Trade Unions

Keir Starmer, in the 2020 leadership election, described himself as a “proud trade unionist”. Fast-forward to 2022 and he’s opposed. An official Labour Party position which is somehow pro-”right-to-strike” and also “anti-strike”. That is a contradiction. A costly one, given that the Conservative Party out-polled Labour by double-digit figures among…

In the wake of three days of striking, Labour have continually failed to show support for workers taking action — Three days of RTM strikes put trade union action into the national spotlight for the first time in a long time. Tens of thousands of workers walked out in support of a pay rise which keeps inline with rising inflation as well as improving conditions on the railway. Union leader…

First published in Look Left on the 13th of June 2022 — Creating greater equality should always be a core aim of trade unions. The constitution of The Irish Congress of Trade Unions lists ensuring full equality in all aspects of employment opportunity and striving for equality in civil society as two of its key objectives. We must never lose sight of…

Trade unions and collective bargaining have a key role post-pandemic. Advocates of both need to ensure that they raise their voices and shape the debate on their future. Imagine a force which through common endeavour could improve the lot of society in general. A force that truly could raise all…

By Hilary Cottam This is the fifth blog in a new series about the future of work. The series reflects on workshops that were held in five locations across Britain over the past two years. The project has been generously funded by Laudes Foundation, Open Society Foundation and James Anderson. …

Civic Power Fund Trustee Josh Simons reflects on our recent event exploring the shared learnings across workplace and community organising. Organising is as old as democracy itself. The root of the word democracy is the kratos, power, of the demos, people. As well as a set of political institutions, democracy…