T&G

Andy Sharp 1958-2012

Comrade Andy Sharp from Crewe sadly died on 27 May 2012. Andy was a bus driver and a T&G union steward and branch secretary, and was also president of Crewe & District Trades Council for many years.

John Chopping 1938-2012

John started work at the Thorn EMI factory in Enfield in 1972. He soon became a shop steward for the T&G union. Thorn Workers News, a rank and file bulletin, was established.

Unite general secretary election

The election for the Unite union’s general secretary is set to take place next year. Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley are the joint general secretaries at the moment following the merger of Amicus and the T&G unions.

Launch of United Left in Unite

The United Left, the broad left of the new Unite union, held its inaugural conference in Birmingham last Saturday. Around 200 members of the old Amicus and T&G broad left organisations attended.

Unite merger on hold

There is a political crisis at the top of the Unite union with an emergency executive council last week agreeing to delay the full merger of the former T&G and Amicus sections for six months.

Letters

New Unite executive meets

27 May 2008
The first executive council (EC) of Unite, the new union formed from the merger of Amicus and the T&G, took office on 1 May and held its first meeting last week.

Left does well in Unite union executive council elections

08 April 2008
The elections to the new Unite union's executive council produced good results for the left. The new executive council takes office from 1 May and consists of 80 seats divided equally between the Amicus and T&G sections.

Poll starts in Unite executive elections

04 March 2008
Voting began in the elections for the national executive of the Unite union this week. The new executive will have 80 seats – 40 from the former Amicus union and 40 from the former T&G union.

Cleaners protest for living wage at Lloyds

18 September 2007
Cleaners from the T&G section of the Unite union demonstrated outside the Lloyds building in central London last Saturday.

Did Unite back sacked Belfast airport workers?

28 August 2007
Security workers from Belfast International Airport got compensation of £600,000 after being sacked following a strike over pay. However, four shop stewards say that the T&G union (now Unite) failed to back them.

Nippon Express strike | Emcor vote for action | Group 4 ballot

21 August 2007
Nippon Express strike Drivers and warehouse workers at Heathrow cargo handler Nippon Express picketed the airport during a strike on Tuesday of last week in a dispute over pay and shifts. The workers, members of the T&G section of the new Unite union, say that they stand to lose over £1,000 a year through new shift patterns. Union membership has doubled at the firm since the dispute started earlier this year. Further strike days are planned.

Final T&G conference debates industrial action and Labour link

10 July 2007
This year’s T&G biennial delegate union conference was the last in our union’s 85 year history. The union is about to merge with Amicus, to create Unite, the largest union in the country.

Unions join together to demand decent council pay

03 July 2007
Three unions – Unison, the GMB and the T&G section of Unite – have called a national lobby of parliament for Tuesday of next week to demand full funding for local government to pay single status deals.

Unite to lobby Labour Party

03 July 2007
The Unite union, a merger of the T&G and Amicus, has called a lobby of the Labour Party conference. It will take place on Sunday 23 September in Bournemouth at 1pm.

Unite wins groundbreaking victory for agency workers

21 May 2007
A group of Polish workers in the food processing industry have won an important victory at an employment rights tribunal, which said they should be considered employees rather than self-employed. The workers are members of the T&G section of the recently merged Unite union which originally brought the case in 2005.

Strike ballot at First Bus in Bristol over sackings

15 May 2007
A successful fightback at First Bus in Bristol has begun. The T&G union agreed to start balloting to strike over the recent sackings of 14 drivers and a further 140 being put on final written warnings.

Tesco drivers strike looks inevitable in Scotland

11 May 2007
Strike action by nearly one hundred and fifty Tesco distribution drivers at Livingston near Edinburgh now looks inevitable after the company’s senior managers told the recently merged Unite (T&G and Amicus) union that they intend to derecognise the union.

Bus drivers say no to veil ban

08 May 2007
Members of the T&G union at Lothian Buses in Edinburgh have spoken out against a new rule instructing them to ask women wearing a veil to show their faces if they are using a bus pass.

Pensions on the skid at Michelin

03 May 2007
The T&G union says it is dismayed and concerned by tyre manufacturer Michelin’s announcement to close its final salary pension scheme and transfer members to a less favourable money purchase scheme.