Blog: Tags > Labour Movement
AUGUST 24, 2023
Autumn council strikes announced
Unite has announced that its members in an initial 23 local authorities will begin taking strike action from next week in a dispute over pay. Unite members have overwhelmingly rejected the local authority employers’ pay offer of just £1,925, a poorer ... Read more
APRIL 28, 2023
Today is #IWMD2023. A day to remember all workers who have died due to unsafe workplaces and to continue fighting for every workers’ right to a safe workplace. We remember those who have lost their lives at work, or from work-related ... Read more
FEBRUARY 13, 2023
Every worker needs a union Get ready! ❤️ Unions week is back and we want to hear from you. 13-19 February 2023 There has never been a more important time to join Unite! The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) bill – threatens ... Read more
NOVEMBER 21, 2022
New research reveals widespread fear of ‘pension poverty’ among workers ahead of retirement
New research reveals widespread fear of ‘pension poverty’ among workers ahead of retirement with four in ten believe their works’ pension won’t see them through retirement and seven out of ten agreeing ‘you can’t live on the state pension’. A shocking new ... Read more
AUGUST 23, 2022
Millions of low-paid workers are being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices. Yet companies are making record profits and handing massive pay rises to those at the very top. The TUC are calling for a return to ... Read more
JULY 15, 2022
The Tolpuddle annual festival, where thousands of people come together to celebrate trade unionism and remember the role of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, begins today with a full programme of traditional and contemporary music and other attractions. The festival kicks off midday ... Read more
MAY 23, 2022
Women Chainmakers Festival 2022
In 1910 the Women Chainmakers of Cradley Heath fought a successful 10-week dispute to establish the right to a minimum wage for their labour. Each year the Women Chainmakers Festival recognises and celebrates the role of women within the trade union ... Read more
MAY 10, 2022
Unite respond to Queen's speech
In response to the Queen’s Speech 2022, the leader of the country’s leading union has hit out at the lack of action to address the cost of living crisis. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers and communities are suffering. We are ... Read more
APRIL 28, 2022
A message from Sharon Graham on International Workers’ Memorial Day
When my great uncle died at work in the mines in 1933, he left behind three children and a family to feed. The employer paid out a paltry sum and that was that. But for those left behind, the failure ... Read more
APRIL 13, 2022
Workers facing double whammy of rising inflation and falling wages
Unite says workers facing double whammy of rising inflation and falling wages creating an historic cost of living crisis with published figures showing the highest inflation figures in 30 years. Earlier this week, a report from ONS on pay, showed ... Read more
FEBRUARY 14, 2022
❤️ Unions week is back and Unite want to hear from you. It’s a time to celebrate all the amazing things trade unions do, showcasing our wins and achievements, and to encourage people not in a union, to join Unite. To every Unite rep ... Read more
JANUARY 13, 2022
Health committee calls for Boris Johnson to resign
Unite’s national health committee, representing 100,000 health workers, has called for Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister due to his ‘disastrous’ handling of the pandemic. Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said: “Health workers have toiled long and sacrificed ... Read more
SEPTEMBER 03, 2021
Unions told there will be no compulsory redundancies for Labour Party staff
The Labour Party has confirmed that there will be no compulsory redundancies during the current reorganisation. Labour Party staff who are members of Unite and the GMB had indicated that they were willing to strike over potential compulsory redundancies. Indicative ballots amongst ... Read more
AUGUST 12, 2021
London Youth Services Funding Cut By £240m Since 2011 Riots
Green Party London Assembly member Sian Berry finds that youth service funding across London as a whole has been cut by 44 per cent in the last decade. London’s youth service cuts 2011-2021: a blighted generation finds that youth service funding ... Read more
AUGUST 02, 2021
Quarter of a million jobs at risk as employers asked to contribute more to furlough scheme
Unite has called on the government to extend and adapt the furlough scheme as new research shows hundreds of thousands of viable jobs could be at risk as the scheme winds down. The study from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) found ... Read more
JULY 16, 2021
Unite National Black & Asian Ethnic Minority Committee Statement
Unite’s National Black & Asian Ethnic Minority Committee (NBAEM) strongly condemns the racist abuse and comments posted on social media targeting England football players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho. Like the rest of the country watching the UEFA Euro ... Read more
MARCH 17, 2021
Unite calls for action on violence against women amid domestic abuse bill victory
Unite and other unions are demanding safety, justice and equality for women after Sarah Everard’s murder has reignited a national conversation about violence against women. Earlier this month, Sarah Everard went missing after last being seen walking home from a friend’s ... Read more
