All the union news that's fit to blog...
“Barns and cottages will get converted into properties that landowners sell off with a few acres of land and horse paddocks, and millionaires from London will buy them since they can get a really quick train into London”
The post The good life? appeared first on Unite Live.
Even as production costs fall, staggeringly high inflation continues unabated, in large part driven by skyrocketing prices of the one thing everyone needs – food. Research by consumer group Which? found that in April, own-brand budget items at the UK’s largest supermarkets jumped by as much as 25 per cent in only a month, hitting […]
The post Going hungry in the food factory appeared first on Unite Live.
This week marks the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, the first ship to arrive in Tilbury Docks after the Second World War. The original ship belonged to Germany and was used in the war where it was captured, refurbished and renamed Empire Windrush. Between 10,000 to 20,000 people from the Caribbean […]
The post ‘The legacy of the Windrush generation lives on’ appeared first on Unite Live.
The city of Liverpool may have made upwards of £40m from hosting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, with UK and overseas visitors spending millions in hotels, pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues. It’s an economic boon that any city should be proud of – but just how much of those untold millions have landed in […]
The post ‘Liverpool’s potential is huge’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite has joined forces with the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) and the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum (SPF) to launch a campaign to demand that the government rules out any further increases to the state pension age. In the first of many demonstrations, Unite, NPC and SPF activists mobilised outside Parliament alongside Labour MPs on Tuesday (May […]
The post 68 is too late! appeared first on Unite Live.
In 2021 the Court of Appeal overturned the 1970’s criminal convictions of 24 trade unionists — half a century after those convictions were first handed down. Unite retired member Terry Renshaw tells UniteLive how the Shrewsbury 24 campaign won their 47-year fight for justice. On the 6th September 1972, pickets from North Wales travelled around […]
The post ‘It was a victory for the trade union movement’ appeared first on Unite Live.
“I could open a farm there,” Vadim Sardov, 24, joked about the inside of his caravan window, where it was so mouldy that plants started to sprout. Sardov came to the UK from Kazakhstan last September on a British government visa scheme for farm workers. He worked at a packhouse in Essex for UK Salads, […]
The post ‘It’s almost the same as living on the street’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Eight-seven-five. Angel still remembers her number, months after leaving the UK. The number assigned to her by the farm. The number used instead of her name when her supervisor ordered her to work faster or punished her. Angel, a single mother from South Africa, said that she felt like a prisoner, being shouted at and […]
The post ‘They treat you like an animal’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Migrant agricultural workers who travelled thousands of miles to plug labour gaps on UK farms have faced unlawful wage deductions, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and VICE World News can reveal. Research by TBIJ and VICE World News, along with case work data from the Work Rights Centre, found that more than 20 people working […]
The post Migrant workers ripped off by employers on farms appeared first on Unite Live.
Unite Equalities celebrated International Women’s Day on Wednesday (March 8) with an inspiring online webinar that featured a range of Unite women activists making a difference in their workplaces. The online event was hosted by Unite regional officer Allison Spencer-Scragg and Unite national chair of the women’s committee Jane Stewart, who is also on the […]
The post Equality “at the heart of everything Unite does” appeared first on Unite Live.
Every day over the Christmas period, UniteLive is running a different story from our top stories of 2023. Today, we look back at our Get Me Home Safely Campaign, which celebrated its one-year anniversary in March and highlight the many wins the campaign has had since. — As the world today (March 8) celebrates International […]
The post UniteLive stories of the year – Get Me Home Safely goes global appeared first on Unite Live.
International Women’s Day isn’t just about celebrating milestones in the fight for equality – because that fight is never done. This year on International Women’s Day on March 8, Unite Equalities will host a special online event from 6.30pm to showcase the difference that Unite women activists have made in their workplaces, and how you […]
The post ‘We have to keep fighting’ appeared first on Unite Live.
It’s no secret that Unite has made huge gains in the bus sector over the last year, winning big inflation-busting pay rises for tens of thousands of drivers and other bus workers across the UK. This month, Unite notched up another notable win when the union secured a 10 per cent pay increase for members […]
The post ‘Through solidarity we win’ appeared first on Unite Live.
This February marks the one year anniversary since 450 B&Q workers in Wincanton won their fight for fair pay after bravely striking for months. During Heart Unions week this week, UniteLive looks back at this key win. — The B&Q distribution centre in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, is built on the remains of Manton Colliery. The colliery […]
The post Camaraderie, organisation and doing the maths appeared first on Unite Live.
December 1 2022 will be the day that hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers in the Republic of Ireland will remember – it’s the day that they’ve reclaimed what’s rightfully theirs. Up until December 1st last year, workers in Ireland’s hotels, restaurants and other establishments where tipping is customary, had long been the victims of […]
The post ‘Watershed moment’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Last year, Unite members employed as HGV bin drivers by Coventry council took more than six months of strike action in one of the longest-running disputes in Unite history – and they won. During Heart Unions week this week, we look back at this key victory. — It’s hard to put into words what more […]
The post ‘Never give up’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Thousands of ambulance workers, Unite members, carried on their fight for fair pay and for the future of the NHS this week, as they took their third day of strike action on Monday (February 6). Unite general secretary Sharon Graham joined ambulance members on the picket line in Cardiff, where she urged both the UK […]
The post ‘Look at the bigger picture’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27) when people across the world gather to remember the more than 6m Jewish people who were massacred in the Holocaust, as well as the millions more who were likewise murdered in other genocides, including in Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, Cambodia and others. This year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day […]
The post ‘We must stand together united’ appeared first on Unite Live.
Widespread public support for the latest Unite ambulance strikes was apparent from the start – as cars and lorries relentlessly honked their horns driving past a picket line in Chorley in the early hours of Monday morning, the taxi driver who dropped off your UniteLive correspondent likewise offered his solidarity. “I hope you guys win […]
The post ‘We can’t afford to let the NHS sink’ appeared first on Unite Live.
More than 1,000 ambulance workers, Unite members, took strike action on Thursday (January 19) in their fight to save the NHS from total collapse. Unite ambulance workers in Wales overwhelmingly voted to take strike action – by a margin of 88 per cent – over a pay offer that is well below inflation during an […]
The post ‘This is ultimately about our patients’ appeared first on Unite Live.