TUC

Supreme Court rules in favour of care worker victimised for taking strike action

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/supreme-court-rules-favour-care-worker-victimised-taking-strike-action

The Supreme Court building, Parliament Square, London

A CARE worker victimised at work for taking strike action has humiliated the government in the Supreme Court today.

In a case brought by public-sector union Unison, Britain’s highest court ordered the government to outlaw the victimisation of workers for striking as part of a landmark ruling today.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the case was the “most important industrial action case for decades” while the TUC hailed it as “monumental.”

The judgement is a slap in the face for former business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who had ordered an appeal against a previous court decision upholding the worker’s claim.

It is also a victory for millions of workers who will be protected from victimisation by vengeful bosses if they take strike action in the future.

…

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “This is a monumental victory for Unison and the whole union movement.

“And it represents yet another crushing legal defeat for the Conservative government’s oppressive strike laws.

…https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/supreme-court-rules-favour-care-worker-victimised-taking-strike-action

Continue ReadingSupreme Court rules in favour of care worker victimised for taking strike action

Cost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

THE cost-of-living crisis is still hammering households in every corner of the country, the TUC warned today, as inflation figures remained unchanged and Britain is believed to have slipped into recession.

The union body called for ministers to extend cost-of-living payments which are set to end by March after figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation remained at 4 per cent in January.

Food prices fell for the first time by 0.4 per cent since September 2021, with the cost of bread and cereals, cream crackers and chocolate biscuits falling, the ONS said.

The costs are still 7 per cent higher than a year ago.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted that the economy has “turned the corner” following the data.

But the ONS is due to publish gross domestic product (GDP) figures for December on Thursday and is predicted by experts to reveal that Britain’s economy contracted for the second quarter in a row in the final three months of 2023.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Continue ReadingCost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

Energy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

Spread the love

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The leading trade union body has slammed government policy for benefiting corporate profiteering at the expense of household bills, leading renewed calls to nationalise the energy sector after the 5% energy price cap rise.

Households will be ‘hammered even harder’ in 2024 the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said, as the Ofgem price cap rise came into effect from January 1, which will see households across the country face a 5% increase in their energy bill.

It has led to further warnings from charities about struggling households facing another cold start to the year and renewed calls for government support to help households struggling with their energy bills.

“No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak.

“But 13 years of wage stagnation and cuts to social security have left millions badly exposed to sky-high bills this winter.”

With energy bills already 50% higher than two years ago, Nowak said the price cap rise will only “hammer households even harder in the coming year”.

…

Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 leading UK charities, warned of the effects the government’s inaction at tackling the energy crisis will have across services.  

“Failure to avert this cold homes crisis will lead to pressure on the NHS, a mental health catastrophe and additional winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes,” said Fiona Waters, Warm This Winter spokesperson.

…

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Continue ReadingEnergy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

Unions call for end of ‘rampant profiteering’ as pre-Christmas food inflation remains at 9.2%

Spread the love

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-call-for-end-of-rampant-profiteering-as-pre-christmas-food-inflation-remains-at-9

Shoppers in a supermarket, October 15, 2021

UNIONS called for an end to “rampant profiteering” as official figures showed food inflation remains at a painfully high 9.2 per cent in the run-up to Christmas.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said yesterday’s larger-than-expected drop in overall inflation would not offset the real-terms fall in wages this Christmas.

She said: “Headline inflation might be slowing, but workers know their wages aren’t going as far as they did two years ago.

“Even the competition regulator now admits what Unite has said all along: that firms have been exploiting the cost-of-living crisis to raise prices excessively.

“It’s time the government and Bank of England tackled the rampant profiteering in our economy to get inflation under control.”

Responding to the figures showing CPI inflation slowing to 3.9 per cent and RPI inflation to 5.3 per cent, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak added: “Today’s inflation figures will provide scant relief for hard-pressed families. Prices are still going up — just a bit more slowly.

“Household budgets remain under immense pressure. And many families will struggle with the cost of Christmas, with food and energy bills sky high.”

…

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-call-for-end-of-rampant-profiteering-as-pre-christmas-food-inflation-remains-at-9

Continue ReadingUnions call for end of ‘rampant profiteering’ as pre-Christmas food inflation remains at 9.2%

‘Modest’ wealth tax on richest 0.3% could raise more than £10bn for public services, says TUC

Spread the love

Abba: Money, Money, Money (“It’s a rich man’s world”.)

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/modest-wealth-tax-on-richest-0-3-could-raise-more-than-10bn-for-public-services-says-tuc/

The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million

A modest wealth tax on the richest 140,000 individuals in the country could raise more than £10bn to help pay for public services, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

With the country’s public services in a dire state and with the Tories repeatedly using excuses about not having enough money to invest in them, the TUC has set out a clear plan for how further money could be raised, by taxing the wealthiest 0.3% of the UK population, as it called for a “national conversation about taxing wealth”.

The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million, excluding pensions. It says that the options are illustrative examples of what a wealth tax could look like, using Spain’s existing policy as a potential model.

It proposes the following:

  • A wealth threshold of £3 million with a marginal tax rate of 1.7% would yield £2.7 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £3 million by 142,000 individuals or 0.27% of adults in the UK)
  • A further wealth threshold of £5 million with a marginal tax rate of 2.1% would yield an additional £3.2 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £5 million by 48,000 individuals or 0.09% of adults in the UK) 
  • A further wealth threshold of £10 million with a marginal tax rate of 3.5 % would yield an additional £4.6 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £10 million by 17,000 individuals or 0.02% of adults in the UK).

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/modest-wealth-tax-on-richest-0-3-could-raise-more-than-10bn-for-public-services-says-tuc/

Continue Reading‘Modest’ wealth tax on richest 0.3% could raise more than £10bn for public services, says TUC