Women Want Work is a new TUC briefing that argues that the official unemployment figures under-state the jobs shortage; in particular they minimise the number of women who aren’t in employment but ideally would like a paid job. This is because of the way unemployment is defined for the…Read more…
Left fest forward!
Saturday in Southampton (July 26) was a day of music, comedy, free food and, yes, politics. Hundreds of people from Hampshire and beyond poured into a packed church hall to enjoy the port…Read more…
US communication workers resist Verizon assault
39,000 workers on the East Coast set to strike on 1 August as contract expires without agreement.Read more…
Do schools really fail to prepare pupils for the world of work?
Anne Heavey is an Education Policy Adviser at ATL. Every week we see headlines decrying the crisis of skills teaching in our schools, the gist: our schools fail to prepare our children for the world…Read more…
A 1215-style fight for our rights
“Depressingly ideological and completely unnecessary” – one view the view of the Trade Union Bill rushed out by the Tory government. It wasn’t me who said that, nor any of my union colleagues…Read more…
What will the Tory Trade Union Bill mean for YOU?
Headlines on the new Trade Union Bill and subsequent blog postings have concentrated on the threat to strike action, through the new thresholds on ballots, and on the new laws regarding picketing and…Read more…
Stop the election, the ‘wrong’ candidate may win!
Democracy is all well and good but when the ‘wrong’ person is in danger of winning you have to draw the line somewhere. That staunch democrat, Labour MP John Mann has called on Harriet Harman to ‘halt the contest’. The election is apparently “out of the control” and at risk…Read more…
Revival in GDP quarterly growth figure disguises increased imbalances
GDP quarterly growth was back up to 0.7% in 2015 Q2 from 0.4% in Q1, and was in-line with market expectations. The main reasons for the revival in growth were a surge in energy extraction and use and a rebound in service activity. Acting in the opposite direction was the first fall in manufacturing…Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn sends message of solidarity to Barnet UNISON members
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Places available on TU courses coming up
Apply now via your branch for the following courses that still have places.
· Organising Stewards – Dundee – 25-26 August (part 1) and 13-15 October (part 2)
· Union Learning Reps (ULR) – Glasgow – 31 August – 2 September
· Developing Representation Skills – Edinburgh – 2-3 September
Applicants must have completed Organising Stewards and Further Representation Skills toRead more…
BREAKINGNEWS! Foxes & Trade Unionists are fighting back together
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Too old to be paid more
Following chancellor George Osborne announcing a so-called statutory “National Living Wage”, it has now been revealed that apprentices who are 25 and over may lose out on his promised wage hike…Read more…
Minority report
Two reports out today (Monday July 27) both point to the budget and austerity cuts to public services having a greater impact on black and ethnic minorities and women. Up to four million…Read more…
Andy Haldane: Shareholder primacy is bad for economic growth
Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s Chief Economist, has said that the UK’s shareholder model of corporate governance is holding back business investment and hurting economic growth. In a fascinating interview on Newsnight with Duncan Weldon (formerly TUC Senior Economist), he said that firms…Read more…
Young people’s debts have doubled in five years and are now highest of all age groups
In many ways today’s ONS figures on household indebtedness are unremarkable, given we are increasingly accustomed to figures showing high levels of household debt. By and large the debt burden is continuing to increase. One in five households report financial (i.e. non-mortgage) debts are a ‘heavy’…Read more…
Unite rep reinstated after anti-Blacklist protest
Trade union activists and members of the Blacklist Support Group protested outside the offices of Morgan Stanley in London today, in support of a sacked Unite activist.Read more…
End two-tier pay policy
Traffic wardens in Hackney, east London will take two days of strike action next week in a bid to get a proper sick pay policy provided by their private sector employer. The 30 employees,…Read more…
West Ham Votes for Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson
A little late but last Thursday West Ham CLP narrowly nominated, Jeremy Corbyn, as Labour leader ahead of Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper. Tom Watson, was nominated as Deputy leader beating Caroline Flint, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle and Be…Read more…
PRESS RELEASE: UNISON v Cspita over Barnet Contract
Employment Tribunal starts TODAY 27 July 2015
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Don’t you (forget about DB)
It is easy to overlook defined benefit (DB) pension schemes when so much of the talk in the pensions world is of cruises, conservatories and high-powered sports cars. But their central role in the retirement savings of millions of people and as a cruci…Read more…