Gordon Brown had a stark new year’s message for working people in Britain – it’s going to be a "difficult and dangerous" year, and the Labour government expect you to pay for it by working harder and earning less.
Around 60 people, including several wheelchair users, blockaded the offices of Fife council on Monday in a protest against new charges for homecare and transport services provided to disabled people.
Teachers in England and Wales are still waiting for the government to announce their pay deal for 2008‑11. The School Teachers Review Body (STRB) on pay gave its recommendations on teachers’ pay to the government in October, but it has yet to respond.
Unions representing workers at seven British Airports Authority (BAA) airports including Gatwick and Heathrow have called off strike action due to take place later in January, after the company caved in and conceded to their demands.
Supporters of Yunus Bakhsh, the leading health trade unionist who has suffered a long-running victimisation by his employers for union activity, are planning a major fundraising operation on his behalf.
PCS ballot for strike over redundancies
Over 70,000 members of the PCS civil service workers’ union in Revenue and Customs are balloting for a one day strike on 31 January over management’s failure to give a guarantee over redundancies.
The Tories have announced draconian new plans to disqualify people from claiming benefits and force existing claimants into unpaid work – and the first to be targeted will be those claiming incapacity benefit.
Gordon Brown has said that he wants all new houses to be carbon neutral by 2016. His government has also made much of its plans to create "eco-towns" of newly built sustainable homes.
