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Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Workers' rights in global free fall: 87pc of countries violate strikes, 80pc cripple collective bargaining
PARIS, June 2 — Workers' rights around the world are 'in free fall', with widespread attempts to hamstring collective bargaining and attacks on trade union representatives, the world's largest trade union organisation said Monday. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) found a 'profound deterioration' in workers' rights in its annual rights index published on Monday, based on 97 indicators laid out by the United Nations and international treaties. Workers' rights, which the report measured in 151 countries, particularly declined in Europe and the Americas — with the worst results for the two regions since the index was launched in 2014. In total, 87 per cent of countries violated the right to strike and 80 per cent violated the right to collective bargaining, the ITUC said. 'The right to collective bargaining was restricted in 80% of countries (121),' the ITUC said. In France, for example, 'nearly four in every 10 collective agreements were imposed unilaterally by employers, without union representation'. The report also said outlined 'persecution' against union leaders. 'In France, more than 1,000 union leaders and members of the Confederation generale du travail (CGT) were facing criminal charges and disciplinary measures for their roles in mass protests against pension reforms,' it said. Widespread decline The ITUC gives each country a maximum score of one and a minimum score of five for their respect for workers' rights, such as the right to strike, demonstrate and participate in negotiations. Only seven countries — including Germany, Sweden and Norway — were awarded the maximum score, compared to 18 a decade ago. Italy and Argentina saw their scores drop in 2025. 'If this pace of decline continues, in ten years there will be no country left in the world with the highest rating for its respect for workers' rights,' ITUC head Luc Triangle said in a statement. In 2025, Europe experienced the sharpest decline of any region in the world over the past 10 years. The ITUC also said trade unionists or workers were killed in five countries in 2025: South Africa, Cameroon, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru. And Nigeria joined the list of the 10 worst countries for workers' rights for the first time. Only a handful of countries saw an improvement in workers' rights. Reforms strengthened trade union rights in Australia, while in Mexico, labour law changes improved access to justice for workers. — AFP
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Scots union boss has THIRD home - this time in Spain - despite condemning 'negative' effects of second homes
The second home hypocrisy scandal surrounding Scotland's top union boss deepened as it was revealed she owns a THIRD home in Spain. Roz Foyer - who has publicaly CONDEMNED the scourge of multiple home ownership - rents her luxury three-bedroomed apartment out for over £1,000 a week, the Mail can reveal. It comes after Ms Foyer, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), was last week accused of being a hypocrite after it emerged she owned homes in Glasgow and the idyllic isle of Jura. Ms Foyer, who earns up to £100,000 a year, has blamed second home owners for exacerbating the housing and cost-of-living crisis. Last week, the Mail on Sunday revealed she owned a holiday cottage on the Isle of Jura, as well as her four-bedroom family home in the leafy suburbs of the north-west of Glasgow. Now, Ms Foyer is under growing pressure to consider her position as head of the STUC, an umbrella body which oversees a coalition of 40 trade unions. Ms Foyer rents out the tastefully decorated three-bedroom apartment in sunny southern Spain. A week's stay from June 18 to June 25 this year would cost around £920. Situated in an apartment block in the quaint harbour town of Puerto de Mazarrón, the flat boasts a private balcony with panoramic views over the Mediterranean Sea. Although the beautiful Isla beach is just 950 yards from the property, the two well-kept communal swimming pools are even closer-by, should guests like to take a dip to cool off. The revelation comes as Europe is grappling with a housing crisis due to rising house prices and an influx of foreign buyers, prompting the minority socialist Spanish Government to push ahead with a 100 per cent property tax on second homes bought by non-EU member residents. Earlier this month Holyrood heard how a proliferation of holiday homes was making life harder for public sector workers here in Scotland - the very people that Ms Foyer claims to represent. Last night, Scottish Conservative finance and local government spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'After raging against the evils of second home ownership it was staggering to discover Roz Foyer herself had an island bolthole in Scotland in addition to her main residence. 'News that she has a third home in Spain simply beggars belief and highlights the levels of hypocrisy among left-wing union leaders. 'She's not just a champagne socialist she's a sangria-sipping one too.' Trade unionist Ms Foyer was the first woman in 2020 to be appointed to the top job in Scotland, representing 500,000 workers and has repeatedly spoken out about the negative impact second homes have on communities. In July 2023 she said that there should be a 300 per cent council tax premium on second and empty homes to tackle homelessness in Scotland. Months later, in December, she said: 'Scotland is facing a simultaneous housing crisis, a public sector funding crisis and a cost-of-living crisis putting an unbearable strain on working people. 