Last week I was invited to the British-German Forum – a symposium for young people from both countries – at Wilton Park, an agency of the FCO, to talk with my colleague Jan Stern from the German trade union confederation the DGB, about the issues facing globalisation. Here’s an…Read more…
Tackling precarious work & addressing migration concerns
Last week I spoke at a conference organised by the TUC and Exeter University on ‘Confronting change: Globalization, Migration and Precarious Labour in the Age of Brexit.’ This is a summary of my speech. As conditions have become more insecure for workers since 2006 – a recent TUC report showed 1 in…Read more…
What has globalisation ever done for the workers?
These remarks are an edited version of a speech I gave on union responses to globalisation at a joint seminar organised by the TUC and the University of Exeter on Brexit, globalisation and migration…Read more…
Globalisation isn’t a ‘given’
Thanks to Geoff Tily, who co-authored this blog. The impact of globalisation on working people’s wages, jobs and prospects emerged as one of the key themes of 2016, following the seismic political developments in both Europe and the US. 2017 sees no sign of the debate going away. The policymaking…Read more…
‘Zombie’ companies threaten millions of jobs
‘Zombie’ companies in China are selling goods lower than it costs to produce them are a threat to jobs in the UK and the rest of Europe, warned Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke as he…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…
Report from UNITE sector conference, November 2015
The conferences were organised over three days, with services sectors on Monday, manufacturing sectors on Tuesday, and transport sectors on Wednesday. The Graphical, Paper, Media & IT (GPM&IT) conference was on Tuesday. This report covers the p…Read more…
UNITE GPM&IT National Industrial Sector Committee meeting November 2015
The Graphical, Paper, Media & IT NISC met on 12-13 November, and this is a report of some points of potential interest. It doesn’t include the (important) reports on what’s going on in various employers and sub-sectors, as the NISC regards these as…Read more…
No workers’ rights? No World Cup
Unite delegate Scot Walker spoke in support of a motion on FIFA today (September 16) on the final day of the TUC conference. “Sisters and brothers, as a football fan, I recognise that…Read more…
From the ground up
Unite members at the Port of Immingham are leading a global charge to drastically increase the power of trade unions. A new “hub” office has been opened at Immingham, the…Read more…
Organising strategy – mobilise or organise?
On 8th November I attended four fascinating meetings at the Historical Materialism conference with people from the USA and Canada discussing the plight of the labour movement and ideas for turning it round.
I found the debates really useful and there …Read more…