The TUC has intervened in a row over the appointment of the new secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urging foreign secretary Dominic Raab not to…Read more…
Future trade deals must respect workers’ rights
The Trades Union Congress in the UK, the Australian Council Of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Congress Of Trade Unions have issued a stark warning to their respective governments that their trade…Read more…
Little Hallingbury Walk
Off message but Gill and I went on a perfect little walk today around Little Hallingbury, which is near Harlow, courtesy of Essexwalks.com. The bright winter sunshine and blue skies helped make it special.
The start of the walk is in the hamlet of Gas…Read more…
‘For as long as it takes’
490 days and counting – that’s how long Australian offshore worker and AMWU union rep Troy Carter and his colleagues have been off work in a dispute with their employer. Their fight’s…Read more…
Australia’s migration system wouldn’t work here either
When supporters of tougher immigration controls are asked what system they would introduce, they often point to Australia’s points-based system. I often get the feeling that this is as much an appeal to old Commonwealth ties as much as a rational answer to the question, with potentially…Read more…
Sir Lynton Crosby? Two countries, one strategy – weakening unions to make attacks on workers easier
In the New Year’s Honours List, David Cameron’s Australian attack dog Lynton Crosby is expected to receive a knighthood for his services to the Conservative Party. But his assistance has…Read more…
ISDS: even when Governments win, we all lose
We’re often told we shouldn’t worry about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the new generation of so-called ‘free’ trade agreements, because the UK Government doesn’t lose cases. In practice that’s because most UK agreements containing ISDS have been…Read more…
Temporary migration in Australia: a cautionary tale
Australia is known as a settler nation (although the Australian unions are careful to acknowledge their debt to the people who cared for the land before Europeans arrived.) But more recently, what started as a way to plug short-term recruitment and ski…Read more…