'Second homes and short-term lets can have significantly negative impacts on communities, exacerbating these crises as well as undermining the local economy.' And in February 2024, in a newspaper column, Ms Foyer highlighted the number of long term empty properties and second homes in the Highlands. She wrote that 'workers in the Highlands are facing an acute housing crisis'. Ms Foyer co-owns her property on Jura with husband, fellow trade union official Simon Macfarlane, which they bought for £45,000 in 2012. The pretty cottage enjoys a lovely spot on Jura which is known as one of Europe's 'last lost wildernesses' and boasts a small population of around 220. Similar properties on Jura are valued at around £150,000. Ms Foyer and Mr Macfarlane - who is a regional manager for trade union Unison - are understood to spend most of their time with their two daughters at their residence on a private estate in Glasgow, which cost the family £280,111 in 2015. The Spanish home is in the Murcia region of Spain, close to Alicante. Title deeds show Ms Foyer and Mr Macfarlane purchased the home in August 2021 - just months after Ms Foyer was appointed the General Secretary of the STUC. Locals say the family have been seen enjoying trips around the town and walking along the harbour. While they are not using the flat, Ms Foyer rents it out on holiday letting sites under the banner: 'Stunning 3-Bed Apartment in Puerto De Mazarrón'. At almost 1000 square foot, the property is said to 'offer a spacious layout' and can house up to six guests in its two double bedrooms and one twin room - although it 'will not accommodate hen, stag or similar parties'. One review left in April hailed the apartment's 'perfect location', 'large kitchen' and 'beautiful huge terrace', however one guest lamented the fact there were no beds or shade around the pools and no air conditioning in the bedrooms. The socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that foreign buyers - such as Ms Foyer - have purchased thousands of properties 'not to live in, but to make money from them which, in the context of the shortage that we are in, we obviously cannot allow'. He has presented a Bill to the Spanish parliament in the hope to impose a 100 per cent property tax on British and other non-EU citizens purchasing holiday homes, as well as an increase of VAT on short-term rentals. Meanwhile the issue of second home ownership in the Scottish Highlands and Islands was debated in the Scottish parliament earlier this month during a motion brought by Ross Greer of the Scottish Greens. The discussion heard concerns that a high concentration of second homes has caused house prices and rents to rocket and reduced the housing supply for local people. Scottish Labour MSP Carol Mochan said holiday homes were making it harder to recruit and retain public sector workers. She said: 'A lack of affordable housing affects not only individuals and communities but local businesses that want to attract workers. Very importantly, a lack of affordable housing also affects the recruitment of public sector workers.' She continued: 'I have strong evidence of that from the Borders area of my South Scotland region. 'Trade unions have told me that people are not coming to work in the area or are having to travel a long distance, which sometimes involves a journey of an hour or more, to get to their work. 'That is not sustainable. The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has heard compelling evidence on the issue, in oral evidence and on a visit to the islands. 'The health boards have described the situation as a crisis for service delivery. It is a very important issue.' STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer defended owning a second and third home. She said: 'I'm proud that the STUC has pushed for and secured a doubling of council tax on second homes and we remain committed to arguing for a proportional property tax. 'I can look in the mirror knowing that I'm actively arguing to increase my fair share to society. 'Fighting every day for fairer taxation and to spread wealth throughout the country brings its critics. 'As a woman from a working-class background, I won't be made to feel ashamed for legitimately owning property that my family and I, like of thousands of families across Scotland, have worked tirelessly for.'
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Starmer and co are trashing Labour's legacy. We must take back control of our party – before it's too late
I joined the Labour party 50 years ago. Back then, as a young man, I was proud that I was becoming part of a movement motivated by the highest ideals. I felt I was joining a group of like-minded people who wanted to change the world for the better and that, whatever setbacks might occur, we were on the right side of history. I devoted my life to securing the election of Labour governments that would transform our society. I was a working-class kid, born in the slums of Liverpool to a father who was a docker and a mother who was a cleaner, and I gained all the benefits of Labour's policies: the security of a Parker Morris-standard council house and the care of the NHS when I was sick. As a trade union branch secretary, my dad and his fellow members exercised their rights and their solidarity to secure the wage levels that lifted the families of workers out of poverty. No matter how tough it was through the worst of the Thatcher period and especially during the harsh years of Tory austerity, the light of hope still burned in me that eventually Labour would return to power, and we would be able to get back on the righteous path of social advance for everybody. Keir Starmer was elected leader of the party on the policy platform that Jeremy Corbyn and I developed, and then he promptly dropped virtually every policy promise he made. My concern was that dropping a radical programme and narrative in favour of a mealy mouthed politics meant that the Starmer administration would deliver a timid move forward at best. But even then, I held to the belief that the desperate nature of the Tory inheritance would force him to change course. I wrote articles and made speeches arguing that there was still hope because by the middle of Labour's term, it was highly likely these mediocre policies would have proved ineffective, with the risk of the administration under Starmer becoming deeply unpopular. At that stage, I thought, the argument for an alternative strategy would be overwhelming. That was when the broad church of the left and progressives in the movement would have a key role to play. What I didn't appreciate was that once elected, the Starmer government wouldn't just be an administration of timid reform, but would rapidly instigate a series of policies that drove a knife into the heart of what I believed Labour stood for when I joined the party. Labour was founded to eliminate poverty and secure equality. After the first king's speech, the government didn't just fail to address the major cause of child poverty in Britain at the moment – the Conservatives' two-child benefit cap – but demanded that Labour MPs vote against its abolition. This was the first time the political incompetence and callousness of the new administration's decision-makers were put on display. To then remove the whip from me and six colleagues for voting to scrap the cap showed a remarkable combination of arrogance and lack of judgment. At the same time, the public