Libya - The authors of chaos
In an act of supreme irony, the US, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Britain have said the forces of disruption “will not be allowed to condemn Libya to chaos and extremism”.
News
News
Minimum wage - A handful of prosecutions
The government has made great play of naming and shaming employers who fail to pay the minimum wage. Yet just 92 employers have been prosecuted over the past two years
Housing - empty investments
London has tens of thousands of “safe deposit boxes” positioned on its public streets – houses and flats bought for investment but untenanted.
The NHS - for sale all over Europe
22 February 2015
THE NHS in England is now advertising across the private sector in the European Union to sell off the “back office” or administrative functions of GP practices.
Behind the scandal of tax avoidance
22 February 2015
Tax avoidance has been much in the news. That it happens is no surprise to workers – but the extent to which it is engrained in our economic system might be.
EU tries again on trade deal
22 February 2015
A worried EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström paid a visit to London on 16 February. The successful signing off of TTIP is a priority for Malmström’s boss, EU president Jean-Claude Juncker, but he has handed her a poisoned chalice.
‘Fair pay’ fortnight launched.
18 February 2015
The TUC’s “Fair Pay Fortnight” runs from 16 February to 1 March, supposedly a time for Britain’s trade unions to campaign over Britain’s depressed wage rates. But it seems a muted campaign.
US, NATO stoke the flames of open war over Ukraine
8 February 2015
The drums of war are beating again as the US attempts to maintain its aggressive attitude to Russia. While peace talks brokered by France, Germany and Russia are taking place, the US and NATO are moving to a war footing.
Cypriot workers fight aftermath of EU-ordained closure
8 February 2015
Unions in Cyprus are still fighting the aftermath of the shutdown of the national air carrier, Cyprus Airways. An EU ruling that financial help given by the Cyprus government was illegal state aid effectively shut it down in January, with the loss of 560 jobs
National Gallery: fighting on
7 February 2015
National Gallery workers were on strike for five days against privatisation proposals. They are part of a wider fight to defend Britain’s cultural heritage.
Health workers to ballot on pay offer
7 February 2015
Unions in the NHS are balloting their members on the pay offer that their industrial action has extracted from a reluctant government. But no one on the union side is claiming victory.
London’s bus drivers in second day of strike action
6 February 2015
A Unite union rep in north London explains why the capital’s drivers are having to fight to force bus companies to sign a single agreement covering pay in the capital.
Litvinenko inquiry attempts to demonise Russia
3 February 2015
The public inquiry into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko is rapidly turning into an ugly farce, and a blatant extension of the campaign to demonise Russia.
Troika abandoned as EU seeks a way out
3 February 2015
In a graphic illustration of the weakness of the European Union after the Greek election, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has signalled his willingness to end the rule of the “troika”.
ITV unions set for pay battle
26 January 2015
Union members at ITV have agreed to reject the company’s 2 per cent pay offer for 2015 and will move to a ballot for strike action unless the offer is substantially improved.
Theatre workers surveyed on pay
26 January 2015
Workers at more than 200 theatre venues across Britain are taking part in a pay survey for 2015. The initiativeis part of the entertainment and media union BECTU’s preparation for upcoming talks with theatre employers.
Executive pay: All in it together?
25 January 2015
German executive pay has outstripped the level in Britain for the first time. But British directors are doing their best to catch up – to the detriment of the country’s largest companies and their workers.
Brussels in retreat after TTIP consultation
22 January 2015
Last week Brussels finally released the devastating results of its online consultation on investor-to-state dispute settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement – and is now struggling to maintain its position.
Unions in crisis meeting over oil prices
17 January 2015
Unions and the offshore body Oil and Gas UK held talks about the future of the industry in Aberdeen on Friday, at the end of a grim week for the industry and those who work in it.
‘Significant improvements’ settle Barbour dispute
14 January 2015
Striking Barbour warehouse workers at the famous jacket maker in Gateshead will be going back to work after accepting a significantly improved offer.
Fight against redundancies on Settle to Carlisle Railway
14 January 2015
Workers employed by the Settle and Carlisle Railway Development Company are taking further strike action in a fight over jobs.
Union concern over Tesco ‘recovery’ plan
12 January 2015
Shop workers’ trade union Usdaw has expressed deep concern about Tesco’s recovery plan – which has left staff worried and unclear about their future.
Essex firefighters to walk out in jobs fight
10 January 2015
Firefighters in Essex, members of the Fire Brigades Union will walk out for part of their shift on 14 to 16 January in protest at plans to cut up to 200 jobs.
London-wide bus walkout over pay and conditions
9 January 2015
With the announcement by Unite of a London-wide bus drivers’ strike on 13 January the stage is now set for a key confrontation in the capital’s public transport. The 27,000 drivers work for 18 different companies, and want to end big discrepancies in pay with a single agreement for all.
Hundreds of Remploy workers still jobless
9 January 2015
Nearly half of the more than 1,500 disabled workers making products such as school furniture and wheelchairs who lost their jobs at Remploy factories when the government closed the plants in 2013 are still out of work.
Ferry workers vote on strike
9 January 2015
Unite members working on the Woolwich Ferry crossing in London are balloting for strike action over sick pay and the company’s use of agency staff.
Arts: National Gallery strike [updated]
8 January 2015
Staff at the National Gallery in London are fighting low pay and privatisation, which is putting 400 jobs at risk. PCS members held a 24-hour strike in October and will ballot for more action.
Barbour workers on four-week strike
8 January 2015
Warehouse workers at Barbour’s Gateshead site have begun four weeks of strike action in a dispute over new contracts proposed by the clothing firm
Special school site handed over to religious academy
4 January 2015
The government has ordered Leeds City Council to hand over a £1 million former primary school site where it had been looking to build a special school – gratis and without compensation – to a Sikh academy.
Costly advice
Anti-union legislation is so complex that legal firms are making a killing by advising employers on how to use the law to attack workers.