Full Disclosure: I work full time for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the views expressed here do not reflect the views of the FSF or my position at the FSF. This is a point that has been…Read more…
Free software is to code as labor unions are to workers and neither are revolutionary
Full Disclosure: I work full time for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the views expressed here do not reflect the views of the FSF or my position at the FSF. This is a point that has been…Read more…
Is this why the Tories hate trade unions?
Fascinating chart. Now, I know that not all Tories hate trade unions but none of their MPs voted against the Trade Union Bill second reading on Monday even though this is a basic democratic and human rights issue.
The chart shows that the income of th…Read more…
Dave Prentis – UNISON General Secretary election 2015
Just as the Labour Leadership election is coming to a close there is another important Labour Movement contest for 1.3 million UNISON members. The 5 yearly election of our General Secretary (GS).
I am supporting Dave Prentis to be re-elected as …Read more…
Government’s union membership changes are aimed at undermining public service workers’ rights
The Trade Union Bill keeps getting bigger as the Government find more ways they can rebalance power away from the workforce. The rapidly increasing package of measures contained in the Bill seeks to reduce the capacity of unions to represent people at …Read more…
Solving the IMF’s concerns about stronger unions
I have blogged at Touchstone about this week’s bombshell news from the International Monetary Fund that declining unionisation leads to ballooning inequality (which the IMF accepts is damaging…Read more…
Want to reduce inequality? New IMF research says unionisation is key
Through gritted teeth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has this week issued a ‘staff discussion note’ which contains a bit of a bombshell. The ballooning inequality that results from rampaging top people’s pay is not, as previously thought, an unfortunate by-product of…Read more…
How big is your union website?
Recently, I’ve been looking at the sizes of union websites as a benchmarking exercise to inform a union website redesign project. I thought I’d share the results of the analysis, as it provides some…Read more…
Trade Union Website League Table 2015
Every year in June I look at a number of industry metrics for all the TUC-affiliated trade union websites. To help unions see how their site has progressed, I compile them into a league table. The…Read more…
Guatemala: one of the terrible ten worst countries for workers’ rights
Murder, armed attacks and a lack of due process is the reality for Guatemalan unionists and their leaders. Throughout the last 12 months, leaders of the country’s various transport, municipal…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…
“Broken Commitments, Vulnerable Workers” – Human rights violations by National Express PLC
Find out below what happened when two British MPs were invited by low paid and exploited workers to find out how they were treated by their British owned employers.
On May 6 it will the National Express AGM. If you have a funded pension or insura…Read more…
Employment rights and unions under fire
The last few years have put the work rights of ordinary people in the UK under real threat. We’ve seen cuts in maternity leave rights, slashed protection from unfair dismissals, and new up…Read more…
“Union representatives here to stay on trustee boards”
The “Local Government Chronicle” reports huge fights currently going on between trade unions and Council officers about representation on the new Local Government Pension Scheme Boards.
It is clear that some Councils are trying to openly s…Read more…
How unions help their members win better pay
Joining together to win a better deal for members is the cornerstone of a trade union’s work. For Fair Pay Fortnight, we’ve rounded up some recent stories of how unions are making a real…Read more…
Same pay for the same job – is that too much to ask?
The TUC is putting the issues of low pay, poor job security and increasing living costs in the spotlight with Fair Pay Fortnight. Here is a contact centre worker’s personal account of being employed…Read more…
Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you
Workers who are not members of a trade unions please note. Read more…
Home care workers. Caring, professional and treated like shit
My Dad, who died 18 months back, had home care help in the last years of his illness. My Mum moved mountains to keep him at home, where he needed to be, but what she achieved simply wouldn’t have…Read more…
Which side are you on…
A moving union song by the late and great Pete Seeger… “Will you be a lousy scab or will you be a man”. Read more…
Iraqi unions build protest on jobs, wages and union rights
2015 began with a fresh new wave of industrial action across Iraq (apart from Iraqi Kurdistan) organised by the national trade union centre, the GFITU. The action centred on several demands,…Read more…