Gregory, Texas. The lockout came after 235A members…Read more…
This is my last Fact of the Week until the New Year, and I want finish 2014 by thinking about the human costs of benefit cuts. The other facts have been the sort you can put a £ sign in front of or a % sign after, or which you measure in millions. Here I…Read more…
The CBI’s top leaders were in Brussels today along with the Prime Minister to help him put ‘rocket boosters’ under the increasingly unpopular Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the USA. They gathered a range of business organisations across…Read more…
Seasonally daft and seasonally sobering news from the TUC’s latest Greenworkplaces newsletter. First up is Prospect’s new A-Z Guide to a Sustainable Christmas, a light hearted look at Christmas through a sustainability lens…..and with a fair amount of poetic licence. It’s full of…Read more…
Welcome to UNISON Scotland’s Education Programme for 2015. Our courses continue to prove very popular, particularly for new UNISON Stewards. We offer training to ensure new Stewards are accredited by law and, more importantly, feel confident in their role. Click here for full details on the website
All our regional courses are held in large cities/towns and, with the exception of specialisedRead more…
If the government are looking for reasons why the public are not sharing their enthusiasm for the condition of the economy (eg ‘Optimism about the economic recovery is in freefall’, from yesterday’s Evening Standard ), they need look little further than the Office for Budgetary Responsibility’s…Read more…
2014 was a big year for UNISON – and 2015 looks set to be even bigger.
As we mark the Christmas holiday and the start of a new year, I can’t help reflecting on the sacrifices our members are…Read more…
Zero hour contracts have hit the headlines in the UK, and rightly so there are 1.4 million British workers on these contracts. But they are not just an issue here, they’re increasingly an problem across the whole of Europe too. With unemployment rates perilously high across the European Union,…Read more…
Yesterday, the Supreme Court made an important ruling on the issue of the scope of conscientious objection for healthcare professionals. The case (Greater Glasgow Health Board v Doogan and Wood) was taken by two Labour Ward co-ordinators in the Souther…Read more…
It’s ironic that the Daily Mirror should run a story on International Migrants Day about the discovery that there are nearly twice as many people who have overstayed their visas in the country than expected – over a third of a million. Trade unionists will be concerned that those…Read more…
Since the publication of the Con Dem Autumn Statement a new reverse paradigm has been introduced into the economic debate in Britain – cutting the deficit versus borrowing. Self serving Tory…Read more…