Sports Direct is a household name, but one that is now nearly as famous for its use of zero hours contracts and mistreating its workforce as for the sportswear sold in its high street stores. Tomorrow the company’s Annual General Meeting brings the opportunity for investors to raise their voices…Read more…
ONS migration statistics show action on low pay and deregulation needed across Europe and at home
The Office for National Statistics today published figures on the number of migrants in the labour market up to the end of June. Given that this only captures information from a few days after the referendum, it’s not possible to read from these findings any impact of Britain’s vote to leave the…Read more…
TUC Communication Awards 2016
It’s the time of year when the TUC give out their awards for the best use of communications amongst unions. I’m always interested in the digital categories to see how unions are developing their…Read more…
Trade Union Website League Table 2016
It’s been 12 months since I last updated the Trade Union website league table, and so I’ve complied the latest metrics below (previous results can be seen for 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012)….Read more…
New Prospect website
One of the latest projects I’ve been involved with has recently gone live: Prospect, the professional’s union, has just launched their new website. I’ve been helping with the website’s new…Read more…
United we stand, divided we fall
Have you ever wondered where the expression “United we stand, divided we fall” comes from? It is a traditional trade union saying but I was surprised to find it is far older.
The ancient Greek Aesop’s “The Four Oxen and the Lion”
The fable reads as follows:
What is link baiting?
If you want to attract more visitors to your website, then one effective approach is “link baiting”. This is where a website features content that is so compelling that people want to link to it…Read more…
“Disciplinary or grievance hearing? It’s dangerous to go Solo…”
This is a great poster. Not sure where I found it now.
One of the worse things that I have to do as a trade union rep is to refuse representation to work colleagues who join the union too late. You cannot join knowing you have a problem and then…Read more…
Promoting workers’ rights and solidarity in the debate on EU migration
Last month the TUC was involved in a roundtable organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung London office which discussed how to promote workers’ rights in the debate on EU migration. The event drew on…Read more…
Hrvatski Zvučnici svugdje, pridružite se sindikatu!
OMG how cool is this? A little video about unions that I shot in my lunchbreak 7 years ago has just been remade by trade unionists in Croatia – in Croatian! This really surprised me as I know…Read more…
New Immigration Bill clauses could give workers whistle to blow on abusive employers
On Monday the Immigration Bill will return to the House of Commons. In the House of Lords amendments have been added to give rights and protections to asylum seekers and overseas domestic workers which provide an important counterbalance to the nasty t…Read more…
The ******* union that works for you (if you are a New Yorker)
Love this video. Saw it on Facebook again last week. Not sure if language and speech would be in accordance with UNISON rule book?
🙂
(BTW this is a spoof)
Unions and productivity
It is heartunions week – and perhaps one of the more surprising reasons to love unions is that they are good for productivity. I have an article on this in an e-pamphlet recently published by the IPA ‘Involvement and Productivity – The missing piece of the puzzle?’ Productivity has risen up the…Read more…
Frances O’Grady: #HeartUnions Week
Great video by the TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady on “Love Unions” week. Read more…
Forest Gate North Labour Branch AGM & HeartUnions Campaign
Yesterday I had my 2nd Labour Movement AGM in a row. On Wednesday I went to the UNISON Greater London Region AGM, where I was re-elected (for the 8th consecutive year) as a Regional Council Officer (the Executive Convener for Finance).
Last nigh…Read more…
Migration Advisory Committee report calls for public sector pay rise – but there’s a few snags
Last week, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent body which advises the government on migration policy, released its report on skilled migration. This report was prompted by the government asking the MAC to recommend how it could reduce net migration in pursuit of its unachievable…Read more…
Lords call for Immigration Bill to give asylum seekers right to work and protect domestic workers
On Monday the Immigration Bill will start to be debated by the House of Lords select committee. As I have blogged previously, the Bill contains a number of threats for workers. It will introduce measures to criminalise undocumented workers that will make it easier for bad bosses to exploit migrants…Read more…
Trade Union Bill and the Labour Party
On Thursday evening I was invited to speak to a joint meeting of both Forest Gate Labour Party branches on the Trade Union Bill. It started off with a quiz on trade unions, which was an excellent ice breaker and introduction. I then spoke about trade u…Read more…
Which unions are the most influential in social media in 2015?
Every November I look at how influential the TUC-affiliated unions are in social media (see results for 2012, 2013 and 2014). Specifically, I look at Twitter, which due to its open nature is the only…Read more…
Broad alliance must raise the alarm on new Immigration Bill
The Immigration Bill is due to go through the Report stage and Third Reading in the House of Commons this Tuesday on 1st December. The Bill has emerged from the Public Bill Committee – to which the…Read more…