On 5th July 2017 the NHS was 69. The TUC, health unions and Health Campaign Together activists joined forces outside hospitals around the country to raise awareness about the impact of the squeeze on…Read more…
I’m being exploited in the gaming industry
My company is exploiting contracted workers and I am one of them. I’m a self-employed Digital marketer for a multinational corporation in the gaming industry. I’ve worked here for two years and I’ve…Read more…
Protecting the car industry after Brexit: a frictionless supply chain
Today, Unite is holding a major conference in Birmingham called Securing the future of the UK auto sector. It will bring together workers, employers and experts from the British car manufacturing…Read more…
Unions unite across borders against Murdoch media merger
Last week the British and European trade union movement united to call on the European Commission to block the proposed 21st Century Fox bid for Sky. A similar process is underway in the UK, but this…Read more…
Unite urges members to sound the alarm if jobs threatened by #Brexit
Unite has launched a new website to make sure its members are kept informed about what’s happening about Brexit, an online resource dedicated to bringing the news, views, facts and analysis on…Read more…
No Mr Grayling, the #SouthernStrike is very much about safety
Chris Grayling and Southern Rail are trying to convince us that the Southern strike is not about safety. They insist that extending driver only trains, which is at the heart of the dispute between…Read more…
The role of unions in challenging violence against women – #IDEVAW 2016
25 November marks the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the European Trades Union Confederation (ETUC) is marking the day by launching a new report mapping union initiatives in…Read more…
#Respect16 campaign: Usdaw demand an end to abuse of shopworkers
“I was attacked at work when I caught a customer stealing – they tried to strangle me.” This is the story of an Usdaw member in Northwich, and it’s not an isolated incident. Life on the frontline of…Read more…
As an Uber driver I’m sick and tired of losing out
Drivers won a pivotal victory in a case taken by my union, GMB against Uber that proved that they really are employees and not “partners” as the company always says. Our win is about keeping hold of…Read more…
Southern Rail – it’s about time you listened to your passengers
Meet Chris Hogg, a 36 year old lyricist from Sutton in Surrey. Every week Chris travels by Southern Rail, taking the train from Sutton to Ashtead to attend his music class. Chris is a wheel chair…Read more…
Is Southern Rail putting savings before safety?
Last week Southern Rail’s attempts to blame its shambolic running of the franchise on its staff and the RMT monumentally backfired – with passengers taking to Twitter to tell Southern what they…Read more…
Working at Sports Direct hurts your health as well as your pay packet
This week we’ve had proof that working at Sports Direct is bad for your pay packet, after the union Unite won a million pounds in back pay for workers who had received less than the legal minimum…Read more…
The Leave campaign’s 4 biggest euro-fibs
Leaders of the Leave campaigns have turned being economical with the truth into an art-form over the course of the EU referendum. To paraphrase legendary foreign correspondent Louis Heren, whenever…Read more…
Yet another trade unionist speaks out for Remain
Today, a long-time member of one of the TUC’s affiliated unions spoke out in favour of a Remain vote in Thursday’s referendum. The union is the Professional Footballers’ Association…Read more…
EU referendum campaign: hearing from women at last
Over the last week, a new group of voters has risen to some sort of prominence in the EU referendum campaign, despite previously being pretty much ignored in the coverage of the increasingly febrile…Read more…
The time is now: we need a European Robin Hood Tax
Next month, on 17 June, European Finance Ministers will gather for a crunch meeting for the European financial transactions tax (the Robin Hood Tax, or FTT). Campaigners across Europe are urging the…Read more…
Keep IT in BA: We need action against undercutting in British Airways
Tata’s decision to close its steel plants in the UK has brought it to the centre of public attention. What may be less known is that Tata, the Indian conglomerate, also owns the company Tata…Read more…
What’s changed about attitudes to free trade?
I’ve already blogged once about the Wilton Park conference I attended recently on the subject of the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) in terms of the impact of investor…Read more…
Fighting for fair pay at Express Newspapers
On the face of it, a shop steward negotiating with Richard Desmond is about as superfluous a role as Donald Trump’s equality and diversity advisor. The media mogul, labelled Britain’s greediest…Read more…
Time to care: Homecare workers speak out
Can you imagine having to have someone else help you brush your teeth? How about to get you out of bed, or even to wash you? What if it was a stranger each time? Over half a million adults in the UK…Read more…