Unions on the march across Europe, USA and Canada to say no to Market Economy...
Today Unite, GMB and Community held a March of Steelmakers in London which brought steel workers from across the country to Westminster to demand the government ensure the responsible sale of Tata...
View ArticleBrexit could cost us 1 in 11 doctors and 1 in 16 nurses – #NHSsaferIN
By the latest HSCIC statistics almost 10,000 doctors and over 18,000 nurses have been able to come from the EEA area to work in the NHS – that’s about 9% of all doctors and 6% of all nurses. 10,000...
View ArticleEven with Brexit deal unknown, the government can act now to manage migration...
While there is still considerable uncertainty about whether or how free movement will feature in any Brexit negotiation, there are many actions the government could take right now which would tackle...
View ArticleMigration stats: low pay/deregulation action needed here & across Europe
The Office for National Statistics today published figures on the number of migrants in the labour market up to the end of June. Given that this only captures information from a few days after the...
View ArticleWorkers in Japan let down by Abe’s new spending plans
Last month Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set jaws dropping by announcing a 28.1 trillion yen (£208.1 billion) stimulus package. The package is designed to jump start Japan’s economy that has been...
View ArticleEU citizens’ right to remain & all workers’ right to respect
The TUC has submitted evidence to the British Future inquiry into the status of EU nationals in the UK. We are calling for the government to make a clear commitment to give citizens from all 27 EU...
View ArticleTackling teacher shortages is not only about migration policy
The TUC has submitted evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of teacher shortages, highlighting that shortages that are currently being experienced in primary and secondary schools...
View ArticleLord Price, show CETA the door at Bratislava castle
Today Lord Price, the UK’s minister for trade, starts two days of meetings with ministers across the EU in Bratislava castle and the EU-Canada trade deal (CETA) is top of the agenda. This week the TUC...
View ArticleNew declaration shows why countries must say NO to CETA deal
Yesterday an add-on to the CETA EU-Canada trade agreement proposed by the European Commission and the Canadian government (titled a ‘joint interpretive declaration’) was leaked. Trade ministers from EU...
View ArticleBelgium must vote no tomorrow to stop CETA
Tomorrow trade ministers from EU countries will meet in Luxembourg at the Foreign Affairs Council where they are due to decide whether to approve the EU-Canada trade deal known as CETA. The TUC and...
View ArticleChancellor should ensure more money for a fairer deal on migration
Yesterday the TUC released a report calling on the Chancellor to use the Autumn Financial Statement on Wednesday to significantly increase the amount going to a Migration Impacts Fund so that areas...
View ArticleRight to remain: Theresa May can break the deadlock
This week has seen a string of headlines about prospects for EU citizens in the UK and Brits in the EU’s right to remain after Brexit. Much of the media took aim at EU leaders – particularly German...
View ArticleFirst European Parliament NO vote to CETA from the employment committee
Yesterday the Employment and Social Affairs committee of the European Parliament voted to reject the notorious EU-Canada (CETA) trade deal because of the negative impact it would have on workers. While...
View ArticleBusinesses and unions across the country call for right to remain for EU...
Today chambers of commerce representing businesses and TUC offices across the country put out joint statements calling for the government to stop stalling and give EU citizens the right to remain....
View ArticleTackling precarious work & addressing migration concerns
Last week I spoke at a conference organised by the TUC and Exeter University on ‘Confronting change: Globalization, Migration and Precarious Labour in the Age of Brexit.’ This is a summary of my...
View ArticleEuropean Parliament vote for CETA brings the battle for fair trade deals home
Today the European Parliament voted 408 in favour of the EU-Canada deal known as CETA with 254 votes against. This means that about 90% of the deal comes into force and paves the way for the deal to be...
View ArticleOECD must involve workers in new global rules on investment
On Tuesday I spoke at a conference held at the OECD in Paris on the costs and benefits of investment protection agreements like Investor-State Dispute Settlement. In the morning conference...
View ArticleDrop the MIC: Why we oppose the EU’s latest corporate courts plan
Yesterday the TUC responded to the European Commission’s consultation on its plans to develop a global version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system. ISDS is the court...
View ArticleGlobal trade deals can’t substitute for a good Brexit deal
This week the think tank OpenEurope published a report with recommendations for Britain’s future trade after it leaves the EU. It suggests that Britain may be able to make up much of its shortfall in...
View ArticleECJ Singapore ruling adds to case against ISDS in Brexit deal
Today the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave an important boost to the case for scrapping Investor State Dispute Settlement, as well as other corporate court systems like it, in trade agreements....
View ArticleMAC report – stronger regulation and investment needed to stop migrant worker...
This week the Home Office’s research experts, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) released a report on ‘Migrants in low-skilled work’. Contrary to the exclamatory and highly selective reading of the...
View ArticleCameron and EU migrants: facts vs fears
Last week the government finally released the ‘Balance of Competences’ report on EU migration which it had delayed for 7 months due to internal disputes over whether it was ‘too positive‘ on migration....
View ArticleGovernment must target exploitation not net migration
Today’s ONS figures reveal that there had been an increase in net migration to 260,000 meaning the government’s pledge to cap annual net migration to under 100, 000 will not be kept by the General...
View ArticleDon’t let political pantos take spotlight off low pay and exploitation
In the last few weeks we all seem to have been given tickets to a kind of extended panto complete with a string of bad jokes and even a donkey. While the papers are having a field day with this silly...
View ArticleFair pay starts at home: report reveals widespread low pay in Leicester...
