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.
Unions
Unions
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.
1833 - 1838: The Tolpuddle Martyrs
7 July 2017
The Tolpuddle Martyrs were transported for resisting starvation wages and forming a trade union. The annual festival commemorating them – absent for two years because of Covid-19 – was held again this July in Tolpuddle, Dorset.
Don't give way, make headway
History shows that when we rely slavishly on legislation our aspirations for advance have subsided, along with our organisation…
Strikes hit new low
According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, 81,000 workers went on strike in 2015 – the lowest number since records began in 1893.
Trade unions in crisis – time to change
The lowest membership since the Second World War, the lowest number of workers on strike since records began - these are the symptoms of a failure of purpose that most unions are trying their hardest to ignore...
Safety first
Britain’s railways have become a battleground as companies bent on profit look to cut corners…
Class struggle across a nation
25 February 2017
Since the birth of industrial capitalism, a web of industrial sinews has held the constituent regions of Britain together. The recent dismembering of much of that web has brought not only economic collapse to regions but also threatened our national integrity. We recount struggles in Scotland, London and North Wales that pursued essential class goals of improving wages and conditions of work.
New arts trade union formed
12 September 2016
The Artists’ Union of England, launched in London and Newcastle two years ago with advice based on the Scottish Artists’ Union Rule Book, has just been granted certification.
Trade unions: organise for independence
The referendum result continues to highlight the urgent need for unions to take responsibility for an independent Britain.
No excuses: university pay matters
Teaching staff in Britain’s universities are ramping up their fight for pay. With the autumn term beginning, they could be joined by administrative staff.
Teachers need to target their struggle
If teacher unions are to protect and improve members’ pay and conditions of work, then tactics and strategy must be reconsidered and revamped.
Battle on the railways
The struggle for safety and jobs on Britain’s railways is intensifying as the government seeks to take on the unions.
Tolpuddle annual rally
Tolpuddle annual rally and festival in the village from which six agricultural workers were transported to Australia in 1834 for organising a union.
Reclaim the unions (and ditch the Labour Party)
25 July 2016
The Brexit campaign and in particular its result pose big problems not only for business and government in Britain and throughout Europe but also for the Labour Party and trade unions at home.
Guards sacrificed on the altar of profit
The rail unions are fighting running battles across Britain over safety, with one rail company after the other looking to dispense with guards…
Victory for Airbus 8 against fascist law
9 March 2016
Eight Spanish workers have been cleared of criminal charges under a fascist labour law dating back to the Franco regime. The British government’s current Trade Union Bill aims to introduce something similar.