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 industry to look at the prospects for this key industry after Brexit. The Prime Minister’s intention to trigger Article 50 and start the negotiations…
Suicides can be a tragedy both for those who attempt it and their families and friends. It can also have a huge effect on the lives of some groups such as train and tube drivers when people attempt to kill themselves in front of a train, or care workers, police officers and paramedics who often…
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 is bigger than Britain, and demonstrates the need for transnational regulation of transnational companies. The TUC and European Trade…
Yesterday I attended the HSE stress summit in London for the launch of their new stress campaign. The conference went well and the main thrust of the conference was on the importance of prevention, using the risk prevention and risk management approach that is contained in the HSE stress management standards. This is the approach…
Most of the commentary on trade union decline concentrates on the fall in overall union membership and density (the proportion of workers who carry a union card). This is obviously cause for great concern. Since 1979, total union membership has halved and density has fallen from over 50% to below 25%. However there is another set…
The annual attempt by organisations like the misleadingly named ‘Taxpayers’ Alliance to provoke outrage about the ‘cost’ of paid release for union reps is a bit like hearing there’s going to be yet another series of the X Factor. You know its going to happen but you just wish someone, somewhere would either come up…
On Tuesday 7 March 2017, on the eve of International Women’s Day, the Mary Macarthur Plaque was unveiled on the site of her Golders Green home. Mary Macarthur was a Scottish woman, trade unionist, and Secretary of the Women’s Trade Union League. Active in the fight for universal suffrage. Founder, in 1906, of the National…
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 the negotiations for the UK to leave the European Union. And last week, the union called on members to ‘sound the alarm’ if Brexit…