Nigel Farage is pitching to the unions. Speaking to The Times, the Reform leader has invited Britain’s trade unions to sever their century-old ties with Labour and affiliate to his party instead. Labour’s relationship with its former paymasters is in the gutter, so why not…
Farage is promising for steelworkers stung by the British Steel pensions scandal, protected maternity pay, and an “open door” at every Reform-run council. There is also a conference invitation for September…
A JL Partners poll last week found union members split evenly between the two parties, with Unite and GMB members leaning his way. A nifty stunt to pull just nine days before the Makerfield by-election…
So far GMB boss Gary Smith has poured cold water on any affiliation, telling Times Radio on Sunday that Reform is “no friend of trade unionists“. Polling of his members tells a different story, so it might be time to check in with his own comrades before making any big decisions. Eleven unions have backed Labour since 1900. Persuading even one to defect would be a genuine realignment – but good luck getting past the communist union barons at the top…
Keir Starmer was full of warm words for USDAW general secretary Joanne Thomas in his meandering speech at the union’s annual conference this morning. Six weeks ago, Thomas wrote to him accusing him of betraying his word to her members. Has he really done so much in the last six weeks to convince her of his ‘integrity’?
Her letter, leaked to LabourList, said Labour’s ‘failure to deliver’ guaranteed-hours contracts in the Employment Rights Act went “to the heart of… your integrity as Prime Minister”. She even claimed she couldn’t tell her members “in good faith” that he would keep his promise…
To smooth things over, today Starmer reeled off every Employment Rights Act ‘win’ he could think of on the likes of day one sick pay and paternity leave. For those who live in the real world, his list of wins was long and torturous enough. Yet guaranteed hours, the actual provision Thomas is presumably still furious about, went unmentioned…
Head of the UK’s biggest teaching union National Education Union Daniel Kebede has done an interview for PoliticsHome. It’s an eye-opening read…
Kebede urged the government to be “more flexible” about teachers taking time off work. Flexible enough to squeeze in a trip to Glastonbury:
“We do need to find ways to inject greater flexibility into teaching. Not being able to go to Glastonbury, actually, was something I always complained about as a teacher… You do have some schools that will come to some accommodation around some of these things. We want to see that become the norm much more.”
Kebede also took a swipe at Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson over the long-delayed guidance for schools on same-sex spaces – an issue Guido has been long been tracking. He insisted she should “get it right”, arguing:
“What I will say on the issue, generally, though, is it’s become very hyperbolic; a very toxic area of policy discussion. Most schools deal with these situations with real care, consideration, thoughtfulness, and I just wish that was the attitude that government ministers took, really, because it’s very difficult.”
Notably, Kebede declined to repeat his 2024 line that he has a “very good relationship” with Phillipson. Marks deducted…
Labour has launched an open consultation titled ‘Make Work Pay: trade union right of access’ as part of the (un)Employment Rights Bill. They’re proposing to hand even greater powers to unions than initially feared…
The proposals include:
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said:
“Under the guise of improving workers’ rights, we now know Labour plan to hand control of our workplaces to the union bully boys. Incredibly, they are proposing to let the unions roam through businesses offices every week of the year. Union representatives will inevitably use this special access to pressure workers into joining them and supporting their political causes – which, naturally, are usually aligned with Labour. Businesses will become playgrounds for activists rather than engines for growth.”
No need for a time machine to go back to the 1970s…
Read the consultation in full below:
Continue reading “Labour Plans Weekly Union Access for Businesses With Just 21 Workers”
Trades Union Congress boss Paul Nowak used his speech at the union’s annual conference to demand Labour proves it is “on the side of working people.” He called for the Employment Rights Bill to be delivered “in full” as Starmer faces pressure from his Cabinet to water it down to boost growth…
Nowak went on to demand further tax hikes:
“Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies, and back it with new taxes on wealth. Deliver the employment rights bill and deliver it in full. Lift the two child cap and give our kids the future they deserve.”
Meanwhile, anyone looking to replace Rayner as Deputy Labour Leader needs the backing of at least two affiliated trade unions to throw their hat in the ring. They’ll be supporting a candidate who fully backs the (un)Employment Rights Bill after its author, Justin Madders, and sponsor Rayner were sacked over the weekend. Unions holding Labour to ransom…
Guido’s been flicking through the drip-drip of departmental public accounts, and the taxpayer-funded trade union gravy train is steaming ahead. Facility time – the paid hours handed to trade union representatives to carry out their union duties – is ballooning across the board. It’s not just the Home Office feeling generous under Labour’s watch…
Here’s a snapshot of the latest facility time costs:
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government: Increased from £143,527 in 2023/24 to £225,803 in 2024/25. Up 57.27%.
Department for Work and Pensions: Increased from £812,000 in 2023/24 to £936,412 in 2024/25. Up 15.32%.
Department for Education: Increased from £61,653 in 2023/24 to £96,432 in 2024/25. Up 56.43%.
All while ministers talk about tightening belts…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”