MARCH 14, 2021
The fundamental freedom to protest is under grave threat, Unite has warned, as new draconian legislation significantly expanding police powers over public demonstration is being rushed through Parliament this week. MPs will be weighing up the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts ... Read more
FEBRUARY 18, 2021
Into the clutches of poverty and hunger
Growing calls to cancel £20-a-week Universal Credit cut as new research shows 420k children will be plunged into poverty if extra payment is axed Pressure on chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift continues to mount as the ... Read more
NOVEMBER 24, 2020
TUC demands U-turn on scrapping Union Learning Fund ahead of spending review
The TUC has urged the government to use its spending review this week to U-turn on the decision to scrap support for the Union Learning Fund after a report showed that the economy gets nearly £13 back for every £1 ... Read more
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
MP urges government to support to the charity sector
An Opposition Day Debate on the Protection of Jobs and Businesses saw Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, move a motion asking: “That this House calls for the Government to abandon its one-size-fits-all withdrawal of the Coronavirus Job Retention and ... Read more
AUGUST 24, 2020
Jobs, security, dignity – TUC Congress 2020
Congress 2020 is going ahead – and it’s open to everyone. You can sign up and join online on 14-15 Sept. Together we will demand jobs, security and dignity for all working people. On the mornings of Monday 14 and Tuesday ... Read more
JULY 15, 2020
#UniversalDisCredit Day of Action
The continued use of benefit sanctions just as the country is entering a period of heavy and sustained job losses is ‘unnecessary and particularly cruel’ and must be stopped. The Unite Community campaign to reform the most punitive elements of Universal ... Read more
JULY 13, 2020
Tolpuddle Martyrs' Online Festival 2020
Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival goes online this year between the 17th and 19th July and there will be an exciting mixture of debates, music, speeches, radical history, kids' activities, films and more. It will be the best festival you didn't attend. Take ... Read more
APRIL 06, 2020
#WhateverItTakes for Social Care
In our blog on 1st April, we highlighted the vital need for social care workers to be provided with adequate personal protection equipment (PPE) to enable them to work safely providing the much needed care in the community. The call for ... Read more
MARCH 05, 2020
An equal world is an enabled world
International Women's Day 2020 is celebrated on Sunday 8th March and this year's theme is #EachforEqual, drawn from a notion of 'Collective Individualism' where working together, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender equal world. We can ... Read more
OCTOBER 22, 2019
'Taking back control' - Unite members successfully confront Brexit challenges in the workplace
Major new research shows that Unite members are working together to successfully confront the challenges Brexit is presenting in workplaces up and down the country. Despite widespread political and public division over the UK’s relationship with the EU, the academic research found Unite ... Read more
OCTOBER 10, 2019
National Citizen Service accused of "mismanagement and failure of leadership"
The National Citizen Service Trust is being sued by its largest provider, The Challenge, for at least £20m with claims it has breached contracts in seven regions. The Challenge, which in August lost a contract believed to be worth more than £60m a ... Read more
OCTOBER 08, 2019
Only Young Once - Labour commits to rebuilding a universal youth service
Labour has unveiled its vision for a universal youth service today, as fresh research reveals that youth services have been decimated by £1bn worth of cuts. ‘Only Young Once’ sets out Labour’s plan to rebuild youth services across the country as ... Read more
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Bombshell report launched today laying bare the misery of Universal Credit
A ‘bombshell’ report and survey of nearly 1,200 Universal Credit claimants by the community section of Unite lays bare the misery of the scheme’s failed introduction with evidence of people becoming suicidal, going without food, being forced into debt and unable to ... Read more
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Unite at the TUC - Lessons from Grenfell going unheeded
Unite delegate and brother of a fire fighter James Mitchell spoke in support of the FBU motion to TUC , Grenfell Tower - Never Again highlighting the union’s calls for an immediate ban on the use of combustible materials on high rise blocks. In a poignant ... Read more
SEPTEMBER 09, 2019
Rooting Out Hate - Unite signs the Conscious Advertising Network manifesto
Unite became the first major union to commit to stop funding hate speech and divisive narratives through advertising spend, signing the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) manifesto on Monday, September 9. Unite launched its campaign at the TUC conference in Brighton, at the ... Read more
AUGUST 13, 2019
Wage growth stuck in the slow lane
British workers are set for more wage pain as figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics showed earnings growth slowed in the three months to April, reporting that average total wages grew by only 2.5 per cent year-on-year ... Read more