Caroline Sewell explains the band didn’t just play on but reached out to new members with new messages The past year has seen the Musicians’ Union (MU) and our members endure potentially existential threats to their professional survival. Whether this has come from Brexit or cuts to instrumental music tuition in schools, this has been […]
Mick Cash explains how a campaign was won and then had to be re-instated on human waste on the tracks How would you feel if you went to work knowing human excrement could be sprayed on you as you did your job? That’s exactly what railway track workers in Scotland have had to put up […]
Peter Hunter outlines how UNISON has been pushing ahead on the organising front UNISON has a growing confidence in the power of itself as a union. Membership in Scotland is growing and our numbers across Britain have increased to a 20 year high. But our confidence isn’t based on numbers alone. Confidence in our industrial […]
Matt Kerr recounts the moves the CWU has made to gear up to the challenges the union faces The last year has been a busy one for the CWU, but more importantly, a successful one as we further hone our campaigning, industrial and political strategies. The previous year had seen the CWU successfully deliver a […]
Stephen Smellie lays out what is meant by Just Transition and what role unions have to play. The concept of the ‘Just Transition’ to a low carbon economy has become policy over the past few years with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), Trades Union Congress (TUC) and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) all having […]
Francis Stuart argues unions are central to creating the Just Transition At STUC’s most recent annual congress, a number of resolutions were discussed which showed that energy and climate change policy are of enormous industrial and political significance to unions. A General Council statement committed the STUC to a body of work around energy and […]
Matthew Crighton outlines the Just Transition Partnership between the STUC and Friends of the Earth Setting up a Just Transition Commission which will advise ministers on the development of ‘a carbon-neutral economy that is fair for all’ appears to be a bold move by the Scottish Government. Initiatives or commissions in other countries have so […]
With no jobs or life on a dead planet, Douglas Rogers explains what Extinction Rebellion is about The science is clear: either we make radical changes to our relationship with the environment, or hundreds of millions – potentially far more than this – will die. Whether by rising seas, expanding deserts or eroding soil, billions […]
Simon Barrow argues the SNP must more fully commit to the Just Transition Climate change is the all-embracing challenge of our civilisation. At stake is the survival of the planet itself. Intertwined with the central causes global warming are the multiple failures of free-market capitalism, inequality, poverty, forced human migrations on an unprecedented scale, and […]
Bill Bonnar argues Africa, as the poorest continent, needs special attention and resources There is no doubt that the issue of radical climate change has rocketed up the political agenda both in Britain and on a global scale. It seems the dramatic warnings contained in the now endless reports are hitting home and the world […]