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…
Who’s really in favour of #ISDS?
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…
‘Flexible’ employment: the winners and the losers
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…
Tell Sherwin Alumina To End The Lock Out
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…
Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: cruelty to people who are weak and poor is the most important fact of all
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…
CBI on TTIP: a policy based on faith and avoiding their critics
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…
TUC Green Christmas newsletter – some bright, some sobering news
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…
New 2015 Course Programme Launched
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…
OBR projections confirm five years of the coalition leaves households poorer
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…
Christmas and New Year message
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…
Precarious recovery: Restoring decent jobs at the European level
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…
Supreme Court ruling on conscientious objection and abortion
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…
International Migrants Day: overstaying and exploitation
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…
Phoney Deficit Mania
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…
Amazon-Free Challenge – Better Places to Shop
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Europe and the left
http://www.transform-network.net/publications/publications-2014/news/detail/Publications/can-europe-still-be-saved.html
We’re moving from a horrendous year into what might be a horrifying year.
Workers need a Labour Government, but Scottish Labour’s de…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: £6 an hour pay and no security – life in a zero-hours college
When people think about poverty pay and zero-hours contracts, universities and colleges aren’t usually the first workplaces that spring to mind. So it may come as a surprise to learn that 46% of…Read more…
e news 17 December 2014
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#DecentJobsWeek: Time to end the two-tier workforce
If the government is to be believed we should all be feeling more secure because the numbers in employment are rising. However, the reality is very different for many in precarious work, where exploitation is the norm and there is no prospect of escape or hope that things will improve. Employers…Read more…
Judges uphold assault upon our legal rights
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2014/4198.html
UNISON’s application for judicial review of the regulations imposing extortionate fees upon claimants in employment tribunals has been defeated for a second time.
The fee regime imposed by the To…Read more…