At the end of October the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, revealed the eight names on the new infrastructure commission led by former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis. The…Read more…
Austerity is not a necessity
To govern is, we are told, to choose. This government chooses austerity. It does so not because it makes economic sense — it patently does not — but because it seeks to further tilt the balance of…Read more…
With tolerance and decency
Those Gods who famously wish to destroy by first making mad have certainly been working overtime within the Parliamentary Labour Party lately. We have open defiance of the elected leader,…Read more…
What future for steel workers?
In a few weeks’ time, hundreds of men and women could be added to the unemployment figures just in time for Christmas. The workers at Tata’s steel plants and Caparo Industries will join the…Read more…
Jobs and communities come first
Below Unite’s Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty makes clear the union’s policy on Trident. Luke Akehurst has got it wrong on Unite, I’m afraid. Unite’s policy on Trident is…Read more…
Token move
Late yesterday (Tuesday November 3) the Department for Business insisted the controls on posting to social media – forcing people to seek police approval before posting to social media – would not be…Read more…
The productivity challenge
Earlier this week I participated in an ACAS seminar on building productivity in the UK. I have written previously on the so-called ‘productivity puzzle’ and the critical importance of investment,…Read more…
Remember Redcar
Next time you hear the Chancellor, George Osborne, talk about the ‘march of the makers’, the Northern powerhouse or that the Conservatives were now the party of the workers – remember Redcar….Read more…
‘Do not shut the door on steel’
Not long after the minister Sajid Javid sat down in the Commons, having announced what he was planning to do for our steel industry, one Tata’s UK bosses spoke. The real question the Tata…Read more…
Victims of things beyond our control
Unite member Martin Foster also writes to the Prime Minister on the dire plight of steel workers. He says, I am a senior trade union official at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe, but I write to you…Read more…
Your excuses are wearing thin
Charlotte Upton, Unite member and electrician at Tata steel in Scunthorpe, has written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to stop sitting on his hands and to step in and save…Read more…
Defining moment
The crisis in the UK steel industry is a defining moment for the Conservative government. Having talked up the ‘March of the makers’ and the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ the past few…Read more…
No, Prime Minister
On Wednesday (October 14), David Cameron told the House of Commons that he and I agreed. No, prime minister, we most certainly do not. For the avoidance of doubt, let me spell it out. The…Read more…
Taking their struggle to the White House
Unite deputy convenor for Bentley in Crewe, who was also part of an IndustriALL delegation to the US, shares his experience below. A year ago this week, a small delegation of trade unionists…Read more…
‘Hard times are everywhere’
The darkness of austerity gathers all across Britain like the clouds of night while the Tory Party conference in Manchester celebrates its victory in May’s general election behind barbed wire,…Read more…
Another world is possible
As a Lambeth councillor I see at first hand the misery caused by the lack of council housing. We have over 20,000 people on our waiting list. This is replicated around London. Nationally there are…Read more…
A matter of political will
As the Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough with many, many thousands of constituents devastated by the SSI collapse, I plead with the government to consider my analysis. Now that the…Read more…
Osborne’s cruel joke on manufacturing
During the 80s our industrial base was decimated. Margaret Thatcher in pursuit of new-liberal economics and her attacks on the trade unions ripped apart the post-war consensus. Whole swathes…Read more…
Community spirit will never be defeated
Liverpool is my home city. I was delighted to be back home this weekend for many reasons but primarily so that I can honour one of the most heroic struggles in the history of our movement, the dock…Read more…
Solidarity should be binding
‘Cut him some slack’. ‘Give him a chance’. Just a few of the vox pops of members of the public who are as fed up with the British press in its predictable onslaught against Jeremy Corbyn as I am….Read more…