All the union news that's fit to blog...
The following feature first appeared in the most recent edition of Landworker – you can read the full issue online here. The government’s decision to cut Winter Fuel Allowance – a previously universal entitlement for retired people – has provoked a collective outcry, and rightly so. Critics say that to limit the benefit to only […]
The post Old and cold in the countryside appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite members at Spirit AeroSystems are pressing the UK government to take action to protect British aerospace and the jobs and skills on which it relies. A delegation of Unite members travelled down to Parliament in London on Wednesday (April 30) to urge the government to intervene after aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced only a […]
The post Stronger together appeared first on Unite Live.
The unveiling of a deliberately symbolic red plaque and a special children’s rendition of a song written in her honour were the highlights of a celebration of the life of Betty Tebbs (1918-2017), a lifelong trade union member of one of Unite’s legacy unions. Betty’s radical reputation meant that the event at the Festival Gardens […]
The post The time for action is now appeared first on Unite Live.
On International Women’s Day, Unite members mark the day with action. Unite Northeast Humberside and Yorkshire (NEYH) region embodied this spirit of action perfectly, as they hosted a development day for women members on the eve of International Women’s Day on Friday (March 7). Members flocked from across the region to attend the packed […]
The post ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite activists have been telling Veolia shareholders across Europe that they will not go away and will continue to fight for recognition at the French waste giant’s Sheffield waste depot. As Veolia continues to refuse union recognition for workers at the depot in Yorkshire, Unite has continued to escalate the dispute. This week activists travelled […]
The post Unite takes its message across Europe appeared first on Unite Live.
Drax Power Station is the biggest biomass power station in the world. Its imposing cooling towers dominate the landscape along the river Ouse in North Yorkshire, with columns of water vapour billowing in the air like the smoke of sleeping dragons. It’s a place in which most people would dare not raise a challenge, but […]
The post ‘All in it together’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Before ‘Blue Monday’ entered our collective vocabulary, it started as a press release issued by a travel company. In 2005, Sky Travel declared the third Monday of January ‘the most depressing day of the year’ – and so began an unofficial day of observance that has been seized on by both big business and mental […]
The post ‘Relentless from the minute you check in’ appeared first on Unite Live.
This feature first appeared in the autumn edition of the Landworker magazine. You can view the latest issue here. The UK’s hospitality industry is inextricably entwined with rural economies – in fact, rural tourism accounts for a whopping 70 to 80 per cent of all British tourism, and it adds around £14bn a year to […]
The post Serving up unity appeared first on Unite Live.
UniteLive is thrilled to announce that Unite national health and safety adviser Rob Miguel has won the prestigious Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) award for Most Influential in 2024. UniteLive caught up with Rob, who said he was “honoured and proud” to have won the award, but he emphasised the award was the culmination of […]
The post ‘Honoured and proud’ appeared first on Unite Live.
On Friday night (Oct 25) Unite Equalities hosted the 2nd Unite National Black History Month Gala Awards which celebrated all the hard work from BAEM members and allyship to the BAEM community. After the success of last year’s event the return of the Gala was never in doubt and hundreds of Unite reps, activists and […]
The post Unite celebrates “committed Unite reps and activists” appeared first on Unite Live.
On Emergency Services Day today (September 9) people across the country pay tribute to the heroic work of emergency workers, from firefighters to paramedics to police officers and many more in between. But for all their tireless efforts in keeping the public safe, and in treating the ill and injured, they face a shocking level […]
The post Work without fear appeared first on Unite Live.
Industry accreditation bodies have praised the work Unite and employers are doing at Canary Wharf to tackle fake cards. Unite organised an event at Canary Wharf last week (Tuesday 28 August) to show the process that Canary Wharf Contractors have put in place to ensure operatives attending the projects have the correct CSCS card for […]
The post Unite checking system “the Gold Standard” appeared first on Unite Live.
When Ubay* was told in January that he and his wife had been selected to work in the UK, they celebrated. The 37-year-old father of four from Uzbekistan, had seen his timber import business go bankrupt. Here was a chance to get his family out of debt. He had previously received similar offers that looked […]
The post ‘We sacrificed everything we had’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Valley Vets staff in South Wales are taking an enormously brave stand in the first ever private veterinary practice strike in British history. So far staff, including nurses, support staff and vets, are entering their fifth week of strike action, with their latest series of strikes set to end on August 31. The striking vet […]
The post Vet staff take unprecedented stand appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature was first published in Landworker magazine – you can read the latest edition here. — We’d all like to think that when we walk through the doors of our workplaces, we’re all equal – we get paid the same for undertaking similar jobs as our colleagues, and we’re treated with similar levels of respect and […]
The post Alice in ‘abuseland’ appeared first on Unite Live.
The following feature was first published in Landworker magazine – you can read the latest edition here. – Women already have it tough enough as it is – they’re more likely to have caring responsibilities, more likely to be un- or underemployed, and they’re also more likely to be affected by cuts to public services. […]
The post It ain’t no picnic appeared first on Unite Live.
Terrifying riots that took place in cities across the UK earlier this month have left many shocked and traumatised, including workers whose workplaces were targets. These have included hotels housing asylum seekers, many of them staffed by Unite members. Among the most terrifying of these was in Rotherham on Sunday, August 4, when rioters smashed […]
The post Unite Hospitality speaks out against riots appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite member Katie and her colleagues working at the Ruskin Lodge care home in St. Helens wear many hats. They’re not only care workers; they’re cleaners, kitchen staff, security, activities coordinators, laundry attendants, admin staff – the list goes on. They are involved in virtually every aspect of the running of the care home, which […]
The post Care home workers in fair pay fight appeared first on Unite Live.
It’s National Blood Week this week (June 10-16), when the NHS gives a “big push for new donors ahead of summer and urges the nation’s giving types to book an appointment to save lives”. In the story below, we hear from Unite activist Torkwase Holmes and the work she’s doing to promote blood donation. — […]
The post Unite is in Torkwases’ blood appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite Education in the London and Eastern region recently set up a training day for reps focusing on organising. Over 40 Unite reps took part in the “Organising to Win” event, which was held at Unite’s Moreland Street office on May 18. Mark Boothroyd, chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital branch (pictured below), opened […]
The post Organising to win appeared first on Unite Live.