NEWS

Blackburn and District Trades Union Council has responded to the Lancashire “devolution” proposals by raising several issues around economic development and public engagement. The Trades Council’s approach to the linked issues of devolution, regional economic development, the legacy of de-industrialisation, “left-behind” communities, and regaining economic growth, is that: A) British governments consistently underestimate the scale…

January’s Trades Council meeting agreed a response to be submitted in response to the Government’s “consultation” on “Hiring agency staff to cover industrial action”. We are by no means convinced that those in power give anything but the most cursory attention to what they receive during these exercises, but they do at least provoke us…

Ahead of this year’s Autumn Statement, Mel Stride, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, unveiled a new initiative called the ‘Back to Work’ plan. The aim of the package is to focus on the over 1 million people who are either long-term unemployed or have long-term health conditions or disabilities and who depend…

Last May the Department for Business and Trade reported that the proportion of British employees who were Trade Union members had fallen to 22.3% in 2022  – down from 23.1% in 2021. This was the second successive year where the proportion had declined, and these years represented the lowest two British union membership rates on…

September’s Trades Council meeting received a report on the progress being made by the Government in implementing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. For the provisions of the Act to take effect there will need to be a proclamation, by regulation, of what “Minimum Service Levels” will mean in specific sectors, plus publication of…

If the railway wants to attract the new users and be as inclusive as possible, then the “purchase from a person” choice should remain.  A far more important priority is to reform the hideously complex charging system on the railway with its enormous variations in price, and to get back a sense that it is a public service which needs to take account of public views in the matter of its delivery.  The scale of the response to the ticket office consultation is an indication of the extent to which the rail industry lacks the confidence of the public it is supposed to serve.

The coincidence of the 75th “birthday” of the NHS with acute public awareness of ways in which our health system is currently under stress has pushed the issue of healthcare up the political agenda and prompted a wide range of reflection on what the future holds. Millions are on waiting lists or long-term sick. In…

June’s Trades Council meeting decided that we should write to our three local MPs on Tuesday 20th June to express our support for the “Save Our Schools” Lobby of the House of Commons. Here is the text of the letter sent: “We are writing to record our support for the Lobby of Parliament that has…

Workers’ Memorial Day this year coincided with the release of a report from PROSPECT, the Union for Health and Safety Inspectors, which revealed that:                • funding for the Health and Safety Executive in 2021-22 was 43% down on 2009-10 in real terms on a comparative basis;                • The level of cancelled mandatory investigations…

The April Annual General Meeting of Blackburn and District Trades Union Council was addressed by a guest speaker, Professor Ralph Darlington, who has just published a new book “Labour Revolt in Britain 1910-14”. His book may seem to have come out at a very apposite time, given that its appearance corresponds with a contemporary upsurge…