Unison: anyone voting?
The most significant result of Unison's national executive council elections was the turnout – down 25 per centy on the previous elections, and an average turnout of just 5.6 per cent.
News
News
Cuts to shore up PFI
Barts Health, the largest NHS Trust in Britain, has now released its deficit projection for 2016, with massive cuts almost identical to the cost of servicing its PFI debt.
Home working on the rise
22 June 2015
Workwise, which organised the tenth “National Work from Home Day” on 5 June, estimates that there are more than 4.2 million people in Britain working from home. That’s not good news.
Tube workers prepare for action
Tube driver members of ASLEF have voted overwhelmingly in favour of action against London Underground’s attempt to impose new rosters and payments.
Higher education union ballots on 'final' pay offer
16 June 2015
University and College Union members in higher education across Britain are currently being consulted on the “full and final” offer for 2015-16 made to the union by the University and Colleges Employers Association.
Sheffield bakery staff into second day of strike
16 June 2015
Workers in the food industry union BFAWU today enter the second day of their 48-hour strike at Gunstones factory, Sheffield, following the employer’s decision to force through a pay freeze.
Terrorist state removes Cuba from its list
5 June 2015
The US State Department has finally removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism – while newly released documents show that the US shipped arms to al Qaeda and ISIS.
TTIP vote in balance
5 June 2015
With the European Parliament scheduled to meet for an important vote on TTIP on 10 June, MEPs are showing signs of panic and switching positions from day to day – as pressure from the peoples of Europe builds.
Rail strike threat draws new offer
2 June 2015
Planned strikes at Network Rail over pay and conditions this week and next have been called off after the rail operator increased its pay offer to 2 per cent this year.
'Massive pain' promised for Tata after huge pensions strike vote
31 May 2015
Members of Community, GMB and Ucatt have voted decisively for strike action in a dispute with Tata Steel over pensions.
New figures show scale of production crisis
29 May 2015
The economy grew by just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, said the Office for National Statistics on 28 May, confounding – as ever – predictions from City analysts, who had been expecting higher growth.
New Ukrainian laws glorify WW2 fascists
26 May 2015
Seventy years after the defeat of Nazism in the Second World War, the descendants of the treacherous Ukrainian fascists are in power – and seeking revenge.
Globe tour guides prepare fresh action over pay
25 May 2015
Guides at London’s Globe Theatre are preparing for their second day of strike action over pay. The 38 tour guides have been in dispute since 2014, fighting for pay parity with similar prestigious organisations.
National rail strike suspended after improved pay offer
25 May 2015
Rail unions RMT and TSSA suspended a national rail strike scheduled for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend after Network Rail improved its pay offer. It would have been the first national rail strike for two decades.
Wasted spaces
24 May 2015
Nicky Morgan, the new government’s education secretary, has tried to bolster free schools. Her stance should dispel the illusion that she is more approachable and reasonable than her irascible predecessor.
Ferrybridge C power station to close
23 May 2015
The announcement that Ferrybridge C power station will stop generating in 2016 twists the knife in what is left of coal power generation in Britain.
Pressure grows on TTIP deal
19 May 2015
It’s been a bad month for TTIP, and things could soon get even worse for those pushing the transatlantic trade deal. Lawmakers in the EU and the US are having second thoughts.
'Extremism' proposals that threaten democracy
17 May 2015
Anybody who imagines that the threat to democracy in Britain comes from organisations like the EDL should study the government’s latest proposals to “combat extremism”.
Bank Governor: migration does lower wages
17 May 2015
New data from the Bank of England demolish the ideologically motivated belief of those encouraging migration that it has no effect on wages.
Surrey bus drivers ballot for action
6 May 2015
More than 100 bus drivers working for Abellio Surrey at its Byfleet depot are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Mayor removed after blistering court judgement
4 May 2015
The directly elected mayor of East London borough Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, was summarily removed from office when an election court found him guilty of corrupt practices at the end of April.
Midwives and radiographers in first N. Ireland walkout
2 May 2015
Hundreds of members of the Royal College of Midwives and the Society of Radiographers struck for the first time ever in hospitals across Northern Ireland on 30 April as part of the public sector pay battle.
Children forced into Sikh free school
1 May 2015
Parents in Leeds have been shocked to discover that their local authority has allocated places to their children in a Sikh free school, despite their not having chosen the school.
'Worst attack in history' on further education as government cuts bite deep
29 April 2015
If the government continues with its planned cuts to the adult skills budget, by 2020 adult education and training in England will have ceased to exist.
A best-seller 167 years on
29 April 2015
Something interesting has occurred with the Bookseller list of current bestsellers. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels is a new entry into the top ten list of general paperbacks.
Unity 'frees camp' from ISIS
Reports have reached Workers that the combined force of all the armed rival Palestinian factions in the giant Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, plus the Syrian Arab Army, have liberated most of the camp from ISIS.
Pay turmoil in Unison
Unison’s local government sector has been thrown into turmoil following the hijacking of the union’s democratic procedures after last year’s local government pay fiasco.
Steel - Strike ballot goes ahead
Steel workers employed by Tata Steel in Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, Rotherham and other sites are to ballot during May on strike action over imposed changes to the pension scheme.
Scotland - The £7.6 billion hole
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has concluded that Scotland would be left with a £7.6 billion gap in its finances if it pursued fiscal autonomy, because falling oil revenues would leave the country with a tax shortfall – to be met by cuts or taxes.
RMT protests against subsidising European rail services
A series of protests across the north of England are highlighting the way British rail passengers are subsidising rail services in other European countries.