Inflation and pay
28 November 2021
Inflation is at its highest in a decade and prices continue to rise. Trade unions are beginning to respond, but there’s opportunity for doing more.
Unions
Unions
Strike wave greets COP26 [updated]
Road closures and police cordons reminded people in Glasgow of the reality of hosting the city’s biggest ever gathering, the COP26 climate conference.
Teachers win reinstatement battle
11 May 2021
Louise Lewis, the suspended National Education Union rep at North Huddersfield Trust School, has finally been reinstated after a seven-month battle by her fellow union members.
Full backing for rail strikes
Four separate days of strike action have been solidly supported by RMT members who work as conductors and ticket examiners for ScotRail...
1941: Seven against the state
During World War Two, the government prosecuted seven workers because they defended their union convenor. It did not turn out how they expected…
BT staff yes to action vote
Communications Workers Union BT Group membership responded to a consultative ballot on industrial action in defence of job security and terms and conditions with a huge 97.9 per cent yes vote.
Seizing the future for Britain's workers
The dominance of finance capital has dragged Britain deep into debt, even before Covid-19. Rebuilding the economy after the ravages of the pandemic will require a completely different approach…
Looking forward
At the University of Glasgow the university and the union have reached a joint agreement about coping with the new situation.
Student nurses - call to scrap tuition fees
Unions representing nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals are calling on the government to improve support during their training.
Union reps take responsibility to keep ambulances running
Media descriptions of “health heroes” often stops at doctors and nurses. At the front of the front line, though, are the ambulance services.
Unison reps take responsibility to keep ambulance services running
14 April 2020
London’s ambulance service has been under heavy strain. But it has not buckled. Key to its resilience has been the acceptance of responsibility by the main trade union, Unison.
Workers demand safety in Scotland
30 March 2020
Unions are rapidly reaching agreements to protect workers and maintain vital services in the face of the coronavirus epidemic.
Labour: a corpse in need of burial, not resuscitation
10 January 2020
The Labour Party is a walking corpse. And unless the established trade unions change tack, they will follow it to irrelevance. The time is ripe for de-coupling trade unions from the Labour Party.
Collectivism and trade unions - the future?
Workers magazine talks to young person just starting out as a union rep for Unite in a large, prestigious manufacturing company based in Britain but with facilities in more than 50 countries.
RMT union member "no platformed" for supporting Brexit
1 September 2019
A pro-Brexit RMT activist has been “no-platformed” by two prominent journalists, who are among the darlings of so-called "left" EU supporters.
Stop shutting down debate
In an atmosphere similar to McCarthyism, a trade union officer has been hounded out of office after expressing support for Brexit.
Protest at Scottish budget
Members of several unions gathered at the Scottish Parliament on 12 December to protest against that day’s annual budget announcement from the minority SNP administration.
TUC opposed in closet call for second referendum
13 September 2018
Instead of calling for – effectively – a second referendum, TUC unions should follow the RMT’s lead and assert their own sovereignty against the employers.
TUC: drifting away from the working class
Britain’s trade unions will meet this year in Manchester, where the TUC was founded at the city’s Mechanics Institute 150 years ago. But there’s little to celebrate…
UCU leadership schemes for second referendum
3 July 2018
Despite a recent annual congress with no motion on a second Brexit referendum, academics’ union leader Sally Hunt has started a consultation on the question.
Trade unions – past, and future
As our working class fought to survive, organisation began locally and grew organically, not relying on outside help…
British trade unions: early origins
The British working class was the first proletariat in the world to emerge out of the land. It had to make a stand or go under…
Fake militancy over pay
Unison, GMB and Unite are currently considering a pay offer to local government and schools staff from local government employers of 2 per cent a year over two years from April.
EU imposes anti-union law on Greece
18 January 2018
Under orders from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, the Greek government has pushed through the most anti-union law in Europe.
Education: inter-union agreement
A good development: the new National Education Union, Unison and the GMB have agreed not to poach each other’s members. But there is also a negative side.
Call that a campaign?
Blink and you would have missed it. The TUC’s campaign on public sector pay kicked off on 17 October with a desultory lobby of parliament.
TUC: 150 years young in 2018
16 October 2017
Workers need trade unions as much as ever. The TUC and its affiliates are now preparing for the momentous 150th anniversary in 2018. What can we learn from the TUC’s history?
RMT challenges TUC General Secretary on the EU
12 September 2017
The RMT union continues to challenge the TUC’s favourable and unrealistic view of the EU. The TUC believes that the single market is good for British workers and that the UK can remain in it after Brexit. Neither is true.
Food: McDonald’s strike vote
24 August 2017
Workers at two McDonald’s outlet are to go on strike on 4 September in a dispute that centres around union recognition, cuts to hours and bullying linked to union membership.
TUC pay campaign: to be or not to be?
7 July 2017
First they will, then they won’t. TUC indecision over its “Britain needs a pay rise” campaign is fast becoming a tradition.