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…
Battling to save Europe’s steel and manufacturing industries from China’s unfair trade
The TUC and many others – unions in Britain and across Europe and manufacturing employers – are battling to defend jobs in Europe from unfair competition from China. The impact of underpriced steel flooding the UK market is well-known, but if the EU grants China ‘Market Economy…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…
‘Human tragedy’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey shares his thoughts after going undercover with The Mirror in a Qatar labour camp, where they find labourers working to get the city ready for the 2022 World Cup…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…
Remembering the Holocaust
On Holocaust Memorial Day, light a candle as a sign of remembrance and hope
The article Remembering the Holocaust first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
Euro-FTT gets a boost as Irish Robin Hood Tax campaign launches
The forces ranged against a European Financial Transactions Tax, popularly known as the Robin Hood Tax, often appear to be growing daily. Although progress is being made in the negotiations between ten EU countries, Estonia dropped out in December because of concerns that it wouldn’t receive…Read more…
Is the EU-Canada trade deal hitting the rocks?
The election of a charismatic young Liberal Prime Minister – Justin Trudeau – is just one development that has cast doubt on the future of the Canada-EU trade deal negotiated under his Conservative predecessor Stephen Harper. Although firmly committed to signing the Trans-Pacific…Read more…
UNITE GPM&IT National Industrial Sector Committee, January 2016
The committee, which covers the Graphical, Paper, Media & IT industries, met on Thursday and Friday. This is a summary of some key points. I’ve not included most of the industrial detail in my report because it isn’t appropriate to post publicly. For jargon, see here.
NISC members were very…Read more…
Early UK ratification of ILO Forced Labour Protocol is a major step forward
This lunchtime, I’m taking part with other trade unionists, CBI representatives and ILO Director General Guy Ryder at the ratification of the International Labour Organisation’s 2014 Forced Labour Protocol, a major step forward in the eradication of modern slavery, trafficking and other…Read more…
Global poverty: our part in its downfall
This week the World Economic Forum (WEF) meets in Davos, and in recognition of the leading role of trade unions, Sharan Burrow, the world’s top trade unionist, is one of the co-chairs this year. So it’s particularly apt that yesterday, Oxfam issued a pre-Davos report showing that trade…Read more…
Why are multinational enterprises wasting money on supply chain audits?
A new report from the University of Sheffield, published last Thursday and brilliantly summarised by Tansy Hoskins for the Guardian, provides yet more evidence for something trade unionists have known for years. Expensive audits of the impact of supply chains on workers’ rights and…Read more…
Lords call for Immigration Bill to give asylum seekers right to work and protect domestic workers
On Monday the Immigration Bill will start to be debated by the House of Lords select committee. As I have blogged previously, the Bill contains a number of threats for workers. It will introduce measures to criminalise undocumented workers that will make it easier for bad bosses to exploit migrants…Read more…
Do you know where your next meal is coming from? ‘Free’ traders say you mustn’t!
Just before Christmas, the US Congress caved in to a ruling from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and agreed that displaying the country of origin of beef and pork products should no longer be required. Canadian and Mexican meat producers (and the U…Read more…
TTIP: due for a diet in the New Year resolutions?
When the negotiations for an EU-US trade deal – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – were launched back in 2013, advocates of the deal predicted that it could be completed “on one tank of gas”, before the US Presidential elections brought Barack…Read more…
China: we say no to market economy status
The Financial Times has today reported that the US government is pressing the European Commission not to grant China ‘Market Economy Status’ (MES), which under WTO rules would allow far more undercutting by Chinese exports into the EU. The UK government is on the record as a supporter…Read more…
ISDS: even when Governments win, we all lose
We’re often told we shouldn’t worry about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the new generation of so-called ‘free’ trade agreements, because the UK Government doesn’t lose cases. In practice that’s because most UK agreements containing ISDS have been…Read more…
5 lessons trade unions can teach the WTO
Trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) closed in Nairobi on Saturday and the biggest news is what they did not manage to agree. After 14 years of stalled talks, rich countries continued to refuse to address longstanding injustices in agriculture, such as food stockholding – a…Read more…
Simple Minds called to campaign for world cup workers in Qatar
Date: Friday 18 December 2015
UNISON, Scotland’s biggest trade union, has written to the Scottish band Simple Minds asking they speak out for migrant workers rights in Qatar.UNISON supports the TUC Fair Play for Qatar campaign which is highlighting the poor working conditions of migrant workers who are building football stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.Simple Minds areRead more…