Very moving folk song by Chris Tymkow about the illegal blacklisting of union members in the construction industry. Video shows the campaign led by the Blacklist Support Group, UNITE, GMB and UCATT against the human rights conspiracy organised by the 44 largest multi-national construction firms in the UK. The blacklisting scandal has been exposed in [...]
Posts under ‘Trade Unions’
How wage cuts damage the economy
May 17th, 2013 by Dave Watson.Pay cuts may drive short term profits and help governments balance the books — but they do nothing for social justice and also damage the economy. Here’s why: Yesterday, at Unison Scotland, we launched a report on the impact of real wage cuts on workers and the economy. It contrasts the increasing wealth of the richest [...]
Len McCluskey & Lutfur Rahman uniting the community of East End battleground
May 14th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.There are two stories here. The first is that Unite the Union’s strategy of taking trade unions into the community was launched yesterday in a particularly tangible way with the opening of the first Unite Community Centre. The second is that it represents a collaborative enterprise between Len McCluskey and Lutfur Rahman, independent Mayor of [...]
GMB Members take Carillion Dispute to Bristol Southmead
May 10th, 2013 by Andy Newman.GMB members, in dispute with Carillion at Great Western PFI Hospital in Swindon since December 2011, today demonstrated at Southmead Hospital in Bristol over the on-going dispute and blacklisting by Carillion. 150 GMB members employed by Carillion at Swindon have taken 21 days of strike action over the persistent failure of the Carillion management to deal with evidence [...]
Guardian Sustainable Business Awards honouring blacklist company
May 9th, 2013 by Andy Newman.Readers who have been following the saga of the saga of the GMB’s industrial campaign against Carillion at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital will know that the company failed to act for years while supervisors shook down staff for gold and cash in exchange for their employment rights. Bookmarks Hide Sites
Why the unions need to steer the political mainstream to the left, not abandon it
Apr 30th, 2013 by Andy Newman.Like thousands of Labour activists I have been busy in last few weeks campaigning in the county council elections. I have been out leafleting in the small towns of Chippenham, Corsham and Devizes, where the party is seeking to consolidate the good progress made in last year’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections. At the grassroots, Labour Party [...]
Ed needs to work out where disunity comes from, and let the party decide its direction
Apr 25th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.It is true that “Len McCluskey does not speak for the Labour Party” as Ed Miliband’s spokesperson put it last night. Nor (anymore) do Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson, Alan Milburn, David Blunkett, John Reid, or Tessa Jowell, who have between them been subjecting Ed to persistent attacks, without regard to the impending local elections. But the unnamed shadow [...]
What capitalists realise, but the Labour front bench does not
Apr 25th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Who said: “Politicians of the right need to understand that a more constructive relationship with union members is necessary both economically and politically”? Not a Labour big-wig, nor Len McCluskey, but the former director of Policy Exchange, a favourite think-tank of the Right. He added: “There is an alternative, much more constructive role for unions, [...]
Unite declares war on Blacklisting
Apr 22nd, 2013 by Newsdesk.Excellent documentary video about Unite’s campaign against blacklisting on the Crosssrail construction where it is pursuing the claim that workers have been victimised for raising safety issues. Bookmarks Hide Sites
Parliamentary report into blacklisting: the scandal grows
Apr 16th, 2013 by Andy Newman.Today saw publication of the interim parliamentary report on blacklisting by the Scottish Select Affairs Committee. In its statement released today, the committee says that the major construction firms that established and funded a systematic blacklist of construction industry workers appear to be continuing to avoid taking full responsibility for their actions. The report is [...]