It’s Fairpay Fortnight at the TUC. One of the sectors we know workers particularly face low pay is the garment industry. Usually it is the very low rates of pay workers are given in countries like...
View ArticleStop playing a numbers game with net migration
Yesterday the Office for National Statistics reported that net migration has risen to 298,000 meaning the government has missed its target of reducing net migration to ‘the tens of thousands’. This is...
View ArticleUKIP immigration policies: making it even easier for bosses to exploit workers
Today Nigel Farage outlined UKIP’s immigration policy proposals which revolve around Britain leaving the EU and imposing an Australian-style points system on all non-British citizens entering the...
View ArticleMark Carney agrees: poor productivity not migration fuels low pay
This morning the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney interviewed on the Today programme said that low productivity and lack of investment by employers, not migrant workers, were to blame for...
View ArticleQueen’s Speech 2015: Immigration Bill will fuel undercutting & hostility
Today measures for a new Immigration Bill were announced in the Queen’s Speech. The Bill sets out a fundamentally contradictory position, first aired by David Cameron in a speech last week, that you...
View ArticleCameron’s new migration plans: skills gaps & undercutting need to be divorced...
Yesterday David Cameron announced that he had written to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent body which advises the Home Office on migration policy, asking them to look into ways of...
View ArticleMigrants and benefits report: more hot air
A new report by MigrationWatch, a lobby group that seeks tighter immigration controls, has received much coverage in the press this week as it purports to show that some migrants claim more benefits...
View ArticleGovernment fails to address BIS Select Committee’s concerns on TTIP
Last week the Government slipped out its response to the previous BIS Select Committee report on TTIP released last March. In light of the fact that one of the criticisms the BIS Select Committee...
View ArticleMigration Advisory Committee report: no evidence for government net migration...
Today the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent research body that advises the government on migration policy, published its report on whether raising salary levels might reduce the...
View ArticleWill the new Immigration Bill throw foreign students that work too many hours...
The Immigration minister James Brokenshire yesterday announced more details about the forthcoming Immigration Bill. He stated that: “Through our new immigration bill, illegal workers will face the...
View ArticleRefugee crisis demands solidarity and workers’ rights for all
All those who have been hearted by the outpouring of goodwill and solidarity shown by the public towards refugees in recent weeks – which stands in stark contrast to the xenophobic rhetoric that’s...
View ArticleCommission’s proposals for reforms to ISDS: new name, same danger
Last week EU Trade Commissioner Malmström announced proposals for a reformed version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in TTIP. The new system of investment...
View ArticleAndy Burnham’s call for local funding & workers’ rights to tackle migration...
This week Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham delivered a speech at the Labour Party conference which called for action on the cause of anxieties communities have about EU migration linked with local...
View ArticleLords call for Immigration Bill to give asylum seekers right to work and...
On Monday the Immigration Bill will start to be debated by the House of Lords select committee. As I have blogged previously, the Bill contains a number of threats for workers. It will introduce...
View ArticleMigration Advisory Committee report calls for public sector pay rise – but...
Last week, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent body which advises the government on migration policy, released its report on skilled migration. This report was prompted by the...
View ArticleEU offer on migrant benefits brake ignores workers’ problems
Today Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, published draft proposals on Cameron’s EU renegotiation agenda which will be discussed at the EU summit on 18 -19 February. If the other EU Member...
View ArticleEU Parliament votes for public service protections and labour rights in TiSA...
On Wednesday the European Parliament passed with an overwhelming majority a report on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) that called for broad exemptions for public services and respect for labour...
View ArticleGovernment defeat in Lords may allow asylum seekers to work at last
Last week the government suffered two significant defeats in the House of Lords as two amendments the TUC supported to give rights and protections to asylum seekers and overseas domestic workers were...
View ArticleUNCTAD calls for investment agreements to uphold labour rights and democracy
Yesterday I spoke at the United Nations Conference on Development (UNCTAD) meeting ‘Taking stock of international investment agreement reform’ which looked at the options for reform to investment...
View ArticleNew Immigration Bill clauses could give workers whistle to blow on abusive...
On Monday the Immigration Bill will return to the House of Commons. In the House of Lords amendments have been added to give rights and protections to asylum seekers and overseas domestic workers which...
View ArticleUK must stop blocking EU from taking action against China steel dumping
The fallacy of Brexit campaigners claim that the EU is preventing the UK from taking action against China dumping cheap steel has been exposed with the government’s announcement today that its plans to...
View ArticleNIESR report shows need to end race to the bottom on jobs
A report released this week by NIESR identifies low pay and precarious contracts as key reasons more local workers do not take up jobs in the hospitality, food processing and construction sectors. This...
View Article#TTIPleaks show the UK government is actively choosing not to protect NHS and...
Some have been using the Greenpeace leaks of negotiating texts from the EU-US trade deal known as TTIP to claim Britain should leave the EU to escape damaging trade rules being imposed on us by shady...
View ArticleBrexit won’t save us from #TTIP: Our own government are part of the problem
A common argument from the leave camp in the upcoming EU referendum is that Brexit could save us from the many negative impacts of the EU-US TTIP trade deal. But unfortunately there isn’t a quick way...
View ArticleEU launches consultation on social impact of TTIP
Last week, the European Commission launched a consultation on its latest ‘Sustainability Impact Assessment’ report of the EU-US trade deal known as TTIP. Beneath this rather technical title lies an...
View ArticleWhat would it take for trade deals to protect workers’ rights?
Protecting workers’ rights in trade deals is essential to ensure trade is fair. If trade deals don’t contain effective protections for workers’ rights, they just make it easier for companies to locate...
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