All the union news that's fit to blog...
There’s a new coalition in Scotland working for a just transition
to a new food system.
UNISON is hosting a
workshop on Monday, 7 March, at which the Scottish Food Coalition will launch a new report, ‘PLENTY’. A few places remain for interested NGOs and networks across all
sectors.
PLENTY: Food, Farming and
Health in a New Scotland describes a food system that is environmentallyRead more…
We got an object lesson yesterday in why workers and their representatives need to play a more prominent role in the EU referendum campaign. Sir Stuart Rose – former boss at non-union Marks & Spencer, and now chair of Britain Stronger in Europe – appeared to suggest that leaving the…Read more…
On Monday, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström trumpeted what she called a major step forward on trade – a revised version of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. The main difference was that in place of the infamous Investor-State Dispute…Read more…
I’m halfway through an event about the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) at Wilton Park, the FCO’s conference centre, and it’s the usual stimulating mix of stakeholders (a handful of business and union representatives), senior civil servants from various…Read more…
Reminder for all UNISON members interested in climate change!
Come to our next Green Network meeting in Glasgow – this Saturday, 27 February.
Guest speaker Ric Lander, from Friends of the Earth Scotland, will be speaking mainly on pensions disinvestment campaigns, but will be referring also to fracking and other important policy areas.
We will be discussing what is needed now following the UNRead more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…