GFTU Newsletter
International News
Labourstart
- Global: Murder, rape and abuse in Asia’s factories: the true price of fast fashion
- UK: Unions vow to fight new government attack on the right to strike
- Chile: ‘You Have to Be Very Persistent’: Lessons from the Starbucks Union
- Belarus: ITUC reaffirms support for unions under sustained attack
- Belarus: IndustriALL denounces further escalation of repression
You can support the work of the GFTU Educational Trust from only £1 per week and be in with the chance of winning £25,000 if you match 6 numbers!
Buy tickets before 25th June and you could also be in with the chance of winning a £1000 Staycation!
Learning Opportunities
GFTU's Union Learning Representatives' Training
Any workplace rep belonging to a GFTU affiliated union who wants to explore more about their role and how and get greater support in being effective in the workplace should attend this course.
A Series of Seminars: Economic Policy & the Role of Trade Unions
The General Federation of Trade Unions and SOAS, University of London, in collaboration with the research network, EReNSEP, cordially invite you to an initial series of online seminars on the British economy.
Each seminar will consider critical, but overlooked, contemporary economic issues. These have to be discussed, if fresh policies are to be developed with trade union participation to achieve a new deal for working people, our communities and the environment.
Their Legacy - Our Heritage
WEA and General Federation of Trade Unions have launched a series of online classes with leading experts in their fields on key components of working class history that have lasting impact.
The GFTU has developed a comprehensive range of services under the banner of 'Win:Win' to support affiliated Trade Unions.
Employment Law Matters
- Do you have people relying on you to help them with first class support?
- Do you sometimes struggle to find reliable on-line information easily?
- Do you feel under pressure to ‘get the best outcome’ for your client?
Quorn Grange Hotel and Training Centre
We strongly support a range of adult education organisations.
Supporting the Labour Movement
Durham Miners Fundraising Appeal
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
Supporting Venezuela in the face of US sanctions and interference.
Join VSC here
Working River - Songs and Music of the River Thames
Songs and Music of the River Thames
A CD of 21 songs about the life of working people along the Thames over the centuries is released today exactly 50 years after the last working Thames barge, The Cambria, loaded her cargo at Tilbury before being laid up.
The vast majority of these songs and tunes have been recorded especially for this project including many penned by the performers themselves dealing with mutinies, migration, strikes, disasters, the barge and fishing trades, smugglers, mudlarkers and lovers.
GFTU general secretary Doug Nicholls said: “We are thrilled to release this diverse, engaging and hard-hitting collection which I think will become an instant classic for lovers of traditional music and those hearing it for the first time. The added bonus of buying this CD is that proceeds will go to the GFTU Educational Trust to support its provision of free trade union education.”
Working River curator Brian Denny explained that the river’s position as a major maritime route had put it at the centre of many events of national significance, leading the early trade unionist and historian John Burns to describe it as ‘liquid history’.
The Thames runs deep in the national psyche and forms a fundamental part of our identity. As such is has inspired artists for centuries yet the many times voices of the working poor are lost on the tide but not today.
The fact that we have many new songs and young performers alongside established songs and veteran singers really shows that this is a living tradition which keeps giving.
