All the union news that's fit to blog...
This looks interesting and just around the corner from where I live but clashes with my UNISON branch AGM.
“Join us for an evening of solidarity with Palestine.
Guest speakers: Hamed Qawasmeh, of the Hebron International Resources Network and Leanne …Read more…
I am proud that UNISON supported WAC-MAAN to organise Palestinian workers in the illegal Israeli industrial zones, and we stood with them in their fight for justice for Hatem and the workers at the…Read more…
I must visit Palestine but in the meanwhile I will listen, learn and enquire from those who have. Email Phil if you are going so he can order refreshmentsRead more…
Looking forward to chairing this meeting. Please make sure you email Phil (p.thompson@unison.co.uk) if you want to attend. Read more…
“So the settler agenda is defining the future of Israel. And their stated purpose is clear. They believe in one state: greater Israel. In fact, one prominent minister, who heads a pro-settler party, declared just after the U.S. election – and I quote – “the era of the two-state solution is over,”…Read more…
My third compilation of reviews from the Edinburgh Festivals has been published in yesterday’s Morning Star. Covering a range of shows with a general theme of migration, it is a masterpiece of…Read more…
The biggest debate of the day was around local government cuts. An Executive Statement strengthened Unite’s policy, but didn’t go as far as the motions which fell as a result of it passing.
Composite 1 (Motions 1 & 2): Campaigning Against Privatis…Read more…
I had the good fortune to accompany the General Council’s delegation to Palestine and Israel at the beginning of the year. You can read the delegation’s report here. In little over three…Read more…
Conference hears that the boycott and disvestment campaign is working well
The article Voices for Palestine won’t be silenced first appeared on the UNISON National site.Read more…
Ken Livingstone’s ego was always going to be his (and arguably Corbyn’s) undoing. But the contrived charges of anti-Semitism would have been landed on the Corbynistas regardless of whoever it was…Read more…
#STUC16 The STUC will seek talks with Scottish Universities Support Palestinian Students (SUSPS) with a view to giving active support to a revised initiative and encourage unions to back the project financially and in any other ways possible.
The Edinburgh TUC motion reminded delegates that last year’s Congress in Ayr gave a generous welcome to the first recipient of a SUSPS award who is fromRead more…
Fourth report from a delegation to Palestine and Israel by Sam Macartney, UNISON Scotland International Chair: Day 5: Went to Hebron and was not surprised by the number of Israeli solders surrounding this city.
A few hundred Israeli settlers have live in Hebron since 1982. There have always been some issues but this has increased dramatically over the last 20 years. Ever since Israel’sRead more…
Fourth report from a delegation to Palestine and Israel by Sam Macartney, UNISON Scotland International Chair: Day 4 Jerusalem: Two scheduled meetings for today and a chance to see the illegal settlements which the Israeli government are helping to build and saying their not.
Furniture tossed on the street
UN you need to see a good optician. Illegal settlements spring up in East Jerusalem atRead more…
Third report from a delegation to Palestine and Israel by Sam Macartney, UNISON Scotland International Chair: Early start this morning to beat the traffic and the check points, yes there is wall to wall check points – makes a few people feel safe but many others living under occupation.
Sam Macartney at the Yasser Arafat memorial
Reached Ramallah, and it felt good to be in a Palestinian cityRead more…
Second report from a delegation to Palestine and Israel by Sam Macartney, UNISON Scotland International Chair: Day 3: Met with the UN representative this morning, (Rodger Dalton) also at the meeting was Lord Warner Labour peer, and two forgettable Tory MPs. They were getting to travel to Gaza while groups with a real interest an agenda are barerd.
Meeting with Kavla Oved workers’ rightsRead more…
Sam Macartney, UNISON Scotland International Chair, reports from a delegation to Palestine and Israel: Day one arrived Tel Aviv. As expected I was pulled in by Israeli security, thankfully only questioned for 20 minutes then released. It seems my reputation precedes me!
Another Israeli checkpoint, Jerusalem
On the drive to Jerusalem Noel our driver pointed out the security the PalestineRead more…
The Tory government announced on Monday (15/2/16) that from now on only government approved boycotts will be tolerated. So much for local democracy.
Through a guidance note published by the…Read more…
The Graphical, Paper, Media & IT NISC met on 12-13 November, and this is a report of some points of potential interest. It doesn’t include the (important) reports on what’s going on in various employers and sub-sectors, as the NISC regards these as…Read more…
AS Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for the Labour Party leadership has rolled on in the past few weeks, with the bearded Left-wing veteran addressing huge public meetings around the country, from Birkenhead…Read more…
#stuc15 The STUC was uncompromising in its backing for a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel until it ends its violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.
Delegates condemned the terrible Israeli assaults on Gaza over the Summer of 2014 which left thousands of Palestinian civilians dead and many more injured and homeless, many of them children.
Sam McCartney, Chair of UNISONRead more…