There are now 4.6 million self-employed workers in Britain, according to the Office for National Statistics, and on average they work longer hours than employed workers. Their wages have fallen by around 22 per cent since 2008.
Just about every union in Britain has policy opposing privatisation. Many are committed to fighting TTIP. It is the EU that is spearheading these attacks on workers.
Even before an actual day was set for the EU referendum, the mongers of doom are predicting disaster if Britain leaves. Yet the opposite is true…
A long-running dispute over front of house staff wages and conditions at the Globe Theatre in London has been “settled” – for the time being. This follows a one-day strike in May 2015, with the threat of further action. A degree of progress has been made.
Never mind that whenever the people have been asked they have said they don’t want it – devolution is to be forced on England…
The SNP is weighing in behind those who want to see an end to the BBC as we know it. Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop has just outlined her plans for a “federal BBC with at least a Board for each nation” with a budget controlled in Scotland.
The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is calling for support for its campaign to save adult education. The area is under increased threat in the run-up to the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
Separately, all these would-be devolved authorities published proposals before chancellor Osborne’s September deadline, aimed at joining up between 4 and 19 local authorities. Note the imperial ambitions of “Greater” Essex and Yorkshire.
Innovation? What innovation? The government has effectively washed its hands of the White Rose carbon capture and storage (CCS) project based at Drax power station in Yorkshire
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced that ballot papers would go out to its members in early November. It is a ballot which, should it go ahead, could well result in the first national strike action by junior doctor members since the 1970s.
In Washington the US Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates, even though this would destabilise already fragile economies across the world.
There is no alternative to fighting when it comes to pay. And then fight some more. Unions in the arts sector have a difficult job, especially where there is no continuous history of struggle.
