Here’s another election we can look forward to: the position of General Secretary in my union, Unite. The incumbent, Len McCluskey has announced his intention to stand down next year, effectively calling a by-election. If he’s victorious, it will allow him to serve out a full term before he heads off into retirement some time […]
Posts under ‘Trade Unions’
The left must encourage people into unions – not work against their leaderships
Oct 31st, 2016 by Andy Newman.There is an unfortunate tendency for articles nowadays to have sensationalist “click-bait” headlines, but by any standards the aggressive spin put on Michael Chessum’s latest piece in the New Statesman is highly unfortunate. The headline screams “It’s time for Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters to take on the trade union leadership”. Nothing could be more counterproductive than seeking […]
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Corbyn is right: Migrants don’t drive down wages
Oct 18th, 2016 by Tom O Leary.In his recent speech to Labour Party conference Jeremy Corbyn said, “It isn’t migrants that drive down wages, it’s exploitative employers and the politicians who deregulate the labour market and rip up trade union rights.” This is excellent and entirely correct. It is probably the best statement ever made by a Labour leader on this […]
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We must unite to end Tory austerity
Oct 5th, 2016 by Steve Turner.In recent years, “Economic credibility” has laughingly been defined as an economic policy that has delivered neither sustainable economic growth nor improved living standards for the overwhelming majority of people. Indeed, the Tories’ austerity has even failed on their own very narrow definition of success of reducing the debt to GDP ratio.
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UNISON backs Corbyn
Jul 10th, 2016 by Andrew Berry.UNISON’s National Labour Link met Friday in Newcastle. This is a gathering of UNISON delegates that pay into the Labour Link that will decide the unions policy in the Labour Party. Whilst most of the packed agenda was already set weeks ago there was only really one topic on people’s minds, namely the prolonged coup. Members […]
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John McDonnell on the leadership battle
Jul 1st, 2016 by John McDonnell.This talk was given by John McDonnell on Wednesday 29 June at a Stand Up for Labour event in the George IV pub in Chiswick, West London. The transcript has been lightly edited to account for the difference between spoken and written language but the content is unchanged. Let me just tell you where we’re […]
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EC referendum: socialists should stay in and fight!
Jun 15th, 2016 by Barry Ewart.An excellent article in New Left Review a while back pointed out that the then Common Market was originally set up to counter the then perceived threat of the USSR, to promote capitalism in Europe, and to give Europe a greater say on the World Stage against the hegemony of the US. In fact it […]
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Implausibility of a “Social Europe”
Apr 23rd, 2016 by Danny Nicol.Even the dogs on the streets know that David Cameron’s EU “reforms” are pitiful. Indeed, even he no longer mentions them. So why assume that reforming the EU into a “real Social Europe” is any more feasible? It’s when one examines the constitutional obstacles to reform that one realises that the whole idea just doesn’t […]
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Nationwide Building Society and Stephen Uden’s “Invisible People”
Apr 15th, 2016 by Andy Newman.UPDATE: Since writing this article I was sent a link via Twitter from the Nationwide Building Society Press office, denying the story. Nationwide say: The GMB’s accusation is disappointing, surprising and, quite frankly, wrong. We have not asked our partners Carillion to reduce the hours of its employees. So let me confirm what I know […]
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Yvette Cooper is wrong about nationalisation
Feb 25th, 2016 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.This was bound to come back at some point. In a speech this week to launch The Changing Work Centre – a new think tank looking at, you guessed it, the changing nature of work – Yvette Cooper admonished Jez and John McDonnell for talking about re-nationalisation. “Labour must not get drawn into touting yesterday’s […]
