The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist,loyalist,British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley,who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson,it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative,being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Robert Crow was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death in 2014. He was also a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). A self-described "communist/socialist",he was a leading figure in the No to EU –Yes to Democracy campaign.
The National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch.
United Ireland,also referred to as Irish reunification,or a New Ireland,is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present,the island is divided politically;the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the majority of Ireland,while Northern Ireland,which lies entirely within the Irish province of Ulster,is part of the United Kingdom. Achieving a united Ireland is a central tenet of Irish nationalism and Republicanism,particularly of both mainstream and dissident republican political and paramilitary organisations. Unionists support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom,and therefore oppose Irish unification.
John Michael Whelan is the General Secretary of the British trade union ASLEF. He became the 18th General Secretary of ASLEF in 2011.
London Underground strikes are an intermittent part of life in the capital of the United Kingdom. Described as "one of Britain's most strike-prone industries",the London Underground has been subject to travel disruption due to industrial action organised by the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and other unions,in response to disputes over job reductions,pensions,pay,safety,and working conditions.
Michael Joseph Cash is a British trade unionist,and the former general secretary of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London,Yorkshire,the North East and Scotland. It commenced operations on 1 March 2015,taking over from East Coast as a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%).
Peter Pinkney is a British trade unionist,who served as President of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from December 2012 until 2015.
Timothy John Roache is a British trade unionist who served as General Secretary of the GMB union from 2016 to 2020.
Between 2016 and 2019,major industrial action in the form of periodic strikes and protests took place on the national railway network of the island of Great Britain in the United Kingdom. The dispute centred on the planned introduction of driver-only operation (DOO) by several train operating companies,transferring the operation of passenger train doors from the guard to the driver. Later strikes also included disputes over pay rates,planned redundancies and working hours. NI Railways operating Northern Ireland's rail network did not strike. Some of the disputes continued into early 2020,and were resolved by negotiations during the pandemic without further action. Driver-only operation was however proposed again during the 2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes,leading to subsequent disputes.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway,one of the Big Four companies which operated between 1923 and 1948.
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland,commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol,is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union,and on some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. Its terms were negotiated shortly before the 2019 general election and concluded immediately after it,in December of that year. The withdrawal agreement as a whole,including the protocol,was ratified in January 2020. The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border has had a special status since the thirty-year internecine conflict in Northern Ireland was ended by the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. As part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process,the border has been largely invisible,without any physical barrier or custom checks on its 270 crossing points;this arrangement was made possible by both countries' common membership of both the EU's Single Market and Customs Union and of their Common Travel Area.
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
On 17 March 2022,shipping company P&O Ferries dismissed 800 members of its shipping staff,primarily from the Port of Dover,but also from Kingston upon Hull,Liverpool and Cairnryan. The decision was met with much criticism from both sides of the political divide,particularly as a result of the speed and immediacy of the crews' termination notices,which in some cases consisted of a video call or text message,terminating their employment "with immediate effect". Also of concern was the fact that the crews were intended to be replaced with cheaper agency labour. The two main trades unions involved—the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Nautilus International—called for a boycott of the company and organised protests around the ports,but also outside parliament. P&O explained that for some time their business model had been impractical,resulting in losses of £100 million per annum,and that they needed to drastically reduce the wage bill to become profitable. Conversely,critics argued that the parent company,DP World,had paid out large dividends the previous year of £270 million,and had also made claims under the UK government's furlough scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes are an industrial dispute in the United Kingdom (UK). The UK has seen its largest incidence of industrial action since 1989,beginning in the second Johnson ministry and continuing through the Truss ministry and Sunak ministry. The railway strikes commenced on 21 June 2022 after members of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) walked out over wages,planned changes to working practices –involving the removal of guards from trains,the reduction in the number of open ticket offices,and an increase in the age at which people could claim the young persons and senior citizen card –and the threat of redundancies. The disputes in Scotland and Wales were resolved by the RMT in December 2022,and by ASLEF in May 2023. In much of England the RMT dispute was resolved in November 2023. As of January 2024,the RMT dispute remains active in London,while the ASLEF dispute is active across all of England.
The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The regulations removed Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003,which prevented employment agencies from supplying agency workers to employers to replace workers taking part in official industrial action. The regulations were struck down in a High Court case in July 2023,and will be quashed from 10 August 2023.
Since May–June 2022,a series of labour strikes and industrial disputes have occurred in various industries of the United Kingdom's economy as workers walked out over pay and conditions. The strikes took place with rising inflation,and demands for pay increases that would keep pace with this inflation.
Eddie Dempsey is the assistant general secretary of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT),a trade union in the UK. He was elected in October 2021 to serve a five-year term until October 2026.
The Strikes Act 2023 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting UK labour law designed to force trade union workers in England,Scotland and Wales to provide a minimum service during a strike in health,education services,fire and rescue,border security,transport and nuclear decommissioning. The law has been criticised as being not in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto,being a violation of human rights,and being a violation of international law.
