UnionDues Series 4 Trailer

UnionDues is back!  series 4 drops on 27 April.  This trailer tells you what we have in store!  You can contact the show by mailing uniondues@makes-you-think.com or tweeting us @DuesUnion

International solidarity and saving lives at work - w/Owen Tudor

With Simon Sapper, Mel Simms and Josiah Mortimer.

International Trade Union Confederation Deputy General Secretary Owen Tudor gives us a tour of the global trade union landscape, and the ITUC’s key campaign priority of reducing deaths at work. It is a sobering picture with 5 workplace deaths per minute each and every day

Commemorations for the forthcoming International Workers Memorial Day on 28 April are an important part of the campaign as well as being important in and of themselves – and studies from North America have shown how unionised workplaces offer better health and safety for customers and clients as well las the workforce.

Professor Mel Simms’s #thought4the week looks at how the Government’s budget last week was a missed opportunity when it comes to the greening of work and workplaces – and why that is so important to Unions. 

Plus,  Josiah Mortimer’s weekly. #RadicalRoundUp, some exciting new research on union effectiveness from Unite, and a shout out to Health unions protesting in response to a 1% pay offer from Government, with national slow-handclaps to show disapproval announced by Unison.

Companion blog is here.  This episode is the last of the current series,  but we shall return.  While we’re taking a break,  you can still email us  - uniondues@makes-you-think.com – tweet us @DuesUnion. We are part of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. A Makes-You-Think production.

Jobs, dignity and public service broadcasting - w/Philippa Childs

In this week’s UnionDues we have an in-depth chat with Philippa Childs, head of media union Bectu

As well as most of Bectu’s substantial freelance members being excluded from government Covid support schemes, there is a new hit  as post-Brexit bureaucracy stymies work opportunities in mainland Europe.

The culture of broadcasting, and the media in general,  is also very much in Bectu’s sights and tacking the lack of respect and the intersection of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and other protected characteristics is at the forefront of Bectu’s work. 

As you would expect,  she is also passionate about the importance of public service broadcasting  in general and the BBC in particular.

We also have a barnstorming #thought4theweek with Prof. Mel Simms, reflecting this week that having a seat at the table is just as important as what we say when we ‘re sat down at it.

Plus LFF’s very own Josiah Mortimer previews his #RadicalRoundUp – including structural racism in the UK labour market, dodgy car makers, and living wage employers who, er, don’t want to pay the living wage.

A Makes You Think production.  Companion blog available here

Working safely with Covid, Uber rebuffed and other issues

The latest UnionDues podcast is dominated by two issues everyone is talking about.

The Supreme Court ruling last week that Uber drivers are indeed workers and not self-employed -  It’s a great victory for the GMB and ADCU but in her #Thought4The Week, Mel Simms argues that strong collective bargaining trumps judicial decisions.

The other issue remains Covid.  The PM’s statement yesterday encourages us to look to a brighter future but the reality of trying to work safely in a pandemic is the preoccupation of a new publication from the Labour Research Department.  It’s author, Andrea Oates, is our special guest.

Plus Josiah Mortimer’s #RadicalRoundUp.  A Makes-You-Think production

What price Equality, Diversity, Inclusivity?

In the latest UnionDues podcast,  we look at members’ networks as a way of meeting the challenges of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity,  focussing on the pharmacists’ union the PDAU.  Their networks have blossomed since being established last year.  But you have to pay to join them, and they’re open to non-members.  How can this work?  We talk to officials and equality activists to find out this is changing not just the union but the whole sector.

Also in this episode, Mel Simms deals with the risks of employee surveillance in an age of home-working in her #thought4theweek.  We shout out to Openreach engineers in dispute. And Josiah Mortimer shares his #RadicalRoundUp – including collapsing union confidence in government Covid response, important developments in the Heathrow Airport #FireAndRehire dispute, and students and unions at SOAS demand a better deal from university authorities.

The UnionDues podcast is part of the Labor Radio Podcast network.

Read the companion blog here.  A Makes You Think production

Can mediation deliver a new industrial revolution? - w/David Liddle

In the latest UnionDues podcast, we take a deep dive into the world of mediation.  And goodness knows we need to, because unresolved conflict is reported to cost UK businesses £33bn a year.  That’s not to mention the stress and misery that unresolved conflict causes workers and their unions.  Is beefed up mediation a way forward?

