It seems that the Conservative Party has undergone something of a transformation in its attitude towards union input into government policy.

On Friday’s Today programme, Francis Maude called on unions to “see themselves as social partners working together with the government as much as possible”, along the lines of the corporatist partnership model that exists in much of Western Europe. And George Osborne used an interview on The Politics Show on Sunday to reiterate the invitation for greater social dialogue.

The TUC has always sought to establish practical working relations with governments, but it was not able to do so under the last Conservative administration, which effectively closed to door to unions for 18 years. One of the biggest barriers to continental-style social partnership has been an unwillingness on the part of governments, particularly (though not exclusively) Conservative ones.

It’s refreshing to see that the Cameron government has taken a more enlightened stance.

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Posted on January 31st, 2011 by Chris Wright filed under: Union futures

In the month since Stronger Unions covered the first disturbances, unions in Tunisia have been at the forefront of the huge political developments. When demonstrations were raging in Tunis and around the country, unions were at the forefront – there was even a demonstration in favour of police unionisation – and were the target of attacks by government forces and later, after the government fell, by its supporters. At one stage, when a new government was formed as part of the transition process, the UGTT (the Tunisian TUC) supplied three Ministers. But they soon resigned because the UGTT decided the changes were cosmetic, and their resignation triggered the final collapse of the old regime.

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Posted on January 30th, 2011 by Owen Tudor filed under: Global solidarity

Earlier today unions from across the public and private sectors came together to plan how best to respond to the impact of the government’s programme of cuts and ‘reforms’.

 As well as devastating our public services; stifling economic recovery; increasing unemployment and hitting the poorest and most vulnerable hardest; its clear the government’s plans could come as a hammer blow to public sector workers. The prospect of over 400,00 job losses, a two year pay freeze and potential changes to pensions  are just the tip of a public sector ice-berg which threatens pay, terms and conditions across health, local government, education and the civil service.

Today’s meeting at the TUC gave unions the opportunity to think through how best to collectively respond to these pressures and to link the campaign to protect public sector workers, with the broader All Together campaign to expose the impact of the government’s cuts and reforms and set out the economic alternative. Its clear this wider campaign is beginning to gather pace – a clear majority of the British public now believes that the cuts are unfair and damaging to the economy.

You can read about the outcome of the meeting here.

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Posted on January 28th, 2011 by Paul Nowak filed under: Union campaigns

On Saturday the TUC – in partnership with the NUS and UCU – will be hosting a national rally in Manchester. ‘A Future that Works’ will highlight the impact of the  coalition government’s programme of cuts and ‘reforms’  on young workers, students and young people in general.

Despite the fact that nearly  one million young people are out of work,  the government seems intent on driving forward policies that can only intensify the pressure on the next generation of workers – the scrapping of EMA; the tripling of tuition fees and the end of the Future Jobs Fund all bear the hallmarks of a government thats out of touch, and out of ideas for tackling youth unemployment.

Join us in Manchester on Saturday and support the call for a ‘Future that Works’!

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Posted on January 27th, 2011 by Paul Nowak filed under: Union campaigns

The TUC is hosting a roundtable at Congress House on Wednesday 23 March from 10.00 to 16.30 as part of its joint research project with the Economic and Social Research Council on Unions, Collective Bargaining and Employment Relations.

 The roundtable will bring together union officials, academics, and representatives from organisations such as Acas to discuss the challenges and opportunities for unions and collective employment relations in the current economic and political climate.

 If you would like to attend, please contact Zoe Molyneaux at zmolyneaux@tuc.org.uk or on 0207-467-1273. Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

Draft Programme – TUC/ESRC Roundtable, The Future of Collective Representation, Congress House, Wednesday 23 March

 1^st session: Collective employment relations – Past, present and future (10.15-11.30)

• Understanding the reasons for the decline of collectivism (William Brown, University of Cambridge)
• The remaining areas of collective bargaining coverage: Can they be replicated elsewhere? (speaker tbc)
• Looming developments in public sector bargaining (Christina McAnea, National Secretary, UNISON Education and Children’s Services)

 2^nd session: The challenges of an individualised and unorganised workforce (11.45-13.00)

• The growth of atypical and low-paid work and how to deal with it (Damian Grimshaw, University of Manchester)
• Responding to the rise of unorganised conflict (Peter Harwood, Chief Conciliator, Acas)
• New forms of employer collaboration, and what it means for unions (Edmund Heery, Cardiff Business School)

 3^rd session: Innovative union strategies (14.00-15.30)

• Union responses to self-employment (Steve Murphy, Regional Secretary, UCATT Midlands)
• Unions and the regulation of occupations (Maria Koumenta, Oxford Brookes University)
• The use of corporate codes to influence good labour practices (speaker tbc)
• Supply chain strategies in the unorganised workforce (Chris Wright, University of Cambridge/TUC)

Final session: Panel discussion on the future of collective representation (15.30-16.30)

• Francis O’Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary and John Kelly, Birkbeck, University of London

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Posted on January 27th, 2011 by Chris Wright filed under: Union news

The March for the Alternative on March 26^th is going to be huge!

That means we are going to need lots of volunteer stewards to help make the day a well-run, family-friendly event. Good events need about one steward for every 50 people attending, so that tells you how many we will need.

We are asking for people to nominate themselves via the link below for two steward roles – ROUTE stewards and TRAVEL stewards. 

To make it easy for people to find out more about what these roles involve – and just as importantly what they don’t – we’ve set up a special webpage that allows you to volunteer to be a steward.  The steward volunteer webpage can be found at;

http://www.tuc.org.uk/alltogetherfor/stewarding.cfm

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Posted on January 17th, 2011 by Carl Roper filed under: Union news