Many parents well know the stresses and strains of having a child too ill to go to school when mum and dad need to be at work. This need not (and should not) be the case – as the TUC is…Read more…
‘Dickensian’ work conditions
Imagine working on the statutory minimum wage, now set at £6.70 per hour – well below what’s needed to meet basic expenses in the first place – only to discover you aren’t getting paid even this…Read more…
Conspiracy and cover up
A Tory government which launched a head-on confrontation with trade unions in the early 1970s conspired with police and MI5 to help jail six striking building workers who picketed sites in Shrewsbury…Read more…
Cuts by a new name
After months of criticism from all sides, Chancellor George Osborne finally caved in on tax credits in his autumn statement last week, pledging to reverse cuts that would see Britain’s poorest…Read more…
Save ‘jewels in the crown’
Unite Community members in Huddersfield have vowed to “keep fighting for properly funded public libraries” after Kirklees Council pushed through major cuts in the service. In…Read more…
Gathering storm
George Osborne boasts his economic miracle has left us basking in economic sunshine which will only get warmer. But in the real world, the economic storms are building. Last week George…Read more…
The cuts that will hurt the most
Council services, including elderly care, children’s centres, parks and libraries, among other vital services, have suffered desperately under the weight of the previous government’s spending cuts,…Read more…
‘Who’s going to keep the lights on?’
As UniteLive reported today (December 1), the government’s decision to axe public health spending has created a false economy – short-term savings now will mean ballooning expenditures in the…Read more…
Honouring Ellen
Unite helped organise a unique domestic violence commemorative event on Sunday November 29 and will now assist with establishing a website that will honour domestic violence victims and provide…Read more…
Misguided move
As people live longer, chronic, life-long conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes become more prevalent, causing healthcare costs to spiral out of control. Chancellor…Read more…
War on the poorest
Media rumours about the death of austerity are premature says the Institute of Fiscal Studies as it and the Resolution Foundation highlight Osborne’s new attack on the poorest. George…Read more…
Osborne blinks first
Osborne – with his ‘Caesar’ haircut – stood at the Commons despatch box yesterday with his Labour political opponents in front of him and his Tory political enemies behind him. We all…Read more…
Hunt’s quack remedy
“The NHS is struggling to cope with five day working,” says Dr Ron Singer, chair of Doctors in Unite. “How does Jeremy Hunt think it can cope with seven day a week working?” And, of course,…Read more…
Pay result for Wales’ farm staff
Farmworkers in Wales are set to be awarded a hefty six per cent cumulative pay rise through an Interim Agricultural Wages Order, leaving England’s agricultural workers further behind after the…Read more…
Public health at risk
Bowing to pressure from NHS chief executive Simon Stevens, health experts, unions and the public, chancellor George Osborne finally caved – the Treasury announced today (November 24) that £3.8bn in…Read more…
Rights under attack
The Conservatives’ authoritarian trade union Bill will make England’s workers the least protected not only in Europe but also within the British Isles, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey warned…Read more…
Hidebound by ideology
George Orwell once noted, “Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” It perfectly sums up…Read more…
‘As sure as night follows day’
Working people from all corners of the UK made their way to the steel city of Sheffield last Saturday (November 21) to defend Britain’s steel industry and convince the government to take action…Read more…
A blueprint for growth
Addressing a packed hall of students at York University (November 19) Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke about the positive economic policies needed to kick-start British industry and create…Read more…
Strong medicine
Junior doctors are not known for taking strike action. In fact it is over 40 years since they last did so. But today (November 19), junior doctors have delivered the biggest ever vote in…Read more…