Rising to this challenge is David Liddle, a vastly experienced mediator and CEO of the TCM group. And he’s clear that mediation isn’t just (or even) about reaching agreement.  “Whether people agree or not is irrelevant, “ he says “the point is to disagree well.” 

The HR community also do not escape scathing scrutiny, responsible, according to David, for “fanning the flames of fury and anger” with a procedure-driven,  litigation-centred approach supported by grievance and discipline policies that “are the antithesis of everything that makes a good human being.”

Prof. Mel Simms looks at the importance of evidence-based policy making, and how easy it is to be distracted in her latest Thought for The Week,  Josiah Mortimer previews this week’s Radical Round Up and we look at the GMB’s great campaign to dissuade British Gas from their “fire-and-rehire” proposals.

Companion blog here.  Music by Scott Holmes.  A Makes-You-Think production

The battle for workplace skills and learning

The latest UnionDues podcast focusses on  the key union and economic concern of workplace skills and how to get them. Very timely given news of a forthcoming government White Paper on skills for jobs which will give employers a direct role in designing new qualifications starting with the post-16 age band.

But…..will employers be able to respond? In her regular Thought For The Week, Professor Mel Simms spots a flaw – and a challenge – with the government’s approach.

And special guest Kevin Rowan talks about the TUC-led campaign to change the government’s mind about cutting funding to the Union Learning Fund.  

With Josiah Mortimer's Radical Roundup.  Companion blog here. Music by Scott Holmes. A Makes You Think production

Striking report on Unions and Covid - it’s ok to innovate

With Simon Sapper, Melanie Simms and Josiah Mortimer.

The first comprehensive survey of how union behaviour has been altered by Covid 19 is featured in the latest UnionDues podcast.  Tom Hunt of the Sheffield Political Economic Research Institute and Becky Wright from Unions21 argue that while there are many more questions than answers,  the willingness to explore and innovate is the true take-away from the pandemic.  Do you agree? 

Mel Simms’s Thought For The Week focusses on sick pay and Britain’s culture of presentee-ism.  Josiah Mortimer shares his radical round-up of stories you may have missed.

Plus shout-outs to the FBU,  Unison, RCN and RCM  - all fighting for public safety and a fair deal and for their front line members.

UnionDues is part of the Labour Radio Podcast Network. Music by Scott Holmes. Read the companion blog at http://bit.ly/UnionInnovationBlog

Unions at the heart of government - w/Dave Penman

The new series of UnionDues kicks off with Simon in discussion with Dave Penman, General Secretary of the senior civil servants’ union, the FDA.

FDA members are at the heart of government – so when legal action is launched by the union against the Prime Minister over ignoring reports of bullying by his Home Secretary, it’s arguably a case of either feeling certain to win or having nothing to lose.

In reality it is neither, but Dave takes us through the background, and the importance of the issues at stake. What he says will shock you (or maybe not, which would be worse)

We also look at why the union is reluctantly preparing for industrial action at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service,  the merits of the joint venture  with Unison that created Managers In Partnership (a union structure for senior health sector staff), and why blowhards for reform should “walk in the shoes” of the civil servants they’re criticising, and how being FDA General Secretary is the best job in the world.

Plus eye-catching stories from around the labour movement involving maps, priests and gas fitters, and Prof Mel Simms from the University of Glasgow  shares her “thought for the week” on the NEU safe schools campaign.

A member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.   Companion blog here.  Access all episodes here. Produced by Makes You Think

California’s Prop 22: Could the UK be next?

A UnionDues special episode.  While the Biden-Harris ticket pushed Trump out of the White House, Californian voters adopted Proposition 22 which stripped away employment rights for potentially millions of workers.  The worst anti-worker legislation in over 70 years according to some.

But what is Prop 22, and how did it get passed - and could something similar happen here in the UK?

With the help of fellow podcasters from  America Workforce, WorkWeek, Union City Radio, KBOO Labor Radio, Working People and The Gig we get to the guts of this landmark issue. Companion blog here, and you can access all the shows we sample at www.laborradionetwork.org 

UnionDues series 3 will be available from January. A Makes-You-Think production