UNISON/PSC exhibition and book offers union branches a resource for this year’s 50th anniversary of the Palestinian occupation
The article Marking 50 years of a dangerous occupation first appeared…Read more…
ECJ Singapore ruling adds to case against ISDS in Brexit deal
Today the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave an important boost to the case for scrapping Investor State Dispute Settlement, as well as other corporate court systems like it, in trade agreements. Part of the ECJ’s ruling today was that trade deals that contain ISDS need to be ratified in EU…Read more…
“UK manufacturing deserves no less.” Why employers & unions are calling for strong trade remedies
As the UK leaves the European Union, it will need to develop its own independent trade policy that fits with a wider industrial strategy. This includes developing a system of trade remedies, the instruments that are used to combat market distortions (s…Read more…
Colombia justice fight goes on
On May Day yesterday (May 1) also known as International Workers’ Day, demonstrations were yesterday held right across the world including in London. May 1 commemorates events in Chicago…Read more…
Global trade deals can’t substitute for a good Brexit deal
This week the think tank OpenEurope published a report with recommendations for Britain’s future trade after it leaves the EU. It suggests that Britain may be able to make up much of its shortfall in trade resulting from leaving the EU by strengthening its trade, particularly in services, with…Read more…
May Day solidarity
As workers across the world prepare to gather on May Day (Monday May 1), Unite’s international director Simon Dubbins explains why now, more than ever, we must renew our commitment to…Read more…
Rana Plaza: Unions can save lives as well as livelihoods
As we approach the 4th anniversary of terrible tragedy at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, it’s important to hold on to the sense of shock we all had when we heard that over a thousand workers, full aware…Read more…
‘Together we are stronger’ NEC hears after Derby success
Together we are stronger. That was the key slogan of the Derby school support workers, and it is a simple lesson to learn from the success of their 10-month dispute, UNISON’s national executive…Read more…
UNISON NEC statement on Syria
UNISON condemns ‘horrific chemical attack’ and ‘any bombing raids by foreign governments which could exacerbate and prolong the conflict’
The article UNISON NEC statement on Syria first appeared on…Read more…
‘We will not stand by’
One of the greatest problems afflicting construction workers is the problem of undercutting. Greedy bosses look to boost their profits by exploiting workers by paying them below industry…Read more…
‘Height of hypocrisy’
Members of Unite and GMB will on Monday (April 10) take their campaign to prevent undercutting of wages in the UK, to Denmark where the companies responsible are based. The pay rates of UK…Read more…
MEPs vote overwhelmingly for workers’ rights to be protected in Brexit deal
The European Parliament decided today by an overwhelming 516 to 133 votes (nearly four to one) what it thought should be in the eventual EU-UK Brexit deal. And after lobbying from the European trade union movement, MEPs made it crystal clear that any future deal should be conditional on…Read more…
Recognise unions in supply chains, says Parliamentary committee
Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights calls for trade union recognition in supply chains in its recommendations on Business and Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights has proposed government action to oblige UK-based companies to ensure rec…Read more…
Continental holidays under threat without a good #Brexit deal
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is the latest trade association to express serious concerns about how Brexit is being negotiated, with a report setting out the measures needed to sustain the industry – which employs many in the UK, as well as abroad – after Brexit. In…Read more…
#Article50: the union response is all about good jobs & rights at work
So much has already been written about the triggering of Article 50, firing the starting gun on two years of negotiations about leaving the European Union. And it was only yesterday. For trade unions, it still seems strange that a Conservative Prime Mi…Read more…
Europe’s response to Article 50: what unions want
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will trigger Article 50 and fire the starting pistol on negotiations to leave the European Union. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has already adopted a statement setting out what unions here and in the res…Read more…
Counting the cost of Brexit
Time was when nothing could be done by the Government or the European Union without a rigorously mapped impact assessment. Almost invariably wielded as a tool by deregulatory zealots to show that workers’ demands would lead to unacceptable burdens on business, I can remember exposing many of…Read more…
Drop the MIC
Yesterday the TUC responded to the European Commission’s consultation on its plans to develop a global version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). ISDS is the court system found in thousands of trade and investment agreements that foreign investors have used to sue…Read more…
Is #Brexit Britain at the front of the queue for a US trade deal, or the end of the line?
When Prime Minister Theresa May visited newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump in January, Brexit supporters were cock-a-hoop about how post-Brexit Britain would be at the front of the queue for a trade deal with the US Trade Representative (USTR – not that there was one when Mrs…Read more…
#Brexit bad news hidden in #Budget2017
Last week’s Budget speech by the Chancellor had very little to say about Brexit. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Brexit angle – you just have to look at what wasn’t there, rather than what was. First, there was very little in the Budget to prepare for the…Read more…