A confidential survey of workers employed by Mears in Manchester and joint venture company Manchester Working (operated by Mears) has revealed very high levels of mental health problems and stress…Read more…
Highways safety card slammed
Unite has expressed deep concern at the announcement that Highways England has launched a new health and safety ‘passport’. The lack of consultation and secrecy concerning the new card scheme has…Read more…
Pressing ahead
Members of Unite employed by Mears in Manchester in housing maintenance roles will begin a programme of 49 days of strikes next week. The strike action begins with a 48-hour stoppage on…Read more…
Restoring our dignity
Unite has won a long–running campaign for the right of delivery drivers to use an employers’ toilets while conducting deliveries. From this week employers in control of non-domestic premises…Read more…
Asbestos workers at risk
Unite has warned that government proposals to water down vital life-saving asbestos regulations are risking the health of asbestos workers. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has consulted…Read more…
‘Landmark’ deal
Potential strike action among hundreds of construction workers building the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station has been averted after workers overwhelmingly voted for an improved pay deal….Read more…
‘Shocking and disgusting’
Unite has described the awarding of an ethical labour standard to leading blacklisting company Sir Robert McAlpine as ‘shocking and disgusting’. This week Sir Robert McAlpine became the first…Read more…
‘Woefully inadequate’
Unite has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate the lack of welfare facilities being provided to housing maintenance workers in Birmingham, who are directed by their employer…Read more…
Address injustices call
Members of Unite employed by Mears in Manchester are set to renew strike action in a longstanding dispute over pay after overwhelmingly voting for fresh strike action, the union announced today…Read more…
‘Affront to democracy’
Unite urged more MPs to join the dozens who have backed Labour MP Chuka Umunna’s call to strip Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd – a firm implicated in the construction blacklisting scandal – of its contract…Read more…
‘From crisis to crisis’
The Tories are responsible for a recent deluge of gloomy economic indicators and are too bogged down in internecine conflict to come up with a long term plan to stabilise the economy, Unite has…Read more…
‘No other option’
Unite is balloting its members for fresh strike action in a longstanding dispute with Mears in Manchester. Unite members employed in housing maintenance roles at Mears and at Manchester…Read more…
‘Clear downturn’
The fallout of post-Brexit uncertainty is slowly starting to rear its ugly head, as the latest update on construction unexpectedly showed the industry contracting for the first time in over a year….Read more…
Gov’t ‘washing its hands’
Unite is disappointed but not surprised that the government is once again washing its hands on blacklisting. The news comes at a time when Unite has intervened to resolve a fresh case of…Read more…
Trevor sorts it out!
Trevor Simpson is a Unite convenor on the Westfield, White City construction site in west London. He has been on the site for two and a half years and during that time he has managed to make…Read more…
Crane safety call
Unite has written to Chris Grayling the Secretary of State for Transport urging that he takes action to ensure the safety of mobile cranes when they are driven on roads. Currently, mobile…Read more…
Skills and pay ‘attack’
Unite has warned that a proposed new scaffolding card scheme will decrease standards and lead to scaffolders having different skills cards for different projects. Unite has been informed by…Read more…
Accept gov’t help call
Unite has expressed alarm that the management at Witter Towbars in Deeside is reluctant to receive assistance from the Welsh government in order to save jobs. The company is currently consulting on…Read more…
Umbrella company ‘rip-off’
Unite has called on the NHS to outlaw umbrella companies operating throughout the organisation. In April this year, the government introduced new rules which effectively outlawed agency…Read more…
Crane strike
Widespread disruption of construction sites across the UK is anticipated after Unite announced the first strike date at tower crane company HTC Wolffkran, in a dispute over pay. The initial…Read more…