Last week I wrote a blog about the health effects of working shifts, in particular nights. Well today the TUC has followed up on that with a report on night working and “work-life balance”….Read more…
Rättvisa lön: IKEA unveil plan to build a Living Wage
Great news this week for Usdaw members in IKEA, as the Swedish flat pack furniture giant have committed to sign up as a Living Wage employer.Read more…
Burma: unions, global brands & NGOs back minimum wage for all
Things are changing in Burma, once a by-word for breaches of ILO core conventions, a no-go country for trade unionists (except for the ones in the military junta’s jails) and home to the…Read more…
Common priorities for Europe in Britain & Ireland
Yesterday I had the honour of addressing the Congress of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), and a large part of my speech focused on the challenges facing the European Union. Including, of…Read more…
8 honest challenges for trade unions
Yesterday I put together 8 surprising facts about trade union membership. It’s been a really popular post, and it was based on the latest Office of National Statistics trade union report. I…Read more…
8 surprising facts about trade union membership
The Office of National Statistics collects data on trade union membership every year and they’ve just released their report. You can read it yourself here, but for those who don’t have…Read more…
Syriza’s struggle is our struggle
The Greek Syriza government is still locked in crisis negotiations with ‘the group formerly known as the Troika’ (the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission) over releasing…Read more…
Taking away workers’ rights will make Brexit more likely says TUC poll
As Nigel Stanley reported on Touchstone last week, we had an opinion poll in the field immediately after the election, to find out more about why people voted the way we did. We held a few of the…Read more…
Health and safety – Time to return to basics
After five years of unrelenting attacks on health and safety from all sides, many activists were hoping to see a change in direction after the election. Labour had promised to prioritise the…Read more…
What do health workers want from this election?
Health and social care continues to dominate the election. Party manifestos have been published promising more funding, more services and more staff. As you might expect, a detailed look at these…Read more…
Rana Plaza: $9 million still owed to the victims with 23 days to go to second anniversary – tell companies to #payup
In 23 days time it will be two years since the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Savar district, Bangladesh killing 1138 workers, injuring thousands more and leaving 500 children orphaned. Shamefully…Read more…
Turkish court frees trade unionists
For a number of years now I have covered Turkey as a member of the TUC’s European Union and International Department. During those years I have written protest letter after protest letter to the…Read more…
What’s REALLY bugging Eurozone hardliners about Syriza?
The brinkmanship and rhetoric surrounding the renegotiation of Greece’s memorandum with the Troika was ramped up this week as a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Monday broke up without…Read more…
The Assault on Turkish Democracy continues
It has been a year since I blogged on the arrest of a staggering 502 people in Turkey, many of whom are trade unionists, for basically voicing their dissent. More like a year and a half since my blog…Read more…
Does Davos do any good?
As the super-rich decant from Davos – some, seriously, by private jet – it’s time to reflect on another year of the elite World Economic Forum. Does it do any good? Davos is mostly…Read more…
TUC Aid Appeal for Gaza
Before last years conflict, TUC Aid had supported a project in Gaza at the Beit Lahia Plant Nursery. The idea behind the initiative was to grow fresh food both to enhance the diet of people in…Read more…