Today, pro-Brexit think tank Civitas has released a report saying that the EU will lose out from the increases in trade tariffs likely to result from Brexit. Even from the campaign that brought you £350m a week to spend on the NHS, this is a quite remarkably bad argument. As their own figures show,…Read more…
Belgium must vote no tomorrow to stop CETA
Tomorrow trade ministers from EU countries will meet in Luxembourg at the Foreign Affairs Council where they are due to decide whether to approve the EU-Canada trade deal known as CETA. The TUC and unions across the EU and Canada are calling for governments to oppose the deal. A ‘joint…Read more…
Big win for Robin Hood Tax in Europe
Earlier this week, Finance Ministers from 10 Eurozone countries finally reached agreement on the principle of a Robin Hood Tax. Legislative drafting will now begin, and campaigners will be pressing the Ministers to conclude the details by December. Mea…Read more…
What else is Government policy on the EU27 #right2remain but mental cruelty?
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox repeated at a Conservative Party Conference fringe meeting this week that the right of EU27 citizens currently living and working in the UK was a major bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations. He was setting ou…Read more…
New declaration shows why countries must say NO to CETA deal
Yesterday an add-on to the CETA EU-Canada trade agreement proposed by the European Commission and the Canadian government (titled a ‘joint interpretive declaration’) was leaked. Trade ministers from EU countries will be asked to vote on CETA in just over a week on October 18 so the purpose of the…Read more…
As Portugal tries to take back control of Metro Lisbon, Mexican privateers turn to #ISDS
One of the main complaints unions make about the investment protection elements of trade deals known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is that it would be used against governments trying to bring privatised services back into public ownership. “Oh no it won’t!” cry…Read more…
100 days after the #Brexit vote & we’re still in the dark on workers’ rights
It’s been 100 days since Britain voted to leave the EU, and still we’re no clearer about what Brexit means. In particular, despite Remain and Leave voters agreeing that workers’ rights should be maintained, the Prime Minister has failed to commit to that. The TUC is calling today…Read more…
Lord Price, show CETA the door at Bratislava castle
On Friday Lord Price, the UK’s minister for trade, will meet with ministers across the EU in Bratislava castle and the EU-Canada trade deal (CETA) is top of the agenda. This week the TUC General Secretary wrote to Trade Secretary Liam Fox calling for the UK government to oppose CETA and for…Read more…
Tackling teacher shortages is not only about migration policy
The TUC has submitted evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of teacher shortages, highlighting that shortages that are currently being experienced in primary and secondary schools across the country require urgent action by the government. Migrant workers play an important role as…Read more…
Vital for world democracy
As democracy in Turkey has violently deteriorated over the last year, Congress agreed in an emergency motion on the last day of conference (September 14) to support progressive forces in Turkey, and…Read more…
Action not words
How many more emergency motions on Colombia do we need before the tragedy in Colombia is resolved? This was the unsettling question Unite delegate and cab driver Jim Kelly posed to Congress on…Read more…
EU citizens’ right to remain & all workers’ right to respect
The TUC has submitted evidence to the British Future inquiry into the status of EU nationals in the UK. We are calling for the government to make a clear commitment to give citizens from all 27 EU countries living and working in the UK the right to remain. This is one of the five tests…Read more…
Does your employer have an ethical procurement policy?
Does your employer have an ethical procurement policy? Are the goods it buys as part of delivering key public services – whether that’s staff clothing or food, electronics, paper, or furnishings –…Read more…
Economic Update: Brexit means… not having to say what Brexit means (yet)
“Brexit means Brexit” is likely to top the list of most repeated phrases of 2016 (at least in the press). But what does Brexit (means Brexit) mean for the economy, and working people’s jobs, rights and pay? In a new report, we attempt to survey the evidence. The problem is, there’s not that much…Read more…
Taking back control of our borders. Unless you’re a city fat cat.
There are over three million EU citizens living and working in the UK who are concerned about their future right to remain in the UK. Many Brits currently living and working in the rest of the EU have the same concerns about their own future. Organisat…Read more…
Urge your MEPs to halt damaging trade deal with southern Africa
UNISON calls for aaction on trade deals with global South which stress liberalisation and threaten to damage economies and workers’ rights
The article Urge your MEPs to halt damaging trade deal…Read more…
Japanese government battles for Japanese companies worried by Brexit
One of the key arguments that the TUC made when campaigning for a Remain vote in the EU referendum in June was that, outside the EU, we would find it more difficult to attract inward investment in manufacturing, including from the Japanese (who made si…Read more…
Workers in Japan let down by Abe’s new spending plans
Last month Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set jaws dropping by announcing a 28.1 trillion yen (£208.1 billion) stimulus package. The package is designed to jump start Japan’s economy that has been struggling with slow growth and see off the threat of deflation. The important feature of the…Read more…
Unhealthy development
The recent exposure of the scale of the government’s toxic healthcare privatisation plans has reignited the debate on in whose interest should the NHS be run – patients or shareholders. NHS deficits, caused in part by extortionate Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes, are providing the…Read more…
The #right2remain must apply to expats as well as immigrants
The TUC has joined with a host of others across the political and business spectrum to call for citizens of other EU countries living and working in the UK to be given the right2remain after Brexit. That’s in the gift of the UK government, and there are good reasons for granting it…Read more…