Anti-union laws

Fight Tory attacks on our unions!

The first Conservative government for 18 years will introduce a Bill to beef up existing anti-trade union laws in the UK. Whilst the proposed restrictions on strike action had been well signalled in advance, the inclusion of a change to union political funds was unexpected. The Tories are demanding a 50% turnout threshold in a ballot and an additional 40% yes vote requirement in “core public services” (health, education, transport and fire services), They hope to make it impossible for unions to organise lawful strikes. There will be new time limitations on ballot mandates which will allow...

On the streets against the new anti-strike laws!

The unions and the labour movement should launch a life-or-death campaign to stop the Tories’ planned new anti-union laws, starting with a mass street demonstration. Britain already has “the most restrictive trade union laws anywhere in the western world”, as Tony Blair complacently told the Daily Mail in 1997. Now the Tories plan to ban public service strikes unless the ballot majority for the strike comes to at least 40% of the workers balloted. Only 24% of the electorate voted Tory on 7 May, and they think that’s enough to decide the government! But in strike ballots, essentially, they want...

German rail strike shows the way

A much needed reminder of the power of organised labour in a rich and advanced economy is currently being demonstrated in Germany. Freight and passenger train drivers for Germany’s Deutsche Bahn recently completed the latest of their strikes over wages and conditions. Their confidence and determination is growing in what is already a 10 month-old dispute. The latest action was the longest strike in the rail operator’s history, lasting for six days and costing German business an estimated £360 million. The wailing of German bosses at that £360 million hit was still echoing around marbled...

A government for the rich

The Tories are committed to cutting public spending by £30 billion over the next four years. This will mean annual cuts twice the size of any year’s cuts over the past five years. Although they have not identified all their cuts it is already clear to some degree where the axe will fall. Policies include debarring unemployed under-21s from claiming Housing Benefit and cutting the annual benefits cap — the maximum payable to any claimant, whatever their circumstances — from £26,000 to £23,000. Jobseekers Allowance for 18-21 year-olds will be replaced by a six-month Youth Allowance, after which...

Bob Carnegie tour of England, May 2015

Bob Carnegie, who has been at the heart of every major workers' struggle in Brisbane, Australia, for more than three decades, is coming to the UK to talk about his experiences and lessons for organising workers. Read more at the tour blog . This is a provisional itinerary. 12th - Lambeth (South London) public meeting 13th - FBU conference (with Dave Smith) 14th - 10am Blacklist court case, 7pm RMT Central Line East branch meeting (Open to RMT members and friends) 15th - Bristol, with Dave Smith at UWE 16th - London at Bishopsgate Institute with Dave Smith - 1.45-2.30. 18th - Liverpool public...

Tories plan new law to cripple strikes

Britain already has “the most restrictive trade union laws anywhere in the western world”, as Tony Blair complacently told the Daily Mail in 1997. If the Tories win in May 2015 the laws will become not just “most restrictive” but crippling, or least crippling for national strikes. The Tories will ban public service strikes unless at least 40% of the workforce vote for the strike in a ballot. Only 23.5% of the electorate voted Tory in 2010, but they think that’s enough to decide the government! Wherever a union has less than 40% density, it will become impossible for it to call a lawful strike...

Survey

The political vacuum in Albania (Colin Foster) Levers for the lovers of power (Joan Trevor) Blair wins a place in the Sun (Jim Denham) Glasgow councillors abandon election pledges (Stan Crooke) Tony Blair and the union laws. (Tom Rigby) Letter from prison (Dita Sari) Anti-abortion campaign, a winning scheme? (Helen Rate) Should holocaust denial be a crime? Iranian oil workers dare to fight Obituary: Coin Coyle The left and the election

Tories’ anti-union stunt hits buffers

Bruce Carr, the QC appointed by the government to review the anti-union laws, has said that his report will make no recommendations. He expressed “concern” about “the ability of the review to operate in a progressively politicised environment in the run up to the next general election”, and said that while he would still publish a report, it would not provide “a sound basis for making recommendations for change.” The Carr Review was commissioned in November 2013 after the Unite dispute at Grangemouth, amidst much rhetoric from right-wingers that new laws were needed to prevent “bullying” and...

Glasgow Council workers face down anti-union bosses

Unison members employed by Glasgow Life, an “arms-length company” set up by Glasgow City Council, staged a series of protests last week to highlight their employer’s treatment of them as a second-class workforce. They should have been on strike. But Glasgow Life, aided and abetted by the Legal Department of the Labour-controlled City Council, had latched onto a technicality in the Unison strike ballot, and had threatened the union with legal action if notice of the strike was not withdrawn. At the core of the dispute is the demand for enhanced payments for the extra work generated by the...

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