National delegates debate a raft of motions on the risks posed by the Brexit negotiations
The article ‘Our Brexit brings the country together’, UNISON members told first appeared on the…Read more…
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National delegates debate a raft of motions on the risks posed by the Brexit negotiations
The article ‘Our Brexit brings the country together’, UNISON members told first appeared on the…Read more…
I cannot say that I have always enjoyed sitting on the top table at the past fourteen UNISON Conferences.
I haven’t always agreed with what my NEC colleagues have got up to. Our trade union has not always been united.
However, I cannot imagine a better way to spend my final day on this platform…Read more…
One of the first jobs for the newly appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Gauke MP, is to publish a report on the outcome of his department’s review of State Pension age. We know that a draft report to Parliament had been prepared when the general election was called. It is…Read more…
In a victory for common sense the Courts have apparently thrown out the requirement that Council Pension funds have to invest according to the political whims of the UK Foreign office.
Who on earth would want their pension being dependent on the…Read more…
In my fourteen years on the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) I think I have spoken from the platform on no more occasions than the four on which I spoke, from the floor, in the two days of my last Local Government Conference as a branch delegate…Read more…
Our conference is once again having the real and necessary debate about our country’s future. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for our country’s government. Theresa May has shown not only her…Read more…
It’s time again for the annual trade union website league table. So how have the metrics changed in the last 12 months? (Previous results can be seen at 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012). The league…Read more…
I mentioned a little while ago this morning’s meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) (the second to last such meeting in my fourteen years on this august body). Towards the end of the meeting we descended into pantomime as an NEC member spoke by means of asking questions which he clearly…Read more…
Today (June 22) Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail spoke out on HSE inspection cuts in the construction industry. “Sadly there remain far too many employers who are all too…Read more…
Unite is seeking urgent answers after a crane collapse in Crewe killed two workers and injured several other people. The accident happened yesterday (Wednesday June 21) at Dunwoody Way in…Read more…
I have just sat through my last ever Rules debate at UNISON National Delegate Conference. UNISON Conference has passed three non-controversial Rule amendments.
I have to say that we used to have rather more interesting Rules debates within our Conference (indeed we use to have more actual “debates”…Read more…
As the dust settles on coalition and other arrangements across Scotland’s 32 hung (or balanced if you prefer) councils, now is good time to look at how councils will operate in this…Read more…
My only contribution this morning at my penultimate meeting of UNISON’s National Executive Council (NEC) was to ask an innocent little question about whether or not the idea of an NEC policy of “support with qualifications” on Conference motions may have had its day.
This led to a lengthy debate…Read more…
Refuse workers at Birmingham city council are set to strike as the council swings the axe on 122 waste collection jobs amid claims of ‘a bullying culture’ and financial incompetence. The…Read more…
We need to restore direct investment and subsidy for public housing
The article Building a national housing consensus and homes for all first appeared on the UNISON National site.Read more…
National conference calls on ILO to count girls in forced childhood marriage as child labour
The article UNISON vows to campaign on child marriage first appeared on the UNISON National site.Read more…
Despite being forced to exclude most of her manifesto policies from the Queen’s Speech, beleaguered Theresa May made sure her plans for a hard Brexit that will take the UK out of the EU’s single…Read more…
Britain’s getting a pay cut There is a real and present danger that inflation will continue to increase faster than earnings this year. The latest figures show average weekly earnings growing at a modest 2.1%, whilst CPI inflation has increased to 2.9% and RPI to 3.7%. In short, Britain is getting…Read more…
To their advocates, zero hours contracts offer flexibility for both the employer and employee. But such a simple summary strips away the human aspects and power dynamics that make insecure work so stressful for the employee. Hundreds of people employed…Read more…
Hat tip Phil Lewis Chair of London Hazards & in today’s UNISON NDC regional newsletter “London Calling”.
“Here is some information I was able to get hold of
2009 – Lakanal House tower block catches fire killing 6 people. The local authority is prosecuted for lapses in fire safety. A review is…Read more…