The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the government’s sky-high tribunal fees are unlawful, accepting UNISON’s argument that the fees are restricting working people’s access to justice. What’s more, the government will have to refund any fees paid since 2013 — at a cost of about £27m. It’s a massive win for working people, and we congratulate UNISON for doggedly pursuing…
I worry that many gig economy employers will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning. The Taylor Review into modern employment practices publishes today. And from what we’ve seen, it’s not the game-changer needed to end insecurity and exploitation at work. We’d welcome any nuggets of good news. But it doesn’t look like the…
This election was about bread and butter issues – what needs to change for ordinary working people. And no wonder: if current trends continue, in five years’ time 3.5 million people will be in insecure work, as gig working, self-employment, agency work and zero hours contracts rise and rise. People everywhere are feeling the pinch…
Today I was asked to give a speech at the Foreign Office by Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, about free trade. This is an edited version of what I said. The debate over free trade is a timely one, given that those who advocate protectionism seem to have their tails up. And…
I’ve been speaking at the Party of European Socialists’ Road To Brexit conference today. PES is the European political grouping that includes the UK’s Labour Party and their counterparts from around Europe. This has been a particularly important event as Brexit will be a process with real dangers for workers across Europe as well as here in…
After hearing for months that Brexit means Brexit, we may be about to hear what it actually means. As Theresa May gives her big speech to diplomats at Lancaster House on Tuesday, on how she intends to negotiate our exit from the EU, working people will be watching to see if her strategy will do anything to protect…
In the details of Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement came a worrying confirmation for those of us campaigning for a pay rise for Britain’s workforce. The Autumn Statement’s accompanying OBR forecast shows that the average annual wage will be £1,000 lower in 2020 than predicted at this year’s Budget. And this is on top of wages still having…
Last Friday, I reiterated our key demand of the Government over Brexit: workers must not pay the price for the decision to leave. TUC opinion polling after the referendum showed that whatever people voted for on 23 June, it wasn’t to lose precious rights at work. The TUC and unions – as well as progressive politicians and commentators – have been…
Leaving the EU has raised many significant questions for our economic future. We have to do all we can to protect jobs that may be at risk from this uncertainty. We have already seen hiring freezes and the Bank of England has predicted almost a quarter of a million jobs will go in 2017. The…
The new official statistics on zero-hours contracts in the UK are out today and they make for grim reading. Over the past year, Britain’s zero-hours workforce has grown from 747,000 to 903,000 – a rise of 21%. Zero-hours contracts have become an easy way for bosses to employ staff on the cheap, and more and…