A new study, Greece: solidarity and adjustment in times of crisis, shows that the impact of the austerity and structural adjustment policies applied in Greece between 2008 and 2013, since 2010 through loan conditions imposed by the Troika (IMF-European Commission-ECB) have been overwhelmingly borne…Read more…
Striking for a fair deal
As UNITElive reported today, most of us expect our pay to stay the same this year or rise ever-so-slightly. Drivers who transport disabled children to school for Hackney council, however, face something else entirely – an astounding 50 per cent slash in their wages as the local authority embarks on vicious cost-cutting measures. […]
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Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island George Osborne’s Budget speech reminded me of the old saying, an empty vessel makes the most noise. He was talking about a fantasy island of his own imagining far removed from the real country in which all the victims of his austerity programme live. True, as journalist Paul…Read more…
Public services – more austerity carnage ahead
#Budget2015 The cuts to public services projected in yesterday’s Budget speech by Tory Chancellor George Osborne are unprecedented and a timely TUC analysis confirms that ‘departmental spending is…Read more…
Before it’s too late
Veteran anti-austerity campaigner and author Harry Leslie Smith speaks exclusively to UNITElive, following his address to a packed crowd at the University of Manchester NoVoteNoVoice event last week (March 11). It was the summer of 1945 and Harry Leslie Smith, then only 22, cast his first ballot in a general election. The Second World […]
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Unprecedented mobilisation
Workers across Northern Ireland engaged in a one-day strike to say ‘enough is enough – hands off our public services’. The strike on Friday (March 13) called in response to the Stormont ‘austerity budget’, saw an unprecedented mobilisation of public sector workers across a wide range of workplaces. “From our soundings over the […]
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Prof Prem Sikka on ‘How to Defeat Austerity?’ Video now online
‘There was absolutely no need for anything to do with austerity. It is really a political project which has been carried out in the UK for the last 30 or 40 years. It has eroded the purchasing power…Read more…
Northern Ireland says NO to Austerity
#M13 Over 50,000 public service workers, including UNISON members, across Northern Ireland took 24 hour all out strike action against austerity cuts yesterday. Education, health, transport and…Read more…
Standing on the shoulders of giants
In a sincere plea for a reformed, inclusive democracy, author and commentator Owen Jones implored a Festival of Debate audience (March 9) to commit to actively taking part in uniting against the Establishment. Speaking at a packed University of Sheffield meeting, he said, “I want to address this culture of redirecting our anger to our […]
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Poor still paying price
The wealth of top earners has risen sharply while the wealth of the poorest has slumped dramatically, according to a new report. The wealth of top earners rose by two-thirds at the same time the wealth of the lowest paid dropped by nearly the same amount. Debts owed by the highest earners have […]
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No to austerity
Northern Ireland, where public sector spending represents almost three-quarters of the region’s GDP, faces the worst cuts in 80 years. The 2015-2016 budget, which follows four straight years of austerity, entails slashing £1.3bn in funding in the next four years – a budget which public sector workers have unequivocally rejected. Unite members working […]
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Solidarity with Greece
The TUC General Council yesterday agreed a statement of solidarity with the Greek people and their unions in supporting the actions of the Syriza-led government elected last month. Our support for its programme and attempt to escape austerity adds to t…Read more…
Germans showing solidarity with Greeks
If you get your news from the papers or broadcasters, you’d think that the dispute over Greek austerity and debt is a national struggle between (primarily) Greece and Germany. In reality, of course, this is simplistic and wrong. The German government – and in particular the CDU members…Read more…
Union women can defeat the Con Dems
#unwc15 UNISON NEC member Jane Carolan writes in the Morning Star on the potential influence of the union’s women members on the outcome of the upcoming General Election: ‘The country can afford the…Read more…
The Greek election result demands our solidarity
Syriza’s spectacularly successful election campaign was described as being about hope. The Greek people have shown faith in that campaign. Their courage, their defiance and their optimism have given us a true lesson in democracy in the country that invented the system so many centuries ago. They…Read more…
Syriza’s impact on Europe: forget what the ‘serious people’ say
Paul Krugman is apparently bemused by the comparative performances of the US and European economies. The US, allegedly the home of responsible and prudent public finances, has outperformed the EU (and especially the eurozone) by deploying spendthrift, …Read more…
The lesson from Greece – austerity must end
Yesterday, the Observer presaged the outcome of the Greek general election – a victory for the anti-austerity Syriza coalition – with an emphatic statement that ‘the lesson of the Greek national…Read more…
‘Stop dumping on waste management staff’ says UNISON Scotland
Fri 23 Jan 2015
UNISON Scotland conducted surveys amongst staff working in waste management across Scotland’s local authorities. The results revealed a workforce under pressure facing increasing targets and declining budgets.
In a report Dumped On – Working in Scotland’s Waste Management Servicesthe union details the experience and expectations of a workforce trying do their job in an aRead more…
Could the Greeks bring us gifts this Sunday?
This Sunday, the Greek people go to the polls in what must be one of the most important elections not just for Greece but for Europe as a whole. What is at stake is the future of democratic control of the economy, and the European establishment’s love affair with austerity. Nowhere in Europe…Read more…
Growing funding crisis in local government threatens public services
A growing funding crisis in local government is threatening the future of local public services in England. According to new analysis published today in Austerity Uncovered significant cuts have already been made to statutory adult social care and children’s services – with more cuts to come….Read more…