Those of us who have suggested David Miliband’s latest political intervention may have – let’s say – ulterior motives have received a bit of flak. Must he stay silent just because any public pronouncement may be misconstrued by the media? Why can’t he contribute to the debate about the party’s future like anyone else? Bookmarks Hide [...]
Posts under ‘Trade Unions’
When it comes to social justice, trade unions are the only show in town
Feb 1st, 2012 by James Bloodworth.Workers at Primark in Northern Ireland have voted overwhelmingly for strike action after the company attempted to impose a pay freeze on its shop staff for the second consecutive year. Primark’s staff are paid just £6.84 an hour, yet in the past two years the company has seen its profits soar to an estimated £644 [...]
NUPE, Leadership and Democracy
Jan 25th, 2012 by Andy Newman.This official history of NUPE from 1928 to 1993 (when it merged with COHSE and NALGO to form UNISON) deserves to be a standard reference book for those interested in the evolution of modern unions, particularly in the public services. It is comprehensively researched, although mainly from the written records, rather than tapping into the [...]
Andrew Fisher on Trade Unions: Wrong, wrong, wrong
Jan 22nd, 2012 by Andy Newman.It is hard to imagine a more ill-judged intervention into the debates about the public sector pensions dispute than that of Andrew Fisher, joint secretary of the Labour Representation Committee, and I was therefore surprised to see it reproduced at Left Futures, and praised by Gregor Gall, who is usually an astute commentator on trade union affairs. [...]
Introducing TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes
Jan 20th, 2012 by Union News.UnionNews speaks to newly-elected general secretary of the TSSA, Manuel Cortes, on campaigning with community groups, public transport lobby organisations and commuters against unjust rail fare increases, and how the TSSA is helping to build alliances to resist Coalition austerity cuts. Manuel Cortes was elected unopposed having been Assistant General Secretary for seven years. Bookmarks Hide [...]
Unilever – not as clean as it claims
Jan 20th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.This video reveals the truth behind the ‘dirty’ tactics being used to undermine the pensions of the Unilever workforce. Unilever workers in GMB, Unite and Usdaw are today on the third of ten days rolling strike action at Purfleet in Essex, Trafford Park in Manchester, Port Sunlight on Merseyside and Seacroft in Leeds in defence of their pension scheme. Amongst [...]
The Pensions dispute and the way forward for trade unions
Jan 19th, 2012 by Andrew Fisher.The November 30 strikes saw unprecedented unity in the union movement but the speed of its collapse illustrates just how tenuous it was. Despite claims to have extracted significant concessions from the government, unions that sign up to the government’s offer are really guilty of selling short not only their members but millions more whose [...]
Not all Clause IV moments lead to victory
Jan 19th, 2012 by Andy Newman.Writing in yesterday’s Financial Times, George Parker and Jim Pickard, give expression to the popular idea that Ed Miliband’s confrontation with the unions provides him with the opportunity for a “Clause IV moment”, defining his independence as a potential prime minister from the legacy of labourism. Bookmarks Hide Sites
A call to arms
Jan 19th, 2012 by Owen Jones.For those who stand outside the austerity consensus, reading Len McCluskey’s column on Tuesday was like coming up for air. It is a cause of deep frustration that, as the Tories’ economic policies are shown to fail (in terms of jobs, growth, consumer confidence, economic inactivity and borrowing levels), the Labour leadership has moved to legitimise [...]
Don’t count on McCluskey to make the break
Jan 18th, 2012 by David Osler.Leeds United defender Norman Hunter, renowned for his perhaps overly robust approach to defence, famous advised young footballers to ‘get your retaliation in first’. The wisecrack metamorphosed into something of a New Labour catchphrase in the mid 1990s, with the line slightly altered to ‘get your betrayal in first’. Recent statements from both Ed Balls and [...]
