I’ve joined a panel established by British Future to look at the detail of how a guarantee to EU27 citizens (people from the 27 countries staying in the EU) currently living and working in the…Read more…
Peace deal brings hope to trade unionists in Colombia
Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a trade unionist. It has become a murder capital for trade union activists and continues to feature prominently on the International…Read more…
Show Qatar World Cup hosts death & exploitation are unnecessary
On 21 August, West Ham United will play their first Premiership home game at the former London 2012 Olympic Stadium – their new venue – against Bournemouth. We’ll be there with…Read more…
Tanzania and Uganda stand up against unfair EU-East Africa Economic Partnership Agreement
There was hopeful news for trade unions in East Africa last week as Tanzania and Uganda refused to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and East African Community countries —…Read more…
Protecting health and safety post-Brexit
Given the possibility that the UK may no longer be covered by EU regulations on health and safety in the near future, what protection will British workers have to a safe workplace? This is important…Read more…
Chinese sweatshops: they were the future, once
Once it was David Cameron’s jibe at Tony Blair. Then he used it self-deprecatingly to bid farewell to the Commons after the referendum. But it reflects an iron law that what was once seen as…Read more…
Turkish democracy’s nightmare
The deficiencies in Turkey’s democracy cannot be remedied by armed force. The fact that the attempted coup by a section of Turkey’s armed forces failed is to be welcomed; what is not is the death of…Read more…
Europe’s trade unions come to London to show solidarity
This morning, the leaders of Europe’s trade unions met in the TUC General Council chamber – people like ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) General Secretary Luca Visentini and…Read more…
South Korean assaults on trade unions continues
Unfortunately South Korea’s appalling record on the rights of workers and trade unions is being added to. Han Sang-gyun, the President of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has been…Read more…
From Palestine to London: meet Bethlehem’s Lajee Community Centre
I had the good fortune to accompany the General Council’s delegation to Palestine and Israel at the beginning of the year. You can read the delegation’s report here. In little over three…Read more…
Don’t risk the NHS
Today, I and a group of members who all work in the NHS ‘unveiled’ UNISON’s official remain banner, ahead of the EU referendum the week after next. Well I say unveil, but I’m not…Read more…
UK government isolated at ILO on Trade Union Act
Not a single government spoke up in the UK government’s defence when the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards considered whether the Trade Union Act was out of line with ILO core…Read more…
Why the new Brazilian regime is illegitimate
I’ve written before about how developments in Brazil are bad for working people, but the situation is getting worse, and with the Rio Olympics less than 10 weeks away, the world’s gaze…Read more…
Migrant rights defender back in Thai court
British-born migrant rights activist Andy Hall was back in Southern Bangkok Criminal Court this Thursday (18 May) for just 45 minutes as the most serious of his trials over the last three years…Read more…
Brazil teeters on the brink of counter-revolution
Brazilian union leader Joao Felicio, now President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), is flying into London this week to stir up opposition to the counter-revolution underway in…Read more…
As death returns to May Day protests, Turkey is sliding back into dictatorship
We – and colleagues in the Turkish trade union movement – have been writing about the struggles of the Turkish trade union movement on Stronger Unions for years. At one point, things were…Read more…
TUC joins May Day protests for jailed Iranian teachers
The TUC has supported a letter this 1 May calling on the Iranian government to release two Iranian teacher union leaders and scores of other jailed trade unionists as part of a general call “to…Read more…
Mahdi Free! Bahraini teachers’ union leader released
Mahdi Abu Dheeb, the leader of the Bahrain Teachers Association (BTA) was freed on 5th April 2016 from a Bahraini jail after serving five years. He was jailed by a military court in 2011, accused of…Read more…
Is neo-liberal globalisation running out of road?
I was inspired recently by an article in the Washington Post, which asked “what’s behind the revolt against global integration?” Partly because the policy prescriptions for getting…Read more…
Rana Plaza: Three years on
This weekend marks the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy, which shocked the world and jolted consumers, unions, activists and – eventually – brands into action over conditions faced by…Read more…