Unite for Jobs: Union and Business Join Forces to Push for Road map out of Recession

September 8th, 2009 LONDON - Diageo's announcement today (Wednesday 9th September) to reject proposals by the Scottish Government that would safeguard jobs has outraged Unite, the UK's biggest union. Unite is also furious that Diageo has made the announcement before the conclusion of the 90-day consultation period.

September 6th, 2009 LONDON - Commenting on the news today that global food giant Kraft is to table a bid for UK chocolate maker Cadbury, Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for the food sector, said: "It is too early for us to make any detailed comment on this announcement. Unite has requested meetings with both Kraft and Cadbury senior management immediately so that we can begin to understand what the detail of these proposals would mean in terms of long-term commitment to UK jobs at all Cadbury sites, and any possible impact on workers' conditions, including their pensions." "Recent years have seen a great deal of upheaval for Cadbury workers in this country.

June 10th, 2009 LONDON - In a feature to be screened on The Community Channel Sky 539, Union TV will highlight how British, American and Canadian workers are joining forces to create the first global union - Workers Uniting. Politicians and corporations notably in the UK and USA promote the virtues of one global economic model at the expense of all others.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, Britain's biggest union, has launched an online strategy to mobilise members to fight for jobs during the recession and beyond. With the help of Blue State Digital (BSD), the company US President Obama used throughout his presidential campaign, the union is stepping up its e-campaign strategy.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - National March for Jobs WHEN: from 11am, Saturday, 16th May, 2009, LONDON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- WHERE: from Highfield Road, Birmingham B15, marching to Centenary Square, Birmingham City Centre WHO: Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, Unite joint general secretaries; Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary; Lindsay Hoyle MP for Chorley; Jim Sheridan MP for Paisley & Renfrewshire North; Darrell Riley, from Birmingham, Alabama, unemployed steel worker from the United Steel Workers' union; plus other leading figures from the world of business and politics, including former trade minister and first time marcher Digby Jones, and thousands of workers from across the UK who are worried about their jobs and futures. National March for Jobs As unemployment rises across the UK and key sectors of the economy are battered by the recession, Unite, the UK's biggest union, is to bring thousands of people from across the country to Birmingham to march in defence of their jobs.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Following the news today that Midlands-based van manufacturer LDV will go into administration on May 6th with the loss of around 900 jobs directly and thousands more in the wider supply chain, Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite said: "Two months ago I warned that without rapid intervention to support LDV while it sought a new buyer, the company would collapse. "Unless the government acts to provide a small but vital aid package of just GBP4 million, barely a year's bonus for a bailed-out banker, then LDV will go into administration on May 6th - and take with it thousands of jobs in our manufacturing heartland.

April 6th, 2009 LONDON - Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: "The news that 4,500 RBS staff in the UK are to lose their jobs is truly devastating. Unite is appalled that thousands of people, who form the backbone of the RBS operations, are to be made redundant.

March 24th, 2009 LONDON - Unite has accused HSBC of "creative accountancy" with jobs as HSBC concedes that the true number of job cuts is in fact 2,900 as the union has rightly claimed, and not 1,200 as HSBC had originally claimed. Derek Simpson, Unite Joint General Secretary, said: "As if it was not bad enough for staff of HSBC to hear from the media that their jobs are at risk, we now have a situation where the company is failing to come clean with the true extent of these cuts.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, the UK's biggest civil air transport union, welcomes the announcement today (Friday) from the High Court that the challenge to the expansion of Stansted airport has been suspended. Steve Turner, Unite National Officer, said: "We are delighted at this decision today and hope we can now move on and develop an expansion programme at Stansted airport.

March 11th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, the UK's largest union, reacted angrily today (Thursday) to the growing threat to jobs at United Biscuits' Liverpool site posed by a restructuring programme which could see 125 jobs offshored to India. The move has shocked workers because it is in stark contrast to the record company profits announced last year which saw workers receive bonuses and star awards for their achievements.

June 8th, 2009 Obama promises more than 600,000 stimulus jobsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the United States remains in a deep recession that will take considerable time to escape. Obama met at the White House with his top administration officials on Monday to hear an update on his $787 billion spending plan.

June 23rd, 2009 Unions meeting with employers over refinery strikeLONDON — Union leaders met with construction bosses Tuesday in an effort to resolve an acrimonious industrial dispute that has led to walkouts across the British energy sector. The UNITE union said it was in talks with the companies contracted to work at Total's Lindsey Oil Refinery in northern England, where more than 600 workers were fired after staging unauthorized strikes over job losses.

September 20th, 2009 Obama not yet prepared to declare recession overWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama isn't ready to close the book on the recession. Only last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the worst recession since the 1930s was probably over.

September 17th, 2009 Union returning to AFL-CIOPITTSBURGH — One of the unions that left the AFL-CIO in a bitter dispute that split the labor movement four years ago is coming back to the labor federation. The union of hotel, restaurant and clothing workers known as UNITE HERE is bringing its 265,000 members back a day after Richard Trumka became the newest AFL-CIO president.

September 22nd, 2009 Health insurer WellPoint may cut more jobsINDIANAPOLIS — Health insurer WellPoint says it is considering another round of job cuts as it looks for ways to become more efficient. The Indianapolis-based insurer says it reviews the size of its work force and makes adjustments according to the economy.

July 17th, 2009 Union sets strike vote on Barclays pension closureLONDON — Britain's Unite union said Friday it will ask members to vote next month on whether to strike against Barclays Bank because of the proposed closure of a final salary pension plan. The union, which represents 25,000 employees of the bank, said walkouts would be staged in September if members approve the strike call.

July 11th, 2009 Ilikai closes but will reopen with new union dealHONOLULU — A day after the iconic Ilikai hotel shut down, its new owner and a labor union say the Waikiki landmark will soon be back in business. Employees were downcast on their last day at work on Thursday, when hotel operations creased on order from New York-based iStar Financial Inc.

July 27th, 2009 Verizon to cut 8,000 jobsNEW YORK — Phone company Verizon says it will cut 8,000 jobs from among employees and contractors before the end of the year to keep costs in line as the recession saps demand from businesses for telecommunications services. Executives said the cuts will come from the wireline side of the business.

June 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US companies shed only 345,000 jobs in May, the smallest drop in eight months and a sign that the US recession may be easing, but the unemployment rate still jumped half a percentage point to 9.4 percent, the Labour Department reported Friday. The US has now lost six million jobs since a deep recession began in December 2007, but the monthly data was far better than economists had predicted.

April 13th, 2009 SILCHAR - Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani for releasing the terrorists during Kandahar hijack episode in 1999-2000. "Even the Parliament was attacked during Advani's tenure as Union Home Minister.