Labour’s affiliated unions will consider whether to bypass the Labour-union link in order to deliver the policies their members want, at the Trades Union Congress next month.
Archive for August, 2009
Labour isn’t working: TUC to hear calls for new union alliance
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Tribune Comment: Wise up, don’t dumb down
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009“Our challenge is to sustain and spread forces of individual empowerment while enhancing rather than reducing capacity for collective action to tackle shared risks.” Very few in the labour movement could take issue with that broad sweep of aspiration, though the degree to which the balance of risks are shared among Britain’s divided communities is open to a level of scrutiny which drills down into the deeper meaning, and more profound divides, that the blanket statement obscures.
My life on the dole
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009After 12 years of Labour in power, the daily lot of unemployed people remains unrelentingly grim, says Gordon Comstock
Unions ballot for strike at power station sites
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Power station and oil refinery building sites could be struck down by a nationwide strike after unions announced a strike ballot this week. Unite and the GMB are demanding that contractors in the engineering construction sector must be pre-audited to ensure they can afford to pay workers the nationally agreed rate. They are also asking for workers to be examined on their skills and a register of unemployed workers to fill job vacancies. The ballot comes amid strong distrust among unions over issues such as employing British workers and undercutting of pay, which have led to repeated wildcat strikes in the sector.
Government attacked over party funding reform delay
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009MPs and peers have criticised the Government after it emerged that a new rule restricting donations to political parties from wealthy “non-dom” tax exiles will not come into force until after the next election.
Vestas protestors promise to continue fight
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Supporters of the Vestas factory protest have vowed to continue their campaign after protesting workers are removed from the firm’s Isle of Wight plant.
Chávez defends radio station closures
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Venezuela’s government insisted this week that it acted legally in taking over a dozen independent radio stations off the air, after being accused of an assault on free speech.
Kremlin threatens force against Georgia
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Hopes for peace in the South Caucasus took a turn for the worse this week after Russia vowed to respond with military force against Georgia if the latter continued to shell territory in South Ossetia.
Oxfam urges tougher legislation to tame abusive gangmasters
By Tribune Web Editor /Thursday, August 6th, 2009Kay Wareing, Oxfam’s director of UK poverty, has called on the Government to extend legislation to curb abuse by gangmasters in areas where workers have little or no protection. She was speaking at the launch of a hard-hitting new report, issued five years after the tragic deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay, which reveals that workers employed by gangmasters are some of the most vulnerable and exploited in Britain.