Tag: economy
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Economy, workers’ rights centre stage as Unite Policy Conference kicks off
Workers must not pay price for Brexit, says Jimmy Kelly Unite’s Fourth Irish Policy conference kicked off this morning (Tuesday May 23rd) with debates on the economy and workers’ rights. The agenda is available for download here, and below are selected remarks. Introducing the economic debate, Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly highlighted the challenges posed by…
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Latest Labour Force Survey statistics highlight growth of low-wage economy
LFS statistics show 5.5% fall in average full-time wages in Northern Ireland over past twelve months February 15th: Unite the union’s Regional Secretary, Jimmy Kelly, responded to the latest quarterly Labour Force Survey statistics published today [February 15th] by the Office of National Statistics: “The latest LFS quarterly statistics demonstrate the challenges workers face in…
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Outrage over Wiggle decision to close Chain Reaction operations
Management restructuring threatens more than three hundred jobs and comes only months after acquisition October 26th: Unite Regional Officer, Davy Thompson, was scathing of a decision by Wiggle to close operations it inherited from Chain Reaction Cycles in Northern Ireland. Speaking after workers were told Northern Ireland operations would close in the middle of 2017,…
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Labour Force Survey stats confirm sharp rise in part-time, temporary and self-employed working in Northern Ireland
Self-employment numbers rise 22% in a twelve month period leading to fears of growing bogus self-employment Northern Ireland unemployment rate falls to 5.5% but remains above UK and pre-crash levels October 19th: Unite Regional Secretary for Ireland, Jimmy Kelly, welcomed headline figures showing a reduction in the number unemployed in Northern Ireland but argued more…
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Executive parties must secure access to EU labour market and defend rights of migrant workers
Northern Ireland’s economy particularly at risk from Tory moves to impose a ‘hard Brexit’ Moves to restrict access to migrant labour threatens future sustainability of Northern Ireland’s Agri-Food sector October 7th: Sean McKeever, Regional Officer with responsibility for workers in the Agri-Food sector called on the parties in the Northern Ireland Executive to unite to…