got view of the distasteful sight of Labour ministers accepting gifts, tickets and donations from the rich and corporate carpetbaggers. For that scandal to be followed by the government cutting the benefits of the poorest in our society was nauseating for many Labour supporters. Following this up with the debacle of the changes to the winter fuel allowance and the brutal attack on disabled people's benefits has disillusioned Labour voters on a scale not seen before in the recent history of the party. It has opened the door to the divisive and destructive opportunism of Nigel Farage, who has now said he would scrap the two-child cap. Justifying this negation of the historic role of Labour by adhering to an anachronistic fiscal rule doesn't just make the government appear tin-eared. It makes it look inflexibly incompetent. What we are now witnessing is a panicked, half-hearted policy retreat, while the backroom boys – Morgan McSweeney in the leader's office and Nick Parrott in the deputy leader's office – fight between themselves. All this against a backdrop of defending the export of F-35 fighter jet parts that enable the Israel Defense Forces to continue bombing Gaza and a Labour prime minister echoing the language of Enoch Powell. Unless party members, affiliated unions and MPs stand up and assert themselves to take back control of Labour, in the next period of its history we may not only lose a government. We could also lose a party. John McDonnell is the independent MP for Hayes and Harlington. He was shadow chancellor for Labour from 2015 to 2020
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Labour's in a mess of its own making... now the rebels are gathering
This is a Government in a mess. It has failed on its own terms, and it has failed in the eyes of the electorate. Perhaps most profoundly, it has betrayed itself for cheap and quick popularity over the issue of mass immigration. Why, after that, should anyone trust anything it says? We are not sorry that the Prime Minister has abandoned the foolish position on migration which he previously held. It was a wrong and dangerous position, and it was shored up by a great deal of spiteful intolerance towards those who opposed it. But it was something the modern Labour Party had claimed to believe in, with all its heart. As it turned out, it did not really care. Well, in Britain, we like our politicians to have some sort of core principle, passion and belief, even if we do not agree with them. Otherwise we might think they were mere careerists, not fit to be trusted with His Majesty's Government. Now comes the accelerating crisis caused by Labour's incurable desire to spend other people's money while remaining popular. The national budget simply cannot be made to add up – or at least the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, cannot make it do so. Labour came to power last year committed to appeasing its trade union friends, and so to enormous public sector wage bills. It pretended the predictable crisis, which resulted from this crude political pay-off, was actually the fault of the previous Tory government. But this did not alter the fact that it lacked the money to meet this and other commitments. And so came the abolition of winter fuel payments for about 10 million pensioners. Sir Keir had to draw heavily on the loyalty of his MPs – who do not think they were elected to do this sort of thing – to get it through Parliament in the first place. They hated it and still resent being made to vote for it. Now, appalled by the defection of Labour voters to Reform in local elections, he has reversed the decision. But he will not get back the loyalty he lost by making it in the first place. Perhaps this behaviour makes some sort of sense – changing your mind can be a virtue in politics. But Sir Keir is changing his mind so much that there is not much mind left, just a panic-stricken expression on his face and a feeling of doom creeping over his backbenches. And now, as so often happens to Labour governments, he is faced with open party warfare. He has become Captain Hopeless, swinging the rudder from Left to Right and back again. The Chancellor has become an embarrassment, thanks to her inability to make the nation's ends meet, as well as her general haplessness. No wonder she and Sir Keir face an ill-concealed rebellion from Deputy Leader Angela Rayner. Ms Rayner has a simple answer to the excuse that there is no money to pay for Labour's promises. That answer is – the one her party almost always reaches for at some stage – a major increase in taxes, from which most Labour voters would be exempt. This would, of course, lead to the usual economic strangulation which the Labour Party specialises in. But Ms Rayner has a popular appeal that Sir Keir can only dream of and a history of standing up to him. She must be causing him serious worry. Alas, for those of us who think we can spend our money better than the state can, another question arises. Why is the most dangerous opposition to the Starmer Government currently coming from its own Left wing?
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
International Paper Company (IP) to Shut Down Five UK Locations, Cut 300 Jobs
International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) has announced plans to close five of its UK facilities, putting roughly 300 jobs at risk. The decision comes shortly after its £5.8 billion acquisition of UK-based competitor DS Smith and amid a challenging business climate. With a global workforce of around 65,000 across more than 30 countries, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) specializes in sustainable packaging and paper products. It said the closures are part of a broader effort to improve efficiency and better respond to shifting customer needs in a difficult trading environment. A strategic review of its UK operations prompted the planned shutdowns, although the specific sites have not yet been named. In addition to the closures, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) plans to move one facility, scale back operations at another from seven days to five, and make small staff reductions at two more sites. In total, about 300 positions are expected to be affected by the end of the year. International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) said it is currently in consultation with employees and trade unions. IP has surged by nearly 5% in the past 12 months. While we acknowledge the potential of IP to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IP and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ MORE: and Disclosure. None.
