Pay: Chief execs rake it in
Chief executives of the FTSE 100 companies are now earning 131 times the average wage of their employees, compared with 41 times in 1998.
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Billionaires: Join the club
In 2014 the global billionaires club – up an extra 155 members over the year – contained 2,325 people with combined assets of $7.29 trillion, says a new report
Zero hours: Sham proposals
Government talk of banning clamping down on zero hours contracts is a way of helping employers find ways round any new rules.
Turkey: Dairy workers fight
The International Union of Food Workers is campaigning in support of Turkish union members fighting for trade union recognition with the Sutas Dairy Company.
Carr Inquiry: Throwing in the towel
The Bruce Carr investigation into trade unions following the 2013 Grangemouth refinery dispute has flopped. Unable to provide an evidence-based argument, Carr has thrown the towel in.
Hands across the Border
Launch of the building of the Hands Across the Border cairn at Gretna, 20 July 2014. People from all over Britain link arms for unity as they sing Auld Lang Syne after laying their stones.
Eurobriefs: The latest from Brussels
Britain’s largest union backs referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union…Euro-election turnout lower than first thought…Government report into free movement of labour
Meat safety: Abattoir action
Vets and hygiene inspectors working in abattoirs on behalf of the Food Standards Agency have voted for industrial action after a below inflation pay offer coupled with a refusal to negotiate.
Zero hours: Interesting definitions…
In response to a query from Unison, service company ISS has provided an interesting definition of zero hours contracts.
Shipbuilding: Disaster on the Clyde
Scotland’s last non-military shipbuilder, Ferguson’s on the Clyde, is heading for bankruptcy, with the loss of 70 jobs – despite a promise from SNP leader Alex Salmond to maintain it
Bill to open up land grab
An amendment to the Infrastructure Bill going through parliament will allow Boris Johnson or his successor as Mayor of London to acquire land held by all public bodies in London. The prime target for this land grab will be the estates of NHS properties in London estimated as being worth over £50 million.
Museums: Closure threat
The world-famous Oliver Cromwell museum in Huntingdon is under closure threat after Cambridgeshire County Council withdrew funding as a direct result of government cuts.
Sport billionaires welcome
No sooner is the World Cup a mere dot on television screens than Boris Johnson, soon to be forgotten Mayor of London, is jostling for space in the sporting arena by promoting Formula One racing on London’s streets.
Audit abolition on the quiet
In March next year the Audit Commission will be abolished. With it will go an important principle of public life – that the audit of money spent by public bodies should be as genuinely independent as possible.
Pit faces early shutdown
The withdrawal of Hargreaves Services from the funding package to keep Kellingley pit in West Yorkshire open for a further two years of managed closure has brought to the fore the prospect of an early shutdown.
Newspapers: Hitting back at the hub
Industrial action is sweeping through Newsquest papers as journalists strike back against pay restraint, job loss and plans to move editorial production to a central hub in South Wales.
Education: Victory for reason
In a dramatic victory for rational thought over mysticism, the government has decreed that creationism cannot be taught as science in any existing or future academy or free school.
Second strike at TfL
Travel centres at stations across the capital were disrupted on 13 June in what the unions involved have dubbed a “let them eat cake” dispute at Transport for London.
NHS protests across England
As part of the ongoing pay dispute in the NHS, Unison and other health unions organised protests across England with lobbies, banners and stalls at dozens of hospital gates on 5 June.
Housing: Fake boom
House prices in London have risen by 17 per cent in the past 12 months – a disastrous and artificial boom.
Water cannon: Johnson campaign ploy
The Mayor of London has bought three ex-German Federal Reserve Police water cannon – without authority to deploy them.
Minerals: Tungsten mine for Devon
The first new metal mine in Britain for 40 years will open next year in Devon following the approval of £130 million of investment.
Unity at Scottish TUC
THE SCOTTISH TUC in Dundee in April saw the National Union of Mineworkers, ASLEF, Community, USDAW and GMB, with help from CWU and Musicians’ Union delegates, Work Together and United with Labour, organising a standing-room-only fringe event – featuring powerful calls for working class unity.
Eurobrief: TTIP under scrutiny
The EU-US free trade agreement, known as TTIP, is coming under increasing pressure as more and more people start to realise what it entails. Top of the list of concerns is the provision for Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS.
Ambulance dispute looms
Ambulance workers’ unions are dusting off their plans for a ballot on industrial action in England after negotiations over sick pay have reached an impasse.
Wardens at the crossroads
Nothing contributes more to demoralisation than a badly planned, deliberately misleading and directionless dispute. The NSL Unison members are going to have to do some hard thinking about those who have treated them like cannon fodder.