Well, BBC Breakfast this morning has wall to wall coverage of the UK’s Special Status in the EU. Cameron has triumphantly marched back from Brussels telling us he has secured a deal that lets us stay…Read more…
Brexit: who benefits?
David Cameron has been touring European cities negotiating for a so called reformed European Union and doesn’t it make you feel ashamed? The number one on his negotiating agenda is an…Read more…
UNISON must get anti-austerity, workers’ rights and anti-TTIP message into EU vote debate
UNISON’s Jane Carolan, speaking at today’s Institute of Employment Rights Conference outlined the history of the union’s position on the EU and the referendum debate ahead. This is the full text…Read more…
EU Parliament votes for public service protections and labour rights in TiSA report
On Wednesday the European Parliament passed with an overwhelming majority a report on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) that called for broad exemptions for public services and respect for labour standards. TiSA is a trade deal on services the EU is negotiating along with 22 other countries….Read more…
Cameron’s renegotiation deal: tinkering, not tackling the real issues
There’s a lot of noise today about the proposals that European Council President Donald Tusk has sent to European leaders to address David Cameron’s call for a reformed European Union ahead of the UK’s referendum on EU membership. Eurosceptics are hostile, supporters of remaining…Read more…
EU offer on migrant benefits brake ignores workers’ problems
Today Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, published draft proposals on Cameron’s EU renegotiation agenda which will be discussed at the EU summit on 18 -19 February. If the other EU Member States at this summit approve these proposals, it is very likely the government will announce a…Read more…
Migration Advisory Committee report calls for public sector pay rise – but there’s a few snags
Last week, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent body which advises the government on migration policy, released its report on skilled migration. This report was prompted by the government asking the MAC to recommend how it could reduce net migration in pursuit of its unachievable…Read more…
Cameron should concentrate on European pay, not benefits
Today and tomorrow, the December European Council, where EU leaders meet, will take place in Brussels. The big story for Britain is David Cameron’s EU renegotiation agenda. The TUC has called on him to concentrate on low pay rather than benefit curbs, and especially urged him not to let young…Read more…
“Robin’s alive!” European Financial Transactions Tax almost complete
On Tuesday, Finance Ministers from 10 countries around Europe negotiating the introduction of a Robin Hood Tax reached a landmark decision. It’s not the end of the process, but it is at least the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end: agreement to implement a broad-based tax, using…Read more…
TTIP: A threat to the food on your plate
UNISON and War on Want have launch a new film highlighting the threat to our food posed by the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
The article TTIP: A threat to the food on your plate…Read more…
Guatemala: where a union leader’s life costs just $195
I spoke today at #LatinAmerica15, the annual conference devoted to solidarity with our colleagues in South and Central America and the Caribbean. I was talking about Guatemala, in the company of Noé…Read more…
Korea’s broken promises sound alarm over OECD membership & trade agreements
South Korea is often held up as the poster boy for international development. A poverty-stricken country after the war with the North, and ruled by a military dictatorship from 1961 to 1987, it is…Read more…
UK proposals for EU renegotiation: Joint DGB-TUC statement
Reiner Hoffman, the President of the TUC’s German equivalent, the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), has signed the following statement with me. It sets out our response to the Prime…Read more…
Vote no to CETA – TUC takes citizens’ petition to Brussels
This week, as TUC spokesperson on Europe, I handed in a petition to MEPs in the European Parliament from constituents asking them to reject the trade deal the EU is currently finalising with Canada, known as CETA. You may not have heard of CETA, but pe…Read more…
European Parliament calls for Edward Snowden to be protected from extradition
Brussels, 29/10/2015. European Parliament MEPs today called on EU member states to “drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection and consequently prevent extradition…Read more…
European Commission 2016 plan: lots for us to do, but a sting in the tail for Cameron
The European Commission publishes an annual plan (less pageant than a UK government’s Queen’s speech, and less focused on legislation) and the 2016 plan came out this week. Apart from the over-dramatic title (‘No time for business as usual’) there is some good, some bad, and…Read more…
European regulation is good for you – Part 2.
Earlier this week I posted a blog about an EU evaluation of the European occupational safety and health directives. I complained that the Commission had not published the report, although a joint…Read more…
TiSA: threat to public services
Readers of Tribune will undoubtedly be aware of the transatlantic free trade agreement between the EU and the USA, known as TTIP. You may have heard about a similar agreement (which is all but signed…Read more…
Towards a ‘Europe that shares our values’
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner moved a general council statement on the EU referendum at the TUC today (September 15), arguing for a vision of “a social Europe, a peaceful Europe and…Read more…
EU court’s common sense decision on time spent travelling to work
The European Court ruling this week was indeed a good decision for people working long hours, a phenomenon that TUC research shows is on the rise again in Britain. But many of those commuters happily seeing the headlines saying “EU court rules travelling to work ‘is work’” could…Read more…