Most of the commentary on trade union decline concentrates on the fall in overall union membership and density (the proportion of workers who carry a union card). This is obviously cause for great…Read more…
All English schools face real cuts to funding
Latest Education Policy Institute report confirms unions’ warning over effects of new National Funding Formula
The article All English schools face real cuts to funding first appeared on the UNISON…Read more…
The legacy of Chris Wilkes (18/12/57-18/03/16)
Dear Colleagues, Today marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic, early death of former Ruskin College Principal, Chris Wilkes. Chris was an inspirational leader in many genuine, authentic ways. He was deeply committed to Ruskin’s ethos of…Read more…
STRONGERUNISON – NEC elections 11 April – 28 April 2017
Reminder that UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) Elections are due to start soon. Ballot papers should be sent out on 11 April.
I am going to vote for UNISON members who support the combined left & centre left STRONGERUNISON slate of candidat…Read more…
Drop the MIC
Yesterday the TUC responded to the European Commission’s consultation on its plans to develop a global version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). ISDS is the court system found in thousands of trade and investment agreements that foreign investors have used to sue…Read more…
‘End iniquitous practises’ plea
Lorry drivers across Europe and the UK have spoken out about exploitative working conditions and wage cutting in the industry, with some being forced to live in their cabs for months on end. A…Read more…
Emergency Brexit conference
With now daily reminders that a ‘hard’ Brexit will prove extremely challenging for the UK’s car manufacturing industry, Unite is building an alliance between the workforce and the industry to secure…Read more…
Sweet deal
Unite, the foremost experts on negotiating pay in Scotland have launched a blueprint for boosting workers’ pay amid rising inflation and slow pay growth in 2017. Unite negotiated an 8.7 per…Read more…
End ‘Brexit confusion’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey warned that employers and workers would be left ‘reeling’ by yesterday’s (March 15) evidence given by the Brexit minister David Davis MP to the select…Read more…
Toyota confirms investment
Unite welcomed Toyota’s confirmation of a platform upgrade at its Burnaston plant today (March 16), but urged the government to state now, that it will secure tariff free access to the European…Read more…
‘Vanity project’
David Cameron’s National Citizen Service (NCS) was always an ill-conceived ‘vanity project’, now that it’s been shown to be a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money, it needs a radical re-think if it’s…Read more…
Tory health policy with a difference
When a new Scottish Conservative health policy lands on my desk, I flick through it expecting to see the usual marketisation, ignoring health inequalities and blaming the poor for their…Read more…
Newham mayor ‘trigger ballot’: GMB union says it followed the rules as it affiliates more branches locally
Check out former Guardian journalist, Dave Hill’s website “OnLondon” about the latest twist in the Newham Mayoral Trigger saga. Leaving aside this important issue for the moment, what is happening with excessive trade union affiliation to local Labour …Read more…
Ikea’s transport chain abuses hit the headlines
ITF unions fight for better conditions for Ikea’s delivery driversRead more…
Blog: The other u-turns Hammond could have made
The media will mock the Chancellor for his u-turn, but history will judge him and his party far more harshly for the u-turns he has failed to make.
The article Blog: The other u-turns Hammond could…Read more…
NHS report claims ‘inappropriate rationing’
Patients are being left to die in pain because NHS treatment is being rationed, a shocking new report has found. Palliative care patients are being left for hours without treatment due to…Read more…
North East is England’s insecure work hot spot
The North East is becoming England’s hot spot for insecure work with two out of three new jobs in the last five years falling into this category. One in nine workers in the region are now in insecure jobs: seasonal, casual, temporary or agency work, including zero-hours contracts and low-paid…Read more…
One in ten
Once thought to be a passing trend born of the financial crisis 10 years ago, zero hours contracts — where workers don’t know when or even if they’ll be working from one day to the next — now look…Read more…
‘Outlaw zero hours now’
Exploitative zero-hour contracts have rocketed in the north east of England in recent years, new TUC research reveals. Two thirds of all the new jobs created in the region since 2011 have been…Read more…
‘Stuck in a twilight zone’
Earlier this week, Unite helped uncover an all-too common practice in the restaurant industry at exclusive restaurant chain the Ivy Collection – management charging customers “service charges” that…Read more…