The Conservative party is ‘no friend of the North’ but instead the party of the ‘leafy shires and the lucky few’, Unite warned on Monday (May 29). Billboards carrying that message will appear…Read more…
Britain still needs a pay rise – real wages are falling again
Are you feeling the pinch? That’s because real wages are falling – again. In 2016, average real weekly pay (that’s pay once inflation has been taken into account) for UK workers was around £24 less than it was back in 2008. This adds up to over £1,200 a year. The UK is one of few…
The…Read more…
Marks & Spencer close their staff pension scheme and lose £131 million
M&S pension surplus falls £131.3m due to DB future accrual closureWritten by Talya Misiri24/05/17Marks and Spencer has revealed that its pension surplus fell by £131.3m in the year to April 2017 due to the closure of its defined benefit scheme to future accrual.
In its full year results,…Read more…
Argos loses High Court bid as warehouse strikes continue
A High Court judgement thwarting a further attempt by the retail giant Argos to stop a two week strike was hailed as a ‘significant’ victory by Britain’s largest union, Unite today (Friday 26 May),…Read more…
Unite warns voters ‘Tories are no friends of the North’
The Conservative Party is ‘no friend of the North’ but instead the party of the ‘leafy shires and the lucky few’, Unite the country’s largest union is warning. Billboards carrying that message will…Read more…
Only Labour Backs UK Manufacturing.
The most important thing you can do
Recent posts on this niche blog might lead readers to conclude that I was currently mostly concerned with what was going on within UNISON.
Not at all.
Much as I love my trade union and its members I do not make the mistake of exaggerating the signific…Read more…
Less than 2 weeks to Go! Forest Gate & Ilford North
Picture collage from yesterday in Forest Gate and Ilford North with our West Ham Parliamentary candidate, Lyn Brown.
The weather was mostly sunny and very warm. The sunshine and spring flowers made door knocking a pleasure. You can (usually) be guaran…Read more…
West Ham Ward Canvass Sunday 21st May
Love the feet sticking out of roof window (top left)Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn: Standing together
On Friday I was at the speech in London by Labour leader Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, relaunching the election campaign after the bombings in Manchester.
It was a statesman like and brave absolute condemnation of hate and terrorism while pointing out that t…Read more…
How the UNISON NEC election results demonstrate the need for change in our trade union
Having occasionally got into hot water for criticising employees of my own trade union, I think it only right to commend those UNISON staff who are ensuring that anyone who requests the detailed breakdown of the voting in the elections to our National Executive gets them immediately.
That’s not to…Read more…
Chuka Umunna Streatham PPC at UNISON Labour Link Mobilising Black Members Event
Picture collage from event on Monday evening with Streatham Labour PPC, Chuka Umunna, guest speaker to a mobilisation event in our national HQ of black members sponsored by UNISON Greater London Labour Link. I was there as Chair of that committee.
The…Read more…
What will (and won’t) the Lib Dems do for workers?
26 May 2017
Workers’ rights are a key policy battleground this election and here at the Institute of Employment Rights’ Fact News Hub, we’re giving you the lowdown on different…Read more…
‘Unjust’ pay rates
Private contractor Mears, which is at the centre of the housing strikes in Manchester, has been discovered to be using the low rates on its Manchester contract, to suppress pay rates in other areas,…Read more…
Argos loses High Court bid
A High Court judgement thwarting a further attempt by the retail giant Argos to stop a two-week strike was hailed as a ‘significant’ victory by Unite today (May 26), as it urged the company to stop…Read more…
Tax justice
During spring 2016 the country was rocked by a leak from the Mossack Fonseca legal firm in Panama that exposed the shadowy and complicated network used by the global super rich to avoid paying tax….Read more…
Paying to work
Kettering General Hospital staff struggling under seven years of public sector pay freezes will have to pay £20 a day for parking for fourth months as a new car park is built. The charges were…Read more…
Get to know your neighbours at the Great Get Together
Events will bring people together to show that Jo Cox was right that we have more in common than not
The article Get to know your neighbours at the Great Get Together first appeared on the UNISON…Read more…
This is how we can properly protect the health and safety of workers
26 May 2017
By Phil James, Professor of Employment Relations at Middlesex University; David Walters, Professor of Work Environment at Cardiff University; Steve Tombs, Professor of Criminology at the…Read more…
Productivity: the long global view
We’re often told that the key to raising wages is to solve the ‘productivity puzzle’. Output per worker has stagnated since the financial crisis, leading economists to worry that the outlook for the economy is bleak. But a range of evidence across many countries suggests that the fall in…Read more…